Matthew 1:18-25
December 19, 2004
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
My nephew Tony and his wife, Mei Ching sent an email picture of their newly adopted one-year old daughter from Guangzhou this past Monday. They already have two boys, named Benjamin and Caleb and when they heard at their church in Boston of the many unwanted baby girls in China still looking for homes, they prayerfully made a decision with 9 other families to adopt. Here’s a picture of their new daughter.
In April of this year, ABC’s 20/20 news program featuring Barbara Walters was doing a program on a 16-year old girl from Cleveland, Ohio who was pregnant. Maybe some of you might have seen this show titled, “Be My Baby.”
The show featured the teen-age girl interviewing five finalist couples, each of whom desperately wanted to adopt her baby. Each couple would have less than a half-hour to convince the teen-age girl that they should be parents of her unborn baby. As you can imagine, ABC was flooded with contempt from adoption agencies and critics. They accused the program to be as bad as slavery and sex trafficking. Several objectors pointed out that a show that sets up competition for a human being was not news but a reality game show.
ABC defended its decision to air the program because controversy makes for good ratings. After the broadcast was over, the uproar died down. But the show reminds us of the plight of unwanted children and the responsibilities in our society to care for them.
Adopting Joseph
While Luke records the birth of Jesus from Mary’s experience, the gospel of Matthew focuses on Joseph. Once the families had agreed that Mary was to marry Joseph, Mary was probably still living at home until she was old enough to be married between 12-14 years old. Joseph would have been 6-8 years older.
Before they were married, Mary was terrified to find out that she was pregnant. Joseph knew that the baby was not his and had all the rights to accuse Mary of adultery and have her stoned. But Joseph was a righteous man and didn’t want to publicly disgrace her so he planned to end their relationship quietly. He went against the letter of the law in favor of compassion.
But before Joseph had the chance to solve this very embarrassing development in his life, an angel came to him in his dream and told him that he should not be afraid to marry Mary because she was not unfaithful to him. She was pregnant with a child from the Holy Spirit. When she gives birth to this baby boy, the angel told Joseph to adopt him as his son and name him Jesus.
The name, Jesus or Joshua in the Greek and Yeshua in the Hebrew means “Yahweh saves.” The angel cites the prophet Isaiah and gives Jesus a second name, “Emmanuel” to mean that God intends salvation for God’s people. God is with us.
Like Joseph, we are earthly fathers here. It is truly remarkable that Joseph treated Jesus as a son, although he was not his biological father. We all know how poor Cinderella was mistreated by her stepmother and her stepsisters. Some years ago when I was researching our family’s history and trying to construct a family tree, I can still remember the point was made about who was “adopted” into the family suggesting that we were not all on the same family tree. Joseph showed true unselfishness, and a willingness to put his pride aside as he followed the will of God. I wonder how many of us are able to do that.
Christmas Adoptions
At Christmas, adoption can be seen in the incarnation in three ways: historical sense, symbolic sense, and divine sense.
Historically in Matthew’s account, the angel tells Joseph to adopt the baby in Mary’s womb—“do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife…She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus.” Joseph is given the responsibility to name the child, accepting him as his own and adopting him into the Davidic line as an authentic “son of David.” Joseph obeyed, and Jesus became, as far as anybody in Bethlehem knew, Joseph’s son.
Adoption functions symbolically at Christmas in that God sent Jesus so that we might adopt him. This might sound strange to our ears because it sounds like it’s all up to us, when, if there is one message Christmas underscores, it is that it’s all up to God.
But in John 1:12, we are asked to “receive” Christ. “To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.” Receiving Christ or accepting Christ conveys the sense of making Christ welcome in our lives, and welcoming is something that all adoptive parents should do with their adopted children.
The divine sense of adoption can be seen when in the gospel; John tells us that Jesus came to arrange for our adoption as well. Not only do we receive and adopt Christ, through Christ, we are adopted and given power to become children of God.
We see this in Paul’s writings too. In Ephesians 1:4-5, Paul writes, “God chose us in Christ…He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ.” He tells the Romans in 8:17, that adoption leads believers to being “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” In Paul’s days, being adopted included a release for the adopted from any obligations attached while in the birth family. Any debts owed were cancelled upon entrance into the adoptive family. And the adoptive father became, in every significant sense, the real father.
Remember what the angel said to Joseph about what his son will do? “He will save his people from their sins.” Jesus comes into the world without sin to cancel the sins of people for their salvation. When we are adopted by God, our sins are forgiven.
No Unadoptables
If we lived in a perfect world, there wouldn’t be children put up for adoption.
One reason couples were willing to go through the humiliation of competing on national television for this 16-year old girl’s baby is because the child was a newborn, healthy, and white. Children available for adoption fitting that description are in short supply. Most children’s services agencies have plenty of kids available, but some are older, some are nonwhite, some have special needs, and there is no competition for them. Some of them will remain with children’s services until they are adults. In China, there are many unwanted baby girls.
In God’s family, fortunately, there are no unadoptables. “To all who received him…he gave the power to become children of God.” Adoption into God’s family is not based on our being perfect children.
We all know that in terms of the child’s well-being and development, adoption only becomes a good thing when the family into which the child is born doesn’t work out. Under those circumstances, adoption by a loving and capable family is the next-best thing. For the sake of many children, it’s the only loving thing to do.
In a world that had not fallen, this teenage mother would have no need to figure out what to do with her baby, for all children would be born into loving families, ready to care for and raise little ones who come as gifts from God. But it is a fallen world, and in that context, sometimes this next best thing is the best thing.
In God’s family here at church, there are no unadoptables too. If you are a young person who was cut from the football team or swimming team or any other team that requires meeting some kind of standard, you are adopted and welcomed as a full member of our youth group.
If you didn’t get accepted into your dream college of your choice, you are adopted and welcomed to attend our Sunday school.
If you didn’t get that hoped-for promotion to become a manager at your workplace, you are adopted and welcome to use your God-given gifts in ministry at this church.
If you feel that no one cares for you or care whether you live or die, God is saying to you today that you are adopted and welcomed to become a child of God’s family.
Since God is our creator, all of us are already children of God, created in his image. But we are not God’s children by nature; we don’t all act like we want to be identified with God’s family—and so we become estranged and there’s no way for us to find our way home.
At Christmas, God takes the initiative and sends his Son so that without any competition, without striving to become a finalist, without even having to travel all the way to China—we might adopt him.
When I learned that my nephew Tony and his wife Mei Ching were going to be at Guangzhou’s US Consulate, I emailed Judy Ung who works for the US government processing adoption cases. While Tony and Mei Ching are in China, Judy came home for Christmas. But one of the things, Judy said to me was: “What a wonderful Christmas gift for your nephew!” I couldn’t agree with her anymore.
The angel told Joseph to name his newborn son, “Jesus” and adopt him as he was his very own. Tony and Mei Ching named their newly adopted daughter, Esther and love her as much as they love their two biologically born sons. When Joy and I visit Boston after Christmas, we will get the chance to meet Esther and she will become another member of the Ng family. As far as anybody in Boston knows, Esther is Tony and Mei Ching’s daughter.
You are not unadoptable in God’s sight. God sent Christ into the world to invite us into God’s family, where God the Father recognizes us as his children, where we are always wanted, always accepted and always loved.
Let us pray.
Loving God, thank you for coming for us through Christ Jesus our Lord, adopting us into your family and becoming heirs to your kingdom. Show us to care for the children of the world with love and compassion. In this season of Christmas, we pray for the coming of the Babe born in Bethlehem which is good news for all people—especially for the children. Amen.