Right

We all like to be right. Most of the time, we're not. We could all recite a litany of mistakes, failures, neglected opportunities, sins, and regrets. Maybe that's why we delight in being right on those rare occasions when we are.

There's only one way we can truly be right, that is, right with God. Paul wrote in Romans 3:22: "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." Faith is what makes us truly righteous before God. It's also the only thing that can make us just or upright people, who live in accordance with God's standards.

Matthew describes Joseph as a "righteous" or "just" man. As a result, when he learned that Mary was expecting a child before their marriage was finalized he decided to divorce her quietly and not to disgrace her publicly by accusing her of adultery. He was doing what Luther said we should do in his explanation to the Eighth Commandment: "We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything."

Joseph refused to think or speak evil of Mary. At first he could not bring himself to believe her story of the angel Gabriel's announcement, nevertheless he decided to put the best construction on everything, refusing to accuse her of adultery, and concluding instead that Mary must have been taken advatage of against her will.

When the Lord's angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, his faith took an even bigger step. Matthew tells us: "When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus." Not only did he willingly take Mary as his wife, even though he knew that the gossip would fly about their supposed premature union, but he was also willing to forego his rights as a husband and had no union with his wife until after Jesus was born. As a result, he was able in good conscience to affirm that Jesus was the virgin-born Messiah.

How was Joseph able to do the right thing? It's because he was right with God through faith in God's promises. Because of our sinful nature it's frequently difficult to do the "right" thing. That's when we need to live by faith and let the righteousness of faith empower the righ living that God asks of us.

In particular, we need to do the right thing when it would be easy to gossip, slander, or betray others, upholding God's command even as Joseph did. And we need to do the right thing even when others will speak evil of us as a result, just as Joseph did, obeying the angel's command to take Mary as his wife. Sometimes being right is hard. When that's true, we need to fall back on the righteousness that comes by faith to enable us to do the right thing.