This is the fourth and final week of our Advent message series which we have been calling “Grace and Truth.” The word itself, Advent, means “arrival.” The arrival of Jesus is the arrival of grace and truth in our world and our everyday lives.
We started the series by defining our terms. Grace is favor, but its unmerited favor, which means you can’t buy it, you don’t earn it and you’ll never deserve it. All you can do with grace is take it or leave it. Truth is reality. It is not something we get to make up. It just is whether we know it or not, whether we like it or not, whether we want it or not. It is something that can be taught and learned, sought and discovered. Or, conversely, it can be ignored and denied. And, of course its constantly misrepresented.
The truth sometimes tells us that everything is not OK. The truth can let us know when we have problems to solve or work to do. The truth can revealing the distance between who we are and who we want to be. As such, the truth is the first step toward grace, toward opening our hearts and minds to acknowledging our need for grace.
Two weeks ago we looked at repentance as the bridge between grace and truth. The truth is that we are fallen, but we are also forgiven if we acknowledge our sins and ask for grace.
Last week, we looked at how we can extend grace and truth to others.
This Advent, we have been looking at Matthew’s Gospel, which was originally written for a Jewish audience. And so his perspective emphasizes the aspects of Jesus’ birth that point to his role as the long awaited Messiah, or Savior. The Messiah was envisioned as a liberator
who would come to restore the fortunes and glory of Israel. When you read Matthew’s Gospel
you see he’s constantly making connections and references to the Old Testament promises and prophecies, underscoring Jesus as the fulfillment of those promises and prophecies even as he’s introducing a very different kind of Messiah.
Jesus’ birth aligned with the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah’s birth. Matthew writes, “This how the birth of Jesus came about. When his Mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph but before they lived together, she was with child through the Holy Spirit” (Matt 1:18). In the culture of that time, to be betrothed was much more than being engaged in our culture. While the woman and man would not be living together, if they wanted to cancel the wedding they would need a divorce, and if one of them died during the period of betrothal, the survivor would be a widow or widower.
“Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, he decided to divorce her quietly” (Matt 1:19). Saints and scholars have often wondered why Joseph planned to quietly, covertly divorce Mary and end the engagement. The first conjecture is the obvious one. He didn’t know what was going on.
Another explanation suggests that Joseph knew exactly what was going on and he was scared. This view is supported by Scripture itself which tells us the first thing the angel says to Joseph is, “Do not be afraid” (Matt 1:20). He wanted to serve God, but didn’t think he was up to this kind of service.
When God calls people to something important, when he asks for their obedience the reaction, just like Joseph, is fear. If you sense there is something God wants you to do and you are feeling afraid, and not worthy to do it, not wanting to do it, congratulations. You’re in good company. Many of the heroes and saints of our faith felt the same way.
Scripture is clear that Joseph planned to step away from the biggest event in all of human history; “Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that the child has been conceived in her.” (Matt 1:20).
The angel reminds Joseph of who he is: the son of David, descendant of a great king. He is to be the link that connects the long awaited Messiah with the Davidic dynasty, which had been promised long ago. And the angel introduces Joseph to who he will become: the guardian of God’s son. Joseph is given the duty of naming the boy, traditionally the role of the father.
The angel establishes the precise nature of Jesus’ messianic mission: he’s not coming to overthrow Roman rule, or establish some kind of political order. He’s coming “because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt 1:210.
What did Joseph do? “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home” (Matt 1:24). He was obedient to grace and truth.
Two thousand years ago, God invited a somewhat impoverished, entirely unknown fellow in an obscure village in the middle of nowhere to be a protagonist in his great big plan to save the world. All that was required was obedience to grace and truth.
Here at the end of 2019 in Delran and Riverside, NJ God invites us to do the same. He wants to use us to help bring his Son into our community. We are invited to obey the promptings and commands of God. God gives us the truth of where he wants to go and the grace to fulfill it, but in between is our obedience, our willingness to respond.
I don’t know what God has been tugging on your heart or prompting you to do this Christmas. Maybe something for a family member who is disaffected. Maybe something for a neighbor who is isolated and alone this holiday. Maybe for someone you don’t even know. We are scarcely aware of how lives are changed, families strengthened, hearts renewed, history changed by even a single act of obedience to grace and truth.