December 15, 2024 - The Wrong Thing for the Right Reason

THE ‘WRONG’ THING FOR THE RIGHT REASON 

Sunday, December 15, 2024

by Geoff Posegate

Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25

Key Verse:

"Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  

Matthew 1:20-21

On the surface, Matthew 1:18-25 is a story with a plot twist that causes everything to turn out all right. Despite not really understanding how Mary became pregnant with a child that was not his, Joseph decided to go through with marrying her anyway. Twenty-first century folks experience this as a ‘feel good’ story in which Joseph did the right thing.

It’s not that simple. In fact, a real case could be made to show that Joseph did the wrong thing.

Sleeping Joseph – by Vicente López Portaña

First century middle-eastern cultures tended to be very honor and shame based. Honorable behavior by an individual reflected on their whole family and community, while shameful behavior extended embarrassment and shame to everyone. Among Jewish people, if a woman who was engaged to be married (a legally binding arrangement then) became pregnant by way of someone other than the man to whom she was to be married, that was supremely shameful. Putting her to death was possible (see Deuteronomy 22:23-27), though seldom practiced in the first century. Still, punishing her severely and publicly was the right thing to do at the time. A more merciful approach was a private severance of the marriage arrangement (Numbers 5:11-31). This was also a way to do the right thing, and that was the path Joseph initially chose, to minimize shame to his family and Mary’s.

In that culture, marrying Mary was in fact the wrong thing to do. It would trigger shaming and scorn in their community. That’s why the angel in Joseph’s dream had to convince him not to be afraid and not to hesitate to take Mary as his wife. When God does some of God’s best stuff, God invites people to do things that they’ve long assumed are not the right thing to do. Including a prostitute in Jesus’ lineage was not the right thing to do. (Joshua 6:25, Matthew 1:5.) Jesus telling a story in which a hated Samaritan is the hero was not the right thing to do. (Luke 10:25-37.) Jesus attending a dinner party with sinners and tax-collectors was not the right thing to do. (Luke 5:27-32.) The Church welcoming Gentiles without converting them to Judaism was not the right thing to do. (Acts 15.)

Sometimes, just as with Joseph, we’re invited to break out of the confines of what we assume should and should not happen. That’s the nature of a God for whom nothing is impossible. That’s the way the child of a poor, unwed mother becomes the Savior of the world.

Come, long-expected Jesus. 

Excite in me a wonder at the wisdom and power of Your Father and ours. 

Receive my prayer as part of my service of the Lord 

who enlists me in God’s own work for justice. 

Come, long-expected Jesus. 

Excite in me a hunger for peace: peace in the world, 

peace in my home, peace in myself. 

Come, long-expected Jesus. 

Excite in me a joy responsive to the Father’s joy. 

I seek His will so I can serve with gladness, singing and love. 

Come, long-expected Jesus. 

Excite in me the joy and love and peace 

it is right to bring to the manger of my Lord. 

Raise in me, too, sober reverence for the God who acted there, 

hearty gratitude for the life begun there, 

and spirited resolution to serve the Father and Son. 

I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, 

whose advent I hail.

Amen.

Advent Prayer from St. Joseph - St. Pius X Catholic Parish of Leicester, MA