Righteousness

Scripture            Matthew 1:18-25   
Focus Verse        Matthew 1:19
Joseph, being a righteous man was unwilling to expose Mary to public disgrace …

Let’s take a moment to imagine, like Joseph, we have no knowledge of God’s plan.  Let all of the emotions that Joseph must have had, believing that Mary had betrayed him, arise:  disbelief, anger, pain, fear, shame, shock just to name a few.  Joseph, even with all of those emotions, being a righteous man, has mercy and compassion toward Mary, and resolves to end their betrothal without publicly humiliating her and putting her in danger of death by law.

Righteousness, translated from the Greek word, dikaiosune, has been defined as being in a “right relationship with God.”  Just like Mary, Joseph was chosen because of his relationship with God, one in which he was sensitive to God’s movements, one who acted with grace in the most difficult of situations.   

Reflection:  If you were in Joseph’s shoes, without knowing God’s plan, what feelings would you have had toward Mary?  What would you have done?  What are the signs in your life when you are in right relationship with God?  How does being in right relationship with God bring out the best in us?

There is a stanza in the song, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," that has a haunting quality that underscores the sense of pain and confusion that sometimes come into our lives.  When I hear this arrangement by Shane (Barnard) and Shane (Everett) and let these words sink into my soul: "beneath life’s crushing load," I can feel the painful steps that Joseph walks before the angel comes to him. Life happens every day, and it is only our relationship with God that holds us up on some of those days as we "rest beside the weary road."  If music is a spiritual path for you, listen with the ears of your heart to the words written in 1849 by Edmund Sears whose context was the social strife and division in our country that preceded the civil war. 

Prayer: Breathing “The Jesus Prayer”       
Breathing in … Lord Jesus Christ
Breathing out … Have mercy
*pray by breathing this prayer repetitively until the prayer prays you. You’ll know the prayer is praying you when the words come to you at random times in random places.  You will simply feel the words on your lips, in sync with your breathing.  And you have begun the process of praying unceasingly through the power of the Holy Spirit! For more information about praying The Jesus Prayer, an ancient prayer form from the days of early Christian History, practiced by the Desert Mothers and Fathers, take this LINK ...