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Joseph and Jesus

1/7/2021

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"Joseph, being a just man ... (Matt. 1:18)"
"He did what the Lord had commanded him.” (Mat 1:24)"

LISTEN: MercyMe,  Joseph's Lullaby,
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7InZv8Zfs10

It can be said that the unsung hero of the Nativity story is Joseph, the human father of Jesus, the husband of Mary. Yet Joseph does not say a word in the Bible.  His actions, however, speak volumes.   Matthew tells us that Joseph learns that his betrothed, Mary, is found with child of the Holy Spirit.  Just about any other man would have felt betrayed, angry, or sought revenge. Another man might have spread rumors.  Joseph didn't do these things. We are told that Joseph was just.   While it was in his rights to have Mary condemned, but he didn't seek this path.  He sought to divorce her quietly. In doing so, he desired to protect her from shame and harm.  Joseph was a mensch, a man of integrity and honor.

Joseph was a carpenter.  He knew how to build structures.  Joseph was also a spiritual carpenter. He knew how to build relationships -- a family -- with the raw materials God gave him.  Joseph was precisely the man God needed for the task at hand: a human father for Jesus, the Master Carpenter, born to restore the world to wholeness.

What raw materials did God give Joseph?  In addition to his upright character, Joseph had the uncanny ability to listen to God speaking to him through his dreams. He is reassured to take Mary as his wife, and to name the child Jesus. Being warned in a dream about Herod, he takes his family and flees to Egypt. Another dream assures him when he can return. Because he listened, he traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem, from Bethlehem to Egypt, then back to Nazareth. Think of all that traveling with a young child! It's hard enough in our day and age to travel with the under two set. Joseph and Mary faced the inconveniences before them -- but these trials united them instead of tearing them apart.  Joseph kept them safe at all costs. Not once do we hear a grumble or complaint.  Joseph and Mary built a family in midst these travels -- through their trust and obedience to God and their love and respect for each other.

While there are many legends that have sprung up around Joseph; the biblical narrative alone speaks most powerfully to his character and his vital role in our Christmas story.  Joseph teaches us that our character, and what we do for one another in times of dire need, have a long-lasting affect.  People may not remember our words.   But people will remember what we did for them to keep them safe.  People will remember when we gave them a second chance or when we chose the high road. People will remember when we walked the journey with them, even at great inconvenience to ourselves.  People will remember when we saved them from evil circumstances.  People will remember when we gave them a home.  Yes, people will remember that we have dreams for them, dreams for life and purpose -- and we will do what we can to make these dreams come true. 

Have you had a dream for someone else?  A dream for their future? Help them achieve it.  Have you been hurt but given the opportunity to see things from God's eyes?  Receive that divine vision.  Have you had the opportunity to create happy memories, safe spaces for those who need them?  Be like Joseph.  Joseph, the carpenter, who know not only to build a house, but to build a home.  

 May your dreams in these final days of Advent lead you to building a home where Love can dwell, all are safe, and dreams come true.

Pray:   "God, help us learn from our brother, Joseph. Make us builders of relationships where Love is born, dreams are made and where we take care of each other, in your name."
 
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Remembering Sandy Hook

1/7/2021

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​ "Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:  “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children,Refusing to be comforted,  Because they are no more. Matt. 2:16-18"



LISTEN TO:  Maria Muldaur, cover of Bob Dylan's "Lord, Protect My Child"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVxGLAU7AMA



This Monday, December 14, we will remember one of the darkest days of modern US history: the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre.  20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children between six and seven years old, and six adult staff members in Newtown, CT.   Today, instead of celebrating 20 beautiful teenagers beginning to discover themselves and build their future, we mourn the loss of innocents. For many people, it was an incident, like 9-11, whose impact on our psyche shall never be forgotten. An evil that can never be erased. A irremovable stain on the soul of our nation.

We are reminded that mass murder has always been a part of the Christmas story, a part that is painful for us to look at. A part we would prefer to ignore. The Gospel of Matthew reminds us that King Herod was leaving no stone unturned in his desire to kill Jesus, and rid himself of a supposed rival.  He didn't think twice of killing those baby boys.  

This is what Evil does.  It wants to destroy our hope. Our future. Our innocence. Our ties love and relationships.  It wants to plant seeds of despair; seeds of bitterness. It wants to train our hearts to see other people as "objects."   The same evil that drove Herod to kill has prompted countless others down the ages to kill, abuse and destroy human community.

God knew this. And God knew we were powerless to stop the Evil One, powerless even on our own to change our hearts.  So God sent Innocence into the world. God sent us a Future, a Hope; someone to connect to -- in Jesus.  In Jesus, God forever binds Godself to every grieving parent and every parent made a refugee. and every hope held by a loving adult for the children in their midst. In Jesus, God reaffirms a priority to care for children. In an age when children were loved but treated strictly, taught to work hard, taught not to speak unless spoken to, Jesus told his disciples, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."Matt. 19:14. The Bible frequently calls us to care for orphans, Psalm 68:5 even calling God "Father of the Fatherless." God is the Father who embraces the prodigal son (Luke 15: 11-32).  

May the tragic events of this Advent season  remind us that "Sandy Hook" is carried out every day, somewhere in our world. May it make us loving advocates and protectors for the "least of these,"  in the name of the One who emptied himself and made himself the Least of the Least, so we might have life in his name.

  
PRAY: We pray for children who sneak popsicles before supper,  who erase holes in math workbooks, who can never find their shoes. And we pray, for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers, who never "counted potatoes," who are born in places where we wouldn't be caught dead, who never go to the circus, who live in an X-rated world.
       We pray for children who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, Who sleep with the cat and bury goldfish, Who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money, Who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink, Who slurp their soup.
      And we pray for those  who never get dessert, who have no safe blanket to drag behind them, who watch their parents watch them die, who can't find any bread to steal,who don't have any rooms to clean up, whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser, whose monsters are real.
     We pray for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday, who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food, who like ghost stories, who shove dirty clothes under the bed, and never rinse out the tub, who get visits from the tooth fairy, who don't like to be kissed in front of the carpool, who squirm in church or temple and scream in the phone,whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry.
    And we pray for those whose nightmares come in the daytime, who will eat anything, who have never seen a dentist,who aren't spoiled by anybody, who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep, who live and move, but have no being. We pray for children who want to be carried and for those who must, for those we never give up on and for those who don't get a second chance. For those we smother…and for those who will grab the hand of anybody
kind enough to offer it.
We pray for children. Amen
   http://www.appleseeds.org/childpry.htm

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Know Peace

1/7/2021

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" Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid"  John 14:27


LISTEN TO:  John Lennon's "
"So This Is Christmas" 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIoyuRdos3E


Back in the third century Cyprian the Bishop of Carthage wrote to his friend Donatus: "It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered, in the midst of it, a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret.  They have found a joy, which is a thousand times better than any of the pleasures of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are Christians, and I am one of them.”


So what is the “great secret” of the “quiet and holy” people?  It is found in the message of the advent candle we will light this Sunday: peace.   Jesus, our Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) models for us what peace means.   The root meaning of the Hebrew word peace means “to be whole.” It is both an internal, personal state of being (i.e., calmness, freedom from anxiety, relaxed, blessed) and a social condition (absence of war and strife, people comfortable and at ease with each other).  Peace is rooted and grounded in Jesus, in his actions, his teachings, the compassionate way he ministered to people. Everything Jesus did was to lead us to the wholeness, the abundance of life.” I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10).”  The promise of abundant life is not abundance of material things.  It is abundance of love and peace.  Even in our imperfections, through Christ God’s peace radiates through us and touches the restless hearts of those around us. This happens without even speaking a word! 


So as we follow Jesus on our Advent journey, we remember that Jesus knew a principle of peace that we often forget in our self-centeredness and focus to get ahead:  It is this:


‎"People were created to be loved. Things were created to be used. The reason the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being used."


Remember the Angel’s song on the  night Jesus was born: it is God's purpose is for there  to be peace on earth  (Luke 2:13, 14). It begins with love. Love brings peace.


Yes, our age, like every age before, has its bad aspects.  How then shall the world know wholeness?  Abundance of spirit? Security? Freedom from anxiety?  Each one of us, in a “quiet and holy way” or in an exuberant, outspoken manner, must, this Advent season learn to love as Jesus, and let peace flow from our love to the hearts of those around us.


The grace and peace of Christ Jesus be with you!

PRAY:  "Jesus our Peace, fashion us to leave as a peaceful people.  May we know your peace and may it lead us to love in your name, Amen."





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    Moirajo is a minister, social worker, wife, mother, writer and animal lover. That's just for starters. Join the story, there's so much we can share together! 

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