This fourth Sunday of Advent we are given Joseph. He stands as the hero of this story. He is the husband of Mary and the step-father of Jesus. (Mt. 1, 18-25) We only hear of the angels coming to him in his dreams. We have no spoken words. The last we hear of Joseph is his return from Egypt to settle down in the town of Nazareth. After that he disappears from the story.
Joseph is important to us because of his attitude. He is faithful to the message of God. He was an upright man, faithful to the Law and all the rules. God directs him to step outside of the rules. Normally, if a woman was pregnant before the couple came to live together, she could have been punished by stoning. What a cruel and shameful death that would have been.
Instead, Joseph struggles with the plans of God. He is to take this pregnant woman and raise the child (not his) with her. Not only that, this child is destined to accomplish great things in his lifetime: He is to save the people from their sins!
Enter into the confusion and the struggles of Joseph. He is to act contrary to the teachings he received in his maturing years. He is to act contrary to the Jewish Law. At the heart of his struggles is faithfulness. How does he be faithful to God when the Holy Spirit is leading him in the opposite direction from the Law?
We can stand with Joseph. We too struggle with being faithful in some very difficult and confusing situations.
We struggle with being faithful to our adult children when they move through several relationships and have children from one or two different partners. We would like to give up and just walk away but these are my children!
We struggle with faithfulness toward our spouse, even when the relationship seems to be drifting apart. We do not give up but try to rebuild on the commitment we made to one another on our marriage day. Faithfulness is not only lived when life is going well, but it is the hard trek through the desert of ‘nothing’ in our relationship.
We struggle with being faithful to our aged parent whose dementia has lead them to care in the nursing home. They recognize no one from their past. They cannot communicate. As much as we find it very difficult, faithfulness means just being present for hours, gently holding their hand and quietly telling them memories from the past. Faithfulness can feel very lonely in a nursing home!
We struggle with Joseph in being faithful to our fellow human beings. We can only survive and thrive by out interconnectedness and our support of one another. Faithfulness means working together to help each other have medical care, security in our old age and schools for our children to attend. Faithfulness to my fellow human being is the opposite of any type of selfishness.
With Joseph, we want to practice faithfulness toward God. Every moment of our existence comes from the loving concern of our God. We want to work to express our gratitude and praise for the great gift that God has given us: our life at this very moment.
Joseph may have not any recorded words. He appears ever so briefly on the stage of Jesus. But today we need this pillar of faithfulness.
Joseph, be with us.
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