Do the Right Thing                                                              Rev. Tracey Davenport

Matthew 1:18-25                                                                       December 2, 2007

 

 

          The subject of today’s sermon is righteousness.  Righteousness is not a very popular subject these days.  One reason for this is that righteousness so often leads to self-righteousness, and becomes an occasion for pride.  We Presbyterians are keenly aware that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.  We emphasize that by grace alone we are saved.  But when we ignore or forget about righteousness, unrighteousness flourishes.  Lying, hatred, selfishness, greed, sexual immorality, stealing – all the things God exhorts us not to do become acceptable and even the norm for the Christian and non-Christian life.

          The truth is that in Scripture, and especially in Matthew’s gospel, righteousness is a quality of great importance.  Jesus tells how the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father.  In the parable where the sheep and the goats are separated, it is the righteous who are welcomed into internal life because of their righteousness in acts of feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick and imprisoned.  Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, Jesus tells us, and will be filled.  We are exhorted to seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all other things will be added.

          Righteousness in the epistles is often likened to new clothes.  Righteousness is something we put on by faith, by believing in Jesus Christ.  It is a piece of wardrobe, given to us by God, to take out of the box, and put on our person.  I define righteousness in this way:  Righteousness is the power and the courage to do the right thing, no matter what the consequences.  Righteousness is doing the right thing, whether the rules demand it or not, whether is helps us or hurts us in the immediate future, whether there is an easy way out or not.  It is going above and beyond rules in a way the rule-keepers could never imagine. There is no technicality to get us off.

          In our Scripture reading for today, Joseph is described as a righteous man. Joseph’s world had been turned upside down.  He is engaged to marry the girl of his dreams.  Surprise – she is pregnant.  Joseph knows he is not the father.  His hopes of a happy marriage are shattered.  He has been betrayed.  Mary is not the girl he thought she was.  Joseph is humiliated and his reputation is forever tarnished.  Half the community probably thinks he is the father.  But Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to send her away quietly.  Joseph did not seek revenge.  Mosaic law called for capital punishment in Mary’s case.  By this time in history though, that punishment had been mitigated by rabbinical practice.  But the social penalty was still severe and humiliating.  Joseph was able to set his own pride and reputation aside.  He was prepared to take some of the shame and guilt of a failed engagement if it would save Mary shame and punishment.  Joseph, a righteous man, went above and beyond the law to do the right thing.

          But just when he had resolved to do this, the angel appears to him in a dream and explains the situation.  Joseph, being a righteous man, obeys God and takes Mary as his wife, adopts and names the child as instructed.   He even goes above and beyond the angel’s command and does not take Mary as his wife physically until after Jesus’ birth.  Joseph’s faith in a God who could work all this mess out gave him the power and the courage to do the right thing, no matter what the consequences.

          There were unpleasant consequences for Joseph for doing the right thing.  What should be the happiest day of his life is surrounded by scandal.  His reputation is forever ruined, because now everybody knows he is the father of the baby – if not, he never would have married her.  There is the embarrassment associated with having a pregnant fiancée in their culture.

          But there were also wonderful and miraculous consequences to Joseph’s righteousness.  Joseph had the distinct honor of being earthly father to the Son of God.  Because of Joseph, Mary’s load was much lighter.  She didn’t have to have this baby alone.  Because of Joseph, they had to go to Bethlehem for the census, and thus they were in the right place for the birth of the Messiah.  Because of Joseph, Jesus was born into the line of David, thus fulfilling all the prophecies concerning the Davidic covenant.  God gave Joseph the power and courage to do the right thing, and he did it, making so many things right, far beyond what he could see or even know about.

          What about us?  What about our call to become righteous, to put on the breastplate of righteousness, to be free from sin so that we might live for righteousness?  How does it look when we put on the righteousness of God?  I used to think this was a difficult question, that many situations were gray and that it was often hard to know just what “the right thing” was in many situations.  I had a seminary professor tell me that God’s people, because of the Word of God to us, always knew which way to lean.  I didn’t believe him then.  But with a little more life and ministry experience, I do now.  Let’s see if we all know which way to lean toward righteousness.  I want you to answer me out loud.  If you have a choice between love and hate, which would you say is the righteous choice?  How about generosity or selfishness?  Forgiveness or bitterness?  Faithfulness or unfaithfulness?  Kindness or harm?  Truth or falsehood?  Mercy or condemnation? Care or neglect?  Justice or oppression?  Joy or criticism?  We can find strong support in the stories of God’s people for the first choice in these pairs.  We can find no justification for the second.

          Ann Weems tells a story about righteousness from her childhood.  “I heard about righteousness before I could spell it,” Ann writes.  “I heard about it in Sunday school. The teacher said if we followed the rules, we would get a star.”

          “But poor Lynn Bryan would never get a star.  ‘Lynn has missed Sunday school too much,’ the teacher said.  Even though her mother was sick, her father could have brought her.  We can’t get an attendance star if we don’t attend, now can we?’  When Sunday school was over, I showed the rules to my brother, who said they were dumb, and I was dumb too.  I started to hit him, but then I remembered one of the rules:  Be ye kind to one another.   I didn’t know whether my brother counted as one of the anothers, but I didn’t want to take a chance.  I wanted the star.”

          “As we headed toward the sanctuary, I told my mother about the rules and the star, and even though we were late for church, she took the time to tell me that righteousness was not about keeping rules and not about getting stars.  ‘Righteousness was,’ she said, ‘a gift of God for the people of faith.’  Walking down the aisle, I tried to tell her what the teacher told me, that if I was righteous, I could go to heaven, but she shushed me.  I guess she did believe in rule Number Five:  Be quiet in church.”

          “When the phone rang, my father was coming in the door, my mother said, ‘Good sermon,’ kissed him, and picked up the phone.  I was trying to tell him about the rules and the star when my mother shushed me for a second time that day, and handed the phone to my father. It was then we learned that Lynn Bryan’s mother was dead.”

          “Lynn spent the week with me, sharing my room and my toys and my mother.  By Wednesday, I knew that I wouldn’t get a star.  I missed choir practice because I couldn’t leave Lynn Bryan all sad and crying.  The day of the funeral, she wore her best dress and didn’t go to school.  On Saturday, her father came to take her home.  I waved goodbye and turned to see my mother standing there, her arms wide open.  I hugged her tightly and began to cry. ‘It’s not fair,’ I said.   Lynn Bryan would never get a star.”

          “I found my father behind his desk in his study working on his sermon.  I crawled in his red leather chair and asked him if he was still sad because his Papa died when he was just a little boy.  ‘From time to time,’ he answered, ‘from time to time.’  ‘If I had a star, I’d give it to you,’ I said.  He put down his paper and looked at me. ‘I’m sorry about the star,’ he said.  ‘about missing choir practice and all.’  ‘Oh, I wouldn’t have gotten it anyway,’ I admitted.  ‘I can’t sit still in church, not for a whole hour!’”

          “It was then my father told me the same thing my mother had told me, that righteousness was not about keeping a list of rules to get a star.  He said that “Be ye kind” was from Jesus, but Jesus wanted us to be kind because we had love in our hearts, not because we would get a star.  Righteousness was about caring when somebody was sad; it was about being angry when someone was treated unfairly. It was about giving up your star when the rules were not about love.  Righteousness had nothing to do with self, and everything to do with loving others, because of our faith in Jesus.”

          “That night on my pillow I found a whole box of stars.  I gave one to my father, and the rest of the box to Lynn Bryan.  The funny thing was the next night there was another box of stars on my pillow.  ‘It’s a gift,’ my mother said, ‘just because I love you.  Righteousness is like that.’”

          Friends in Christ, we have been given an incredible gift in this baby who is coming at Christmas.  It is the gift of righteousness, because he loves us.  As we journey through advent and expect Jesus’ coming, I encourage you to think about who might need righteousness from you this season.  Who needs your mercy and forgiveness?  Who needs you to put away your bitterness and pride and help them?  Who needs you to stand up for them?  Who needs you to speak the truth in love?  Who needs your generosity?  Who needs your faithfulness?  Choosing to put on righteousness may involve consequences, such a missing a promotion, losing popularity, or a sacrifice on our part.  But it also may involve the joy of being part of God’s incredible plan to bring us closer to him.  Let us put on the righteousness that is ours in Jesus Christ:  the power and the courage, no matter what the consequences, to do the right thing.