“Thy Kingdom Come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Each and every Sunday morning, here in church, we gather ourselves together and recite The Lord’s Prayer. It is a moment filled with reverence, as our heads are bowed in prayer, the words are so very familiar to us from our childhood, and our voices come together within our worshiping community. Each Sunday, and perhaps for many of us, at multiple other times during our week, we proclaim “Thy Kingdom Come.” For me the words are comforting, as somehow God, in time, will make all things right, and I can rest in that reassuring sense of knowing that all be well.
Perhaps we don’t think of the corollary to this beloved phrase; the corollary to “Thy Kingdom Come” is “My Kingdom Go”. Now, that little phrase feels far less promising in our ever busy lives, as we juggle all our responsibilities and try to make and carry out intelligent plans for ourselves, our families, our work, our community and our world. We are all very busy planning and maintaining our own little kingdoms.
This morning I invite you to journey with me all the back to 1st century Palestine and to imagine the life of Joseph, as described to us in our Gospel reading from Matthew.
What, exactly, are we told about Joseph? We are told that Mary had been engaged to marry Joseph.
To put this in the context of 1st century Palestine, we know it was the custom for parents to arrange the marriages of their children. Upon the completion of the marriage contract, the couple legally are bound to marry, but live with their families for a while, as they mature. Mary was thought to be quite young, around 14, and Joseph somewhat older.
So, we can imagine that Joseph is looking forward to marrying Mary, living in the community with her as they start a family, and being an integral part of their ongoing village life. This, if you will, is Joseph’s plan for his own little kingdom.
But, God has a huge surprise in store for Joseph.
Mary was ‘found to be with child from the Holy Spirit”.
How Joseph tries to get his head around this new information is extraordinary, even for us to think about. The Jewish laws, as articulated in Deuteronomy, make it clear that any infringement of marital relations, for example adultery or conception, during the engagement would lead to severe punishment. Joseph had high regard for the law, and he also has deep compassion for Mary. Joseph is unwilling to expose Mary to public disgrace and so he plans to ‘dismiss her quietly.”
I ask you to note here how central is the theme of the fear of humiliation, for Mary and for Joseph, and presumably, also for their families. Joseph is trying so very hard to do the right thing, to protect Mary, and one would think, also to protect himself, from what would be certain public humiliation. We can imagine Joseph suffering from intense anxiety and at night laying awake sleepless, turning through his mind all possible ways of going forward.
And, so, in the case of Joseph, what happens? “Just when he had resolved” to dismiss Mary quietly, “an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary for your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus”
In the ancient world it was believed that dreams provided guidance for the future. When Joseph awoke, he immediately understood his dream to be a direct communication from God. He did as the angel had instructed him, “he took Mary as his wife…and when she had borne a son, he named him Jesus.”
Joseph has moved from his fear of humiliation, into a profound sense of humility, effortlessly assenting to God’s creative plan being worked out in and through Joseph’s own life.
Now, if you’ve been attentive in Glory Story you will know that this is not the first Joseph, in the Biblical narrative of The Story, to be able to work with and to be guided by dreams. Remember Joseph, son of Jacob, betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt, who was able to interpret dreams for Pharaoh? Do you remember the 7 lean cows devouring the 7 fat cows, and Joseph telling Pharaoh that 7 years of abundance would be followed by 7 years of famine? You might be thinking, right now, “Boy, I wish I’d had a dream back in October 2007 telling me that lean years were coming and I’d better, metaphorically, store my grain for safekeeping to help me over those lean years that are coming.”
Do you believe that we can be guided by our dreams? Here I say a firm yes, I believe we can be guided by our dreams. Let me give you a little example of guidance I received in a dream. If it is true, and I believe it is, that God does not create any problem for which He doesn’t already have a solution, the problem for me was an ongoing conflict between two family members. I imagine that many of you can relate to this dilemma. I could see both sides, I knew how they each felt, and I wondered should I somehow act as a peacemaker? Here’s the dream I was given: I’m in a car, and the only way I can make the car go forward is to keep it in neutral.
When I awoke and recalled the dream, I laughed. God indeed has a sense of humor. My only way to go forward was to stay in neutral. My job in the conflict was to stay neutral, to stay totally out of it, and I did, and, indeed, not right away, but within a few months, harmony was restored.
Now, that was a tiny little example of dream guidance.
Are we being guided? How can we know when we are being guided? When Joseph first confronted his dilemma, his thinking was conventional to his culture: how could he protect Mary from public disgrace? What God was bringing to the earth in Jesus was way beyond any conventional thinking; this is the in-breaking of the divine consciousness in human form, in Jesus.
Now, let’s go back all the way to the Lord’s Prayer and our praying ‘Thy Kingdom Come’. Joseph is faithful, and Joseph is obedient. He willingly goes forward, and it turns out that Joseph is an essential player in God’s plan. Joseph, guided by his powerful dream, moves the planet, and perhaps even the universe, towards “Thy Kingdom Come’, and in the process, lets his small, egoic “my kingdom”—all his normal expectations for a quiet village life and family—“go”. Joseph surrenders to the action of God’s creative plan, and we can hope, that in his surrender to God’s will, that Joseph felt profound joy in being chosen as an instrument of God’s healing on earth.
In deepest humility, Mary and Joseph assent to “Thy Kingdom Come’. May we have the courage, in our own lives, however we are guided, to do the same.
“Thy will be done.”
