Christmas Through Their Eyes Series
“What Can You Give”
Matthew 1:18-23, Luke 2:1-7
Intro:
For me, one of the most intriguing characters in the Gospel accounts is Joseph.
You would think for someone who had such an influential role in the life of the Savior, more would be written about him…but there really isn’t much.
The same can be said about Mary, the mother of Christ, who is scarcely mentioned through out the New Testament, yet some churches have managed to build entire doctrines on her…out of speculation.
When I think about Joseph, I’ll be honest, it does cause me to speculate a bit, especially now that I am a father myself.
• When I think about how inadequate I feel at times…I can’t help but wonder what it was for Joseph whose job it was to raise the Messiah.
• When I think about how blessed I am by my kids…I can’t help but think how it fails in comparison to Joseph who was called “Dad” by God incarnate.
• When I think about what kind of legacy I want to leave my kids…I can’t help but think about Joseph again, and how he must have laughed at the thought of leaving a legacy for the Word made flesh.
Joseph was a simple carpenter, a common laborer, but God chose him and anointed him with the privilege of bringing up the His only begotten.
And this morning I want us to try to put ourselves into Joseph’s shoes just for a few minutes and consider Christmas through his eyes.
Let’s read a little bit about him this morning together.
Read Matt. 1:18-23, Luke 2:1-7 and pray.
My inspiration for this series comes from a Christmas CD by Todd Agnew that he released last year.
All of the songs that he wrote for this record was from the point of view of the Biblical characters involved in the Christmas account from Scripture.
I want to share a little bit of the song he wrote called “This is all I have to give”, which is Joseph’s song on the CD.
I’d always dreamed I’d build the cradle we’d lay You in
When we brought You home, when we brought You home.
But there You lay, fast asleep in a feed trough,
It was all that I could find
I’d always hoped You’d have my eyes,
And maybe a bit of the skill of my hands
But as I look into Your eyes I see Your hands created mine
This is all I have to give
You can share my home and bear my name
But this is not how you should live
But the Son of God has become the Son of man
And this is all I have to give
Transition: Joseph didn’t have much, but He did give what he had.
The irony is had Jesus been born a couple of hundred years earlier, the situation may have been much different.
Both Joseph and Mary were from the lineage of David, taking separate routes after Solomon…both were from the royal line.
But in 1st Century Israel, the line of David had long been removed from power, and they were now awaiting the promised Messiah who would return the throne to the rightful family.
So, a few centuries earlier and Jesus would have probably been born in a palace rather than a stable…and His earthly father may have been king rather than a carpenter.
But God in His timing chose this time and this place for His Son, the long awaited Messiah to make His appearance.
And this time and place included a stable and a carpenter…exactly what God had planned.
Joseph was a man of faith, probably a lay student of the Scriptures who also knew of the promised Messiah.
His betrothed, Mary, was someone who had probably been in His life for many years up to this point.
As a young Hebrew man Joseph probably left home in his teens to learn a life skill in preparation for becoming a husband and starting a family…he trained as a carpenter.
When he was ready to set out on his own, his family arranged a marriage agreement with another family, in this case the family of Mary, and Joseph and she began an engagement that in essence was a courtship leading up to the day they would celebrate and make their marriage official.
We all know the story, a “wrench” was thrown into the works when Mary received a divine visitor that informed her she would be with child…and she reluctantly broke the news to the man who would be her husband.
According to their religious tradition Joseph could “put her away”, which in essence was a divorce, and he decided to do it quietly so not to ruin her future because of his love for her…until he received a divine visitor also.
God let Joseph know that this child was not just any child…Read again Matt. 1:20-24.
And in faith, Joseph gave what he had…nothing more, nothing less.
This morning I want us to step back a couple 1000 years, using a little bit of imagination and consider what Joseph gave to the Lord…and ask ourselves, what do we have to give.
First of all, Joseph gave…
1. His Heart
As a dad one of the easiest things for me has been loving my kids.
I had the privilege of being in the room when both my kids were born, and I had the distinct honor of taking each of them in my arms even before their mom and holding my son and daughter.
They hadn’t done anything to make me love them, other than being born…they were mine.
The DNA that each of them carry is a distinct, one of a kind mixture of my own genetic make up and their mother’s genes.
I love my children because they are my children.
Regan is my daughter, I’m her daddy…Caleb is my son and I’m his daddy, and that is what matters.
But Joseph found himself now playing the role of dad in the life a baby who he was told had no earthly father.
He was the Son of God.
What did Joseph do?
All preliminary indications show us that he loved this child, he gave Jesus his heart and his love.
In fact, let’s look at the final reference we find about Joseph…
Read Luke 2:41-48
Did you see those references?
It said “His parents”…not Mary and her husband.
Not even the mother of Jesus and his step-dad…it said “his parents”.
It would appear that Joseph loved Jesus as his own…and he gave Him his heart.
We often hear the phrase, “Ask Jesus into your heart”…and I think it is better suited to say, “Give Jesus your heart” because to give Him your heart you give Him your life…and is that not what he deserves?
Let’s remind ourselves of what Jesus said about loving God in Matthew 22:37
Love the Lord with all your HEART.
Let Joseph be your example, give the Lord your heart.
2nd, we see that Joseph gave…
2. His Home
Because of the love He had for Jesus, and because he gave Jesus his heart, it was the least that Joseph could do in giving Him his home also.
He welcomed Jesus in and gave Him His run of the place.
Jesus wasn’t just considered a visitor in Joseph’s home…he was considered a member of his home.
In your home, where does Jesus stand?
• Is He a stranger?
• Is He the occasional visitor?
• Is He a reluctant guest that doesn’t really fit in?
• Or is He given His rightful place?
You see too often it is easy to give Jesus a little bit of Sunday, and maybe even a Wednesday…and forget that our homes belong to Him also.
Read Joshua 24:15
Have you given your home to the Lord, and can you say, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord”?
Is He a welcome member of your day to day activities, or just a guest who gets invited in for the occasional meal time blessing?
Is He there as you watch TV, or read or listen to music?
Would what you watch, read or listen to honor and glorify Him?
It takes more than one of those big family Bibles and a cross hanging in your home in order to give the Lord your home…
Giving the Lord your home means that He is being honored in glorified in all activities that take place within the home.
Not just at Christmas time…but 24/7, 365 days a year.
Joseph is our example, in that he gave Jesus his home along with his heart.
And finally this morning, I believe that Joseph also gave Jesus…
3. His Time
Joseph was a carpenter…and church history and tradition tells us that Jesus followed in His earthly father’s footsteps and went into the family business.
Jesus, being God incarnate probably didn’t need to be “taught” a skill.
Think about it, according to John 1:1, Jesus is the Word who was the beginning, with God in the beginning and was God in the beginning.
And John 1:3 tells us that all things were created through Christ.
So if Jesus, being at creation was part of speaking something out of nothing…how much could he learn from a small town carpenter?
I don’t think it really mattered to Joseph who saw this child as his own.
I don’t know about you, I can imagine Joseph busily working on a project in his shop…maybe a table or chair or something, and sitting in his shadow was the young Jesus, one of “dad’s” tools in hand as he plays around with a simple piece of wood.
And maybe Joseph looks over, sees Jesus with the plane on the wood going back and fort, so he stops for a second and walks over to the child he is raising and he lovingly puts his hands on Jesus’ hand to show him the proper way of smoothing out a piece of wood.
Valuable time that could have been used on the project he was hoping to be paid well for was being given up for some quality time with Jesus.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “time is money”, and there is a lot of truth to that.
Our time is valuable, and we give our time to what we value the most.
My question is, where does Jesus fit into your time?
We know Sunday morning…but once you walk out those back doors, where does He fit in?
• This afternoon
• Tomorrow morning
• Friday afternoon
• Saturday night
How much time does He get?
Read Col. 4:2-5.
Do you make the most of your time and invest in worth while causes?
Do you invest in honoring and glorifying God as you work to build His kingdom?
Joseph’s time with Jesus apparently was short by all indications since we don’t hear anything about him later on in Jesus’ life…but it would appear that time was valuable.
In Luke 2:52 we read that Jesus grew in wisdom, stature and in favor with God and people…and I can’t help but believe the influence of Joseph had a thing or two to do with that.
Transition:
Joseph may not have had much, but what he had, he gave to Jesus.
What do you have to give?
It may be a little, it may be much…but whatever it is, why don’t you give it to Jesus?
And it starts with your life…have you given Him your life?
Admit, Believe, Confess.
If you are a born again believer, have you given the Lord all you can give?
Are you holding back…or have you given Him your all?
