We can choose a better way...
This week, as I was revisiting a story I’ve heard for 53 years of my life, I was reminded of the concept of “our better angels.”
Let me bring you on that journey through my head and heart for a moment.
You see, according to scripture, Joseph, confronted with the real problem of his betrothed turning up pregnant with no plausible explanation, has discerned his next steps.
He wants to save Mary some disgrace, so he’s planning to go ahead and be married to her, only to divorce her quietly afterward. That will somehow legitimize the child she carries and spare her accusations of sexual misconduct. But make no mistake, it will also leave her ostracized, alone and without financial security in her society.
So…he’s protecting her, sorta kinda… She’s being spared from violence like stoning.
But Joseph protecting himself a lot. While there will be murmuring at first about divorce, he will be free to pursue a different marriage in time. He can still find a good woman to bear his children to follow in his carpentry footsteps.
Joseph has the power in this relationship. He has stature in the society. He has the power to choose.
But then, we have yet another angel…
One also saying “do not be afraid…” and then explaining to Joseph this highly suspect story about a baby fathered by Godself by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So….Joseph, do not be afraid.
Once again, like last week, as if…
As if…
As if hearing those words would just cause him to not be afraid.
We know the story.
Joseph is somehow convinced. He chooses a better way.
He abandons his plan of self-protection and KEEPS Mary as his wife, endeavoring to raise a child that he knows is not his own. He becomes an adoptive father to a first born son…one who will learn his adoptive father’s trade. He will put up with the murmuring and rumors about timing as they come….because they do. Rumors and murmuring come.
It struck me that Joseph had a good self-protective stance.
And then an angel convinced him otherwise.
An angel convinced him to choose a better way.
It is as if he was touched by “the better angels” of his nature.
Do you know where that phrase came from?
I didn’t. It was one of those colloquialisms that was just in my bones from exposure.
It turns out, the phrase showed up in Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address. He entered the presidency during a time of deep division and his plea alluded to factions laying aside self-interest on the part of the North and the South in order to find common ground and avoid a civil war.
Now, we know our history. This was a war about economics driven by the enslavement of black bodies. But Lincoln didn’t mention that head-on in his address. And we know that war happened in spite of his recommendation that folks heed their better angels.
So back to those words that have become part of our culture…words that stuck and got spoken over and over again.
What does it take for us to be attuned to how God is drawing us back from our self-serving behaviors and choices? What does it take for us to hear God speaking “do not be afraid” and “you can do this hard thing.”
What does it take for us to be attuned to our better angels?
What does it take for us to stop our automatic default to the choice that serves OUR interests best in order to care for others or bear Christ into the world in our own special way?
Hear that again.
What does it take for us to stop our automatic default to the choice that serves our interests best in order to care for others?
If the manifestation of God in the world today is LOVE, and I believe that will every fiber of my being, then we have to be attuned to our better angels in order to choose LOVE of others over protection of self.
It is how we amplify voices that don’t share our privilege in the public square.
It is how we use our power and our money to make the world safer, kinder, healthier.
It is how we take risks so that others may eat…may work….may LIVE.
In the story of Jesus’ birth, the angels just keep showing up to draw out the choice that brings GOD into the world.
Don’t you imagine those angels are trying to get our attention today?
Can we be attuned to the messages of our better angels rather than the message of the economy, divisive politics, social norms.
Can we attune ourselves to the call to manifest love.
As you listen to our special music this morning, I hope you will open yourself to all of the angelic messaging…
News, news… Christ was born for this!
To save us all from woe and sin..
The angels did say to certain poor shepherds
Good tidings of comfort and joy…
Peace, peace…
Let us strive to stay open to our better angels so that we choose a better way.
May it be so.
Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment