Matthew 1:18-25
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
When was the last time you woke from sleep stirred by a dream? Dreams play an important role in our lives. While we sleep, our unconscious opens up possibilities which challenge us in our waking lives. In our dreams, you meet persons who comfort and challenge you, who lead you to places you would not dare to go, who help you see things in a new and refreshing light.
Fred Beechner, a renowned Christian writer, said this about dreams: “Rarest of dreams is one that wakes you with what I can only call its truth. The path of your dream winds now this way, now that, one scene fades into another, people come and go the way they do in dreams -- then suddenly, deep out of wherever it is that dreams come from, something rises up that shakes you to your foundations.
The mystery of the dream suddenly lifts like fog, and for an instant it is as if you glimpse a truth truer than any you knew that you knew, if only a truth about yourself. It is too much truth for the dream to hold anyway, and the dream breaks.”
People in ancient times paid careful attention to their dreams.
Perhaps they understood that when they slept, their regular defenses were also laid to rest and God could communicate with them in ways they and us usually block with our conscious mind. We heard such an encounter with God through a dream in today’s Gospel.
Joseph found himself facing a crisis in the life he was beginning with his fiancé, Mary. Although engaged, they were not living together. It becomes obvious to Joseph, as well as the others in that small village of Nazareth, that Mary was pregnant. Joseph knew that he was not the father. He obviously loves Mary since he does not want to expose her to the law requiring that she be stoned to death for infidelity.
Joseph has weighed his options and he decides to break the betrothal and walk away from Mary. Joseph had planned his life; he saw a future with Mary, a future with their children growing up in this small town, a future where they would grow old together. All those plans came crashing down when he discovers what he thinks is Mary’s infidelity.
Then the dreams stirs his soul, the dream that shakes his foundations. A dream interrupts Joseph’s honorable plans with a more holy option, an alternative he never would have imagined. God lets Joseph in on God’s action with Mary, on God’s plans for the world, and Joseph is invited into a world of which he never dreamed.
Perhaps you too find yourself in a situation not unlike Joseph. Every December brings each of you a bundle of emotional trials which come with the celebration of Christmas. Many of you also find yourself in the position of Joseph. You live in a world which seems oblivious to the emotional chaos you are experiencing.
The older you become the more you deal with challenges of health and isolation. Death has a way of taking away those you deeply love and at times well before you imagined their leaving you. Covid, the flu and RSV continue to leave you fighting battles against their disruption in your lives and the lives of those you love. The radio and television remind you that it’s the most wonderful time of the year so why do you feel that it’s the worst time of the year?
Many of you feel like Charlie Brown. Linus says of his friend: Charlie Brown, you’re the only person I know who can take a season like Christmas and turn it into a problem.
Yes, Christmas can be a problem for many of you, even if you don’t dare to admit it. Perhaps Joseph may help you break through this challenge you face. Joseph’s life was turned upside down by God’s plans. When he was laying out his solution, God revealed a deeper resolution, a plan Joseph would never imagine.
You all face problems with no simple answers, with no easy solutions. For those of you caught in that challenge, Advent invites you to wait, to wait on God to open a door, to wait on the Spirit to bring some healing. So many of you yearn for instant gratification but God operates on a different schedule. Like Joseph, God will bring a hope you can never imagine. We don’t know how long Joseph waited for his dream. God dreamt a dream for Joseph and revealed it in God’s time. God dreams a dream for you. Wait on God to reveal it to you.