MATTHEW 1: 18-25 

Matthew in the Margins… Advent 4…Revised 2019 )

So we think we know what it is to face a dilemma? May we need to re-think that when we read about the one Joseph & Mary, each in their own way, face here? 

They are having a tough time. But they are tough customers. Not the almost un-believably pious ones we tend to turn them into come Christmas season. To connect with them at the deepest level, do we need to identify with the tough time they are going through? And what about some possible ‘Marys & Josephs’ in our church? 

Does today’s reading of their dilemma speak to someone in our congregation’s personal dilemma? To someone’s sexual dilemma? Perhaps to an inconvenient & unwanted pregnancy, or fear of it, in their personal life today? Or in someone in their extended family’s life? The outcome YHWH God wants, & needs from us, is that we ‘hang in there’ with Him, knowing He is hanging in there with us, too?

Isn't it the right of every child to be ‘conceived by the Holy Spirit’ if not ‘born of the Virgin Mary’? What prayerful, emotional, practical support, ‘all meanly wrapped’ in love, if not in swaddling bands, do today's soon to be parents & children need. Can we see through the figures of our traditional Christmas Crib to those facing dilemmas of one kind or another this Christmas? 

It takes a person of great Spirit to be open enough to move away from their original intention to ‘dismiss’ any other person quietly’ as Joseph has considered in Mary’s case. But he can do better than that, understanding the part he has to play in bringing Jesus to birth for God. 

A lot of today’s would-be ‘Marys & Josephs’ are stuck in the muckiness of the world's many & varied stables. Not in some pretend nativity scene, but in real life. How can we help bring somebody to birth for God from such circumstances?

 We can’t just dismiss them, can we?  

Brian

Afterthought: If you can find a copy of John Irving’s ‘A Prayer for Owen Meany’ - it’s worth searching out - a highlight is an unbelievably amazing crib scene - one worth pondering deeply!