JOSEPH
Our Godly Example
Matthew 1:18-19
One little boy defined Father's Day best when he said that Father's Day was just like Mother's Day, the only difference is that you don't spend as much money on the gift- most of you men would agree.
I read a statistic that stated that the greatest numbers of long distance phone calls are made on Mother's Day; however, the largest number of collect calls is made on Father's Day.
Before we get started, I just want to put all fathers at ease. I am going to do things a little bit different this morning.
You see: The usual pattern is to exalt (or praise) motherhood on Mother's Day and beat up (or criticize) fathers on Father's Day.
I find it amazing that we have the audacity to come to Church the following Sunday and complain about the lack of male presence.
So brothers, let's get that ritual over with. Brothers, spend more time with your family and don't be a spiritual wimp - be the head of your home. Got it?
Whew, I feel better now, don't you?
Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to do things just a little bit differently this morning.
I'd like to preach one of those uplifting "Mother's Day" type of sermons for our Fathers.
Why? Because I am a Father and I don't feel like being beaten up.
AND ... Because I believe that being a Christian Father is one of the highest callings any man can ever achieve in his life.
In preparing for the sermon today, I ran across some Top Ten lists for Dads.
10 Reasons Why It's Good To Be a Man.
10 You know how to light a grill.
9 Shorter lines at the bath room.
8 If someone forgets to invite you to something he can still be your friend.
7 You can drop by to see a friend without bringing a little gift.
6 If another guy shows up at the same party in the same outfit, you might become lifelong buddies.
5 One wallet, one pair of shoes, one color, all seasons.
4 There is always a game on somewhere.
3 You can go to the bathroom without a support group.
2 You can do your nails with a pocketknife. and last and best...
1 Your pals will never to ask you, "Does this make my butt look big?"
There are some obvious advantages to being a man, aren't there?
I want to start this morning with some encouraging news about dads from the National Center for.
Here are 2 encouraging statistics: In the past 25 years, the number of dads present at their children's births has risen from 27% to more than 90 percent today.
More than 75% of men say they would trade rapid career advancement for more time with their families.
Now the bad news... even with this good news, Time magazine, (5/22/00), in an issue called, "The Hottest Jobs of the Future," lists fatherhood as one of the occupations that will disappear in the next century.
I think he is wrong.
Joe Maxwell, writing on the web site called ibelieve.com, says: "... guys really want to be good dads more than ever, but they aren't changing much. When the good news is combined with the bad, it seems that fatherhood in the United States is poised for either a great awakening or a gory collapse."
I think he's right.
Dads, we're either headed toward a spiritual stirring or we're looking at becoming an endangered species.
We need to come back to a biblical theology of fatherhood. In that vein, today I want us to look as a biblical role model.
I remind you, I am not going to beat us Dads up. But I want to encourage us toward excellence as fathers.
Our biblical example is Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus.
Today as we think about fathers, we look to the life of one of the great father figures of the Bible.
But strangely enough, not one word is attributed to him in the scripture.
His name is J 0 S E PH. Let's use his name as an acrostic with each letter representing a characteristic of his life.
J- JUST
(Matt 1:18-19 KJV) "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise; when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a JUST man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately."
Just
Definition a. Upright, righteous, having integrity,
Being moral
JUST and Righteous are synonymous.
I am going to use JUST instead of righteous because there is no R in Joseph's name.
Ecclesiastes 7:20 tells us, "There is not a righteous/JUST man on earth who does what is right and never sins."
Joseph was not perfect... but God did choose him to raise His
Son.
Who would you choose? Have you already chosen? Donna and I never could choose.
No, Joseph was no more perfect than you or me. But "JUST" does say certain things about him.
#1 Joseph was a JUST man and so he was committed to the truth.
Proverbs 13:5 tells us that the "righteous hate what is false." The truth was is that Mary was overshadowed by the Holy
Spirit and the child inside her was the Son of God. This was the
truth and Joseph accepted that no matter the consequences to himself.
So, Joseph, the JUST man, was committed to the truth.
#2 Joseph was a JUST man and so wanted to live his life always doing good and right.
Proverbs 20:7 tells us, "the righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him."
Joseph did indeed have a choice to make and two paths to take... but being the man that he was... would choose the good and right path over any others.
The good and right thing to do is to take Mary home as his wife and obey the directives of the angel. So, Joseph, the righteous man, was committed to doing what was right.
#3 Joseph was a JUST man and so walked with God.
Joseph received messages from God in a dream. He was a man who walked with God. He was a man who listened to God.
We know that because when the Angel of the Lord tells him to take Mary home as his wife, he does so.
We know that because when the Angel of the Lord tells him to escape to Egypt to protect the baby Jesus, he does so.
We know that because when the Angel directs him to return home, he does so.
Being Just means we follow God.
O = OBEDIENT
1. (Matt 1:20 KJV) "But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost."
Joseph was struggling with his dilemma when God spoke to him
Joseph was obedient to God
(Mat 1:24 KJV) "Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:"
Joseph did what the angel of the Lord had bidden him ... consistently
(Mat 2:13-14 KJV) "And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:"
(Mat 2:19-21 KJV) "But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel."
As a result... Joseph had a close walk with God!
S - SPEAK WITH YOUR ACTIONS
1. Not one word is recorded in the scripture from Joseph!
2. We sometimes equate silence with weakness.
3. Joseph may have been a man of few words, but his strength is revealed in his character and actions.
E- EXAMPLE
1. Of commitment to his wife, despite the hardships of stress, embarrassment, frustrations, inconvenience
2. To Jesus
(Mat 13:55 KJV) "Is not this the carpenter's son? " (Mark 6:3 KJV) "Is not this the carpenter, the son of
Mary."
3. Joseph clearly had a lasting influence on the life of
Jesus
P-PROTECTOR
Speaking of protection, another Top Ten List I found is...
>»The Top Ten Ways to Intimidate Your Daughter's Date
When He Comes to Pick Her Up:
10. Sprinkle some dust on your daughter before she leaves. Explain, "It makes fingerprinting easier."
9. Challenge him at arm wrestling.
8. Tell him your good friend is Tony Soprano.
7. Answer the door wearing a police swat team uniform.
6. Casually show him your collection of five shrunken heads, then yell to your daughter, "Number six is here!"
5. Come to the door bare-chested. Do a lot of flexing.
4. Draw a chalk outline of a body on the sidewalk and tell him that was the last guy who brought her home late.
3. Have the funeral home director over to measure the young man.
2. Answer the door in a straight-jacket.
1. Ride in the back seat and keep shouting: "Remember; God is with you."
Joseph clearly protected his family from the evil intent of Herod
He returned to his homeland from Egypt only after the death of
Herod and the threat was gone
(Mat 2:21-23 KJV) "And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archeliaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene."
God expects us to be there to protect our family
From outsiders
From each other
From themselves... (choices)
H – Honorable
One of the greatest commands God gives to us is to honor our parents.
What makes that the hardest to obey is when our parents do not act in an honorable way.... their actions are not worthy of honor.
Do you remember some time in your life when you acted in some way, toward your child or in front of your child that was not honorable?
Some way that you regretted and wished you could take it back?
Joseph was not perfect. Surely he was guilty of an occasional thoughtless word of deed.
But every account of Joseph, though they are limited, showed Joseph on his best behavior... doing what was right and honorable.
You know what that means? The writers of the gospel probably never knew Joseph.
It appears from the scripture that Joseph was dead before
Jesus began his ministry... before he called any of the disciples.
That means the writers of the gospels were relying on stories about Joseph which they heard from Jesus.
It means when Jesus's memory of Joseph was so filled with honorable memories, til he did not even remember the less than honorable moments.
What about you. When you kids tell their kids about you... when you are deceased... what will they remember about you?
Erma Bombeck wrote these words about her father... whom she rarely saw and did not really know.
He was just someone who left and came home and seemed glad to see everyone at night. He opened the jar of pickles when no one else could. He was the only one in the house who
wasn't afraid to go to the basement by himself. He cut himself
shaving, but no one kissed it or got excited about it. It was understood when it rained, he got the car and brought it around to the door where we waited. When anyone got sick, he went out to get the prescription filled. He took lots of pictures...but he
was never in them.
Whenever I played house, the mother doll had a lot to do. I
never knew what to do with the daddy doll, so I had him say, "I'm going to work now, and threw him under the bed.
Story #2*
Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family between us and the ticket counter. This family made a big impression on me. There were 8 children, all probably under the age of 12. You could tell they didn't have a lot of money. Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean.
The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by-two behind their parents, holding hands. They were excitedly jabbering about the clowns, elephants, and other acts they would see that night. One could sense they had never been to a circus before. It promised to be a highlight of their young lives. The father and mother were at the head of the pack standing proud as could be.
The mother was holding her husband's hand, looking up at him as if to say, "You're my knight in shining armor." He was smiling and basking in pride, looking at her.
The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted. He proudly said, 'Please, let me buy 8 children's tickets and two adult tickets so I can take my family to the circus.' THE
TICKET LADY QUOTED THE PRICE. The man's wife let go of his hand, her head dropped and the man's lip began to quiver. The father leaned a little closer and asked, 'HOW MUCH DID YOU SAY?' The ticket lady again quoted the price.
The man didn't have enough money. How was he supposed to turn and tell his 8 kids that he didn't have enough money to take them to the circus? Seeing what was going on, my dad put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill and dropped it on the ground. (And we were not wealthy in any sense of the word) My father reached down, picked up the bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, 'EXCUSE ME, SIR, I BELIEVE THIS FELL OUT OF YOUR POCKET.'
The man knew what was going on. He wasn't begging for a handout but certainly appreciated the help in a desperate, heartbreaking, embarrassing situation. He looked straight into my dad's eye, took my dad's hand in both of his, squeezed tightly, and with quivering lips and a tear streaming down his cheek, replied, "THANK YOU, THANK YOU. THIS REALLY MEANS A LOT TO ME AND MY FAMILY."
I don't know about you... but I want my children to remember stories about me like this man did about his Dad... and Jesus did about Joseph.
I believe every father here wants to live like the example of
Joseph who was...
J Just
0 Obedient to God
S Spoke with his actions
E Example
P Protector and
H Honorable
But wanting something does not make it happen. It usually takes a little effort to go with the desire.
You may be sitting here today and thinking, "I really would like to be a better father. I know I should spend more time with my kids and be a better example."
There are some things you need.
Commitment- make a promise... right now, right here to God that you are going to work on it.
Accountability- ask your wife, or kids, to let you know when you are not living up to the commitment.
Helper- Satan will try to defeat you and make you fail. Plus there is the natural selfishness and laziness that is already in you.
You need the Holy Spirit, one who is greater than Satan and your natural self. He can give you the power to keep the commitment you make today.
And you are going to need...
A Process-
Daily Bible study and prayer
Dying to self, seeking after God's heart and will
Growing ever deeper in spiritual life
We're going to offer an invitation now. This invitation is multipurpose
You may come to accept the love of your heavenly Father., accept his salvation and commit your life to Him
You may come to join this church
You may come to bow down and thank God for your Dad
You may come to confess your failure as a Dad or ask God to help you as a Dad
Whatever God has placed on your heart... If you want to make a decision... now is the time as we sing our hymn of invitation.
Sources: "A Checklist for Dads" by Robert Leroe, CHOOSY FATHERS, CHOOSE JESUS by KELVIN PARKS, Father's Who Lead by Brian Bill, Joseph: On Being a Real Father by Glenn Abel, and *Steve Shepherd
