Let Christ form your conscience.

One of the curious aspects of being human is our conscience. We each go about our business each day making decisions and comments. We know who we are, what we say and do and why. And there is this second aspect of us inside our heads that constantly evaluates our activities. It’s yours, your conscience is part of you, maybe the best part of you, but it is distinct.

When there is discrepancy between our words and actions and our conscience, it gnaws at us. We cannot shut that other voice up, we cannot disregard it. It is us. We may feel guilt, regret. When we’ve said or done something against our own conscience and hurts someone else, we may appeal and say, “That wasn’t the real me,” and it does have some truth in it.

Let’s look at how this works out for Joseph. We don’t see or hear a lot about Joseph. He is referenced only in the birth narratives in Matthew and Luke, and very sparingly in Luke at that. Many think Joseph may have died before Jesus began his public ministry, but we simply don’t know. We do know that there is no mention of Joseph once Jesus emerges in his adult ministry except by occasional reference to Jesus as Joseph’s son (as was supposed) or as the carpenter’s son.

We are told Joseph is a good man, a righteous man.  A carpenter has come to a point in his career that he can afford to marry and provide for a family, his family.

Joseph has a problem. His wife is pregnant and not by him.   You may say, “Wait, Fr. Tim!  They aren’t married yet!”  To which I must reply, no, but under the custom of the time she, is his wife.

A man would make a formal offer of marriage to a young woman, either written or in front of two witnesses.  At that point they are, in our terms, betrothed or engaged.  However, under the custom of the day, this was a legally binding contract, although they would typically wait a full year before the actual wedding.

During that year, if the groom were to die, the bride would have full rights to inherit as though she were his wife.  Likewise, the only way the woman could get out of the marriage was through a formal divorce decree.  She was also subject to the laws concerning adultery, meaning if guilty she could be stoned to death.

 And Joseph, in the loneliness of his thoughts, has to cope with what he felt was a lousy situation.

Suddenly his dream of wife and children looks to be lost.  The faithful man, the righteous man, considers the right thing to do.  This isn’t like breaking off a wedding, it is more like divorce. But his heart must be torn.  His mercy toward Mary in dismissing her shows no hint of revenge, but rather a distinct hint of sorrow.

He has the law on his side. He has every right to put her on public trial as an adulteress. But, as Matthew notes, he is a “righteous man.” Quite apart from his legal and moral right, he has this other voice in his head, shaped by his training, faith, and experiences, that says, “No. Her life is going to be hard enough. Let’s do this quietly.”

But then Matthew tells us a third voice comes into the conversation. An angel, a messenger from God, who takes Joseph beyond his own conscience to a very unexpected path. He is to keep the baby.  He is to name him Jesus, which means literally “God saves.”  And he is told that Jesus isn’t just a name.  This child will actually free people from their sins.

The virgin birth is difficult for some people to embrace, but Bishop N.T. Wright put it this way, “Does the rest of the story, and the impact of Jesus on the world and countless individuals within it ever since, make it more or less likely that he was indeed conceived by a special act of the holy spirit?”[1]

When Joseph names Jesus, he adopts him wholly as his own son.

When I think of Jesus saving us from our sins, I most often think about that in terms of ultimate judgment, that he redeemed us and punched our ticket to eternal life.

But there’s a very present and active aspect to saving us from our sin that is very much like Joseph’s experience. Our conscience, formed by our upbringing, learning, and experience is very helpful.  There were times I would help our kids’ form their conscience by asking them how they’d feel if I told Grandpa or Papa what they’d done. “No no no! Don’t tell Grandpa! Don’t tell Papa!” Our conscience guides and corrects our behavior. But even that is not enough.  

We prayed for it in our collect this morning, “PURIFY OUR CONSCIENCE,” in all capital letters! We are shouting a prayer to Almighty God to visit our consciences daily. We seek exactly what Joseph received, to have God perfect our conscience, to carry us beyond what we know to be legal, what we know to be right, beyond common sense, to seek and find his very best for us.

And that delivers us from sin, too, but in a preventive way.

We’ve been preparing for Christmas all month, many of us at least since Thanksgiving. This season, but not just this season, this life, your whole life, prepare for Jesus.  If you will make a faithful, daily, focused effort to pray along the lines of this collect (you could just take it home and use it) you will find your conscience strengthened as it comes further into alignment with The Lord. You will build his mansion in your own heart, one that won’t need remodeling. You will make better decisions which will transform your life and the world around you, for His sake.

AMEN

Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

PURIFY OUR CONSCIENCE, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN

[1] Wright, T. (2004). Matthew for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 1-15 (p. 7). London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.