First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-17
10Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: 11“Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. 17The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah — the king of Assyria!”
Psalm 24
1The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and all who dwell therein. 2For it is he who founded it upon the seas and made it firm upon the rivers of the deep. 3“Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? and who can stand in his holy place?” 4“Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, who have not pledged themselves to falsehood, nor sworn by what is a fraud. 5They shall receive a blessing from the Lord and a just reward from the God of their salvation.” 6Such is the generation of those who seek him, of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob. 7Lift up your heads, O gates; lift them high, O everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 8“Who is this King of glory?” “The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle.” 9Lift up your heads, O gates; lift them high, O everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 10“Who is he, this King of glory?” “The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.”
Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7
1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25
18The 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 from the Holy Spirit. 19And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Advent’s Invisible Man
The idea of us being invisible to others can be disconcerting for some, yet for others, it fills them with intrigue. In many ways, due to technology, people have become anonymous, in many ways a persona. With electronic communication preferred over personal contact, coupled with avatars, people can communicate mysteriously. While meeting people online and establishing a relationship can have its advantages, on the other hand, it can also be very dangerous, especially to children, as we saw this past week with the former club owner in Charlotte. But the ability to operate in the shadows has always intrigued people.
Clear back in 1897, H.G. Wells wrote a book called The Invisible Man. In it he imaginatively explores the development of a professor’s ingenious use of science to effect his own invisibility. In the story, invisibility becomes a metaphor for invincibility. What’s important to note is that the man’s chooses to become invisible. He literally disappears with the ingestion of a certain chemical solution, which eventually drives him insane. My point is this man, Griffin, chooses to become a person who cannot be seen, only heard.
On the other hand, we have the nameless protagonist in that great masterpiece of art by Ralph Ellison. His book, Invisible Man written in 1952, is a commentary on the invisible status of black people in America. His invisibility isn’t by choice, but due to other people’s choosing. It’s because the predominant culture refuses to acknowledge and recognize a member of the minority culture as a living entity to the point that he is relegated to the status of non-person or persona non grata. Wells’ invisible man chooses his fate. Ellison’s invisible man has his fate chosen for him by the societal norms of the day.
In our gospel lesson for today we have what one might call Advent’s “invisible” man. I’m referring to Joseph of course, and his role of virtual invisibility is not by personal choice like with H. G. Wells, nor was it because others chose this for him as with Ellison, but because God called him to play a vital supporting role in arguably the most important event of all time.
The event is the birth of Jesus, and this invisible man was His earthly father, Jospeh. While he is, for the most part, a background character in the Christ story, he is not nameless. He does not, like Griffin in the Wells novel, overdose from his own ambition which leads to his own destruction. He doesn’t struggle to establish his personal identity in society, like Ellison’s nameless protagonist. He was entrusted by God to be a behind-the-scenes person in this world changing historical event.
As a minor character in this story, Joseph spends little time at center stage. He wasn’t the bandleader or the drum major who saturated the limelight while parading the people of God into a new millennia. For the most part, he’s “invisible” because hardly anyone talks about him. In many ways he’s a mystery, an enigma, an apparition, which appears for a time, then vanishes from the stage of human history. The Roman Catholic church reveres Mary, the Holy Mother of God. We know Mary. She appears and reappears throughout the gospels. God chose to use her as an instrument of divine intervention. She is high visibility, while others of importance are supporting cast members.
We know of Elizabeth, Zachariah, Simeon, and Anna. We know of the shepherds of Bethlehem and the Wise Men who traveled from the east. We know about king Herod who issued the decree that all baby boys, two years and under, were to be killed. We’re familiar with all the cast and crew of this great pageantry. But Joseph? Who is he? Why, in a culture dominated by men, is his role so muted? When the question, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” was asked by disbelieviers mocking Jesus, could this not have been so much a slur on the town as it was an indirect rebuke of the lineage of Joseph? Who was he anyway?
Advent’s “invisible” man is Joseph, the father of the baby Jesus. His invisibility is largely because he’s not center stage, but he is an important person behind the scenes. He’s not the leading character, but he’s in a supportive role to his wife and family. Consider this as well, despite his seeming invisibility, despite his relatively obscure status, even though his name isn’t on the signboards of the main streets of Jerusalem, he was a faithful, God fearing, man because he accepted his role and carried out his responsibility as a person of substance, presence, and action. He quietly and obediently responded to God’s will in his life and cared for and even lead his family to safety into Egypt under the death threats of Herod.
Sure, he’s “invisible,” but the imprints of his faithfulness have made a lasting and indelible imprint on the hearts and souls of all those who have embraced the life of his son Jesus. Yes, he is virtually “invisible,” but he wasn’t completely removed from an important role in Jesus’ birth. And this brings me to my first observation; Advent’s invisible man may not have occupied much time at center stage, but he was a man of substance. We know this because of the way he responded to God in his dream. When he discovered that his fiancée was pregnant with a child, knowing he had not known her, he still took her to be his wife and then took care of his family, despite the cultural norms of the day.
In a culture that valued the sanctity of virginity before marriage, Joseph probably came under great suspicion by those around him. Many probably accused the couple of breaking their premarital vows, that they had been as one too soon, and the evidence was compelling. Mary was pregnant with child and the conditions under which Mary received the gift would be highly suspicious. Everyone would “know” that they had been together. So one might ask, what went through Joseph’s mind when he learned of Mary’s pregnancy?
What were his initial thoughts? How would he, and could he, believe Mary’s story about how she became pregnant? Medical technology had not advanced to in vitro fertilization, nor had the procedure of intra-uterine insemination been invented. Joseph had to rely heavily on Mary’s word, and on the report he received in his dream from the angel of God. It would have made more sense to simply put Mary out. It would have been so much easily to write her off; but because he was a Godly man, he became an important supporting character in the fulfillment of God’s salvation plan. In this story, we see that you don’t have to be highly visible to be a person of substance.
In today’s culture we think of people of substance as those with the brawn and might, those on the gridiron or clay courts who demonstrate their substance through physical prowess. A person of substance, in this culture, are people like Chuck Norris, Hulk Hogan, or Taylor Swift, or a physically powerful, well-known person whose name graces billboards. Persons of substance are those whose names fill the silver screens: people who lead others because of their fame and fortune. These are ones who are seen as people of substance in our culture. People of great visibility. But in today’s gospel passage we confront Joseph.
Joseph isn’t in high demand in the local theater. He isn’t a member of Herod’s imperial guard. He isn’t a prelate or a priest. He’s no prince or magistrate. He’s simply a humble carpenter, a self-employed common worker, trying to take care of his family, trying to keep his baby boy from being murdered by a bloodthirsty, political wanna-be. Joseph reminds us that we don’t have to have a high profile or great visibility to be a person of substance.
Being a person of substance means being faithful to God even when things don’t make sense. The fact that Joseph made the right choices amid great odds; that he allowed his conscience to be his guide despite what his friends and family would say about Mary; that he allowed the Holy Spirit lead him to make a decision which changed history, testifies to his faithfulness. Joseph was a man of substance because he made the tough decisions when asked to by God. He was a man of great stature in God’s eyes because of the decisions he made to be supportive of his fiancée during an anxious time.
The story of Joseph reminds us that we need people today who will stand up and be faithful disciples, faithful partners in a marriage, and parents. Today’s gospel reading reminds us that we need people who are willing to take a Biblical stand against the immoral teachings of society. We need people of substance who will take the time to teach their children, and the children of the church, God’s word and show them, by their example, what it means to be a faithful follower of God.
Society today teaches that we need to look for ways to be visible but have no substance. The world wants people to look for glory but have no depth, courage, or resolve to take care of what’s been entrusted to them. Joseph was a man of substance because he took on responsibility as God requested. You don’t have to have a high profile and great visibility to be a person of substance. Advent’s invisible man was a man of substance, despite not being seen that much and not having a leading role in the birth of Jesus.
The second point this story makes is that Advent’s invisible man may not have said that much, but he was a man of presence. Matthew doesn’t record a single word that Joseph uttered. But he was present and he was at the right place at the right time. We know he was there because we see the imprints of his presence through his deeds. He had to have presence for the angels to reveal themselves to him. His presence had to be opened to the will and power of the Holy Spirit to do what he did. Too often today, we associate presence with talkativeness.
Those who are present must make the most noise to have high visibility. But there are those people who may not say much, but they have presence. They have the confidence to be faithful followers of Jesus. People of presence stand firm in the face of ridicule and the storms and whirlwinds of life’s tragedies and calamities. No, they don’t often say much, but they are truly there.
One man tells the story of when he lost his wife, and he was understandably distraught. His close friend came by. They walked by the seaside as the man poured out his heart to his friend. They walked the streets of their town, yet his friend never said a word; he just listened and provided a presence that helped the man get through the trial of his life. Presence doesn’t always mean words; it’s about caring and being there when people need you most. This is a hallmark of people of presence. I’m certain Joseph spoke when necessary, but it’s clear that Joseph’s invisibility was heightened by his quiet nature. Matthew may not have recorded anything Joseph said, but his presence was vital to the well-being of his family. A person of presence doesn’t necessarily need to say much; what’s often most needed is simply to be present when people need you most! Oftentimes, people simply need comfort and maybe the assistance of another.
Thinking of the ways Joseph might have helped, he probably helped Mary, especially in the latter trimesters. He was the one who found lodging on that cold, windy, night when the keepers of the inn turned them away. He stoked the fire and arranged the hay. He was the one who ran the errands and brought them food. He’s the one who listen the second time and took the family to Egypt while Herod’s lackeys were running wild in the streets looking to kill all the two-year-olds, once Herod realized the Wise Men weren’t coming back. Joseph may not have had much to say, but he was present, he was there when needed.
You don’t have to talk to be present; just be there. It’s not your visibility but your availability that often counts in the things that matter. Matthew says that after Jesus was born Joseph had one thing to say; verse 25 tells us, “And he called His name Jesus.” The third item of teaching here in our gospel reading is that being invisible means you really don’t have to do that much, but you do need to be a person of action.
After Joseph’s first dream about the birth of the Christ child, verse 24 records, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary to be his wife. In the next chapter, scriptures say that an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to get up and take the child and escape to Egypt. As a man of action, he did what he was commanded. Then later in Matthew chapter 2 (19-22), after being in Egypt some time hiding out from Herod, an angel of the Lord appeared a third time and told him to take the child back to Israel. Again, he got up and took the child back as he was commanded.
Joseph, Advent’s invisible man, didn’t have a lot of time in the limelight, but he was a man of faith and action. Scriptures don’t record all the deeds of Joseph, but it’s clear, in these three responses, that all three actions were important to the fulfillment of prophecy. Had he failed to act, the entire even of Jesus’ coming could have been jeopardized if not eliminated. Sometimes it’s not the number of things we do, but that we do something when the moment requires it.
Failing to act at critical times can be costly. Joseph didn’t pass decrees and implement legislation. He wasn’t known for the enormity of his deeds, but the fact that he acted on the requests of God at a critical time makes him person of faith and action. In fact, after these critical acts, we only hear about Joseph again when Jesus was a teenager in the Temple. In total, Joseph is only mentioned 15 times in the gospels. But when you stop and think about it, his actions were critical to humanity having a savior.
No, Joseph didn’t have high visibility. In fact, we could say he had very limited visibility compared to others in the Bible. He did, however, have three things which make him stand out. He wasn’t seen that much, but he had substance. He didn’t have a big role in the script, but he had presence. He didn’t seemingly do that much, but he was a man of action. You don’t have to be in the spotlight to be visible, just have substance in the things you’ve been called by God to do in your life. You don’t have to be heard to be visibility, just have presence in all things vital. You don’t have to do a lot to have visibility, just act in critical times and act decisively when the need arises.
Unlike H.G. Wells and Ralph Ellision’s invisible men, Advent’s “invisible man” changed the course of human history by playing a critical supporting role. By his faith, and what he did, he allowed God to bring forth Jesus. Mary was certainly a key player, but Joseph was an important behind the scenes character. Invisibility doesn’t mean a person lacks substance, presence, or is a person of inaction. When we respond to God and place our faith in His plan, God can, and will, use someone of a low profile to do a great thing which can benefit the people of God, the world, and even history.
Amen