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To take a phrase from Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities I feel that getting ready for Christmas is the best of times and the worst of times. Its the worst of times. The culture is screaming out at usare you ready. Have you purchased that perfect gift for your spouse, child, grandchild, niece, nephew, friend, co-worker, neighbor, paper carrier, kids teacher, kids athletic coach. Have you done it because you know you only have so many days until Christmas is here. Make sure its a good gift and be careful so you dont put yourself into debt that youre still paying off at Easter. Thats just the giftstheres the parties, and letters, and family celebrations and concerts, and decorating your house and food and the weight gain and ___ I dont need to tell you. Thats the Christmas our culture wants us to live. For that Christmas we can never be completely ready. When Christmas is over were so tired that we feel like we need a vacation. Then there are people who are grieving this Christmas. Christmas brings back memories, and we remember the people who arent with us. No matter how long its been, we still miss them. It can be the worst of times. But its the best of times. Were celebrating a story. Its a story that has changed the world and reveals God to us in a way that no other story does. What if Christmas was sitting around a table with the people we loved, everyone in a good mood, listening to the story of Jesus birth. Would that be enough? I think it is enough. My hope is we can enjoy Christmas because weve been touched by the story. There is a lot of potential for this season. I pray every year that because of the story of Jesus birth our hearts will burn stronger with love for God and for our neighbors. And I pray is the world will be aligned to the Kingdom that God envisions because weve celebrated Christmas. That poverty is reduced, wars have ceased, and children are protected from predators. The story could do that.

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Im sharing a two week sermon series called the story through the eyes of those who were there. Last week we looked at Mary, the mother of Jesus. I shared a lot of biblical information and traditions about her. Then I challenged us to follow her by involving God in our decisions. When were making decisions I encouraged us to say the words that Mary didlet it be Lord according to your word. I also encouraged our communityChain of Lakes Churchto take risks like Mary did. I believe that God wants congregations to take risks so that we become the people God wants us to be. In a church its easy to become comfortable and complacent, but God doesnt want congregations to be comfortable. God wants us to take risks. Mary is our example. Today were looking at Joseph, the other person involved in the story. He teaches us how to be righteous in a black and white world. With that introduction Id like to encourage you to get out this brochure that is in the bulletin. In this brochure is a devotion. This week Ive shared six Bible readings and devotion about Joseph. You have a place to write down what God is speaking to you through this sermon, and a place for prayer requests. I know that your prayers are making a difference in peoples lives. I frequently have people thank me for the prayers that our congregation shares. Keep it up. Lets start out with some information about Joseph. Of the three people who we know were present at Jesus birth we know the least about Joseph. He spoke no words that were recorded in the Bible. This is amazing given the patriarchal culture of Jesus day and says something about God. You would think that God would have moved the story through Joseph. But God didntMary was the one through whom the story line was developed. Joseph was a carpenter. When Jesus grew up and started teaching he was described by people of Nazareth as the carpenters son. The Greek word is tekton. We translate this as a

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craftsman, especially in wood. There werent a lot of trees in the area where Joseph lived. Its more likely that Joseph worked with stones since most of the houses in Jesus day were made with stones. Joseph was Jewish. Matthew started out his gospel by sharing the genealogy of Jesus. Even though Matthew wrote that Jesus didnt have an earthly father, Joseph was part of that genealogy. David was his ancestor. I counted back and discovered that David was Josephs great (24) grandfather. Thats 24. It wouldnt be surprising if Joseph grew up being told stories about David. Joseph was well versed in his faith. When Jesus was born Joseph and Mary had him circumcised and go through the act of purification. We found out later that Joseph went to the Passover celebration every year in Jerusalem. He was a man who practiced his faith. Some people believe Joseph was much older. The last time Joseph was mentioned in the Bible was when Jesus went to the Temple at the age of 12. That was the final time we heard about him. This absence of Joseph after this story has led people to think that he died shortly after that. Life expectancy in the 1st century was 35-40. Some people think that was his age when he died. Mary was probably 12 or 13 when Gabriel appeared to her. Life expectancy of people in the 1st century was 35. Say Joseph died at 35 or 40 when Jesus was about 12 that would make Joseph 28 when Jesus was born15 or 16 years later. Some people think that he was much older. Some traditions believe that Joseph was in his nineties when he passed away. SLIDE This picture by the Italian painter Guido Reni shows Joseph as a very old man.

The picture on our bulletin cover illustrate this tradition.

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SLIDE

Heres a stainglass window of Joseph as an older man At the start of the story that Gary read we know that Joseph was engaged to Mary. Most

likely the marriage between the two had been arranged, probably by their fathers. Marriage at this time of history was a contractual affair and wasnt based on love. Then Joseph discovered some startling information. Mary was pregnant. Here is some chronology of the story. SLIDE The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she would be pregnant. Mary went to visit her relative Elizabeth and stayed with her for three months. At some point during these three months Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant. The Bible doesnt always answer all of the questions that a story evokes. There are gaps. One of the gaps in this story is how Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant. And we can only use our imagination to fill in these gaps. How do you think that Joseph found out Mary was pregnant. SLIDE Immediately after Gabriel told Mary she would be pregnant she went to tell Joseph. Perhaps Mary told a family member and then left to visit Elizabeth and that family member told Joseph Perhaps Mary left to visit Elizabeth without telling Joseph that she was leaving. Then Joseph went to visit Mary and found out that Mary was pregnant. These are three possible ways that Joseph found out. This is all that Matthew said, SLIDE When his [Jesus] mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18

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We do know that Joseph had some important decisions to make. Joseph knew that he was not the father of the child and even if Mary had told him that the baby came from God it is very easy to think that Joseph believed that another man was the father. Its also easy to think that Joseph was deeply wounded by Marys pregnancy. Imagine if the person to whom you were engaged committed an affair. How would we respond? I was engaged to Amy for a year. We met the Monday after Fathers Day in 1998, and got engaged on the Monday after Fathers Day in 1999. When we were engaged I experienced the excitement that couples experience. I had waited all my life to be married and for a while didnt think I would be married. It was a wonderful year. I couldnt wait to get married and start my life with Amy. If something like this had happened I would have been devastated. Joseph was probably devastatedhurt, angry. Marys pregnancy forced him to leave the relationship. Joseph had to decide whether to do this publicly or privately. He could have done it publicly. He could have disgraced Mary with his own family and friends. Joseph could have shared with everyone that Mary had participated in intercourse with another man. Its easy to think that his friends would have listened with attention to every sordid detail of this story. In sharing this story Joseph would probably have been the recipient of much care and sorrow. The law of Moses taught that if a woman participated in sexual intercourse with a man with whom she wasnt married she could be brought to the gate of the village and stoned to death. Joseph could have acquiesced to Marys stoning. Joseph wasnt willing to do this. In the story we read this: SLIDE [Marys] husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. Matthew 1:19

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In my 18 years of ministry Ive sat with many people who were hurt by their spouse. People who were married, but their marriage was ending. Ive listened to people share their grievances about their spousemany of them legitimate. When a relationship with another person is ending its very easy to attack the person with whom we loved and to whom we committed our lives. Our friends and family will listen to our grievances; in fact they will even egg us on at times. Theyll encourage us to share the dirt on what happened. Even though the pain is terrible the ultimate goal for both parties in a divorce or a ruptured relationship is healing. To be healed we have to let go of our anger. Sharing over and over and over again what a terrible person our partner is and all the terrible things our partner has doneI understand that. It doesnt help us let go. In fact it fuels the fire of our anger. If any of us are going through a divorce or we know of someone who is going through a divorce, I encourage us to look at Joseph as our role model. Joseph could have hurt Mary. But he didnt. Joseph was willing to let go. He actually protected Mary by not taking public his grievance. He was merciful. Joseph teaches us about being righteous in a black and white world. Traditionally righteousness is thought of as something we do. By definition to be righteous means we do what is right. In Jesus day the way to be right was to follow the religious laws. Ever since Moses had gone up to Mount Sinai it was clear that following the Ten Commandments was an excellent way to be righteous. Righteousness was something a person did with their feet and handsit was an action. It wasnt hard to know how to be righteous. A person just followed what was written. It was black and white.

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When Jesus came into the world he shifted this black-and-white thinking about righteousness. Jesus wasnt a revolutionary in the sense that he abolished the past traditions. just didnt believe that the law was only what a person did. He believed that righteousness was also an attitude of the heart. When Jesus was asked as an adult what was the most important law he clearly responded by saying love. Love God; love your neighbor as your love yourself. Loving with our heart is not a black and white proposition. What happens when a conflict erupts between doing what weve been taught that is right and responding with our heart. Joseph found himself caught in this conflict. If he did what was right he would have had Mary hurt. Because Joseph had been hurt we could have understood Joseph responding in this way. But something in Josephs heart said no. Im not going to hurt this person who by all indications has hurt me. Im going to respond with mercylove. Joseph chose love. Love cant be completely articulated by a law. Joseph changed the dimensions of righteousness. Joseph was righteous because he was merciful. His heart was full of mercy. Though he never spoke a word that was recorded in the Scriptures, his actions in this story speak louder than words. The actions of his heart. Joseph teaches us about mercy For us living thousands of years later in the north Metro he teaches us that getting ready for Christmas is about cultivating a heart of mercy. Its being righteous in a black and white world. In the past couple weeks Ive had people share with me their struggles about their own family. If we have a history of strained relationships, then those relationships can become even more strained around the holidays. Were spending time with people who push our buttons, and theyve done it for years. The pressure of the season can cause some of us to break.

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My counsel to people in their relationships around the holidays is always to be merciful always. My counsel is to always show compassionalways. When we become angryand its inevitable during Christmas because there is a lot of pressurealways take the high road. If you become angry about a situation, take a breathtake a deep breath. Pray to God about responding. Respond with mercy. I dont think God would have chosen Joseph to be the husband of Mary if he hadnt been mercy. Mercy can change the world. One reason I wanted to start a new church is I wanted to help cultivate a different type of disciple. First of all just using the word disciple in a Presbyterian church is not that common. Last week we had our first Disciples at Chain of Lakes orientation. This is what some people call a new members class. At Chain of Lakes were not going to use the word, members. Instead were going to say were disciples at Chain of Lakes. Not because we wont have members, but were trying to avoid having a membership culture. Put most simply a membership culture is about being part of an organization. This is fine, but Im more interested in helping people growing as disciples. This orientation last Sunday was wonderful. We broke up into groups and people shared their journeys of faith with each other. We each learned a lot about each other and were drawn closer to each other. Were going to be offering these Disciples at Chain of Lakes orientations at least once a quarter. Were learning that to be a disciple is to think with our mind, its acting with our feet, and perhaps most importantly its to love with our heart. Its to show mercy. If we can think with our mind, and act with our feet, and love with mercy in our heart our congregation will change the world.

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I believe that the world is waiting for this type of disciple. In particular its waiting for disciples who will always act with mercy. SLIDE Today were commissioning our Property Purchase Task force. Were going to

be on the north edge of when it was built the largest housing development in Minnesota. Were the first church who has land in that area. Were spending a lot of time right now on property issuesand thats fine. The danger of spending so much time talking about property and a future building is we stop growing as disciples or followers of Jesus Christ. I certainly believe in the importance of property and buildings. At the last church I served we bought an adjacent city lot, then we built a million dollar building and then we acquired another lot with a house on it and used it for ministry. It was wonderful. The building program was a faith story. Buildings and land are not the main purpose of a church. At no place in our Purpose Statement do we mention a building. I dont think the world is waiting for a church to build a building. Look at what Robert Schuller did with the Crystal Cathedral in California. At the time the Crystal Cathedral was built it was one of the wonders of the church architectural world. But I dont know if you heard the story, but the Crystal Cathedral was sold. The congregation has come on hard times. Now that building is going to be sold to the local arch-diocese. Buildings come and go. What ultimately is long-lasting is the quality of our discipleship. No one even knows what type of building Joseph lived in, but you and I know that he was righteous in a black and whit world. It was for his righteousness that we remember him. Let me close with this. During all of our preparations for Christmas we purchase a lot of gifts. One gift that isnt mentioned often is our gift for Jesus. Even though we know that Jesus wasnt born on December 25, we are celebrating his birth. Its worth for each of us to ponder

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what sort of gift we would like to give this Christmas to God. What if each of us made the commitment to live always by mercy? I think that would be a beautiful and long-lasting gift. Yesterday we put up our Christmas tree. I helped put some of the ornaments on the tree. You know how ornaments aresome of them have the dates of the year on them. Its wonderful to think about what was happening that year during Christmas. I would love it if we could look back at Christmas 2011 and said that was the year I committed myself to living by mercy in every situation. I used Joseph as my example. It can start today. It can start today. Amen