by the Rev. Craig Lemming
Watch the sermon recording on YouTube here.
In the name of the Triune God: Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
What is the opposite of integrity? A quick internet search tells us that the opposite of integrity is doing dishonest, corrupt, deceitful, duplicitous, untruthful, and morally compromised things. Integrity, on the other hand, is defined as doing the right thing, even and especially when no one is watching. Integrity involves a consistent alignment between our values, intentions, and actions. The International Center for Academic Integrity identifies five values associated with integrity: Honesty; Trust; Fairness; Respect; and Responsibility. There’s a direct relationship between Integrity and Bell Hooks’ belief that, “To truly love we must learn to mix various ingredients – care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust, as well as honest and open communication.”[1] On this fourth Sunday of Advent, dedicated to God’s Love, today’s sermon is about how true love is witnessed in Joseph’s quiet integrity. In a world overrun by dishonest, corrupt, deceitful, duplicitous, untruthful, and morally bankrupt narcissists, we desperately need to bring back Saint Joseph’s quiet integrity. Taking some poetic license, when I imagine who Mariah Carey is addressing in her Christmas smash hit, this year, Saint Joseph, “all I want for Christmas is you.”
Have you ever known a person imbued with Joseph’s quiet integrity? That person rooted in honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. That person who keeps their word in deeds. The one who jumps your dead car battery in subzero weather; the one who fixes the boiler before pipes freeze and burst; or gets the stray racoon, opossum, squirrel, or bat out of your house. The one whose actions speak louder than words. Note that in today’s Gospel, Joseph does not speak a single word. Joseph acts with quiet yet life-saving integrity. Perhaps Joseph has no words because, as Abraham Joshua Heschel says, “There is not enough grandeur in our souls to be able to unravel in words the knot of time and eternity.”[2] Joseph’s integrity aligns with God’s time in eternity. No words can explain why the Creator of the Universe was conceived in his beloved Mary’s womb. Faced with the difficult, confusing, and sacrificial circumstances involved in caring for Mary in her scandalous pregnancy, Joseph is tempted at first to comply with the misogynistic hypocrisy of patriarchal toxic purity culture, but he turns away from that insanity, and chooses instead to do God’s will. Joseph provides protection, safety, security, and care for his beloveds. Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, exemplifies integrity through his unwavering faithfulness, obedience to God’s will to love, moral uprightness, and consistent character.
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as 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, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
Rabbi Heschel writes, “There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord.”[3] I believe Joseph experienced that realm of time in his encounter with God’s angelic messenger in his dream. Joseph shifts away from fear-based having, owning, controlling, and subduing and chooses loved-based being, giving, sharing, and being in accord with God’s will.
In these last few days before we begin our celebration of Christmas, what will you do to open your own life to being in God’s realm of time in eternity? This choice and practice could very well be the greatest gift you can give to your loved ones this Christmas. Being, giving, sharing, and being in accord with God’s will to love is a gift this world desperately needs.
Toni Morrison said, “when you enter places of trust, or power, dream a little before you think, so your thoughts, your solutions, your directions, your choices about who lives and who doesn’t, about who flourishes and who doesn’t will be worth the very sacred life you have chosen to live.”[4] As we prepare to receive in trust and power, God’s love incarnate in Jesus Christ, let’s dream a little with Saint Joseph. Take a few still moments in this sanctuary to be fully present to the beauty of God’s holiness. Look at the colors. Breathe in the evergreens. Be still and know that God is God. Close your eyes and imagine yourself in Joseph’s dream. Do not be afraid. Stop bracing for impact. God is with us. Let go and trust God. Simply be, give, share, and be in tune with heaven. With God, we can love, and create something good, and true, and beautiful. Heschel says,
It is the dimension of time wherein [humankind] meets God, wherein [humankind] becomes aware that every instant is an act of creation, a Beginning, opening up new roads for ultimate realizations. Time is the presence of God in the world of space, and it is within time that we are able to sense the unity of all beings… Every instant is an act of creation… Time is a perpetual innovation, a synonym for continuous creation… We can only solve the problem of time through the sanctification of time… with God time is eternity in disguise.[5]
As non-white immigrants are being disappeared by today’s slave-catchers. As the poor and the hungry suffer through this bitter winter and brace for an even more painful year-to-come. As Herod continues lying and raging and killing and stealing and destroying and breaking families apart. Saint Joseph shows us the power of quiet integrity. May we live lives of quiet integrity aligned with God’s eternal will to love. May we provide the protection, safety, and security all people deserve, especially the most vulnerable. Like Saint Joseph, all we need for Christmas, is God’s love incarnate. May each of us make it so. Amen.
[1] Bell Hooks, All About Love: New Visions (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2001), 4-5.
[2] Abraham J. Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man (New York: Ferrar, Strauss, Giroux, 1951), 67.
[3] Ibid., 3.
[4] Toni Morrison, The Source of Self Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2019), 73.
[5] Ibid., 100, 101.
