It’s the fourth Sunday of Advent, the Sunday we traditionally spend time considering Mary. This week I begin my day at St Andrew’s, Clayhidon, with Holy Communion, at 10am and conclude at All Saints, Culmstock with Carols by Candlelight at 6.30pm, (with a baptism in between).

I fear St Paul may be misunderstood.

So often is he misquoted in order to exclude people (women, be quiet, gay people, just don’t…), but Paul’s gospel is inclusive, and it runs right through him like a stick of rock. We see his heart for inclusion in the opening of his letter to the church at Rome,

To all God’s beloved…

This letter to the Romans is widely believed to be the most important and meaty of all Paul’s letters as he pulls together the full gospel of Jesus, the full impact for us all as we receive Jesus’ love and commit to him in faith. New Testament Greek doesn’t have punctuation, but even for Greek standards this opening sentence is quite a ‘doozy’, spanning 6 verses. It was customary to begin a letter with identifying the sender, here Paul sets out his credentials in brief: this letter is from Paul an apostle, and most importantly a servant of Christ, who has been set apart for the gospel.

We know that Paul had a life before Jesus, a life in which he was destined to become a successful and powerful Pharisee, but he gave it all up when he realised that he was wrong. Paul himself had the grace to change everything when he realised he was in the wrong, much like Joseph.

Joseph was living his best life. Engaged to be married to a humble and faithful woman from a strong Jewish lineage which aligned with his own, however he hadn’t realised quite how faithful she was, and the adventures and difficulties that faithfulness would bring. Matthew’s nativity account doesn’t begin with Mary, we have no annunciation here. The fourth week of advent is traditionally Mary’s week, but it could quite easily be Joseph’s especially as we focus on the gospel of Matthew this year.

Following a lengthy genealogy stemming from Abraham right down to Joseph, stating quite clearly his Jewish credentials, we are taken to the heart of the matter: Joseph is engaged to Mary, who is pregnant. Now, in this era of IVF and ‘test tube babies’, I have no difficulty with the concept of a virgin birth, back in Joseph’s time though, there was only one way to become pregnant, and he knew that it didn’t involve him. Joseph has been cuckolded, his fiancée is not the wifely material he had thought her to be. There is only one honourable way for him to act (although many, dishonourable and even legal ways which would have dealt with his feelings of vengeance): Joseph decides to quietly divorce Mary, to release her from their betrothal. The fact that he was willing to quietly let her go rather than call on the full force of the law and have her publicly stoned to death for adultery, already reveals his true nature and his suitability to become the Son of God’s stepfather.

Joseph though, was a man of faith, and although his faith in his wife-to-be has been shaken, he is still receptive to the voice of an angel. Joseph, understandably, cannot comprehend the miracle of his betrothed’s condition. In his righteousness he knows this should not have happened and that he should have nothing more to do with the whole situation, but when he receives the angel’s message he is willing to change his mind. Not only does he change his opinion, his convictions, he changes his actions too.

Joseph is the hero of this piece. Instead of releasing himself from Mary and the child she carries, he brings her into his home, marries her, provides protection for her and the child she bears. He will stand by her as they desperately seek a place to give birth away from home, he will stand by her as they flee to Egypt as refugees, he will stand by her and raise her son as his own, alongside future brothers and sisters. He will give Jesus the safest and most ordinary of childhoods possible, despite having been greeted by kings and presented with valuable and prophetic gifts. He will even give the child another man’s name.

Both Paul and Joseph are Jewish men of faith, from a good lineage, and both are willing not just to change their minds over small things, but over everything they have held dear, and because of these two men we are here today. We are here to sing carols, to celebrate Christmas, because Joseph refused to allow the unborn child to be murdered along with his mother, instead choosing to protect and nurture him. We are here celebrating communion today because Paul owned his mistakes and did everything to make amends, to share the true message of Jesus with as many people as possible, building churches and growing disciples wherever he went.

I wonder if there are deeply held beliefs which we cling to that Jesus may be challenging in us? We may not have an angel come to visit us in our dreams to convince us to do the right thing. I doubt we will have a blinding experience on the road to Damascus, or even Exeter, to turn our worldview upside down. Perhaps though, God has already begun to sow questions in our hearts about who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out’ when it comes to following Jesus, and being accepted as one of those saints Paul addresses his letter to.

You can read Paul’s letter here, and Joseph’s story here.