The Flame of Christmas #1
Joseph a Flame of Love
A flame is a mysterious thing. It can warm a home or burn down a house all in a moment. There is just something beautiful when the coals of a fire are red hot and seem to be moving and breathing. But that same red hot fire is not pretty at all when it has scorched miles and miles of woods and homes. But it is all started with just a simple little spark that becomes a flame and then a fully fledged fire. That flame is very vulnerable and can even be blown out by a toddler on his birthday. The fire starts so small but can devour so much. In Proverbs 30 it says “There are three things that are never satisfied, really four that never say, ‘I’ve had enough!’ … and fire that never says, “I’ve had enough!” That is the beautiful and ugly thing about a flame. What becomes of it is determined by how it is handled and used by someone.
I believe that Christmas is a celebration of a flame that was ignited years ago and remembered every December 25th. I want to take four weeks and talk through the Advent expression of four things: Love, Hope, Joy and Peace. There was a flame ignited that night in Bethlehem that has grown into a fire that has spread across history and the world. But it all began with the love that Joseph had for his fiancée Mary.
In those days marriages were arranged and negotiated by parents. You might not be the first in your family to meet who you were supposed to marry one day. Joseph and Mary are engaged and waiting for their big day when Mary comes up with a deal breaker of a story. She tells Joseph she is pregnant, which is pretty bad to hear anyway, but then she claims the baby is a miracle of God. That angels have told her about what a big part of the plan of God this baby will play in his life. I mean come on, you’re pregnant and it is God’s? That is a lot of story to take in for Joseph.
Joseph of course is torn about what to do. The Bible says that he thought about what Mary had told him but also thinks about her and his love for her. He doesn’t want to disgrace her and I believe that comes from not an arrangement but from a heart that has fallen for Mary and wants to spend his life with her. He has to decide if love will win the day or not. Then the angel shows up.
Matthew tells us that the angel of the Lord came to Joseph and told him to not be afraid take Mary has his wife. Sure, God told him it was okay to marry her but Joseph still has to do the marrying. He must decide if his love for Mary is enough. Do not make the mistake of thinking that God said to do it so Joseph just agreed and took Mary. I can’t wait to one day sit down with Joseph over a drink and ask him about what those 24 hours or so were like. He had to truly weigh his options and then choose to let love lead the day. At some point a flicker of love became a flame that on this day became a fire that is still burning. Love leads Joseph’s heart and helps him make the decision to choose Mary.
I wonder if this might be where Jesus learned about love. He talked about it a lot in his ministry and told us to go the extra mile when it came to love. Did he talk to Joseph about the love he felt for his mom? About the love he had for him, his step-son that he chose to raise? I would love to have been listening to those conversations between the two of them. Is this where Jesus saw love lived out every day? Joseph is a picture of letting love lead our lives and change the way we live. He modeled in this moment what Jesus would teach later in his life.
That flame of love ignited into a fire of love that is still burning in our world today. Jesus constantly challenges us to love first and long after others have given up on love. He even calls us out in John 13:34 – 35 “I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other.” He wants us to love each other and let that be how people know that we are following him. Funny no camel stickers, no protests or sermons to make sure people know you are my disciples. Instead, how about you just love others? So there it is. Will we flame the fire or quench it because we quit loving each other? Depends on if you want to warm the world or scorch earth it.