How many times is Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, mentioned in the Bible? I remember that question in a Bible Quiz in Sunday School when I was in high school. A quick glance at the Gospels offers very little. Joseph never speaks for himself, but is only talked about by the narrator of the text. In Luke’s Gospel just a scant story and the same in Matthew, this week’s text!
No mention whatsoever in the Gospel of Mark and only a reference to being the father of Jesus in the Gospel of John.
Matthew and Luke carry the Joseph narrative, but what is said about him makes him a “man of mystery” instead of a known character in the Bible. And yet, we can relate to Joseph in one sense that is an important virtue.
The virtue is that Joseph is open. Joseph is open to not discredit his betrothed Mary, which really tells us that this is a marriage to be of love and not just of a traditional arrangement. And Joseph is open to being led by the Holy Spirit. The dream changed the course of action he was planning to take and took him in a completely different direction.
The title of the Sermon this week is The Child Who Leads Us to Peace and as for Joseph and his son, Jesus, and for you and me, there is no peace without openness. Look for this openness this Advent Season in the texts, the music and in you.
-Pastor Todd