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Under normal circumstances, you would have found me glued to
the tube on Friday and Saturday. After all, this was history!
For only the second time in our nation's history, a sitting
President, rightly or wrongly, was being impeached, and, of all
things, by a lame duck Congress! But, to be honest, I could not
bear to watch. The so-called debate was a sham - most of the
speeches were delivered to empty seats in the House chamber and
were given only for their value as film clips during local
newscasts around the country. No minds were going to be changed.
Yesterday's vote was a foregone conclusion cast almost
exclusively on a partisan basis. The political drivel was only a
repeat of what has been said over and over and over again in ten-second sound bites. The only statement that was genuinely new
was Henry Hyde's incredible assertion that to fail to proceed
with this process would somehow lead us down the path to
AUSCHWITZ! Say what?
Meanwhile, this is all played out against a backdrop of
cruise missiles, smart bombs, B-52's, and Stealth fighters
pounding Iraq. Yes, the timing is suspect, but so is the method.
Hundreds of millions of American dollars are going up in the
smoke of Baghdad, dozens of innocent Iraqis are dead or injured
(and thank goodness it is only dozens and not thousands) in an
attempt to get Saddam Hussein to become an upstanding world
citizen. The attempt has failed before, and no one doubts that
it will fail again. But the bombs fell anyway. Surreal.
Religious leaders of every faith are saying this is wrong.
Presbyterians agree. One would wish, though, that whomever the Pentagon chooses
to come up with names for any future operations might be old
enough for the job, or at least be enough of a student of history
to do it right. Operation Desert Fox? Erwin Rommel was the
Desert Fox. Erwin Rommel was a Nazi General! Another bizarre note to the nightmare.
Now add one more surreal element into this pageant - the
sights and sounds, the lights, the laughter...of Christmas.
Along with the bombshells and bombast, we hear, "Peace on
earth...Goodwill." Something is oddly out of place.
Is there any word from the Lord in all this? You bet your
life! I find it in this story of Joseph from our gospel lesson.
If there is anyone in the Christmas story who could feel the kind
of removal from reality that we experience in our mess, it would
be Joseph.
Put yourself in his sandals. A simple man, a carpenter. He
is about to get married. It would be the normal Jewish three-step procedure.(1) There was the engagement, which was often made
when the couple were only children, usually through the parents
or a professional match-maker. And it was often made without the
couple involved ever having seen each other - marriage was
considered far too serious a step to be left to the dictates of
the human heart. Then there was the betrothal which was the
ratification of the engagement into which the couple had
previously entered. It lasted for one year during which the
couple was known as man and wife, although they would not live
together. Betrothal could only be terminated as a full-blown
marriage could be - death or divorce. The third stage was the
marriage proper, which took place at the end of the year of
betrothal.
Joseph and Mary were at stage two. Suddenly, Mary turns up
pregnant. And the baby is not Joseph's. Joseph KNOWS it is not
Joseph's. What a dilemma! Nightmare!
What a jumble his feelings must have been! Rage?
Unquestionably. Fury at her unfaithfulness. Fury at whomever
had defiled the marriage bed with her. Embarrassment? Of
course. Half his friends would think he was a fool for having
been cuckolded, and the other half would think that he did not
have enough self-control to wait until after the marriage feast.
Sorrow? No doubt. His life was planned out - it was going to be
with Mary. Now that would not be possible. Sorry for her too,
even though this was something she had brought on herself.
Now what? Jewish law allowed stoning as the penalty for
adultery, but that was a sentence not often carried out in
practice. Joseph could have made a public spectacle of Mary to
prove his own innocence in the affair. No. Finally, the
decision was made to handle the situation quietly, to give her a
Bill of Divorcement in the presence of two witnesses as the Law
required, and then let her go her way. Perhaps she would return
to the home of her cousin Elizabeth to avoid the shame of having
the child in Nazareth. One way or another, the nightmare would
be over.
But we know the story does not end there. He was asleep,
but sometime during the night, was awakened with a start.
"Joseph. Joseph. Wake up."
"What?" He looked around in the dark of his room, the only
light from the moon beaming through the window. He saw the
silhouette of a man. But there was something about him that told
Joseph there was no reason to fear.
The silhouette spoke. "Joseph, son of David, do not be
afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her
is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to
name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
Joseph had no chance to reply - the visitor disappeared.
What would Joseph have said anyway? We can see him lying there
thinking till morning, then, at daybreak, trying to figure out
what had happened. Had there really been anyone there the night
before? Perhaps it had been a dream. Just a continuation of the
nightmare? No. The message was from the Lord. It was too
strange to have come from anyone else.
We know the rest of the story. Joseph came through. The
betrothal was resumed. There was that trip down to Bethlehem for
the Roman census, not much fun for a very pregnant young lady.
The baby came. Joseph named him - that was the prerogative of
the father, and Joseph accepted this child as his own, "of the
house and lineage of David," as the old King James has it. Good
man.
One of my friends recalls the days when he taught
confirmation to each year's 9th grade Sunday School class.(2) At
this time of year, he would do the same exercise. He would tell
the class that scholars thought that Mary was the same age as
they were, about 14 or so. He would then show them Deuteronomy
22:23-24, where according to Jewish law Joseph could have brought
charges against Mary, and if found guilty, she could have been
put to death. He would then divide up the class with all the
boys on one side and all the girls on the other. The girls'
assignment was to list all of Mary's options, while the boys were
to list Joseph's.
This usually would generate a lively discussion, especially
once they realized they did not have to stick to nice, neat,
happy-ending choices. With not much prompting, they would
generate quite a list. Mary could have...had an abortion,
claimed she was raped, committed suicide, run away, etc., etc.
Joseph, on the other hand, could have...brought her to trial,
quietly sent her out of town, left town himself, eloped with her,
made up a story, etc., etc.
In one particular class when all of these options were
listed on the chalkboard, my friend stood back. He asked, "What
does all this tell you?"
The class was very quiet for a moment or two. Then John,
the worst troublemaker in the bunch, said, "Wow! Look at all
that could have gone wrong. God was really taking a risk."
Smart kid. Indeed, since the beginning of creation, God has
been willing to risk. But I want you to note one thing, and if
you take nothing else away from here this morning, take this.
This very first story in the New Testament, this story about
Joseph, this story about the nightmare his life had become, this
story about the angel's midnight message, this story...is really
GOD'S story. From the first story till the last, the essence is
caught in something as simple as a name. Emmanuel. God is with
us. Remember that the next time your own life has become a
nightmare. Emmanuel. We are not alone. God is with us.
For many people around the planet, this has been a year of
nightmares. In Asian nations millions of people have lost their
livelihoods in the wake of the financial crisis. In other parts
of the world tens of thousands have lost their homes as a
consequence of floods and hurricanes. Throughout the year wars
have taken their toll of innocent civilians and have added to the
already-existing ranks of millions of refugees. Bad year.
But the good news I bring to you today is that the
nightmares WILL end - they always do. Nations around the globe
are beginning to get financial houses in order. Relief and
rebuilding efforts are underway in Central America. The bombing
in Baghdad has stopped; it soon will in Washington. Since the
outcome in the Senate is as much a foregone conclusion as the
vote in the House, perhaps cooler heads will prevail, a
bipartisan resolution of censure will be adopted, and a months-long trial will be avoided. We can only hope. But as Richard
Gephardt, the House Minority leader, said in the debate on
Friday, "It's no wonder to me and to you that the people of our
country today are cynical and indifferent and apathetic about our
government and about our country. The politics of smear and
slash and burn must end."
Good can come out of this Nightmare before Christmas. I
know it with every fibre of my being. God takes awful situations
and turns them around all the time. God can do it with this one
too.
A few weeks ago, the North Carolina Council of Churches
adopted an edited version of a paper authored by your pastor
entitled, "With All Due Respect." It is a call to our political
leaders to stop the partisan "mud wrestling," to raise the level
of political discourse, and begin treating one another with
civility. We know there can and even should be honest
disagreement regarding policies and practices, but incivility
frustrates the airing of those honest differences. The call to
our politicians is STOP DEMONIZING THOSE WITH WHOM YOU DISAGREE!
The call to the media is to stop relying on ten-second sound
bites to frame political debate, because they encourage people to
jump to conclusions, to speak without thinking, and to say
outrageous things in order to capture attention. The call to the
church is to insist on better performance by our political
leaders in their public behavior (and private behavior
improvement would also be appreciated). Once again, we CAN
become a CIVIL society. Good CAN come out of this nightmare.
Let us INSIST upon it.
Remember, nightmares end, whether they be national or
personal. We are not alone. Good news. Emmanuel - God is with
us. The darkness and all the terrors it holds fly away as the
new day breaks.
Hurry, Lord. Bring on the dawn.
Amen!
1. William Barclay, CD-ROM, Daily Study Bible Series, (Liguori, MO: Liguori Faithware,
1996) Used by permission of Westminster/John Knox Press 2. Howard Chapman, Via PresbyNet, "Sermonshop 1998 12 20," #64, 12/17/98
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