Joseph. Joseph was a good and righteous man. The Bible tells us this as he enters the scene in Matthew’s account of the birth of Christ (Mt. 1:18-25). This means he was known for being a good guy – obeying the basic teachings of Judaism, which included treating people well. As a Jewish man living in Israel during Roman occupancy, we can imagine some of his ambitions. The overwhelming majority of people at that time were very poor. People in Jerusalem looked down on the people where Joseph lived – Nazareth was thought of as an uneducated backwoods sort of place (could anything good come out of Nazareth?) By our Western standards, then, Joseph’s dreams don’t seem too lofty. He probably hoped simply to make enough money to survive doing a job he didn’t mind too much. Hopefully get married to a woman he could get along with. And if God smiled on him, some sons to carry on his name and his country’s legacy.
We don’t know how well Mary and Joseph got along. All we know is that they were engaged – an arranged marriage that was probably set up many years before their wedding ceremony. We can be pretty confident that the time of their wedding ceremony was approaching given Mary’s life stage. Joseph was a carpenter, and we can assume he was doing well enough to get the nod of approval to get married soon, too, since he did within months of his entrance into the story.
We learn a lot about the depth of his goodness when he got his mettle tested. One way or another, he received the news that Mary was pregnant. Not by him. A flood of emotions must have overwhelmed him. Anger. Embarrassment. Feelings of being betrayed. Hurt. Humiliation. Loneliness. Many of us would be tempted to react with vengeance – letting Mary pay for her sins – distancing ourselves from her to free us from association with her and let her suffer the consequences. Joseph could have easily chosen this orthodox route, based on a right belief born out of an understanding of Jewish law.
But Joseph chose a different form of orthodoxy and chose to believe in the right way. While he could have humiliated her all the way to her grave, he followed a greater Truth and settled out of court, so to speak. Joseph was indeed a good man, a gentleman already moved by grace.
Orthodoxy Revisited. Religious traditions typically define themselves by what they deem as the “right beliefs”. Right beliefs are handy. They provide, usually, a clear ethic – boundary lines, constructs, etc. As an added benefit, right beliefs can pretty quickly be distinguished from wrong beliefs. The world gets pretty black and white if you choose this form of orthodoxy. Binary. You know who is in and who is out. This makes this form of orthodoxy “safe” – protected from all that you disagree with. This form of orthodoxy doesn’t really need God, of course – we have the ethic – of what use is God except to welcome us to heaven and annihilate all the wrong people?
Author Peter Rollins, in How Not To Speak Of God, suggests an alternative way to think about orthodoxy. Instead of the Greek interpretation of right beliefs, he offers a more Hebraic definition: believing in the right way. The focus is less on the letter of the law (right beliefs), and more on the Spirit in which the law was given – the tone, inflection, and style of God, which sometimes goes directly against the letter of the law. This higher way of Truth can trump the “right beliefs truth” when appropriate. All moved by the same heartbeat of God.
This type of orthodoxy motivated Abraham, Isaac, the Hebrew midwives in Egypt, still others and even Jesus to lie – breaking a right belief – in order to honor a higher Truth: love. It’s what afforded Corrie ten Boom the decision to lie about harboring Jews in WWII, too. Honoring a higher Truth trumped adherence to the lower truth of being honest no matter what.
The Third Mile. Joseph already gave evidence of his believing in the right way when he chose to divorce Mary quietly, privately, so as not to make worse an already horrible situation. When the angel appeared to Joseph, informing him that the crazy story Mary was spinning was, in fact, true, he was presented with another opportunity to choose his orthodoxy. He could choose the Greek orientation, which would have let him simply tell himself that he had done more than enough already. He could then go back to sleep. Or, he could go the Hebrew route and choose to live and believe in the right way. Because he chose the latter, he went beyond the second mile instructed by Jesus, and into a third. His decision showed love to Mary, God, himself and the whole world. He took Mary as his wife, in spite of all the grief he would take from others. He didn’t consummate the marriage – not an insignificant act of self-discipline – hello, he was a man on his wedding night! And he named the baby boy Jesus, not Joseph.
Choosing to believe and live in the right way was hardly an easy decision. Certainly, faithful, orthodox people looked on with horror at him and Mary. They probably spoke in hushed tones (or maybe loud shouts?) about their scandalous circumstance and Joseph’s lack of spine. It was hard to eat such humble pie.
And yet, strangely satisfying beyond explanation or expression…
May you continue to examine the orthodoxy you employ.
May you find yourself going the third mile.
May you discover yourself satiated on humble pie offered by God to those who embrace his invitation.
Think...
- What indicators do we look for to help us know if we have a healthy relationship with God?
- What indicators do you think Joseph would have used?
- How do you think he handled the shock of realizing being faithful would carry a very high, painful price?
- If you were faced with an invitation by God that would require such a high price, what would go through your mind?
- Joseph probably never saw Jesus do his “ministry thing.” As he drew his last breath, do you think he had any regrets regarding his decision to marry Mary?
- What areas of your life is God inviting you to trust him at a price? What’s your next step?
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