When I was in seminary, many fun community events marked the passing of each year. At the beginning of the school year, we had a field day style event which we called the Pontifical Olympics. Later on in the Fall was the Mud Bowl, an aptly named flag football game which pitted the older seminarians against the younger ones. Every Spring we had basketball and softball tournaments. We had Casino Night in the spring as well. Finally, we ended every school year with the showing of a satirical video some of us worked to create that we called “The Divine Office,” which was a spoof on seminary life in the style of the TV show, “The Office.” It featured musical numbers, skits about the oddities of seminary life, and mock “talking head” interviews with seminarians and staff members. I became aware of this yearly video project early on in my time at the seminary, because the guy who put it together, Ben Muhlenkamp, recruited me to help him. He had learned through the grapevine that I had some skills at amateur movie making, so he brought me into the fold.
For several years, Ben and I collaborated on the project. Ben served as the director, writer and assistant cameraman. I served as principal cameraman and editor. We worked well together and had fun putting together this funny movie for the rest of the guys. When it came time for Ben to graduate, he entrusted the project to me to continue the tradition, and I took it on all by myself the following year. I did most of the writing and all of the directing, filming and editing. It was a lot of work! Unfortunately, when we had the grand reveal for the student body, I could tell that jokes weren’t really landing like they had with previous editions of “The Divine Office.”
After that somewhat disappointing showing, I was approached by a couple of seminarian friends who offered to be the writers for the next installment. To my great relief, with their help, the quality of the jokes increased dramatically and the following year, my brother seminarians were once again rolling with laughter. I learned an important lesson–doing things alone was not going to produce the best result. Working with those other guys, I was able to lean on the comedic writing skills they brought to the table, instead of relying on my own limited skill set in that area. Together, we made some funny movies for our brother seminarians.
This Sunday we get a window into how God worked to bring about the birth of Jesus. The portion of Matthew’s Gospel we have in the liturgy today focuses on Joseph’s encounter with an angel in his dreams. Although Joseph doesn’t say anything, his actions speak volumes. Joseph changes course from what he himself had planned to do and instead takes Mary into his home.
A note here about what Joseph’s original plan was for Mary. The translation we use for the readings isn’t my favorite. It tells us that Joseph was planning to “divorce” Mary. This can come off as Joseph being a bit harsh. If we are to take Matthew at his word that Joseph was a “righteous man,” then how does this square with the fact that he was thinking of divorcing Mary when he found out that she was with child? First, we need to understand the Greek words in the original text. The verb used here is apolysai, which can be translated as ‘divorce,’ but can also be translated as ‘send away.’ In fact, the Revised Standard version of the Bible translates this passage in just that way: “her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away quietly.” It’s not that Joseph wanted to abandon Mary, but that he didn’t want her to be shamed by the likely conclusion that others would come to: that they had been together as man and wife before the time of their marriage, while they were still ‘betrothed.’ This betrothal period was a formal period of preparation for marriage and would only end when the father of the bridegroom decided that his home was ready to receive his new bride. Then the bridegroom would come and take his betrothed to his home, where they would consummate the marriage and there would be a massive wedding feast spanning seven days. So when we see Joseph’s initial plan, it is in this context. He wants to spare Mary the shame and dishonor that would come to her, despite the fact that she had done nothing wrong.
But God the Father had a better plan than Joseph. He knew that this righteous man would be the perfect earthly father for Jesus, so he sent Joseph some help. The angel in the dream calms Joseph’s anxiety about the potential shame facing Mary. He encourages him: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.” The angel then makes known to Joseph that this singular child, conceived by the Holy Spirit, will save people from their sins! That is an incredible statement! But Joseph takes it in stride. He likely had no idea exactly how this special child would save people from their sins, but he trusted. In spite of the fact that people might murmur about his timing of taking Mary into his home, Joseph did as the angel commanded him. We see this throughout the life of Joseph–that he trusts entirely in the plan of God.
Working with his own limited wisdom, Joseph would have left Mary without a protector and the infant Jesus without a foster father. But praise God that he was willing to accept the angelic help sent his way. His humble, faithful heart was open to change and he willingly cooperated with the plan of God once it was presented to Him. Joseph is an example to all of us for what it looks like to be radically dependent on God. His dependance on God was not a weakness, but rather an acknowledgement of the fact that his own power and perspective were limited. He was undoubtedly familiar with the words of the Lord spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Brothers and sisters, this is the invitation for us as we come to the final days of this Advent season. We are so often tempted to try to do everything ourselves. The idea of radical individualism is something baked into our American society. But this often gets us into trouble, like when I tried to create “The Divine Office” movie on my own. When I was able to recognize my own limitations, it made me more open to those who could help me make a better movie. The great news for us is that we always have people in our lives who can help us, if we know where to look. The angel directed Joseph to stay by Mary and not distance himself from her. God knew that together they would be the perfect parents for Jesus, who is Emmanuel, God with us. Joseph leaned on the help of the angel and was willing to adjust his plans based on the plan of God. We can all take courage from his great example.
Let’s all take time to reflect on where we are in our own life journey. Are we trying to go at it on our own? Is our approach to tell God our own plan, or are we open to His plan? I guarantee that when we open ourselves more to the plan of God, He will give us renewed strength and will bring us into communion with others to help us follow the call of God in whatever adventure He has in store for us! Let us look for those ways to work together with God and others to further His kingdom.
+ Heavenly Father, thank you for reminding us today of the goodness of your plans for us. Jesus, with your grace, help us to lean on those brothers and sisters who are meant to share the journey with us. Holy Spirit, inspire our hearts with excitement for all that God is doing in our midst. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen. +