I decided to put Matthew's sermon on my blog because I know of some people that were not able to be with us this morning at St. Paul's who would like to read it. So here it is...enjoy...
There is no greater event in the history of
the world than the birth of Jesus Christ.
What a marvelous way the Lord became a man
and entered this world. God, the Son, came to this earth "born of a
woman."
In today’s gospel, Gabriel tells Mary the
Holy Spirit will come upon her and God's power will overshadow her and she will
conceive a child. Christ's birth was a miracle in every respect. A young Jewish
maid who was a virgin would conceive by the power of God and would bear a
child.
There are many aspects of the miracle birth
of Christ we could look at but I want to look at who Mary was, the maiden
chosen by God to be the earthly mother of Jesus Christ.
Who
Was Mary?
The Bible presents her as a young Jewish girl
who was engaged to a devout Jewish carpenter named Joseph.
I
think in most ways she was an ordinary young woman. What made the difference in her life was her attitude towards God. What
made her available to be used of God was her commitment to Him.
The proof of that is that when she heard the
truth and God's plan she immediately accepted it. That showed her heart.
I
want to put all of you in Mary’s shoes. I want you all to imagine being an
unmarried, teenage virgin who has just had the weight of the world placed on
your shoulders. Under Old Testament law, it was a capital offense to have a
child out of wedlock. You will suffer great embarrassment. You will be
alienated and shunned by those around you who were once your friends because
you are with child and do not have a husband. You must tell the man that you
are engaged to that you are with child, but did not in any way betray him,
knowing that he, as well as your parents will not believe you. All Joseph has
to do is accuse you of being unfaithful and you will be stoned to death in the
streets.
Wow!
Talk about some pressure. My biggest challenge right now is passing my classes
and juggling girlfriends. I don’t think it quite compares does it?
Mary’s
life was about to get extremely difficult and change forever. Yet in spite of
it all, she accepted this difficulty as God’s will. She realized the importance
of what was about to happen and accepted her role as the mother of the savior.
Now
that we have looked at this from Mary’s point of view, let’s stop and think
about how Joseph must have felt during this whole ordeal.
When
Joseph realizes that Mary is pregnant, I am sure he felt betrayed, hurt and
angry. Seeing her carrying a child could only mean one thing, she must have had
relations with another man.
If
he accuses Mary of adultery, she will be stoned to death in the streets. His
decision to not accuse her shows that he truly cares for her and doesn’t want
anything bad to happen to her even though he has been hurt by her actions (or
at least what he thinks her actions have been)
It
is during a dream that Joseph is told the truth and realizes that Mary has not
betrayed him and that the baby she is carrying was conceived by the power of
the Holy Spirit.
He
takes Mary as his wife and claims the child as his own.
We
have all heard this story before and have memorized the sequence of events, but
have we really stopped to think about how Joseph must have felt?
He
decided to claim this child and love him as his own. Not a decision to be taken
lightly. Not a decision that every man would have been comfortable with.
This
is something that I can personally relate to, something that is very close to
my heart.
To
be technical and where DNA is concerned, my brother Joshua is my half brother.
Where love and family are concerned, he is my brother, simple as that.
In
my dad’s eyes, Joshua is no different than the rest of us. He is my dad’s
oldest child. DNA doesn’t make you a parent, love does.
In
fact without Joshua, I wouldn’t have a family because my dad knew that if he
wanted to be Joshua’s dad, he had to take my mom.
So,
today as we await the celebration of the birth of Jesus, I ask that you take a
moment to think about what Mary and Joseph had to endure to change the world
for the better. As we thank God for sending us Jesus, let us also thank Him for
choosing Mary and Joseph to be His parents because without them, things may
have turned out very differently.
Amen
