“Grief comes before joy. In today’s story… and in so much of life. Our reading today tells the story of Christmas, but it’s not the story we know and love,” begins David Lose, Senior Pastor of Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The census, stable, shepherds, and heavenly hosts are all from the Gospel of Luke, but today’s passage is from Matthew 1:18-25. Lose continues, “It’s short, though not that sweet, telling the Christmas story entirely from the point of view of Joseph, not Mary.” Lose explains how grieving and still being open to joy are “just what this short, not that sweet, and probably unfamiliar Christmas story is about.”
Manuscript available: click HERE