“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and his name shall be called Emmanuel’ (which means, God with us)”
– Matthew 1:18-23
A number of years ago… when I was the pastor at New Life Lutheran in Pearland… I drove to my bishop’s office for a meeting of conference deans of which I was one of ten. I was driving an old Dodge Reliant… a car that was always reliable… except for the right front headlight which was loose and had to be repaired with some silly putty… but on this trip … while driving north on the Gulf Freeway… just past Gallery Furniture… the right front tire blew out… and the car began to pull to the right… me being in the middle lane trying to pass an 18-wheeler … I found myself being pulled directly under the trailer… and with a quick glance there was a white pick-up truck coming up quickly on my left in the outside lane not leaving me no room to pull over to the left when suddenly it felt like there was a long angelic arm reaching down from heaven grabbing the top of the car and lifting it off the pavement… just dangling in the air as I watched the semi push forward and the pick-up truck pass me by like I was standing still… because I think I was… as the Dodge Reliant was gently placed back on the Gulf Freeway with no traffic on either side of me and I steered the car over to the side of the road…
Unexpected & mysterious. You may have a story like that… Maybe you kept it to yourself… maybe you told someone else… and when you did… it made all the difference…
Think about Joseph for a minute. We don’t know much about him… except for being betrothed to Mary, from the House of King David, living in Nazareth, being a stone mason and going to Jerusalem each year for the Passover.
Yet, Matthew tells us in his gospel that God was up to something very special which included Joseph being the earthly father of the Son of God who would be born to a woman who was going to be his wife but at the moment there would be no conceivable way he was the biological father. Think Maury Povich TV show here and the DNA tests which caused many a stir… just imagine… news so demanding and disruptive that God needed to send an angel to bring him not just up to date… but news that would dissuade Joseph from divorcing Mary in private… which was his legal right at the time. Talk about embarrassing things in a small town… talk about unexpected and mysterious… and that God could not keep this a secret… Faith matters… even for God!
Will it take an angel of the Lord to get our attention about the deep meaning of Christmas? Will we even notice… with all the running here and there and everywhere engaging in the parties, shopping, and frivolity which have very little to do with why God sent an angel to Joseph? Not to send a message… but to send THE message!
Do you remember Christmas morning when you were a child? Unexpected and mysterious happens! Right? Good. Get in touch with that feeling… and like Joseph… may your Christmas be all God wants for you! And while you are rejoicing in God’s great work in us and through us… don’t keep the story to yourself… it just might change someone’s life! It did for Joseph!
The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Gigee is a long-time resident of Pearland, having pastored four churches over the last four decades in Texas and Louisiana. Read more following Brian’s blog ‘murmurings’ at https://briangigee.wordpress.com/. Send comments and/or questions to godworks247365@gmail.com.
