Pre sermon Sermonating

So you know how Matthew starts up the entire New Testament with a list of Jesus' genealogy? Well this week's text is right after that. Joseph and Mary. Naming Jesus. Then citing the Old Testament and saying he is Emmanuel, God with us. This beautiful list of genealogy with a smart dismissal of it due to the fact that it is Joseph's ancestry and his sperm plays no part in Jesus' makeup. So who cares, right?

I have always been troubled by that. Why include a list of people and then negate it by ensuring us it was a virgin birth and Joseph never lay with his wife until after Jesus arrived? I know some people have flatly refused to believe in the virgin birth at all and it would seem on the surface that this would play in Jesus' favor. After all, if Joseph actually did contribute to Jesus' physical makeup, at least the genealogy would be intact!

But I got a new spin on this at text study yesterday with the local clergy. It then paired nicely with dual presentations by Lutheran Social Services on adoption. Over a slide show of beautiful children's faces, alight with joy and surrounded by their new families, the music rang out a message of love and home.

How much does blood have to do with it? Don't we claim various families as we go through life? Claim a church family, a work family, a family made up of loyal friends? And I do believe there is even a certain amount of claiming the very ones to who we are blood related. My sibling and I have only liked each other in the past few years. Before that, we fought likes cats and dogs.

And it is common to refer to other Christians as Brothers and Sisters in Christ. As my supervisor asked, "Is water is thicker than blood?" We even think about Godparents here that are not always blood relatives. Or if they are, it is not that blood relation that drives their presence at the baptism, but their personal witness to Christ.

So as Joseph claims Jesus by naming him, he is bestowing upon him all the meaning of family. He is embracing him as his own, despite the biological block. The message may just be that Jesus can be claimed by all people, no matter their genealogy or past. The message may be that Jesus claims US, no matter OUR past. Either way, our stories are linked, integrally. No amount of boo hoo-ing ancestry or origin will forgo that mutual claim.