There is a conundrum when one considers
the phrase “do the right thing.” Dana, my wife, loves the musical Les Miserables or Les Mis as we North Americans like to refer to it as. It is based
on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel of the same name.
The story is simple. Set in 19th-century
France, Jean Valjean, a French peasant, is set free from prison after 19 years
for having stolen a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving child. With his freedom he has a desire to redeem
himself. Yet, he runs into walls
wherever he turns to find respectable work in order to support himself—as an
ex-convict he is shunned wherever he goes.
Finally, in frustration and desperation—after receiving charity from the
local Bishop—he steals the Bishop’s silver and flees.
It is not long before he is caught, but
the Bishop lies to the police that the silver was a gift . . . to which he
hands Valjean a pair of silver candlesticks . . . telling him to use them
“become an honest man.” Ashamed and
humbled by the Bishop’s action, Valjean resolves to redeem himself. He breaks parole, takes a new name, and
creates a new life for himself . . . from there the musical becomes a study in
“doing the right thing.”
I have often thought to myself about
those situations where I am thrust into having to decide on whether I should
“do the right thing.” If I saw a
starving child, would I break the law to feed the child because I had no other
means to do so? Having not been put into
the situation, it is easy to say that I would; but, without any consequences,
such a choice is nothing more than empty boasting. There is no risk in proclaiming that I would
“do the right thing”, knowing that I really don’t have to decide. Until I am faced with actually having to
choose “doing the right thing”, I can get away with false promises . . . we all
can.
Which brings us to our story this
morning. It is a familiar story for all of
us. Mary is pledged to Joseph for
marriage. Mary is chosen to conceive the
child of God . . . thus, she becomes pregnant.
Mary and Joseph are not married yet . . . in fact, there hasn’t even
been any hanky-panky between the two of them.
Upon hearing that Mary is pregnant . . . pregnant with someone else’s
child . . . Joseph decides to quietly divorce Mary and not put her through
public disgrace. He would just go on
with his life. Cut and dry . . .
. . . or so he thought.
Then Joseph has a dream. An angel comes to him and tells him that
things are not as simple as they seem.
The child Mary is bearing is special . . . the son of God . . . and, he
is going to save the world. The angel
tells him not to be afraid of marrying Mary.
Hey, says the angel, great things are going to happen! Then . . . poof! The angel was gone.
What would you do?
There’s the rub. Joseph’s first choice was an acceptable and
even respectable solution . . . keep it quiet, save face, and go on. No one would have faulted Joseph for making
that choice. But . . . was it the “right
thing”? God had other designs and Joseph
was a part of them. In the end, despite
whatever push-back there might have been, Joseph decided to stand by Mary. Joseph decided to do the “God-thing” despite
whatever repercussions there might have been . . . and, we all know that the
tongues were wagging.
On this last Sunday of Advent, we learn
that not everything goes according to plan or expectations. There is nothing “normal” about the story . .
. nothing that goes the way one would expect it to go. No, it doesn’t even fit into the social mores
of the time . . . divine births, a heavenly donor, and a guy who just wants to
“do the right thing” and get on with life.
It goes against everything that is expected in a moral and up-standing
community or society. It goes against
what is acceptable and supposedly “right”.
Here, in going against what seems to be acceptable, in doing what seems
contrary to popular opinion, is the “right thing to do”.
What we recognize is that the “gift”
comes to us in ways that are not so socially acceptable . . . not in the ways
we expect things to happen. Instead of
things happening in a way that we expect . . . socially acceptable ways . . .
they happen in the way that God presents them.
The way things are supposed to happen is that marriage comes first, then
comes the baby carriage . . . anything less is unacceptable; thus, the quandary
that Joseph faced . . . thus, his first choice.
A choice none of us would have argued was wrong.
So, here is the point . . . God ways are
not our ways. What God wants does not
always jive with what we think. When I
think of Jean Valjean and his life . . . breaking the law to feed his nephew .
. . he chose to “do the right thing” even though it went against everything
that people believed was right. He saw a
child and fed that child . . . with bread that he had stolen. It was an expensive meal . . . 19 years of
his life in prison for a cheap loaf of bread.
“Doing the right thing” is quite a
conundrum, wouldn’t you say? Especially
considering the Nativity story we hold so dear to our hearts. As we celebrate this the Christmas story . .
. silent night, holy night . . . sleeping child . . . all is calm, all is
blessed. In our hearts and minds we hold
this Hallmark version of the
Christmas story, and yet, it is a messy story at best. It is a peaceful image we carry of our
faith’s origin. And, as peaceful as we
imagine it to be . . . reluctantly—whether we want to admit it or not, we know better. We know better because we know that
throughout our journey of faith, God keeps throwing stones into our pond of
tranquility. Throwing stones that just
mess up our expectations and keep putting us at odds with the world around us.
Why?
Because God expects us to “do the right thing”.
God expected Joseph to “do the right
thing” whether it seemed to be the right thing to him or anyone else. God expects us to “do the right thing”. The problem is that so often “doing the right
thing” does not always fit in with the majority opinion or expectations. “Doing the right thing” does not always make
us popular, and it often leads to even more problems as we confront the world’s
ways in contrast to God’s ways. Yet,
that is God’s expectations.
We cannot say that we have not been
forewarned because we have. Let us go
ahead and embrace the romantic and beautiful story of the Nativity as we carry
it within our hearts but let us also be aware that it is not all that it seems
to be. No, there is also a dimension
that challenges us to move beyond the comfort of the status quo into the realm
of living God’s will. God’s will that
demands of us to love . . . love God . . . love others. That expects justice, peace, and
respect. That wants a world in which people
“do the right thing” . . . that everyone is loved, that no one goes hungry, and
that we are one family.
There in lies the conundrum. As the followers of Jesus, we know what we
are supposed to do . . . the problem is whether we are willing to “do the right
thing” in the face of how the rest of the world sees it. It is one thing to say it, it is another
thing to do it. When one considers how
the Nativity or Christmas story pans out . . . it doesn’t make sense; and, yet,
none of us can argue that it wasn’t the “right thing to do”. It is a mystery . . . a holy mystery of which
we have been graced. How can we not join
in the heavenly chorus and shout our praise?
We have been blessed and with such blessing there is much responsibility
. . . responsibility to do the right thing.
Joseph had a choice. We have a choice. We live in times in which we need to heed the
call of God to “do the right thing”.
Amen.
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