Joseph Knew Holy Discomfort

I read alot.  It comes with the territory.  Show me a pastor who does not read alot and I will show you a pastor who loses great effectiveness in ministry.  I admit there was a time in my ministry that I failed to read as much as I should have.  It was not my brightest moment.

Every once in a while in my reading I am struck by how an author puts together two words that are obviously not familiar with each other.   The two words seemingly do not belong together by the nature of their definition.   Author Will Mancini's words threw cold water on my face.  He spoke of holy discomfort.  I had to put the book down and think about that for a while.

So Joseph has his marriage arranged with this good looking girl from Nazareth.  He probably had seen her once or twice.  Bethlehem was not a suburb of Nazareth so the sightings were not that often.  But her family is a good family.  Joe is admittedly pretty excited about his bride to be until she told him the news.

At first he was pretty mad.  And just for the record, at first he did not believe her story at all.  What kind of a fool did she take him for?  It was a foolish story indeed.  Coming home from Nazareth gave him time to think about what to do.  He knew what they would do if it became public knowledge--the law was clear.  She would be stone to death.

It was there that Joseph felt holy discomfort.  Love won over hatred.  Mercy won over law.  The thought of her not being on the face of the earth was unacceptable to him and in his own understanding of God.  It simply would not happen.  In holy discomfort, there is enough of the holy combined with the discomfort that one is obligated to act in faith whether others understand it or not.

Holy discomfort was what David felt when Nathan told him the truth.  Holy discomfort was what motivated the prophets even if it meant life itself to proclaim God's message.  Holy discomfort has throughout the history of humankind held before humanity the kingdom of God--God's reign.

So Joe had a plan.  His plan was to include no stoning, no shame, no temper tantrums--only mercy dispersed with a broken heart filled with love.

Then the angel told Joe.  And Joe believed what was unbelievable.  Joe was able to accept what the angel said because Joe had already experienced the holy discomfort.  And yet, in this second verse of holy discomfort, Joe found comfort.   So he took Mary and began to do the unbelievable--be the earthly father to the son of God.

Now there's another set of words that just do not go together either.  But that did not stop Joe at all.

Then to top it off, more discomfort.   These three wise guys show up at the house to worship the baby, Jesus. He cannot believe what is put down as the gifts to the baby, Jesus.  It is from them that Joe learns that the baby's life is at stake.  So he loads up the family and flees.  Being the earthly father of the Son of God brings more discomfort than one can bargain for.  However, Joe cannot let go of the holiness of life.

Maybe the most creative and redemptive moments in life are when we put God at the center of things that in this world do not go together.  May our holy discomfort is really God speaking.