Awake from Sleep!
Advent 4A - December 22, 2013
*View the sermon on YouTube here.
We spend so much of our lives dreaming, planning out our ideal vision of the future. People dedicate whole Pinterest boards to their someday wedding (whether they’re engaged or not!), to their someday home, to the memories and traditions they’d like to create with their children. As we get older, perhaps our dreams turn to visions of retirement or to travel plans. Thinking about what the future may hold and dreaming about the life we want to live is part of human nature. It’s something we like to spend time daydreaming about.
But we all know our dreams don’t always come true. Life doesn’t look like a Pinterest board. Inevitably, something happens that throws our dreams off course. Sometimes it’s just a minor course correction, and we adjust quickly. But sometimes we have major detours, events that stop us in our tracks, looking around not knowing what just happened, when life suddenly seems like one big bad dream that we hope and pray we’ll wake up from soon. Mr. or Mrs. Right says, “We need to talk,” and next thing you know, divorce is on the horizon. That dream job we thought we were so right for is given to someone else. The home we waited and saved for ends up in foreclosure. Infertility strikes. People in the prime of life get cancer or get deployed to dangerous uncertain places or fall victim to random accidents or violence. Depression and despair take over in the life of someone we love who chooses to end the bad dream once and for all. And we may wish we could ignore all of these hard things this morning, but that wouldn’t be honest. Somehow our lives have put us on a road we didn’t even know was on the map, and we sit here feeling lost, alone, confused, wondering how we can move on from here. Some of us are sitting here this morning feeling like we’re in the middle of a bad dream, wondering if we’re ever going to wake up.
I think Joseph knew these same feelings only too well. Here in Matthew’s gospel, we get one of the few stories we ever get about Jesus’ earthly father. And Joseph’s life feels like a bad dream.
The way I imagine him, based on what little we know about Joseph, is that he was probably the kind of guy who liked to have life planned out and organized. He was a carpenter after all. Measure twice and cut once and all that. So I figure Joseph was the kind of guy who had a master plan for his life: work hard, save a little money, find a wife and settle down and raise a family. And things seemed like they were on track. He was engaged to Mary – the first step in the traditional arranged marriage. Now they were just waiting for the second step, for Mary to come and make her home with Joseph. Then the rest of their lives could begin.
But then word comes that Mary is pregnant! Imagine the scandal, the feelings of betrayal and disappointment. He knows for sure this baby she’s carrying ain’t his. How can he possibly marry her now? So Joseph wrestles with his options. None of them are good. And so he tosses and turns, and finally comes to a decision. He’s righteous, but compassionate. He can’t marry Mary, but at least he can save her from public disgrace and punishment. He resolves to dismiss her, but quietly. Then, perhaps, he can start over, dream new dreams. And so he falls, finally, into sleep.
But as he sleeps, he begins to dream. And suddenly, God shows up, sending an angel who brings Joseph a new dream, God’s dream! “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid!” (Ever notice that that’s the first thing angels always say when they appear: “Do not be afraid.”) “Mary’s story is true. Her child is from the Holy Spirit. Go ahead and marry her, just like you planned. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus.” Jesus – which means, “he saves.” Matthew tells us this son will be known as Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”
You see, just when all of Joseph's dreams were crumbling, God literally brings him a new dream. When Joseph was filled with doubt and not knowing where to turn, God enters in and gives him a new direction, a new plan. When Joseph thought all hope was gone, God comes and brings new hope!
And so Joseph steps out in faith to do what the angel of the Lord told him to do. That's not to say that the road ahead of him was always easy; Joseph doesn't get to slide back into his dream of “happily ever after”. It will be years before life returns to anything like normal for Joseph, but each step along the journey, each time Joseph takes another leap of faith to be obedient to what God has called him to do, he finds that God is with him. As Mary & Joseph travel to Bethlehem and find shelter in a stable, God is with them. When Joseph has another dream warning them to get outta Bethlehem quick before King Herod finds them, God is with them. As they flee to Egypt and settle there in a foreign land where they don't know anyone and no one knows them, God is with them. And when they finally return to Judea and settle in Nazareth, instead of Galilee, which was the original plan, God is with them. In each new, unplanned-for situation, Joseph discovers that God is there with them, guiding them, guarding them, preparing a way where there was no way, bringing good despite all his fear, and uncertainly, and doubt.
I don't know where all of you find yourselves this morning, but as we head toward a new year, I imagine some of us are in the place Joseph found himself, faced with a situation we don't know how to handle or a future we don’t think we can face because of anxiety or dread of what that future might bring, feeling like life is just a bad dream. But awake from sleep and trust this morning that this is not the end of your story. Know that even when our dreams are falling down around us, God has a new dream for us. When our carefully built plans are self-destructing, God has a new plan for us. And while we wait and listen for God to reveal that new vision for our future, here is a promise that will hold true: God is with you. When the path is straight and clear and easy, God is with you. And when the road is rocky & steep, and you can't see what lies ahead, God is with you. And even when you sit down and cry in the middle of the road because you just can't go another step, God is with you. God is with you, guarding you and guiding you, whispering not to lose hope because God has a new dream in store. It was God's promise to Joseph 2 millenia ago, and it's still God's promise to us today. May you know the truth and the peace of that promise today and always. God is with you.
Amen.
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