We are just days away from Christmas, and I hope that this season has been full of hope, joy, love and peace for you. I hope that you have had time to reflect on the promises of the Advent season, the season in which we prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus.

It’s funny that the modern Christian church spends four weeks—the season of Advent—preparing for Christ’s coming, because the first Christmas was a total surprise that sort of snuck up on everyone involved. And it’s funny that this fourth Sunday of Advent is usually thought of as the Sunday of Peace. It wasn’t very peaceful for at least one of the story’s leading figures, a humble and righteous man named Joseph.

Michael Lindvall, a Presbyterian pastor and outstanding writer, tells a story which he calls simply “The Christmas Page…