Pastor Pat Edwards 12/10/2006
Grace Baptist Church in Bountiful, Utah

Twenty years ago it was a real compliment to be called a "righteous dude." It meant you really had it together, that you knew what was happenin, where it was at and how to get there. I’ve read Ferris Bueller was the first person to be given that title and if I have to tell you who Ferris Bueller is then you aren’t righteous! But in the last few years righteous has taken on a whole new connotation as people from extreme and narrow positions have claimed the term righteous as their own. It could be a Muslim terrorist in an act of suicide bombing or a fundamentalist Christian calling homosexuals derogatory names and condemning them to hell. Regardless of who it is the term "righteous" has taken a real hit and few people in the mainstream will claim it for themselves. But in today’s bible passage we run head on into a man who is indeed, righteous. 18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

Joseph has a problem, his fiancé is pregnant and he’s not the father. Joseph doesn’t know the Holy Spirit has performed a miracle in Mary’s body that conceived her baby. Maybe all he knows is that the woman he’s engaged to is pregnant and that he’s embarrassed, angry and frustrated. We don’t know if Mary tried to explain and he rejected her story or if she kept silent believing that the Lord would work things out. We don’t know how he heard the news. Was it from Mary, her parents, a carefully selected mediator or one of the town gossips? What we do know is that, 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. He decided to end the engagement contract which was as binding as marriage in that culture. He would have nothing to do with Mary in the future but at the same time he wouldn’t seek revenge for the pain and embarrassment she had caused him. In fact he didn’t even want her to be publically embarrassed or punished so he intended to handle everything quietly. That merciful attitude caused Matthew, the author of this gospel, to describe Joseph as righteous.

But how is righteous defined? How does Joseph’s behavior square with the law given to Moses? If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl's virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death.Deu 22.20-21 The law God gave Moses is pretty clear; unfaithful brides are to be put to death but Joseph doesn’t want that. In fact he doesn’t want her pregnancy or the reason for the divorce to even become public knowledge although there isn’t much chance his plan will succeed in a small town. In small towns secrets don’t last long.

If Joseph’s plan subverts one of God’s methods for discouraging sin is that righteous? Shouldn’t public disgrace, if not execution, be used as a deterrent to sin? But what about mitigating circumstances? What if Mary were pregnant as the result of rape? What about other factors like immaturity or coercion or mental illness? Had Mary tried to explain her angelic visitor and Joseph decided these were the ramblings of an emotionally disturbed woman? Or did Mary’s demeanor, a quiet humility and perhaps embarrassment, affect his response? Any of these things may have been at work but the point Matthew makes is that it is what’s inside Joseph that counts; his behavior is controlled by his values and not by the actions of others. Other factors certainly enter in but the most important one is Joseph’s character and that character is revealed by his attitude and behavior. Joseph is a man of mercy. Undoubtedly he knows the Mosaic command about adultery but he also knows God is a God of mercy. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.Dan 9:9 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. Neh 9:31 Those are just two of scores of verses that describe the mercy of God. So Joseph also responds to the assumed betrayal of his fiancé with mercy rather that harsh justice.

All of us face the same issues in our lives. How we respond to betrayal, to evil, to those who harm us, even to such minor behaviors as rudeness, reveals our character. When harm befalls many people the demand for justice often drowns out mercy and compassion. Like Joseph all of us face tough decisions about how we’ll respond when people hurt and disappointment us.

In September I read a book about the Rwandan genocide called "Left to Tell." It was written by a young woman, Immaculee Ilibagiza, who survived by hiding in a bathroom with six other women for three months. She and the other women never bathed, never changed their clothes and rarely left the room. The pastor who hid them in his home didn’t even tell his family for fear they would betray these women to the mobs roaming the countryside. Immaculee went from 120 to 80 pounds because the seven women shared only the leftovers from the family’s meals. While in hiding her parents and two of her brothers were killed and she learned later her father’s body had been piled with others to form a grisly roadblock to catch others trying to escape the genocide.

Immaculee’s experience of evil and betrayal is an extreme example but in a world where we know the news from anywhere almost instantaneously the examples are not so rare. Who can forget the senseless slaughter of the Amish school girls a month ago? Or the ten-year old girl here in Davis County who was beaten, bitten, sexually abused and then suffocated by her mother and stepfather? Fortunately few of us experience such violent behavior although some of you have.

But everyday each of us faces evil, trials and disappointments brought on by others and we have to decide how to respond.

Fortunately Joseph sets a good example for us; he doesn’t respond as many in the world do. He responds as God does and God is always merciful. When you think about it, doesn’t it seem appropriate that the life of Jesus begins with his "earthly" father extending grace and bestowing mercy just as his heavenly Father is extending grace and showing mercy to all mankind through Jesus?

One of the great things about Joseph is that he passes the test before he knows the reward. There are no Cliff Notes for this chapter of his life, no cheat sheets. He passes but that doesn’t mean he gets an A+. He still has things to learn. So once again in the nativity story an angelic visit occurs and he is told, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

It’s interesting Joseph is assured he doesn’t have to be afraid to take Mary home as his wife. But why should he be afraid? Few in our culture would criticize a couple getting pregnant before the wedding. In fact the society columns and magazines have been full of gushing, enthusiastic stories about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes getting married even though their baby is seven months old. Just yesterday there was a lavish party in Hollywood for all their friends who couldn’t attend the wedding. So why should Joseph worry? They live in Nazareth and that’s the reason why. But it would be true almost any place in the world at almost any point in history. The western world at the beginning of the twenty-first century is an aberration in the history of the world. Unmarried girls having babies is almost always frowned upon.

If Joseph quietly puts Mary away people will assume he didn’t act improperly towards her, that he maintained his righteousness when she didn’t. In fact they may admire him even more for his restraint and mercy. But if he takes her home that’s as much as admitting he’s the father. His virtue along with Mary’s will disappear in the harsh winds of judgment. Not only will his reputation be destroyed but it may affect friendships, his business and his opportunities in the community and congregation. Taking Mary into his home as his wife means his world is going to change and most people will begin to see and treat him differently. Mary will no longer be standing alone; he will be standing beside her and sharing all the judgment and rejection.

Joseph’s willingness to extend mercy to Mary by not publically disgracing her is a move in the right direction but the Lord wants more from him so he gives Joseph all the extra motivation. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" - which means, "God with us." Let me paraphrase. "Joseph, this child in Mary’s womb was miraculously created by the Holy Spirit. He will save the people from their sins so call him Jesus which means savior. And remember this isn’t new, it was all predicted seven hundred years ago when the prophet Isaiah predicted a virgin would give birth to the one whose title is Immanuel, ‘God with Us.’ Joseph, will you help the Lord God Almighty fulfill his plan for the salvation of his people. Will you pay the price I’m asking in order to be God’s right hand man for this mission? Do you understand just how big a job this is and how much I’m entrusting to you? Can you do it? Will you do it?"

24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. This week in my reading I read the letter of James and came across these verses, Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!2.12-13 As you heard, James also emphasizes mercy influencing judgment. I thought to myself that really fits the theme of this week’s sermon but then the Spirit reminded me of another truth. The man writing this is Jesus’ half-brother and the son of Joseph and Mary. James is proclaiming truth that he saw lived out in his own father’s life.

James had a living example that God is always merciful and we should be merciful as well. We too, have living examples of merciful behavior. Go back to Rwanda and Pennsylvania with me. In a Rwandan bathroom Immaculee’s faith in the Lord developed in a way she never expected as she read her Bible and prayed. She found herself praying for the murderers, that their hearts would change and for their salvation, and she found herself forgiving them.

This past Sunday evening we happened to see an interview with her on 60 Minutes. The program also interviewed one of her neighbors, a man just released after eight years in prison for killing 6 people, two of whom were Immaculee’s cousins. He spoke honestly about killing people with a machete and a club spiked with nails. When asked what he would have done had he discovered his life-long, friend Imaculee, he said, given his state of mind, he would have killed her as well.

Should I say surprisingly... or not surprisingly, Immaculee has personally met with her neighbor and forgiven him? Bob Simon, the interviewer, seemed very distressed by Imaculee’s behavior. He kept pressing to discover if there wasn’t some part of her that wanted to lash out in anger and retaliation. Let me quote from the interview. Immaculee knows Rwandans can never forget but believes they must forgive. Revenge, she told Simon, only prolongs the pain. "And I don't want it. I don't want them after killing my family to give me this luggage in my heart, in my belly, you know, to hold this anger." So Immaculee has even forgiven Alex, the man who killed two of her relatives and who would have killed her. Asked if she felt angry when she saw him, Immaculee says no. "You weren't tempted to take his head and shake it against a brick wall?" Simon asks. "No, completely in my heart I was aware it won't change anything. It won't change his heart. It won't bring back people he killed. That's the worst thing." "No. But it might've felt good," Simon remarks. "It doesn't. That's the funny thing. It won't. I know well," Immaculee says.

And in Pennsylvania the Amish parents and community not only forgave the murderer of their children but they included his family in their grieving and set up a fund to help the wife and children of the man. The world often views such behavior with shock and surprise. Bob Simon is a good example of the belief that hurting the perpetrators of wrong will somehow make us feel better. But we know it doesn’t - peace is never found along that path.

So how will we respond to the injustices we will undoubtedly experience this week, many of them small of course? That should make our response easier. Will we take our cue from Joseph who took his cue from God? Because God is always merciful will we be merciful to the rude clerk, the aggressive driver, the selfish spouse, the disobedient child, the thoughtless friend? Let’s accept God’s grace and allow the fresh wind of the Spirit to carry away the care and concern, the anger and frustration. Let’s be righteous people give mercy as God has given it to us.