Being a God Smuggler Jeremiah 31:7-14, Psalm 84, Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a, Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 January 4, 2004, Year C, 2nd Sunday after Christmas The Rev. William V. Livingston, Rector Church of the Resurrection, Starkville, Mississippi Have you ever thought what it would be like to be Joseph? I think sometimes I've had it bad as a parent. Imagine being Joseph and his difficult calling to be the earthly father of Jesus. In the four Gospels, we hear nothing of him except in Matthew. Often artists depict only Mary with the infant Jesus. In manger scenes complete with shepherds and wise men, Joseph can easily get lost in the shadows or be confused as one of the shepherds. He was called to work on the fringes of Jesus' early life. He had the often-dangerous duty of protecting the child Jesus from harm. In addition, it fell to Joseph to tend to routine discipline and to teach his son a trade. Perhaps the strangest part of Joseph's career, to us, is that whenever a major shift in the action was called for, an anngel gave Joseph his instructions in a dream. Indeed, he was led by dreams in most, if not all, of the major decisions of his life. Angels in a dream tell him to protect his bride and child by going to Egypt and then to return, but not to Bethlehem but to Nazareth. If only things were so clear to us; if only the will of God were so clear to us. I contend things are so clear. We only have done a better job of learning how to resist or, perhaps, even better ignore the voice of God. I contend we are bombarded continuously by angels, messengers from God, and their messages. Don't make this more complicated than it is. I don't know anyone to whom God has spoken in the voice of thunder from a cloud. However, think of how many times you know you have been offered God's words from a dying friend who better hears the voice of God, a young child who has not learned to place a higher value on the voice of the world than on the voice of God, a friend who loves you enough to be less concerned about offending you and more concerned about offering you the voice you need to hear. Think how many times we wake in the morning with a clear answer to a problem. Sometimes I wake saying a sermon silently and all I have to do is sit at my computer and type in hopes my day and thoughts won't erase it. Think of how many times someone, perhaps a stranger, for no reason or totally illogically, does something that has profound impact on you. How often are you hounded by the thought of another person or that you should do something? Our lives are determined by our free choices. We can, and often do, base them on what's best for us or for others who love us. God expects us to do that. But many times we wonder, "What does God want me to do?" It is as if there was only one choice to make, and we have to be certain to make the correct one or fail. God is not like that. God leads us to choices and frequently there are several to choose from, all equally right in accordance with God's plan. This is because God's plan will prevail. That is the message of today's Gospel. God does not work outside the order of creation but within it. God is ready to direct your next step. God wants to do a new thing in your life. God is always speaking to you. We have only to realize the pregnant moments. Our desire for perfect clarity becomes just another way of muffling God's voice. We must be prepared that sometimes the voices of angels of God will bring us into conflict with how we believe things should be or our head or tradition interprets Scripture. Earlier in Matthew's infancy narrative an angel of God told Joseph that his young bride was already pregnant and he wasn't the father. Scripture instructed him that she was to be put to death for adultery. If Joseph took Scripture literally, if he acted logically, he would have had her stoned to death. Instead, he married her and loved the child within her womb, accepting a task that required him to ignore rumors and endure societal ridicule. Seldom do we encounter God's messengers or messages in our head but only in our heart. When we deal with the ways of God, we must move out of the head and move into the heart. Biblically, the heart is not our coronary system. Heart is our center, that place where we are grounded and connected with God. Unless we have been successful at smothering it, the heart is that part of us that tells us when we are in or out of sync with the ways of God. Seldom does the way of God make sense logically. What is logical about us being here today? Wouldn't sleeping in or getting things done around the house make more sense than being here this morning? When we need to prepare for retirement or pay down our debt, when we want a more stylish car, a larger wardrobe or more exotic vacation, what makes sense about giving a portion of our income to the church? When we are already pushed to the point of exhaustion, what makes sense about teaching Sunday school, serving on the Vestry, helping on the parish grounds, participating in our outreach? Dreaming with angels is more likely to be provocative than soothing. Why did God entrust the life of the Christ child Joseph? While not to be confused with the TV show Average Joe in which some guy seeking cheap and easy fame tries to win the attention of some trophy model, every plan of God unfolds through an average Joe who listens to God. This average Joe was assigned the task of caring for the Christ child and became a God-smuggler. Look around you. When you get home, look in the mirror. We too are average Joes. We too are called to be God smugglers. We are called to keep the body that Jesus left us, the Church, alive and to smuggle it into the places where it is most needed. We are here because the dream also calls to change us, and we who are being changed, we who are growing in God's grace are, through God's grace, changing the world. It is never by luck or chance that we stumble into the Divine plan. God has been at work in each of us from the moment we were formed in our mother's womb, even before that. Each of us is called to the same place, to a community of God smuggling average Joes. Each of us is given gifts to compliment that community, and every one of us has a part in the story. Every encounter with someone, each connection we find, is part of our being connected with the God that made us. Let us resolve this year to look forward to meeting God in the people we meet. Let us remember to seek and serve Christ in all persons. For Joseph and his family this meant hearing and believing the word from God and then doing it. As one who has packed up and moved often, it's not fun. Just as following the directives from angels is illogical, it's also hard work However, if we will understand the Bible as a whole and not just carefully selected verses, if we will listen to the voices of the angels God sends, we will realize the purpose of life is not the pursuit of a rule oriented existence or of success and accomplishment. We will realize the ultimate question God is going to ask us at the end of our earthly life is not going to be: "Well, how much money did you make? How big did you grow your organization? How successful were you at playing? Did you obey all the rules?" The transcendent question God is going to ask us is: "Were you a God smuggler? Did you carry the Christ child where I asked you?"