Once upon a time, a long time ago (at least as this story goes), there was an innovative, ambitious king. He had a great vision to expand the borders of his country. So he called in his favorite general and gave him the assignment to go and find new land for the crown. As this meant entering unknown territory, it was important to note that all the maps from which the general had to work, stopped at the last point of exploration. Out went the general with his army, determined to conquer! Months later, after the general had experienced a measure of success, he sends a message back to the king. “Your Majesty: Army in crisis! Troops have just marched off your map. Unsure what we should do next. Please send further orders.”

I'm guessing it's not a very settling thought for any army to be engaged in a mission and suddenly march off its map, without any further points of reference. It's kind of like what happens when the battery dies in our GPS. Now what? Now where? Which turn to take? Which road to go? Perhaps it's even more unsettling when it happens to us in the Christian life, for all of us work from some kind of life map. We mark out our family, our jobs, our education, our relationships, our hopes and dreams for the future. Unfortunately life doesn't always fit into the latitude and longitude we set for ourselves. All it takes is an unexpected sickness or loss, the breakdown of a relationship or the failure to reach a goal and we can find ourselves entering unknown territory.

I wonder if this isn't something of the space in which Joseph finds himself within the Christmas story. By Matthew's account, we have a strong sense that Joseph's life map was well defined. He is an engaged man with a fiancé named Mary. By means of a legally binding contract between their respective fathers, Mary and Joseph's life is laid out clearly. Matthew doesn't tell us if they had plans for a honeymoon or how quickly they thought of starting a family. All we know is that they are an engaged couple expecting to live out married life as every other married couple in their neighbourhood.

As we come to their story, there are no surprises. We know how it will play out. Joseph gets word, although we are not sure how, that Mary is pregnant (Matthew 1:18). Maybe Mary told him directly or he caught the word through the town grapevine. Joseph knows there has been no union between himself and his bride. The only explanation offered is that the Holy Spirit is responsible. Talk about marching off the map into unknown territory. Joseph has no point of previous reference to navigate the setting into which he has arrived.

We wouldn't have been surprised if Joseph just said, “Mary, forget this! I don't what's going on with you, but if you think I am going to hang around and raise someone else's kid, be it some guy down the street, or this far-fetched Holy Spirit story you are spinning, you can count me out! I'm moving on, Mary! We are done.”

Equally so, we would not have been surprised if Joseph had decided to hire a private investigator to really get to the bottom of Mary's story. Maybe he would have had Mary followed. He would have asked for pictures to prove that someone else had to be involved. He would have checked Mary's phone records and reviewed her credit card statements. After all, Joseph is in unknown territory. Doesn't he deserve the truth?

We would have also understood if Joseph had demanded that Mary go back to the doctor. “Ask for another pregnancy test,” he would have said. “Somehow there has to be a mistake. This can't be happening. There has to be something else going on here!” For Joseph is in unknown territory and there are no prerequisites to help him find his way forward.

The law demands one thing. Mary should be fully exposed for her wrong doing. The angel of the Lord, on the other hand says, “Don't be afraid of this new territory, Joseph. Everything is under control and will play out just as the prophets have said.” In this unknown territory, Joseph steps into a new moment. God is no longer writing in straight lines but requires a new kind of righteousness from Joseph. The letter of the law was no longer all that mattered. Now it was time for Joseph to live the spirit of the law—a new kind of righteousness that would not be afraid to defy cultural expectations and go live out life with the mother of the Saviour. In so doing, Joseph discovered that this miracle unfolding before him, was not only about recognizing “Emmanuel—God with us” but it was also about reflecting “Emmanuel―God-in us!” Perhaps this is the heart of the Christmas story; God taking his people into unknown territory, giving them opportunity to live in new places in a new way!

Charting the complexity of unknown territory is something with which we are becoming quite familiar at Winnipeg's Heritage Park Temple. I was reminded recently of a corps leadership meeting that took place a number of months ago. We had gathered to do a year-end review and to begin brainstorming how important leadership vacancies would be filled in the fall. While we had lots of good ideas, they were not sufficient answers to the complexity of issues before us. We began praying earnestly for answers to our dilemma. By the fall, we had only a limited plan in place for the new program year. Then our September Rally Weekend happened and we experienced an in-flux of close to 80 children into our after-school program. It was unknown territory. We were not prepared for the new places God was taking us. Maybe we should have explored our options a little more with the Lord. You know, maybe said, “God, this really isn't very gracious of you, sending us all these kids. We are barely ready to cover the basics. We are not programmed for this. We are not trained for this. We are not prepared for this. We're marching off the map and sending a request for changed orders.”

Yet the truth and the power of the advent story falls upon us once again, as God moves into our neighbourhoods and challenges us to do the same. It is not enough just to sing “Emmanuel―God with us” but Joseph reminds us of the importance of reflecting “Emmanuel―God in us!” Defying the expectations of the law, he obeys the angel's bidding and takes Mary home as his wife. Herein we discover an example of one who was willing to be part of God's Kingdom-building plan, even when navigating the unknown.

Heritage Park Temple has much to celebrate as we give testimony to answered prayer. In our unknown territory, leaders and volunteers are moving to the battle front, important community relationships are building and numerous new contacts are being made for the Kingdom. To be honest, we can barely keep up with it. So maybe this Christmas, we will thank God for the failure of one GPS system and the launching of another, because like Joseph, here in unknown territory, we seem to be finding a new way!

Major Julie Slous is corps officer at Winnipeg's Heritage Park Temple. She also serves as adjunct faculty at the College for Officer Training. In May 2009, Julie completed her doctoral studies in biblical preaching. Her thesis work centred on “Preaching a Disturbing Gospel─The Homiletic of The Salvation Army for Postmodern Times.” When not studying and writing, personal hobbies include reading, cooking, musical composition and, of course, listening to sermons! Married to Brian, she has three children.