I’m glad that Joseph gets his own Sunday every three years. It is usually Mary whom we hear about on this 4th Sunday of Advent. It is Mary who receives the angel’s joyful greeting; it is Mary who visits her kinswoman Elizabeth; it is Mary who utters that wonderful prayer, the Magnificat; it is Mary who gives birth to Jesus. Joseph remains a supporting actor in the typical Christmas story, never saying a word and, eventually, disappearing altogether from the Gospel stories. He definitely is an “extra” if we were to use Hollywood jargon.
Not in today’s Gospel. Matthew puts Joseph in the leading role in his account of the annunciation and he comes off as the person who helps God’s divine plan play out as it should.
Joseph is a just man. When he hears about the pregnancy of Mary, he is distraught. Imagine his sense of betrayal when he learns that the woman he is engaged to is pregnant and he is not the father. By law, Joseph could have rejected Mary and could even have subjected her to the full authority of the law which might have resulted in her death. Only recently, we had the story of the Saudi Arabian woman who was going to get 200 lashes and prison because she was in the company of some strangers who ended up raping her. That gives you an idea of how little Middle Eastern justice has changed in the last 2000 years. Joseph is well within his right to put Mary into the hands of the authorities.
But Joseph does not reject Mary. He decides that he will protect her dignity and simply allow her to return home. He will break off the engagement and quietly leave the scene. This would be noble of him and would demonstrate his real love for her.
But God will have none of this quiet or secretive behavior. God wants Joseph to stay front and center. God wants Joseph to do the risky thing. So, in a dream, the angel appears to Joseph, allays his fears and tells him to take Mary as his wife because she has conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph awakes and does just this. He takes Mary as his wife and adopts the child as his own. He gives the child his name and provides for him in his early years at home. Joseph could have neglected his role in this drama but he didn’t.
I don’t know about you but I empathize with Joseph in all of this. After all, like Joseph, we are not really the central characters in the drama of life, are we? As life is being played out, we are mostly bit characters, extras on the stage. Most of our history and world events is dominated by big actors—those with money, those with power, those with authority. I mean, really, how much of an impact does any of us here have on issues involving politics, war, the economy? What can we do to make an impact on global hunger, homelessness or poverty? How can we influence multinational corporations? We play our bit parts in life watching kings and queens and big wigs come and go. We watch all of this drama taking place and there’s little we can do.
Do you believe that? I hope not. In fact, in God’s plan of salvation, each of us is a lead actor. This is what Joseph’s story is telling us. Joseph reminds us that the way we live, the way we love others and the choices we make can make a huge difference in the world. Again, Joseph could have done all the acceptable things given his situation. He could have followed the law, he could have sought the support of his neighbors, he could have talked about traditional family values, he could have become a victim of a great injustice. Joseph could have done what was expected of him.
But Joseph did none of the things expected of him. Instead, he chose to usher into existence and new kind of righteousness and justice. He gave us a new definition of compassion. He also taught us that no risk is too great if God is the one asking for such a risk and he taught us that change is good and that newness is good.
By following the example of Joseph, we can take a greater role in the drama of life as it unfolds. We do this because life is to unfold according to God’s plan. We realize, though, that we will always be supporting actors because the lead role belongs to someone else and we know who the lead actor is in life. Yet, even with our supporting roles we are called to greatness. We are called to take risks for the sake of the Gospel; we are called to defy conventional wisdom, to seek a new justice, to listen to the crazy words of angels who call us to go out on a limb for God. We are called to practice a compassion that seems foolish and a forgiveness that knows no boundaries. These are all the challenges that Joseph of Nazareth was invited to embrace and he accepted the challenge. As a result, human history has been changed forever by Joseph allowing this child, Jesus, to call him “abba.”
For that, Joseph deserves his Sunday—even if it is only once every three years. May his story inspire us to dream great things and act upon those dreams for the sake of God’s plan of salvation as it comes to fulfillment in the celebration of Christmas.