In response to Matthew 1:18-25

Joseph was a man
An ordinary earn-your-living-with-your-hands
kind of man.
A carpenter by trade.
Ah—but he was righteous.
How many of us could say the same?

When told his intended was pregnant with
another’s child
Joseph chose the quiet way.
Joseph chose to spare her humiliation.
Joseph chose to grant her life.

Would you, would I, have done the same?
When we have every human right to demand
our rights.
I’m right. You’re wrong.
You have wronged my rights.
You, not I, shall pay the humiliation price.

But not Joseph.
Joseph was a righteous man.
A soon-to-be-humiliated man.
A man who would humble himself
rather than see his intended humiliated
beyond her extended belly.
Joseph would pay the humiliation price in the
jeers of the crowd.
“Hey there, Joseph, you righteous man, you.
Weren’t you engaged to be married, Joseph?
Weren’t you man enough to keep your woman,
Joseph?
Weren’t you man enough to keep your woman
lusting after your own man-body?
And now, aren’t you man enough to do the
right societal thing?
Aren’t you man enough to rally the community
into a decent stoning?
Aren’t you man enough to be a married man?
Hey there, Joseph, you righteous man, you.”
But Joseph was a righteous man.
A man-enough-man to take on humiliation for
the sake of another.

Joseph was a man
An ordinary earn-your-living-with-your-hands
kind of man.
A carpenter by trade.
Ah—but he was dream-heeder.
How many of us could say the same?

When decision-heavy-weariness overtook him for
the night
Joseph dreamed a dream.
Joseph dreamed receptively to God’s
messenger.
Joseph dreamed attentiveness to God’s voice.

Would you, would I, have done the same?
Armed with human logic to explain away the
dream—
dreams have no place in the light of day,
especially when they demand so illogic a
course.
Father a child that isn’t mine? Not likely.
Pregnant by the Holy Spirit? Impossible!
What do you take me for, a fool?!

But not Joseph.
Joseph was a righteous man.
A soon-to-be-a-father man.
A man who would travel an uncharted course
rather than fail to live according to the
intentions of a saving God.
Joseph would pay the price of fathering
another’s child.
He would marry his intended, yet remain
celibate until after the birth.
He would accompany Mary through childbirth
in a stable.
He would listen to the cries of a babe and hear
himself cry “Holy.”
He would choose the angel-name-choice and
name the babe Jesus.
And later, he would listen to more dreams,
always choosing, for the sake of the baby, to
follow the God-dream message.
For Joseph was a righteous man
A man-enough-man to take on fatherhood for
the sake of another.
For the sake of generations of others.
For the sake of a world of others.
For the sake of you and me.

Joseph was a man
An ordinary earn-your-living-with-your-hands
kind of man.
A carpenter by trade.
Ah—but he was righteous, a holy-dream-heeder.
How many of us could say the same?

Donna Mast is conference minister for Allegheny Mennonite Conference. Image: wikimedia.org | Tile Mosaic of Jesus, Mary and Joseph at Baptismal Fount and Altar, Paul T. E. Cusack, 2009