Introduction:
*Dave Berry—an American Humorist—tells us his favorite Christmas memories as a child was the annual Nativity Pageant at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church "Shepherd was my favorite role because you got to carry a stick. . . Many were the happy rehearsal hours we shepherds spent whacking each other with sticks. . ."
*But nobody wanted to be Joseph, because "Joseph had to hang around with Mary whom a girl played. You had to wait backstage with this girl and walk in with this girl. You felt like a total goof, which was not helped by the fact that the shepherds and three kings were constantly suggesting that you really liked this girl. So, during the pageant, Joseph tended to maintain the maximum allowable distance from Mary, as though she was carrying some kind of deadly bacteria." (1)
*Being Joseph wasn't easy, even in the Christmas play, and it indeed wasn't easy in the real world either. Someone once suggested in a sermon that "Joseph and Mary had been planning a wedding when God told them to prepare a nursery.
A contemporary Christian song you hear a lot this time of year asks,
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.
It is an exciting song playing out a drama, which I think she did not know as scriptures express her ongoing posture of pondering.
What I want to know is, Joseph, did you know?
Why does Mary get so much attention? Well deserved attention, but Joseph has little.
Where are the songs about the stepdad that helped out too?
Whom would Jesus have been without a dad?
Did Joseph know what he was getting into?
Did Joseph change diapers? Probably not, as they did not use diapers then.
Did Joseph freak out when a wet child cried out in the middle of the night?
Did Joseph help out? Or did he say, "Mary, this is your baby. You and God can take care of him?"
People in town knew Jesus was Joseph's son.
Indeed, there is a miracle that Mary could bring a divinely conceived baby into this world. However, I contend there was an equal miracle that Joseph stuck around and supported this new family.
**Verse 18 tells us that 'Mary was betrothed to Joseph.' That meant a whole lot more than being engaged today. Hebrew marriages had two stages. In the first stage, called 'betrothal,' the couple legally married, even though they did not live together as man and wife.
*This period of being separate but legally married could last as long as a year. It was far more binding than modern engagements. Only divorce could break it apart. And if they had been unfaithful to each other, it would have been counted as adultery punishable by death under Old Testament law. However, the OT gave instructions on how to deal with this situation in Deuteronomy. In such a case, the woman is given the benefit of the doubt—doubtlessly, she cried out but none heard.—while the man who violated her faced the full punishment of the law. (Rick Crandall--https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/joseph-shows-us-god-39-s-way-to-cope-with-a-crisis-rick-crandall-sermon-on-christmas-249522)
*Joseph and Mary had been joyfully making plans for a wedding. But then Mary gave him the shocking news that she was pregnant. Talk about a crisis for Joseph! With those unbelievable words from Mary, Joseph's world began to fall apart, so "the first time we see Joseph in the New Testament, he is planning a divorce." (3) (Rick Crandall--https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/joseph-shows-us-god-39-s-way-to-cope-with-a-crisis-rick-crandall-sermon-on-christmas-2495220
*This is a Crisis at Christmas!
As a young man, I worked as a Funeral Director. A profession that gave me a great deal of satisfaction but may have contributed to my slightly twisted sense of humor. Funeral homes do not close down for Christmas. That may be the busiest day of the year! So for ten years, I comforted grieving people, cared for the dead, and missed out on Christmas with the family. All because death doesn't take a holiday at Christmas.
The hospitals don't empty at Christmas. (Covid-19 pandemic...people in the hospital all alone...families that may not see them in the last hours of life...this is a massive crisis we are facing.)
Marriage problems don't magically go away for Christmas!
Rebellious children don't always come to their senses at Christmas.
Dreams still get shattered at Christmas.
People still get hurt.
*There will be crises at Christmas and every other day of the year. But Joseph shows us how to cope with any concern that comes our way.
Scene One: On The Horns of a Dilemma
When we face a life crisis, there are many ways we try to handle it.
We may turn to family or a trusted advisor for help.
Some people will turn to the occult. (Stories from Africa).
Christians will sometimes seek out a prophet...or MOG.
What did Joseph do? Most likely, his dilemma is informed by his worldview and culture.
Worldview and Culture:
A colleague of mine has mentioned that culture is the great disciple-er. Even more than Jesus Christ! But, what is Culture/Worldview?
• When we first step off the airplane into Africa, there were some very different kinds of behaviors than we were used to seeing. (Ex. People were carrying things on their heads, the left-hand taboo, how space is used. The wife followed several steps behind the husband..etc.). People coming to North America from Africa also experience this, don’t they?
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• Behavior is the external layer of your worldview. How you behave...act...deal with the world...is all determined by your values. Our culture often informs us of our values. This is the problem we are facing in our country today. Those of us born in the 1940s and grew up in the ’50s and 60’s, were raised in a culture that gave us very different values. We were raised by parents born in the early years of the 20th Century and lived through the Great Depression. Their Parents were raised by parents who had lived through the American Civil War.
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• But, Values don’t just spring into life from nowhere. They come from what we think is true or false. Some of the values we had were: Hard work is honorable. Hardship is inevitable...so, don’t complain...education is important...and, working with your hands is a good thing to do as well. Don’t waste anything...fix it if it is broken...
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• Our understanding of what is true or false, ultimately come from our view of reality. What we think is real. This “REAL” is at the very heart of our being...and must be transformed by the Lord Jesus Christ!
How deep does it go? (Example of profs at the University of Ghana). I know we want to think that God is at the center—the very core—of our reality. However, if you take a deeper—brutally honest—look at the heart of your reality, you may find that there are some other things closer to the center than God is.
Example of teaching about ATR to African pastors at a college in Kampala. First, denial then flickers of recognition and understanding how much of their reality was shaped by traditions they didn’t want to acknowledge.
Joseph depends on his worldview….his culture...maybe his family or a trusted advisor to suggest answers to his dilemma. But it’s complicated. And, that’s just the point! There can be a tension between our view of reality and something else like the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.
• Joseph has concern/care for Mary.--he doesn’t want to shame her publicly.
• He also is not very hot about raising someone else’s kid that might inherit from him rather than his very own son.
• A divorce is an option because he could do it privately.
• He is unsettled about handling all of this when he tries to go to sleep that night.
Scene 2: The Intervention
I don’t know why it is, but our popular culture loves conflict. In fact, most of our afternoon television is filled with conflict and intervention….from Judge Judy...to Dr. Phil...to Maury Povich. Something is compelling about seeing a self-righteous individual get their comeupance. It is something evil...but compelling, and hard to resist.
Don’t worry. Before this night is up, the angel of the Lord will inform Joseph...in the case of the unborn child in Mary’s womb, you are NOT the father!
An intervention creates the possibility of a different pathway... another direction.
• Cain was confronted by God about the death of Abel—and, he went from farmer to city builder.
• Baalam was confronted by his donkey (and, an Angel) and it turned a curse of Israel into a blessing of Israel.
• Belshazzar was confronted by the handwriting on the wall...and, it ended his life.
• David was confronted by the prophet Nathaniel and it leads him to deep, sorrowful repentance for his sin of adultery.
• Nicodemus was confronted by Jesus and it led him to an understanding of the New Birth.
• Saul of Tarsus was confronted by the risen and living Jesus on the road to Damascus...and it changed the world!
An intervention creates a different meaning and purpose.
• The Book of Hebrews takes the meanings and rituals of Hebrew tabernacle and temple worship and shows us how they are precursors to Jesus Christ and his ministry.
• The apostle Paul takes common greek words like charis (grace) and agape (love), and infuses them with entirely new meanings.
Remember, Matthew is addressing his Gospel account to primarily Jewish people and not gentiles. So he uses some subtle hints that Jewish readers would recognize right away...hints that Jesus is the beginning of a New Covenant.
• Mathew’s dreaming Joseph reminds us of Joseph the Dreamer in Genesis who was taken away to Egypt.
• In Matthew Joseph is the son of Jacob...just like Joseph in Genesis is the son of Jacob.
• Matthew reports to us about Herod the Great ordering the boy children in Bethlehem killed...reminding us of the Pharaoh of Egypt ordered the murder of Hebrew babies.
• In Matthew Joseph takes his family to Egypt to save the child Jesus. In Genesis Joseph calls his family to come to Egypt to survive a famine.
• In Matthew Jesus returns from Egypt to live in Nazareth...just as Moses leads the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt to the edge of a land promised to Abraham and his descendants.
This now frames the meaning of Joseph’s dream and intervention by the angel. Something huge is about to happen! Something earth-shattering. Joseph is going to be a part of this event...and, the Angel is sent by God to help Joseph understand the part he will play.
May I ask you this morning what part are you playing in these final, closing moments of time when God is about to wrap up His eternal plan of redemption?
You were not born into this world just to take up space!
You were not born into this world to simply do your own thing!
You were not born into this world to have a meaningless, purposeless life!
The narcissism and nihilism of our popular culture is a LIE! A huge LIE!
You are not simply a collection of atoms...molecules...sub-atomic particles and energy. You are much more than that!
You were born with a God-given purpose...and a God-given destiny...for your life! Like Joseph, you were created to have a part in God’s redemption of our world.
If I understand the scriptures correctly, someday soon there will be a huge wedding feast...one in which God the Son takes the church—the redeemed people of all time—as His bride.
Do you realize what this means? We will one day be wedded into a very important family! You can’t have a higher purpose than to be married into the family of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!
You may be thinking along the lines of, “What are you talking about? I don’t see any purpose or reason in life. I feel empty inside. Reconciled to God? Peace with God? I feel SEPARATED from God...I’m AFRAID of God … and what He thinks of my life.
Even as you are thinking all of that, there is an urge inside of you to believe...a small voice telling you this is all true...a hunger to have this truth. That is the Holy Spirit of God! He is intervening in your life. His intervention can change your destiny from Hell to Heaven! His intervention can give you brand-new purpose and meaning in life! His intervention is drawing you to a brand new relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. A life with sins forgiven. With you set free from sin and death. With your soul restored to health.
This reminds me of an old gospel song the church sang when I was a small boy:
I came to Jesus,
weary, worn, and sad.
He took my sins away,
He took my sins away.
And now His love
has made my heart so glad,
He took my sins away.
The load of sin was
more than I could bear.
He took my sins away,
He took my sins away.
And now on Him
I roll my ev’ry care,
He took my sins away.
The Cameo Appearance of Matthew
Most of us here know this story very well. But, if we had no knowledge of this story...if these first words of Matthew were all we knew...we would be thinking...SO WHAT? Why is all of this important? Where is this story going?
So, Matthew steps in at this point to help us understand what is so important here:
1. This is all a part of a much BIGGER story! A story that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden and the pre-Gospel. God speaks a curse over the snake...and, a promise to the woman:
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise (shatter, crush) your head,
and you shall bruise (strike at, bruise, injure) his heel.” 1
For millennia since Eve received this promise, the world has waited for the “offspring” of the woman that would crush the head of the serpent. Each succeeding generation of women would hope their firstborn son would be “The One”...and, now it is happening!
2. Matthew informs us that the circumstances of the miraculous birth of Jesus are a fulfillment of a prophecy by the the prophet Isaiah:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel” 2
GOD WITH US!
Scene Three: Moving Forward
Now we move forward from the Fateful Night into the New Day…
A RESOLUTION of all the tension of bad news, sleepless night...and, angelic intervention. Joseph awakens with a NEW resolution...a new direction...a new purpose. He is resolved to follow what Angel has explained to him…
And, he RESPONDS with obedience
And, finally, Joseph will receive a reward for his obedience.
And, what about you? Will you respond to the Holy Spirit’s presence with new RESOLUTION? Will you RESPOND with obedience? There is a race to be run...a victory to be won...a reward to be received.
The reward is yours in heaven...Eternal Life.
