Luke 2:(1-7) 8-20
This morning, I’m thinking about Joseph. In a great reversal of the Biblical norm, Joseph is seen and not heard while his wife Mary gets all the great lines. Joseph does not speak a single line of dialogue in scripture. All we know about him from the Biblical witness is that he is a righteous man, that he is betrothed to Mary when she learns that she will conceive the son if God, that he is of the house and lineage of David, and that he is a tekton, a craftsman. A righteous man, a person who works with his hands, who has compassion on a young woman in a dangerous situation. First, his compassion moves him to end the betrothal quietly, foregoing the public shaming he might have brought upon Mary and her family. Then, after an encounter with a divine messenger who tells him the miraculous truth of Mary’s unborn child, Joseph takes her into his household and marries her after she gives birth to a son that Joseph calls his own. As radical as Mary’s yes to God’s outrageous proposal, Joseph is radical in his choice to claim as his firstborn a child he knows is not biologically related to him, a child he knows has an uncertain and dangerous future ahead of him. In choosing Mary and Jesus, Joseph foregoes the natural heir and successor to the family business that would have been any reasonable man’s expectation at the time. His legacy is not secured by the birth of this child, not in the traditional sense. But Joseph leaves behind an even greater legacy, one we ought to ponder on this Christmas morning.
Just as Mary has many titles in the tradition of the church- theotokos, God-bearer, blessed virgin, queen of heaven- so too does Joseph. The church remembers him as the most chaste spouse of Mary, the protector of Our Lord, the Foster Father of Jesus, the worker. Joseph’s role in the life of Jesus was one of guardianship, protection, and hard work. The timing of Mary’s pregnancy was no secret- there is no doubt that people talked. In an honor-shame culture, both she and her son were at risk of ridicule, even violence. Joseph’s steadfastness shielded them, protected them. He gave Jesus a name and a respectable household, he taught him a trade and provided for him and his mother. He got them across the border into Egypt when it became clear that those in power sought to kill the newborn prince of peace. In a foreign land as refugees, Joseph found safe shelter and by the work of his hands built a life for them until they could safely return to their homeland. Beyond protecting Mary from ridicule, he protected her and her son from death itself.
We know from the biblical witness that Jesus had brothers and sisters, perhaps born of Mary or perhaps children of Joseph from a previous marriage. One way or another, Joseph provided Jesus with siblings, playmates, a family in which his differences were accepted and treasured as he grew.
Joseph models for us what is possible when a person chooses compassion over judgment, love over fear. Joseph shows us what Jesus will preach later in his life- that families are not only defined by blood, but by what is in the heart. Joseph chose to be Jesus’s second parent, chose to protect Mary, and by that choice formed the Holy Family. Joseph chose to be a present and active foster father, teaching God’s son the fundamentals of a craft and ensuring he had a formal education in the scriptures. Joseph chose to love, and in the choosing grew the family of God.
In this season that is so much about family- about who you spend the holiday with, whose cards line your mantle, who unwraps your gifts and shares your festive meals- Joseph reminds us that there is more than one way to be a family. Beyond marriage, beyond genetics, families come together through choice. We can choose to be present and active and safe adults in the lives of children and their parents who invite us in. We can choose to contribute, to be a good coparent, even as relationships change. We can choose to treat our church family like the family that it is, not as secondary to our household but as an extension of it. We can choose a broader definition of family, one that does not make assumptions, one that does not differentiate between friend and neighbor and brother and sister. We can choose to be mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters of one another, a beautiful jumble that can never translate to a tidy family tree.
As you go forth today, back to the quiet house or the piles of shredded wrapping paper or the bleary-eyed houseguests who are just now waking up in their Christmas pajamas- consider your family. Not just the ones under your own roof or the ones who have your eyes or your last name. Think about the people you’ve chosen, the ones you’ve found. Find a way to thank them, to celebrate them, in honor of the holy family we celebrate today. Send a text, make a call, invite them over or make plans for the new year. Our holy family is much larger than we realize. Let’s give thanks for that today. Merry Christmas.
Mother A Writes 