[Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent, cycle A]
Do you remember when you we a child, how exciting these last few days before Christmas were!! The day was filled with whispered conversations about the gifts under the tree, and already some of your braver siblings had snuck in to give the presents a shake and predict their contents. And of course, there were all the covert operations focused on finding where the presents were hidden before they were wrapped.
It was an exciting time – and the anticipation of the event made it just that more exciting. It was a time of wishing. It was a time of dreaming.
This Sunday, we meet the great dreamer of the gospels, Joseph.
Today’s Gospel tells us that Mary and Joseph were betrothed – that’s something like an engagement only it’s much more permanent. It lasts a year, sometimes longer. During that time the families get to know one another. They work out a dowry. They search the records in the temple in Jerusalem to make sure the couple are not too closely related to marry.
I suspect that Joseph dreamed about building a home for Mary and himself and the kids they’d have. About the wonderful life they’d have. And about how wonderful life would be. Very much like anyone preparing for Marriage.
And then Mary tells Joseph that she is pregnant.
About how an angel had appeared to her and told her she was going to be the mother of Israel’s Messiah. That the Spirit of God had come upon her and put a baby in her womb.
If I put myself in Joseph’s shoes, I think I would be in shock. I likely would have thought that it was one thing for her to betray our love like that and quite another to treat me to a story that bordered on blasphemy! Did she think i was a fool?
The Law said that a woman found in adultery should be stoned to death. I am sure that Joseph suddenly understood that law in a way he never had before. And he likely was angry at her for ruining their love, his faith and trust in her, and wrecking his reputation. But, because of his love for her, he didn’t want to make a public example of her. So, he planned to give her a private decree of divorce.
And then ……. he dreamed. God’s angel comes to Joseph and speaks to him while he sleeps.
Joseph dreams – and Joseph listens to that dream. He hears that this child that Mary is carrying will be called Emmanuel, that he will be God’s presence with us. And that this child will save us.
And like Mary at the Annunciation, Joseph accepts, and he believes. Like Mary, he takes that leap of faith, and trusts himself completely to God. And as a result, God’s great plan can be fulfilled. God’s great dream for humanity can be fulfilled. With Joseph’s acceptance, the final piece is put in place. The stage is set for our redemption. Joseph’s dream would transform the world.
I think many of us tend to think primarily of Mary and Jesus during Christmas. Even the most famous song of the season describes what is happening “round yon virgin, mother and child.” We tend to forget that Joseph is part of the story – Joseph the homeowner, and caretaker, and labourer. A man of great trust and steadfast faith – who dreams, who listens, and who follows.
God had a dream for Joseph. Joseph listened to God’s dream for him, and he became the FIRST to do what each of us is called to do: he took Mary and Jesus into his home.
God had a dream for Joseph.
I believe that God has a dream for each and every one of us here today. I believe that the only way we will find true, deep and lasting peace and happiness in our lives is when we, like Joseph, are living God’s dream for us.
What’s Gods dream for you? What message has God been trying to give to you? Where has God been calling you? We can only know if we take time to listen.
In these last busy hours before Christmas, in this time of rushing to get last-minute gifts, can I ask you to give yourself what may be the greatest gift you have ever received? To take time each day between now and Christmas to hear God’s Dream for you?
To take some quiet time alone each day to reflect deeply on how God has been making Godself present to you in the people you encounter each day and in the events that unfold in your life.
Can I ask you to go to bed during this final week before Christmas – not with a tasklist for the next day, not with a wishlist of gifts to find under the tree, but rather with a simple prayer for openness of heart that you may hear God’s dream for you?
Joseph’s dream transformed the world. I can’t say if your dream will transform the world – that’s in God’s hands. But I can say with all certainty that God’s dream for you will transform your world.
This week, discover God’s great dream for you.