One of mine and Kurt’s favorite TV shows is
the Big Bang Theory. It’s about these
really geeky guys who work at Caltech in Pasadena. Three of the main characters
are physicists, one is an engineer and then there is Penny, the aspiring
actress who lives across the hall and who works at the Cheesecake Factory. The
smartest of the scientists is Sheldon Cooper who went to college at the age of
11 (that is the same age as my son Jamie, just to give you a little context).
Sheldon sees the world through his own logic. He has no sense of sarcasm, or
humor (well, he tries to do humor, ending any joke with Bazinga) which is what
gives the show most of its great humor. Sheldon is like Spock (from StarTrek)
on steroids. He is super scary smart and does not understand why the rest of
the world does not bow down to his superior logic.
Our theme for today is obedience, and I want
to show you a clip from the Big Bang
Theory, because in it, we see some examples of what it means to live by
rules. You will see that Sheldon has rules for everything (when he forms a
relationship with a woman later in the show, their relationship agreement is
dozens of pages long). The guys and Penny are planning a surprise birthday
party for their friend Leonard so Sheldon sets up rules for secrecy. Everyone must
obey his rules. Then we learn about his rules for gift giving. When Penny tries
to impose her more friendship-based rules of gifts giving, that does not make
sense to Sheldon, we hit an impasse, until Howard finds a way to speak
Sheldon’s language.
In the clip, Sheldon is refusing to buy
Leonard a gift. His logic, Leonard knows
what he wants better than he does.
Leonard will then be obligated to buy him another gift of similar
value. This will continue until one of
them dies, leaving the other the “winner”.
Only when Howard, instructs Penny to describe it as “non-optional,
social obligation” does Sheldon stop lodging his objections. Howard, turns to Penny at the end of the
scene and says “he came with a manual”.
You see, Sheldon needs for there to be rules
in the world. And he REALLY needs for people to be obedient to his system of
rules. Don’t even get me started on the list of rules in his roommate agreement
with Leonard (it’s larger than the relationship agreement and covers the
mundane like where carry out dinner comes from on what night to the
extraordinary like what happens if one gets super powers).
But he really does have a good heart. Deep
inside, he cares about these friends and he needs them, even if he can’t admit
it. Sheldon is so smart it is if he is not of the same world as the other
people who are around him. They joke
about him being his own species. He has to learn how to be in relationship. But
these other four friends are patient with him. There really is not a more
devoted group of friends than these 5. In their own quirky way, they are
obedient to one another and to their own rules of friendship.
I just can’t help but think that long ago, in
a land far from Pasadena California, there was another man in another culture
who also knew something about adapting to changing situations that were
uncomfortable to him. He was a rule
follower and it was hard for him when others wanted him to change the rules.
That man’s name was Joseph.
Joseph, awe know, was a good Jewish man. In
Matthew’s Gospel, it says he was righteous. The word righteous is a powerful
word in scripture. It means he was someone who lived in a right relationship
with God. His words and his actions were in alignment with God’s laws. It’s
hard to be in alignment with God at all times. Now, according to the laws of
the time, when two people were betrothed in marriage, the legal contract was
already made. It was a done deal. The actual wedding was actually just a
celebration of the legally binding agreement that had already been made between
the groom and the father of the bride. But, of course, the marriage had not
been consummated yet, so the bride should be a virgin until after the marriage
ceremony.
When Joseph finds out Mary is pregnant there
are really only two options according to the law of the day: 1) he can have
Mary stoned to death; or he can divorce her. If he divorces her she will live
in shame and poverty forever.
Joseph is a rule follower, like our Sheldon
Cooper, so everyone would completely expect him to make one of those two
choices. Even if his friends knew him to be a compassionate man, he just had no
choice in that day, in that system. This was the world in which he lived and
those were the rules.
But then, you know what happened. Another
angel. These last few weeks, we have had lots of angels in this Biblical
narrative. An angel came to him in a dream and said: “There is more going on
here than you see, Joseph (Matthew 1:18-24 from the New Revised Standard
Version for those following along on the net):
Joseph,
son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a
son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their
sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken
by the Lord through the prophet:
23 “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
Now when Joseph awoke from that dream,
we don’t know what happened. We don’t know if he went to talk to a friend. We
don’t know if he hesitated. We don’t know if he was afraid, or immediately
rushed out the door convinced of what he must do. He was a human being, after
all, so I have got to imagine that there was some second guessing going on.
“Was that really an angel? Or am I losing my mind?”
But we do believe this. In the end,
Joseph took a risk. He turned away from obedience to the law of the day, and he turned
toward obedience to God. He turned away from obedience to the law, and turn to
obedience to God.
Isn’t that fascinating? Sometimes in
order to be faithful to God, we have to be brave enough to turn away even from
obedience to the laws of own leaders, and sometimes our religious leaders.
Whew!
That is some complicated obedience. He
chose to stand with Mary. And then it very simply says: he took her as his wife
and she gave birth to a baby and they named him Jesus. The story in Matthew’s version is very
simple. There are no details about the inn and the shepherds and all that. Here
in this chapter, the focus is on the parents, and especially Joseph and whether
or not he will be able to be play his part.
Now, I think obedience is a really hard
concept in our culture. It is sort of an old fashioned concept. We use
“obedience” to talk about training pets, right? Take your pet to obedience
school. We never talk about children being obedient anymore. We use much more
progressive language in child development now. We want to nurture our children
to think for themselves and have good self-esteem and become independent and
healthy. Obedience seems way too over-bearing.
If we think about being obedient to
God, it smacks of some sort of church that would tell us what to believe and
expect us to be in lock-step, right, not this kind of church. You think about a church that would not let
us think for ourselves. I get that. I want a God who allows me to ask
questions. After all, God gave us free will and God gave us brains so we could
think.
But there is a place in this God-human
relationship for us to listen when God calls, and to respond. And
that, my friends, is obedience. And I believe there is great freedom in doing
something risky in this world FOR GOD. There is freedom in doing what
is risky in this world for God. When we are obedient to God, and stand with the
oppressed in this world, then we have great power. Because we are not standing
alone. We are standing with God. When were obedient to God and
standing with God, that is truly powerful.
I imagine that when Joseph told his
friends, “I’m going to stand with Mary” they told him he was making a big
mistake. But he knew that Mary had been chosen to give birth to Emmanuel –
God-with-us. I don’t think Joseph could have comprehended the enormity of what
that really meant. But he knew it was important. And so he had the courage to break
one set of rules in order to be obedient to God. He was willing to face the
ridicule and even the shame brought on by the people around him.
How about us: Has God ever called you to
break some kind of rule in order to obedient to God? Now, I don’t take the
breaking of rules lightly. But I teach my children that when a rule is unjust,
and someone is being treated unfairly, that is a good reason to stand with the
oppressed. You can bet that you will be standing with God. Our obedience is
obedience to a higher power.
Is God calling you to do something that
is scary? Is God calling you to listen to God rather than to the rules of
social convention? Is God calling you to do something in the New Year, to serve
God in ways that will require you to take some risks? Perhaps God is calling
you to stand up for yourself in the face of injustice? Perhaps God wants you to
be a rule breaker in some way that you can be more obedient in your path as a
follower of Jesus?
I don’t know for sure how this
scripture speaks to you. The possibilities are limitless. I know that Joseph chose to listen to the
voice of God that came to him in a dream. The voice said, “Stand with Mary even
though the rules of your people would tell you not to. Because I have big plans
in store for that baby and I need you to be the surrogate father. So be
courageous.” And Joseph, like Mary, said “yes” to God.
Christmas is coming, in just a few
short days. I don’t what surprises God might have in store for us? What
opportunity might God put in front of you to be obedient to God and make a
difference in your life or in the life of someone else? I wonder, will you say
“yes” to God this Christmas? Will you?
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