MATTHEW 1:18-25

[18] Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

[19] And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

[20] But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

[21] She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” [22] All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

            [23] “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

                        and they shall call his name Immanuel”

            (which means, God with us).

[24] When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, [25] but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

He didn’t have to do what he did.  Lawrence DePrimo didn’t have to do what he did. Actually, I should probably say Office Lawrence DePrimo.  By now some of you have probably figured out that I’m talking about the New York City policeman who bought those boots a couple of weeks ago for that homeless man in Time Square. A tourist from Phoenix, Arizona took a picture of the good deed.  She posted it on FaceBook and it went viral.

Here’s a question for you though.  How many people do you suppose saw that homeless man with no shoes on that cold November night and just walked on by?  A hundred? Five hundred?  A thousand?   Remember now.  This is Time Square, one of the major tourist attractions in one of the world’s busiest cities.

It’s probably safe to say a few hundred people saw him and walked on by. Some people are like the teenager who was lying on the couch one afternoon when his father called on the telephone.   When the father asked to speak to the boy’s mother the teenager told him that she was outside painting the house.  When the father heard that he got angry and scolded the teenager.  “Stop being so lazy,” the father said.  “You got out there right now and help your mother paint the house.” “I can’t,” the teenager insisted.  “Why not?” the father asked.  “Because,” the teenager said, “Grandma is using the other brush!”

Some people just do what they have to do to get by while others willingly step up to the plate and give it everything they have.  That was certainly true for John Stephen Akhwari. Akhwari was a marathon runner from Tanzania who went to Mexico City in 1968 to compete in the Olympic Games.  Akhwari came in dead last in the marathon but it was a miracle that he finished the race at all.  That’s because shortly after the race began Akhwari fell and badly injured his leg.  He refused to give up though and hours after all the other runners had finished the race he entered the darkened Olympic stadium.  The bandage on his leg was all bloody and he was limping but he kept pushing himself toward the finish line. The people who were still in the stadium stood and cheered.  Later Akhwari was asked why he didn’t just quit and drop out of the race.  He replied, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race.  They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”

As you make your way through life there are moments where you have to ask yourself that important question. Am I going to just do what I have to do here to get by or am I going to step up to the plate and give it everything I have.  I know what God wants you to do.

Just look at Joseph. Joseph had just learned that his bride to be was, as they say, “great with child.”  Naturally, Joseph assumed that Mary had been unfaithful and was cheating on him.  Now Joseph could have punished Mary for her perceived indiscretion.  Joseph could have publicly accused her of adultery and if he had done that Mary would have been stoned to death.  Fortunately for Mary, Joseph was a nice guy.  Matthew tells us in verse 19 that Joseph “being a just man and unwilling to put (Mary) to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.”

Yes, Joseph was a nice guy but even that wasn’t good enough for God.  God didn’t want Joseph to just do what he had to do to get by. God wanted Joseph to step up to the plate and take Mary as his wife and the question is “Why?”  Why did God want Joseph to do that?  The answer is simple.  People talk.  They would have eventually figured out that Mary was going to have a baby and they would have put two and two together.  They would have realized that Joseph put her away because the baby wasn’t his and at that point Mary’s life would have been in danger.  So, the only way to really keep Mary and the baby alive was for Joseph to go ahead and marry her. 

So, that’s what Joseph did.  He took Mary as his wife and because he stepped up to the plate and gave it everything he had a couple of things happened. First of all it meant that God’s will was done.  Not only that but Joseph also ended up being blessed on that holy night when the holy child was born.  On that night the angels danced in the heavens and shepherds came to the manger on bended knee and Joseph became a part of the greatest story ever told!

Joseph stepped up to the plate and gave it everything he had and believe it or not God needs you to do the same thing today.  God needs me to do the same thing today. God needs us to do the same thing today.  When it comes to our faith God needs us to step up to the plate and give it everything we have. 

In a world where churches are closing and it’s almost a crime to say Merry Christmas God needs us to step up to the plate when it comes to our faith.  In a world where it’s all about doing unto others before they do unto us God needs us to step up to the plate when it comes to our faith.  In a world where integrity and morality seem to be sinking to new lows every day God needs us to step up to the plate when it comes to our faith.

The last thing we need right now are people who want $3.00 worth of God. Tim Hansel talks about that in his book titled, When I Relax I feel Guilty.  He suggests that what most people want today is $3.00 worth of God. 

It’s an attitude that says,  

"I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please."

Sometimes God needs you to step up to the plate and give it everything you’ve got.  If you do that it means that you will see God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven.  It also means you will end up being blessed. Somehow, somewhere  you will end up being blessed.

In the book Christmas Miracles there’s a story about a woman named Olivia who found herself looking after a elderly woman in her church.  Margaret, the elderly woman, was a dressmaker from Denmark who was almost blind from diabetes and very arthritic. A couple of times each month Olivia went and helped clean Margaret’s house.  Margaret always thanked her but she was very standoffish and the Olivia always left wondering if Margaret really appreciated the gesture of kindness.  A few years later Olivia was getting ready for a Christmas party she looked forward to every year.  However, she couldn’t get over a nagging feeling that she should skip the party and go to visit Margaret. Margaret was in a nursing home now.  So that’s what Olivia did although she wrote, “I was full of resentment and was feeling a bit like a martyr…As I stood by Margaret’s bedside and looked down at her face, she reminded me very much of my own mother, who was half Danish…I remembered what I used to do when I visited her.  I asked Margaret if I could put lotion on her hands.  ‘Oh please do,’ she quietly answered. I began to massage her thin, gnarled hands…Then I put a little lotion on her face and neck….I picked up a brush and brushed her white hair and tried to make it look pretty.  She began to relax and seemed to enjoy the attention and intimacy, something I thought this proud and unfriendly woman could never do.  Suddenly as I was rubbing more lotion on her arms, she grabbed my hand and looked up at me with her weary old eyes.  “Kiss me,’ she whispered.    A little surprised I smiled, leaned down, and kissed her softly,  Then she said, ‘Oh, again, please.’ I kissed her on the other cheek and noticed tears in her eyes…I suddenly found myself kissing her again and again…as we cried together….I walked out of the (nursing home) on cloud nine, feeling like I had been transformed.  The pure joy of the true Christmas spirit filled my heart and soul as it never had before.”

That’s what happens when you step up to the plate and give it everything you have. 

Oh and one final word of advice. A lot of people don’t like it when you step up to the plate.   Officer Lawrence DePrimo is finding that out now.  People are suggesting that he was a fool for buying that homeless man a pair of boots.   One person said, “You can’t get high by smoking boots.” Another cynic suggested, “either this guy sold those shoes or is not wearing them so he can get sympathy so the tourists will put money in his cup.”  I even saw one comment online that suggested that the entire scene was staged and that it was “a very clever way to sell boots.”

Do you know what kind of person doesn’t like it when you step up to the plate and give it everything you have?  The kind of person who just wants to do what you have to do to get by.   Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

December 19, 2012