Sunday's Message: Joseph

As we move through Advent, we’re looking at the characters of Christmas. During this five-week worship series, we'll focus on some of the main characters of the Christmas story.

• November 27 – Zechariah
• December 4 – Mary
• December 11 – The SPC Youth Christmas Youth Service
• December 18 – Joseph
• December 25 – The Shepherds
• January 1 – The Wise Men

In the third message, we focused on Joseph, the father of Jesus, and considered how he showed faith by looking past the rules so that he could trust and respond to God. A copy and recording of the message is below.

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Well, here we are, about one week to go before Christmas, which means we have a little less than seven days which is about 148 hours which is about 8,880 minutes which is about 532,800 seconds, but who’s counting? Of course all this means that, before we know it, all the decorating and baking and all the buying and wrapping and all the pressure and stress will be done for another year, which means we’ll have to wait about 52 weeks which is 364 days which is...well, you know where I’m going.

But you know, even though the big day will be done sooner than later, we’re actually in the middle of the sermon series we started three weeks ago entitled The Characters of Christmas. And to this point, we’ve already talked about Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, who still showed faith even though he initially doubted. And then we looked at Mary, who accepted the angel’s promise with humility and enthusiasm. Now there’s where we’ve been.

And this morning, we’re going to focus on Joseph, another one of the figures found in every nativity set, even if he might have a scarf around his neck. And I’ve got to tell you, I can kind of identify with Joseph, particular this time of year. Let me explain. You see, as we’ll see in just a little bit, Joseph seemed to be focused on rules and assumptions. And man, that was Christmas around the Rudiger house when I was a kid. Now, it’s important to understand that my dad is a mechanical engineer, and if you ever spent much time with one, well, they’re not exactly what you’d call free and easy. No, for him, the world was black and white. Machines worked or they didn’t. Systems were efficient or not. Now that’s who he is, and I’ll tell you, that’s why I think he’s always been an outstanding engineer. And that was exactly how we approached Christmas. There was a right way to celebrate the holiday, and to do it right, man, you had to follow the rules. For example, the live tree was always bought on December 11. And the trunk was put in a bucket of water so that it could be decorated on December 15 with the following: balls, garland, beads, tinsel, and these big lights that had reflectors behind the bulbs. On Christmas Eve, we took gifts to my dad’s aunts and uncles, including Aunt Virginia and Uncle Steve, who lived in downtown Norfolk and yet who also raised chickens behind their building and who had, in their apartment, a Christmas fireplace made of cardboard. Now, that was Christmas Eve. And on Christmas morning, we had to wait until lights were set up in the living room so Dad could film it all with his 8mm camera. And we knew which gifts came from Santa because they weren’t wrapped while all the others were. And then, on Christmas evening, we went to my great grandparent’s house on Willoughby spit, and we were allowed to take one toy, and I’d always take one that I really didn’t like,  because I knew that my “cousin” Jerry would break it before we went home. And finally, all the decorations came down on New Year’s Day. Now that was a Rudiger Christmas. In other words, we followed the rules, and I’ve got to tell you, we loved doing it. There’s a lot of comfort doing what you’ve always done.

And you know, I think that’s really who Joseph was. Man, he was focused on the rules, at least he was in the beginning. But by the time we get to the end of his story, we’re going to see that he had changed, and that’s a really good thing, because if he hadn’t, we all would have missed an awful lot. You see, Joseph is going to be our focus this morning. And as we did with Zechariah and Mary, as we look at him, we’re going to answer three questions: first, who was Joseph, and second, what happened to him in the story, and third, how did he show faith. Now that’s what we’re going to do. And hopefully, by the end, we’ll be able to apply his story to our own and understand that his example can help us put aside some of those legalistic assumptions that might distract us from doing what God has called and equipped us to do.

And you know, it really all starts with the first question, who was Joseph? And even though I think I’m pretty safe in saying that, if we were playing Family Feud and if we were asked to name a person at the manger, Joseph would certainly be one of the top five answers, I mean, even though that’s true, scripture really doesn’t deal with Joseph very much. And so, right now, we’re going to focus on a passage from Matthew dedicated to Joseph. And this was what the Evangelist wrote:

This is how Jesus Christ was born. A young woman named Mary was engaged to Joseph from King David’s family. But before they were married, she learned that she was going to have a baby by God’s Holy Spirit. Joseph was a good man and did not want to embarrass Mary in front of everyone. So he decided to quietly call off the wedding. [Matthew 1:18-19, CEV]

Now, that’s what Matthew wrote.

And you know, I think that tells us a lot about the man Joseph. You see, according to the passage, Joseph was “a good man.” Now, in Greek, the word is δίκαιος, which is generally translated, “righteous.” But I think it’s really important to note that, as the word is used in Matthew, it doesn’t refer to spirituality or faith or a relationship with God. Instead, it involves obedience and a willingness to follow the rules, you know, to do the right thing. And I’ll tell you, that’s why Jesus said, “Go and learn what the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘Instead of offering sacrifices to me, I want you to be merciful to others.’ I didn't come to invite good people to be my followers. I came to invite sinners.” [Matthew 9:13, CEV] Now that’s who Joseph was; he was a good, a righteous person. And since he knew that fornication was against the law, he pretty much decided to break his engagement with Mary. You see, that’s what good, righteous men did, and since he must have assumed this was what God wanted, that’s exactly what he decided to do. He wanted to follow the rules. 

And you know, as we go about our living, I think we can have this same mind set ourselves. And it seems to happen whenever we make two assumptions: first, that we know the specific stuff God wants us to do and second, that God wants us to be obedient to these rules we assume that we know, period, close the book, Elvis has left the building. Of course, often the laws we think should be followed fit nicely with stuff we already believe. I mean, let’s get real, we all want to be good, righteous people, and we’re certainly not stupid. Therefore, surely God must share our interpretations and opinions right along with our assumptions and prejudices, right? In other words, it’s really simple: the sins we don’t like, he doesn’t like either, am I right? And the same goes for people, right? I think that’s what we often assume. And so we focus on passages that confirm what we think and sort of shove aside those that don’t. Now, I believe that’s something we all do, and of course, we act on our assumptions; because that’s what good, righteous people do. And in that way, we’re actually a lot like Joseph, because that’s really who he was, the answer to question number one. 

And you know, because of that, for me, the second question is really important: What happened to Joseph? I mean, what happened to this good, righteous man who was trying to do what he thought was right, you know, what God wanted him to do? Just listen to what the Evangelist Matthew wrote:

While Joseph was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, the baby that Mary will have is from the Holy Spirit. Go ahead and marry her. Then after her baby is born, name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

So the Lord’s promise came true, just as the prophet had said, “A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,” which means “God is with us.” [Matthew 1:20-23, CEV]

Now that’s what happened when the angel appeared in his dream.

But I’ll tell you, when you think about it, that angel did more than just make an announcement. You see, he actually challenged Joseph’s whole understanding of what was right and wrong, didn’t he? I mean, the Law was clear. Mary was a loose woman, at least in Joseph’s mind. She was a sinner who deserved punishment. And if he didn’t break up with her, he’d be accepting responsibility for the child she was carrying and that would make Joseph guilty too. And that’s not what good righteous people did back in the day. Now that’s what he assumed before his head hit the pillow. But then the angel spoke to him, and all of a sudden, those assumptions were challenged, weren’t they? I mean, not only was he being asked to accept a bizarre story about the Holy Spirit, but he was told to actually name the baby, something that would not only suggest to his community, you know, his family and friends, that he condoned Mary’s obvious lax moral values or they’d been doing something on the side, it would also involve taking legal responsibility for the child. You see, if he named the baby, he would be Joseph’s son, part of Joseph’s family, even though Joseph knew that he wasn’t. I’m telling you, that angel challenged the very foundation of what Joseph believed about goodness and righteousness.

And I’ll tell you, I think there are times when God does the same thing to us. You see, even though I believe most of us sincerely try our best to be good and righteous, sometimes our sense of goodness and righteousness is challenged by God himself. For example, as we sort of scour the Bible for specific and detailed rules that good people are suppose to obey; like Joseph, God challenges us when we read that, after being asked about the most important commandment,  

Jesus answered:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, “Love others as much as you love yourself.” All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments. [Matthew 22:37-40, CEV]

Man, that’s a challenge. And as we sincerely struggle to figure out what a righteous community or nation should look like, God challenges us once more, again through the words of Jesus himself, when he said that, on Judgement Day, those nations who will be on the right side are the ones who’ve done this:

When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, and when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me, and when I was naked, you gave me clothes to wear. When I was sick, you took care of me, and when I was in jail, you visited me.” 

“Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.” [Matthew 25:35-36, 40b, CEV]

Dag gone it, whether we like it or not (and we usually don’t), God still challenges us. Because that’s exactly what happened to Joseph, the answer to question number two. 

And really leaves us with our third question: How did Joseph show faith? In other words, how did this good, this righteous man who knew the difference between right and wrong, how did he show his faith when what he knew was challenged? And although I think y’all know the answer, still listen to what Matthew wrote anyway:

After Joseph woke up, he and Mary were soon married, just as the Lord’s angel had told him to do. But they did not sleep together before her baby was born. Then Joseph named him Jesus. [Matthew 1:24-25, CEV]

Now that’s what he did. He decided to trust God. Even though it may have violated values and principles that he believed were true, he decided to trust God. And even though he risked the disapproval of his family and friends and community, he decided to trust God, because trust is always a decision. But I want you to notice that it was more than just trust, Joseph also responded by doing exactly what he was told to do. You see, he married Mary. And the baby was born. And Joseph named him Jesus, publicly acknowledging that the child was his. Now that’s what Joseph did.  And as a result, well, not only did Joseph’s son save his people from their sins, he was and still is Immanuel. Let me explain. Do you remember what the name Immanuel means? God is with us, right? Well, just listen to the last words that Jesus will say to his disciples:

Jesus came to them and said:

I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth! Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world. [Matthew 28:18-20, CEV]

You see, thanks to Joseph’s decision and response, through Jesus Christ, God is still with us. That’s what he did. 

And now, well, the pickle ball is in our court, isn’t it? I mean, even though we may try to be good and righteous, sometimes our sense of goodness and our understanding of righteousness are challenged by God. And at those points, we have to decide. You see, we have to decide whether or not we’re willing to look past some of our interpretations and opinions as well as our assumptions and prejudices. And we have to decide whether or not we’re going to trust God. And then we have decide whether or not we’re going to respond by doing what God has called and equipped us to do, and we already know what that is, don’t we: to love God and our neighbors, that’s one, and two, to help those who are often ignored and overlooked as though we were doing if for Jesus Christ himself. Now, that would seem to be the decision that we’re going to have to make. In other words, we need to decide if we’re going to trust and to respond, because that’s how Joseph showed his faith. And that’s the answer to question number three.

Now remember how I was telling you about Christmas at the Rudiger house? Well, after I married Debbie, I found that her understanding of Yuletide procedures, well, they were a little different from mine. And I’ll tell you, it didn’t help when I told her that I didn’t make the rules, I just followed them. No, I had to shift some of my obsessive tendencies to other things. And although that was difficult, it was a cakewalk when compared to how what happened, after I found that, back in the nineties mom and dad bought an artificial tree that they set up right after Thanksgiving and took down somewhere in the first week of January. What happened to my dad? I was crushed. 

But I’ll tell you, that should never be the case with us as we’re living our Christian lives. You see, even though we might be more like the pre-dream Joseph than we’d like to admit, when some of those values and principles that we assume are part and parcel of good, righteous living are challenged by the Word of God itself, we don’t have to be bound to our assumptions. Rather, we can decide to trust God and to respond. Something that, personally, I’ve taken to heart. I mean, ever since Debbie and I have gotten an artificial tree, I no longer feel the need to put it in a bucket of water fourteen days before Christmas...anymore.