Merry Christmas! You're Fiance' Is Pregnant with Someone Else's Baby...

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year.  The smell of fresh cut trees, ornaments being hung on a tree, a lighted fire place,  Christmas music and gifts under the tree - especially living along a waterfront known as the East Bay of The Chesapeake makes life a little special this time of the year. Despite all the claims of some in the Christian Church who would view all this as a pagan practice, there's another way to view this winter solstice festival.  Christ has incarnated himself into our culture and transformed a pagan practice into a time of remembering him.  So to all the fans of Frank Viola and his now famed book, "Pagan Christianity" - you need to stop the Awe Humbug and get into the mystery of  God's incarnational work in our cultures, our history, and our story.  Christ is born anew everyday in our hearts and lives by getting into our story.

Recently, I've been re-readng the Christmas story and found a long neglected passage of scripture in the Gospel Of Matthew.  Matthew tells us that when "Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with a child of the Holy Spirit; her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly."  The view suggested itself to most people is that Joseph thought Mary had been unfaithful to him.  But what strikes me about this passage is, how Joseph was "unwilling to put Mary to shame."  How did Joseph overcome what he considered an injustice?  He had a powerful encounter with God.  What a powerful thought about , justice!  

Micah 6:8 What Does The Lord Require Of You?  

To Do Justice, Love Mercy, 

and Walk Humbly with Your God.

So what does justice look like to you?  In this story,  it appears that Joseph felt wronged.  Her pregnancy outside of wedlock suggested that she was not only unfaithful but had cheated on their marriage arrangement.  What does Joseph decide to do?  He sides on the side of mercy by resolving to divorce her quietly.  As a result he is called a "just" man by the writer of Matthew. According to Jewish law, Joseph had every right to "cry" foul! He could have dragged her before the courts, her family, and made a public spectacle of her but instead he was unwilling to put her through the shame of being pregnant outside of their marriage arrangements and Jewish customs.  Is this something we do when someone does something unjust toward us?  Do we seek to expose the "truth" about those who have wronged us?  Do we seek justice through the public humiliation of the sinner?  Or do we do the "Just" thing that Joseph did?  My Bible tells me that Joseph rose above all his "hurt" and wanted to deal with this "privately" in a way that doesn't bind Mary to public shaming and punishment.  It's so unfortunate that too many people are Hell bent on "shaming others."  Pointing out the sins publicly, ensuring it makes the news papers, rehearsing it on television, and seeking justice in the court of public opinion.  How many people have had there lives, reputations, and life work destroyed by the hands of their so called friends and loved ones who sought to redefine the life history but one (what appears) a major mistake.  Do you realize that if Joseph had acted on what appeared to be an "injustice" against him, Mary and Jesus both would have had to pay the penalty addressed in Jewish law. 

According to Jewish Law, these children of unwed mothers are called mamzerim (Hebrew for bastards), and are subject to a variety of restrictions and discrimination; thus, so not share privileges of God's children.  For example, in Deuteronomy 23:2 it states, "A Bastard shall not enter the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord." And because Mary's pregnancy came at a time when she was an unwed woman, Jesus' birth came at a difficult time along the human timeline. Jesus' birth took place in the time of a great Roman Empire census and required everyone to return to their home of origin to be recorded as citizens.  What a scandal that would have been for Mary to be pregnant and registering in her hometown as an unwed mother.  Joseph's decision to "cover" her vs. "exposing" her brought credibility to a story most family's would find scandalous.  What would you do if your daughter came home at age 14 and told you she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit? An acceptance Of Mary's "incarnational" pregnancy is not only the call for the "redemption" of a person's life. It also is a statement that Joseph came to believe that "bastards" need to be redeemed too!  So Christmas can be seen as a moment when God is calling you to let off all the "bastards" in your life too!   

Hebrews 12:15

"See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God

and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble

and defile many."   

Galatians 6:1

"Brothers and sisters, if anyone is caught in any transgression, 

you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back

into the right path; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will

not be tempted."

I think that many have forgotten that "None are righteous" and "ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."  Jesus came to identify with every aspect of our fallen world and to offer us redemption... shouldn't we.  Instead, too many people today (leaders especially) love defiling others - causing trouble - forgetting their own fallen human nature.  The Bible exhorts us to "confess our own sins, one to another" (James 5:16; ! John 1:9) not the sins of others - even if they are against you!

   There is another story in the Old Testament about Noah and his son Ham that has affected my thinking about how we need to be careful about how we pass on our life stories.  It's found in Genesis 9:18-27.  After Noah departs the Ark he is found drunk and laying naked in his tent by his second born son, Ham.  Instead of covering his Father's nakedness he runs and tells his other two brothers about it.  Noah's other two son's Shem and Japeth took a garment, went into the tent backwards so not to look on Noah, and they covered him with a garment.  Noah's drunkedness and nakedness was exposed by Ham.  As a result, Noah curses Ham's son Canaan and Ham's family lives in brokenness from this time forward.  This story is recorded in the Bible for a very important purpose.  Proverbs 11:13 says, "A gossip betrays confidence, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.  I Peter 4:8 states that, "love covers a multitude of sins."  The first thing this story is pointing out is- that Ham should have covered his Father's drunkedness and nakedness and then just kept it quiet about it.  The second major theme is - Ham brought a "curse" on his family's future. Deuteronomy 28 teaches that "Blessing or Curses" come down family lines as a result of the story we choose to rehearse.  Are you rehearsing your Father's sins or his life "testimony"?

I know both my mother and father's sins.  However, I don't go around rehearsing that history.  The story I rehearse is the story of their redemption.  Their personal "sin" story stops with me. Scripture states clearly that we are to "honor our father and mother that it may go well with us, and we live a long life in the land God gives us."  (See Ephesian 6:2)  I don't want to be one of those people who rehearsing the unrighteous" history in our family so that it defiles them and causes trouble in their own lives.  

Years ago, I attended a large leadership event hosted by a prominent national church TV preacher.  During the event, his wife got up and explained to the audience that her father was a Methodist minister.  Then, to my utter surprize she then proceeded to tell everyone that the purpose of the event was "to ensure that the leaders present were not failures like her father!"  Then she went on to talk about all the wrong things her father did.  Wow! I was so blown away I had to get up and leave the event and go home.  She defiled the whole group by rehearsing her father's sins publicly.  I guess that's how she wants her children to remember her... Ham's family curse began by his exposing his father's "unrighteous: history. I think anyone who defiles others by rehearsing publicly or privately the sins of their own parents should be removed from any kind of leadership. It's a pure violation of scripture - even if he was a "bastard." I could name of lot of "bastards" I've met... however, you don't have to rehearse that story.  A dear friend of mine, William Alexander Haley (a kind, gentle, loving individual that he is) recently dusted off his grandfather's (Author of Malcome X's biography and the famed "Roots" - Alex Haley) favorite quote - Find The good and praise it!  Instead of looking for what's wrong in a man's life - why not look for the good "stories" and telling that instead of rehearsing some ole family story you nothing about anyway.  Many family stories of injustice that are rehearsed about "family failures" are laced with "bitterness" and "victimology".   How would we all feel if our own legacy's of sin and failure were what is rehearsed to our great-great grandchildren.  I don't understand people who preach that Jesus forgives us of ALL our sins and then turns around and tells publicly the sins of their fathers. Proverbs 11:13 says,      "A talebearer revealeth secrets; but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter."  If anyone asked me about my father's sinful past I would tell they his story of redemption. His salvation experience is an awesome testimony to share.  That's what this Christmas passage is all about - our savior was born in "extreme" circumstances which could have disqualified his life.  Why did God want this story told?  Because He wanted to show us his mercy "while we were yet sinners... Christ died for us!"  Don't you think that we need to let some stories die? Christmas is a story of redemption.  I time of gift giving even when we don't deserve it.  It's a time of - even giving the "bastards" an opportunity of mercy .  SO, please give us ALL a gift "Find The Good and Praise it" instead of telling us all how bad you feel about what you "father did or did not do for you or how disappointed you are with him."  Joseph was a "Great Man" to have believed that God could do anything - including incarnate himself in his future wife." Now that takes great faith!