An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph 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." Matthew 1:20
When we were little children our ideas about morality and ethics were primarily based upon obedience and avoidance of punishment. If I take that toy that belongs to my brother I might get put into a time out. I don't want to be in time out, so I won't take his toy. Children ask themselves, "How can I avoid punishment?" and "What's in it for me?"
Gradually as we get older our motivation for moral and ethical behavior evolves and we become less focused on avoiding certain behaviors so that we won't get punished and more focused on the norms of the society we live in. When we reach our teenage years we begin to judge the morality of our actions by comparing them to society's views and expectations. We will follow the rules and conventions of the world we live in even if there are no threatened punishments or negative consequences. Our adherence at this stage of morality though can be somewhat rigid, as we will seldom question a rule's appropriateness or fairness. In this stage of morality we tend to think in either or terms. An action or behavior is either right or wrong, good or evil. If the law says it is a crime then it is a crime. Even at this stage of development, if we are able to recognize that a law may have some problems with it, we will argue that we have to work "within the system" and continue to obey the law until it is changed.
Gradually as we get older our motivation for moral and ethical behavior evolves and we become less focused on avoiding certain behaviors so that we won't get punished and more focused on the norms of the society we live in. When we reach our teenage years we begin to judge the morality of our actions by comparing them to society's views and expectations. We will follow the rules and conventions of the world we live in even if there are no threatened punishments or negative consequences. Our adherence at this stage of morality though can be somewhat rigid, as we will seldom question a rule's appropriateness or fairness. In this stage of morality we tend to think in either or terms. An action or behavior is either right or wrong, good or evil. If the law says it is a crime then it is a crime. Even at this stage of development, if we are able to recognize that a law may have some problems with it, we will argue that we have to work "within the system" and continue to obey the law until it is changed.
Most people live for their entire lives in this second stage of moral development. For the most part we do move beyond the desire to simply avoid punishment—though on some level this never quite goes away—just observe what we all do when we are driving down the highway at a speed higher than the posted limit and we see a police car—everyone slows down in order to avoid getting a ticket. However, as soon as we are out of sight of the police car, most of us will resume our previous speed. But we mostly move beyond the need to "do the right thing" solely to avoid being punished, and we "do the right thing" in order to fit in with and maintain the society we live in.
Think about the civil rights era for example. Many people understood that the Jim Crow laws were not good things, but very few of those with the power, those who had the most ability to do something about these laws, white Americans, very few stood along side of those who broke these laws—the Martin Luther King Jr's of the world. Some did, but the vast majority of white Americans did not, for they lived in this second stage of morality. When we live in this stage of morality it can be very difficult for us to step into another person's shoes and understand that a law that seems good and life-giving to us may be unfair and life stealing to another person.
A very recent example of this second stage of morality is our modern arguments about human sexuality. For many centuries most societies have taught that being attracted to someone of the same sex and acting on those feelings is wrong. There are many reasons that societies held this belief, most based upon limited understandings of human sexuality. Modern science has begun to shed light on human sexuality and to show that it is far more complicated than we could ever imagine and is far more connected to biology and genetics than we ever knew. Yet, it is very difficult for many people to let go of the rules that were taught to them as children. It just "feels" wrong because that is what the world always said until recently.
There is, however, a third stage of morality. People who view the world from this third stage see individuals as separate from society. Individuals in this stage believe that a person may disobey a rule or law if it is inconsistent with larger moral principles. Rules can help maintain basic social order and protect human rights, but they are not absolute dictates that must be obeyed without question. Laws are social contracts rather than rigid edicts. Martin Luther King Jr, Ghandi, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Oscar Romero, Dietrich Bonheoffer, and almost all of the men and women in our book of holy men and women saw the world through this lens. And I bring these stages up today, because I think that we are witnessing in our Gospel reading for this morning Joseph's progression from the second stage of morality to the third.
In our passage from Matthew for today, we see the birth of Jesus through Joseph's eyes. Mary and Joseph are "engaged." Now engagement 2000 years ago was not the same as it is today. Today we are sad when someone breaks an engagement off, but it is not a legal matter. In Joseph and Mary's day an engagement was the first legal step in a marriage. If Mary and Joseph were engaged, they had already signed a marriage contract, typically arranged by their parents, and this contract could only be broken by a divorce. They had not yet taken the second step in which the groom took his wife to his home and consummated their union.
Mary and Joseph are legally married, but there is no way that the child she is carrying is his. Within the laws and norms of the day, Joseph would have been well within his rights to divorce his new wife. Indeed, he would probably have been looked down upon for not doing so. Most men of that time would have had no problem simply walking away from Mary, even though this would have guaranteed that she would have at the worst been stoned to death and best cast out to the margins of society to fend for herself and her newborn child.
Joseph however has a kind heart. He is still operating from that second stage of morality, so he is planning to divorce her, but he is trying to figure out how to do it in such a way as to protect her and keep her from public disgrace. And then God intervenes and sends an angel. Apparently God doesn't really care about our social norms or rules. God cares about love, compassion, human rights, justice and fairness. God sends an angel to appear to Joseph in a dream. God lets Jesus know that the right thing to do in this case has nothing to do with the laws and social norms of the day.
God chose to enter into this world as a little tiny baby born in scandal to a man who was not his father. God chose to break the laws and norms of the world, as God became one of us. And throughout his lifetime, Jesus, God incarnate, continued to break society's norms and laws. Throughout his ministry Jesus was always asking not "is this right or wrong?," but instead, "is this about justice, peace and love?" This is why Jesus was crucified. Jesus was crucified because he disrupted the rules and norms of the society of which he was a part, in order to show the world God's morality. God's morality is not a rigid morality. God's morality is not about maintaining the social order. God's morality is not about either or thinking. God's morality is a morality of love, peace and justice.
This is the God that we follow. The God that we follow and Jesus the man that we are called to model our lives upon, lived out of the third stage of morality. It gives a whole new meaning to the idea of "righteousness." What if as Christians righteousness isn't about avoiding hell and going to heaven? What if as Christians righteousness isn't about being good law-abiding citizens? What if as Christians righteousness isn't about being "good" people as the world would define good? What if righteousness isn't about avoiding sin, but is instead about embracing love?
God is calling us, just as he called Joseph, to move toward a life of love and compassion-- a life in which the well-being of all people becomes more important to us than avoiding punishment, fitting in to world around us, or maintaining societal norms. As Joseph prepared for the coming of God into this world, Emmanuel, he answered this call. The question for us is the same. As we await the coming of Jesus on Christmas day, we will answer God's call to a life of love and compassion as well?
Amen.
Think about the civil rights era for example. Many people understood that the Jim Crow laws were not good things, but very few of those with the power, those who had the most ability to do something about these laws, white Americans, very few stood along side of those who broke these laws—the Martin Luther King Jr's of the world. Some did, but the vast majority of white Americans did not, for they lived in this second stage of morality. When we live in this stage of morality it can be very difficult for us to step into another person's shoes and understand that a law that seems good and life-giving to us may be unfair and life stealing to another person.
A very recent example of this second stage of morality is our modern arguments about human sexuality. For many centuries most societies have taught that being attracted to someone of the same sex and acting on those feelings is wrong. There are many reasons that societies held this belief, most based upon limited understandings of human sexuality. Modern science has begun to shed light on human sexuality and to show that it is far more complicated than we could ever imagine and is far more connected to biology and genetics than we ever knew. Yet, it is very difficult for many people to let go of the rules that were taught to them as children. It just "feels" wrong because that is what the world always said until recently.
There is, however, a third stage of morality. People who view the world from this third stage see individuals as separate from society. Individuals in this stage believe that a person may disobey a rule or law if it is inconsistent with larger moral principles. Rules can help maintain basic social order and protect human rights, but they are not absolute dictates that must be obeyed without question. Laws are social contracts rather than rigid edicts. Martin Luther King Jr, Ghandi, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Oscar Romero, Dietrich Bonheoffer, and almost all of the men and women in our book of holy men and women saw the world through this lens. And I bring these stages up today, because I think that we are witnessing in our Gospel reading for this morning Joseph's progression from the second stage of morality to the third.
In our passage from Matthew for today, we see the birth of Jesus through Joseph's eyes. Mary and Joseph are "engaged." Now engagement 2000 years ago was not the same as it is today. Today we are sad when someone breaks an engagement off, but it is not a legal matter. In Joseph and Mary's day an engagement was the first legal step in a marriage. If Mary and Joseph were engaged, they had already signed a marriage contract, typically arranged by their parents, and this contract could only be broken by a divorce. They had not yet taken the second step in which the groom took his wife to his home and consummated their union.
Mary and Joseph are legally married, but there is no way that the child she is carrying is his. Within the laws and norms of the day, Joseph would have been well within his rights to divorce his new wife. Indeed, he would probably have been looked down upon for not doing so. Most men of that time would have had no problem simply walking away from Mary, even though this would have guaranteed that she would have at the worst been stoned to death and best cast out to the margins of society to fend for herself and her newborn child.
Joseph however has a kind heart. He is still operating from that second stage of morality, so he is planning to divorce her, but he is trying to figure out how to do it in such a way as to protect her and keep her from public disgrace. And then God intervenes and sends an angel. Apparently God doesn't really care about our social norms or rules. God cares about love, compassion, human rights, justice and fairness. God sends an angel to appear to Joseph in a dream. God lets Jesus know that the right thing to do in this case has nothing to do with the laws and social norms of the day.
God chose to enter into this world as a little tiny baby born in scandal to a man who was not his father. God chose to break the laws and norms of the world, as God became one of us. And throughout his lifetime, Jesus, God incarnate, continued to break society's norms and laws. Throughout his ministry Jesus was always asking not "is this right or wrong?," but instead, "is this about justice, peace and love?" This is why Jesus was crucified. Jesus was crucified because he disrupted the rules and norms of the society of which he was a part, in order to show the world God's morality. God's morality is not a rigid morality. God's morality is not about maintaining the social order. God's morality is not about either or thinking. God's morality is a morality of love, peace and justice.
This is the God that we follow. The God that we follow and Jesus the man that we are called to model our lives upon, lived out of the third stage of morality. It gives a whole new meaning to the idea of "righteousness." What if as Christians righteousness isn't about avoiding hell and going to heaven? What if as Christians righteousness isn't about being good law-abiding citizens? What if as Christians righteousness isn't about being "good" people as the world would define good? What if righteousness isn't about avoiding sin, but is instead about embracing love?
God is calling us, just as he called Joseph, to move toward a life of love and compassion-- a life in which the well-being of all people becomes more important to us than avoiding punishment, fitting in to world around us, or maintaining societal norms. As Joseph prepared for the coming of God into this world, Emmanuel, he answered this call. The question for us is the same. As we await the coming of Jesus on Christmas day, we will answer God's call to a life of love and compassion as well?
Amen.