12.01.2013 Joseph's Story - How must THAT have looked?

12.01.2013 from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

On the first Sunday of Advent, we light the Hope candle – Hope that He will fulfill His promises – He is our hope today and forever. Thanks be to God for His incredible gift.
Lord, thank You that You are present with us and we are on this journey that ends with YOU. This journey will come to a close in Your presence, before Your throne. In that day we will be like You. At the end of all the testing and work You have given us, things that You have set before us, we will be with You – and it is that day to which we look forward – may our hearts and hope focus on that day. All of that is possible because of what You have done – giving Your life for our sins.
Well, good morning again – this is a 4 week series – actually a continuation of our previous series – following Jesus then and now.
Matthew 1: 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Remove yourself – remove the birth narrative, the story of Jesus birth from the holiday we call Christmas. So much has been added over the years – traditions are wonderful things, but sometimes it is hard to look at the actual story – and what we are trying to do – enter into their world to bring a clear understanding of what happened and a sense of celebration of what took place – that it is no longer this gift-giving season, but an expectation of what is to come – looking at His first coming and looking forward to His second coming.
A long time ago, we did a series on Christmas carols – what is not true – no Lester the Long-eared Donkey… there were things added in – no Drummer Boy…sorry! The Three Kings weren’t kings and there weren’t three and they weren’t from Orient Are!
It could have been any of us if we were there at the time – and what would it have looked like.
Today we look at Joseph. We have to go back and look at their world.
Engagements then were different than today. Getting engaged was legal marriage and the only way to break it was through legal divorce. They were married – a legal binding contract – not a guy getting on his hands and knees asking will you marry me in front of a football stadium. It was usually two families getting together and betrothing them to each other – but they did not come together until about a year later when they were officially married.
The groom would get betrothed – and would build a house, usually next to his parents’ house – and then once they were married, she moves in and they are married.
We don’t actually find out how Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant – he may have heard it through the grape vine (won’t you be mine – oops, different carol).
She may have told her parents – we don’t know – then she spent months with Elizabeth. We don’t know how Joseph found out, but we do know the word spread. Mary has this wacky story that no one believed except Elizabeth – but Joseph is a righteous man – and there is only one way that was known to happen in that day – this must have been adultery. The Romans and Greeks even hated adultery – Capital Punishment was the answer. Now, prostitution was okay for them –because it was not another married man’s wife.
Imagine being Joseph – having done it right his entire life – being a righteous man – as a follower of Yahweh – given wholly to his religion and God – and the one you are given to for betrothal has betrayed you – think of the feelings!
In this situation – in their culture and faith – there was only one option for Joseph – divorce. Put her away = divorce. Send her away, as this translation says.
Because they lived in a culture that was shame based – honor and shame were critical – the husband – because He was righteous – each family would ‘lose face’ so the divorce would be public to put as much shame as possible on the offending party. It says – we are the right ones – the ones who have acted righteously.
But it says that Joseph desired to put her away secretly. Joseph’s reputation was at stake here – and Mary’s reputation was already lost. And what Joseph does – demonstrating his true character – we think – just persevere and you’ll find out the truth! But the way to help her save face was to do this quietly. He knew it would be bad for her.
Joseph knew what Jesus would say over and over again – Jesus grew in stature as a child – “Go and learn what this means…” “love your neighbor as yourself” – what Jesus says in the gospel message – the whole key to understanding the Law is summed up in Love your neighbor as yourself. If you do that you fulfill it all. That is what Joseph is doing here. He is fulfilling the legal part of it – and also the foundation for it.
Even though Joseph may feel angry, betrayed, and confused, he does it the right way – there is this balance in the Bible between justice and mercy – they have met – they have kissed (mercy and justice) and mercy triumphs over justice. All the other characters of God are built upon grace and mercy and love. All the other character qualities are important – but if you pull out mercy, they grumble.
Love God – love people – that is the expression of love God.
For the Jews, it was follow the letter of the Law – but Joseph demonstrates and Jesus always reiterated – love God by loving others.
Joseph is more amazing than we thought.
Jesus was full of grace and truth. But our tendency is to go one way or the other. There is only one way to keep them in balance – build on the foundation of the love of God.
And the angel comes to Joseph and says Stop!
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”
We are out trying to do our best as Christians – trying to do it right – trying to live the Christian life – and out of nowhere, our life and faith is disrupted and interrupted in ways we can’t imagine, right? And it just, oftentimes, it does not make sense how it happens – how our life gets bombarded – not making sense. But that is just the reality of how God works – He disrupts. We NEED disrupting. We don’t need to like it – but it is our need – to get disrupted. This disruption is important for Joseph and comes with a tremendous blessing. So Joseph is able, in his righteousness and obedience to be faithful to God.
His obedience was to the Lawgiver. The creator first.
The Law said to do one thing – but the Lawgiver said to do another. He went with God. That is the first thing – the One we give our account to – no person, no institution, no organization – we need to be faithful first to God.
Second – we see that this obedience to God was costly – it cost Joseph a lot – He lost what was most valuable to him. For us it does not seem that way. When he went and married Mary – what did everyone else think? OH! Old righteous Joseph is not so righteous after all! No one believed the story! By marrying her, he was incriminating himself. Honor was everything. It would be like success and accomplishment to us – going through school to become a doctor and losing it all – that which you gave your life to fully – that which identified you – Dr. So and So – you lose – and that is what Joseph lost.
Jo


22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[g] (which means “God with us”).
Joseph lost his reputation but found his calling and identity.
He discovers that his purpose in life is to raise this child who is God with us! But it was a child who would change everything! If he wasn’t willing to give up maintaining his reputation – he never would have had the opportunity. What would have happened if Joseph had said no? We will never attain our calling and identity unless we are willing to sacrifice our reputation – not by doing something evil – but there will be a point where your reputation will be put on the line for following Jesus – others will think less of you – because of it. That point will come –and we need to let that go – because of our commitment to Him.


24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
The fourth thing about this obedience of Joseph – it required great restraint and self-control. He has no relations with her until the baby is born. The very thing – all of the neighbors are accusing him of – “We know about Joseph and Mary!” – is the opposite of what he is – he is a man of complete restraint – unbelievable restraint.
Obedience will lead to private pain – struggle – sacrifice – loss – and we need to expect that. Secret. I’m sure no one knew this until the story was told later.
One final thing with this obedience.
Luke 2:1 2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.
Following God - It causes inconvenience and hardship – it won’t fit our plan. It is good to make plans, but at times we have to lay those aside – and if it all gets changed and rearranged – even though we thought one thing was God’s way – He has something else in store. At times it feels like it comes out of left field – and sometimes that is an indication from God – when it is like, where is that coming from.
That is about all we know about Joseph. He had a critical roll to fulfill.
A couple things in closing – the way it is written by Matthew is really amazing – He was writing to specific people – they were pastors first, not historians – so they are writing this – Bible scholars have said – Matthew was written to a Christian crowd that was predominately Jewish – and part of this is an apologetic – a defense of the faith. He is defending the virgin birth. He stresses very clearly that Joseph was a righteous man – and the book is about righteousness – it comes up over and over again – and Joseph is at the foundation of it – understanding it and following it – and waiting until after the birth to demonstrate. Those stories didn’t end. The Jews were trying to show that Jesus was illegitimate – to disprove his Messiahship. But Matthew wants us to trust it – because the people who lived and told the story were reliable and holy. And what it shows- God acts within creation. The whole virgin birth thing? It is a miracle. God is not bound by the laws of Physics. He normally allows the laws of the universe to play out – but what Matthew does – he shows that Jesus is a descendant of David.
Matthew also gives a window into how God works. God chooses ordinary people – as ordinary as could be – nothing special about them other than they were faithful to God. They were very common – Mary even possibly from a very poor family –nothing special – nothing unique – simply faithful to God. It is critical to see – that is just how God is – how He works – He loves choosing the simple things – the ordinary – and we see that throughout the Bible – He chooses the weak to shame the strong and foolish to shame the wise- When God works through the ordinary – people say – that was a God-thing.
The second way God works – He works as people are living their daily lives – doing what they are supposed to do – and he comes in and interrupts it. It is behind the scenes and we are often unaware. And today, God is working – around us, in people’s lives – and Joseph was just Joseph – engaged to be married – he was a carpenter’s son – doing his job – and even when he finds out about Mary – God is doing stuff behind the scenes – and he is unaware of all that is going on around him – and we often miss it – that God is active and working.
During Advent – be looking – look for the work of God in others’ lives – I urge you to do that – let’s pray.
Lord, thank You that You are working in and through our lives – we bless You with that. Help us to learn from these stories – from Joseph’s faithfulness and obedience – he is an example to all of us. You have blessed that obedience and I’m sure there was suffering as a result – but He was given the opportunity to be the earthly father to Jesus – the Son of God, Immanuel, God with us.