What was Joseph Thinking?
It may sound a little bit morbid to begin a message like this, but I have always told my wife, when I die, if she believes it can be said with integrity, I want my epitaph to include Genesis 6:22.
Genesis 6:22 (NIV)
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
My prayer is that when I breathe my last breath, that the same thing can be said of me, ¡§he did everything the Lord commanded.¡¨ Wouldn¡¦t it be great for that to be the summary statement of your life? He/She did everything just as God commanded.
Obedience should be the goal of every committed Christian. That would be the greatest measure of success I think, to know that you lived and died doing exactly what God wanted you to do. It¡¦s a choice that all of us can make. We choose to obey or we choose to disobey Him. Nobody else makes that choice for you. You get to decide.
There¡¦s another great passage of scripture in John 2:5. It takes place at the scene of Jesus¡¦ first miracle, the wedding in village of Cana in Galilee.
You know the story. Mary, the mother of Jesus, saw a need and she looked to the servants and made a very powerful statement in regard to their response to Jesus.
John 2:5 (NIV)
5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
What would be different in your life if you decided that right now, from this day forward, you would do whatever God tells you to do? No more arguing, no more debates. No more rationalizing and no more excuses. When God speaks I will listen and I will obey. What would happen if you made that kind of commitment?
I¡¦ll tell you what would happen. You would enter into a stage of your Christian life that you will never experience as long as you live in the land of disobedience.
Obedience just makes sense. We¡¦re talking about obeying God here! He can be trusted. He knows what is best. I think it would be safe to say that the wise among us will learn to walk in daily obedience to God, His Word and His will for our lives. In fact, that¡¦s exactly what the Bible tells us in Matthew 7:24.
Matthew 7:24 (NIV)
24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
It is wise to obey.
But what does all of this have to do with Christmas? I am glad you asked.
Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)
18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and 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.
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."
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 had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Joseph did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him. The angel was a messenger from God so it would be fair to say that Joseph obeyed God.
Now, I want you to think about this for a moment.
Did obedience make sense for Joseph? Absolutely not!
1) Obedience was not his natural inclination under the circumstances.
2) Obedience didn¡¦t make a bit of sense. As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us that
3) Joseph already had a plan was and his plan looked nothing like what the angel told him to do.
That is often the way it is when we choose to live by faith. Obedience doesn¡¦t always add up. It makes me wonder, what was Joseph thinking in the midst of all of this?
You know, I have lots of questions for so many of the characters in the Bible when it comes to the matter of obedience.
We read about Noah a few moments ago. He did everything, just as God commanded. Noah could have been the poster child for obedience. But I wonder if Noah ever felt foolish out there building a boat out in his back yard. Were there days when he thought about quitting? For Noah, building this boat was a huge step of obedience because there was no water around where he lived and it had never rained.
What would you have done if you were in his shoes? Would you have obeyed unconditionally or would you have wanted more facts? Would you have felt that God owed you a more detailed explanation?
I think it is important to point out that though we refer to Bible stories and we talk about Bible characters, you need to remember, Noah was a real person. He had a wife and kids. He actually built an ark and the Lord sent rain and flooded the earth and only eight people survived. That¡¦s not fiction. That¡¦s truth. It is reality. It¡¦s fact.
Noah did everything just as God commanded him...an amazing story of obedience.
I¡¦d really like to walk up to a guy like Moses and ask if there were days that he wished he hadn¡¦t gone over to the bush. Perhaps there were days before Pharaoh¡¦s court where he questioned what he was doing. Or maybe it was when he was dealing with all of the whiners in the wilderness that he would have had moments where he had some doubts. We know he questioned his own ability. He wondered if God had dialed the wrong number. But Moses obeyed God and that¡¦s the key ingredient of a miracle.
There are all of these incredible examples of obedience in the word of God. And we see these amazing achievements and we think of the magnitude of faith that was demonstrated. But I can¡¦t help but wonder about how much loneliness they must have experienced as a part of their obedience.
We see the end result. We often see only the victory, but what about the struggle? That¡¦s where I live some of the time. What about the doubts? What about the questions? Can a spiritual person ask some honest questions and still be used by God? Are we OK with the fact that it may not look like we think it should look?
I just have all kinds of questions about the Bible. To be honest, some of my questions have to do with the birth of Jesus. I am just an inquisitive guy I guess. I¡¦d like to sit down with Joseph and ask him a few questions about what went down in Bethlehem.
I mean he is such a prominent figure as the nativity story unfolds and then it¡¦s like he just vanished. Other than when Jesus was left behind at the temple in Jerusalem at age 12, there¡¦s little more that we know about Joseph. The rest of his life is left to speculation, and we are left with lots of questions. Most commentators think he might have died sometime during Jesus¡¦ teen years. We don¡¦t know for sure.
But I would love to talk to Joseph. I guess I¡¦d like to know more about what was going on in his head. I¡¦d like to ask Joseph what he was thinking that night at the stable.
Can you imagine that scene in your mind? Place yourself in that setting. Imagine the sights, the sounds and the smell. It was probably quite dark inside. The only light might have been a candle or small lantern. The place smells like a barn, because that¡¦s what it is. You can smell the straw and you can hear the animals that surround you.
Try to picture Joseph in the midst of that scene. Moonlit pastures. See the stars twinkling in the sky and the little town of Bethlehem sparkles off in the distance.
I picture Joseph pacing outside the stable. Isn¡¦t that what expectant father¡¦s do? We¡¦re good at that. I wonder what he was thinking the night Jesus was born. What was on his mind while Mary was giving birth? I suspect Joseph is pacing outside the stable, listening and waiting¡Kwaiting and listening.
I am sure he’d done all he could do. Perhaps he heated some water. I am sure he must have prepared a place for Mary to lie. He’d made her as comfortable as she could be in a barn and then he might have stepped out for a breath of fresh air. If Mary was like my wife, she might have asked him to step out. Joseph, why don¡¦t you take a hike¡KI mean a walk! ƒº Maybe Mary needed to be alone for a little while. I¡¦m sure Joseph had done everything he could do.
So what was he thinking that night as he looked into the stars? Did he pray? I think he did. Wouldn¡¦t you?
I can almost hear Joseph telling God, ¡§This isn’t what I had in mind! Mary is having a baby in a stable. This isn’t the way I planned it. This isn’t the way it should be.¡¨
And when you stop and think about it, nobody would have chosen this! I¡¦m sure Joseph had other plans. I¡¦m sure he imagined being surrounded by family and friends upon the arrival of this child, not cattle and sheep.
Most of us would look forward to having grandparents and close friends surrounding us at a time like this. Family and friends should be there anticipating that moment when the entire house will be filled with the joyful news of the awaited baby¡¦s safe arrival. A time of celebration! That’s how you might expect things to look on a night like this. But that¡¦s not how it looked at all.
In fact, nothing was what Joseph might have legitimately expected. Think about it. Nazareth was a five day journey from where he was. And instead of jubilant family and friends there are barnyard animals.
If I had been Joseph, I think I might have complained to God. ¡§Lord, this just doesn’t seem right. What kind of husband am I? It¡¦s not fair to my wife or the baby. I have no midwife to help Mary. No bed to rest her back. Her pillow is a blanket from my stinking donkey. The only shelter I can provide for her is a shed filled with hay and straw. The smell is bad, the animals are loud and I¡¦m starting to smell like a shepherd myself.
These are legitimate questions under the circumstances don¡¦t you think?
When God sent the angel who spoke of a son being born - this isn’t what anyone had in mind. The coming of the Messiah would surely conjure up images of Jerusalem, the temple, the priests, and the people gathered to celebrate.
It wouldn¡¦t have been out of the question to expect a pageant of some sort. I don¡¦t think a parade would have been too much to expect. Some kind of banquet would certainly be nice and in order. I mean, this is the Messiah!
It would have been nice to have the baby to born in Jerusalem. Actually Nazareth would have been better. At least there Joseph has his house and his business.
Out there in a stable in Bethlehem, what did he have? A weary mule, a stack of firewood, and maybe a pot of warm water. This is probably not what he had in mind for the birth of his son.
Here¡¦s the point. It wasn¡¦t his son. It was God¡¦s Son. It wasn¡¦t his plan. It was God¡¦s plan. And it wasn¡¦t Joseph¡¦s idea, it was God¡¦s idea.
But you can¡¦t help but wonder, is this really how God enters the world?
Joseph had done so well up to this point. He had accepted the coming of the angel. He graciously handled the questions people were asking about the pregnancy. He was so gracious and kind. He demonstrated such integrity. He even seemed to do alright with the trip to Bethlehem. But why a birth in a stable? It didn¡¦t make any sense.
Can you picture Joseph just outside the stable, staring into the night sky? Any minute now Mary is about to give birth. Not to a child, but to the Messiah. Not to an infant, but to God. That’s what the angel said. That’s what Mary believed. And that’s what Joseph was trying to believe as well. But you can see why it might not have been all that easy. It seemed so bizarre.
Joseph wasn¡¦t accustomed to anything like this. Who is? He was a carpenter. I¡¦m sure he likes to make things fit. He uses a plumb line. His motto is measure twice, cut once. He likes to see the plan before he begins. And then he likes to follow the plan.
But somewhere out there, under the starlit sky, I think it finally occurred to Joseph, he wasn¡¦t the builder this time. He was simply a tool. I wonder if a light came on for Joseph as he confessed to God, ¡§Father, I get it. This project is yours, not mine. And that¡¦s OK with me¡¨
In the same situation I am sure all of us would have lots of questions. I¡¦m sure we would struggle. We would have had some doubts. God never said obedience was easy. I¡¦m not sure it ever is.
Have you ever stood where Joseph stood that night?
Caught between what God says and what makes sense.
You’ve done what He told you to do only to wonder if it was really God speaking in the first place. You’ve stared into a sky blackened with doubt. And you’ve asked what Joseph asked. You’ve secretly wondered if you were still on the right road. Perhaps things haven’t turned out quite like you had hope they would.
Each of us knows what it’s like to search the night for a light. Maybe it wasn¡¦t outside a stable. For you it might have been outside an emergency room, or in an empty house or office, or on the manicured lawn of a cemetery.
We’ve all asked our questions. We¡¦ve questioned God’s plan. And we have wondered why God does what He does. The Bethlehem sky is not the first to hear the pleading of a confused believer.
If you are asking any of the questions Joseph might have asked that night, let me urge you to do what Joseph did. Obey!
That’s what Joseph did. He obeyed. He obeyed when the angel called. He obeyed when Mary explained. He obeyed when God sent. He was obedient to God.
- He was obedient when the sky was bright.
- He was obedient when the sky was dark.
- He didn’t let his confusion disrupt his obedience.
- He didn’t know everything. But he did what he knew.
He shut down his business, packed up his family, and went to another country. Why? Because that’s what God had told him to do. It didn¡¦t make sense. He couldn¡¦t explain it or reason it out. But he chose to obey in spite of all of these things.
How about You? What is your response this morning?
Just like Joseph, you have a choice: to obey or disobey.
God is still looking for Josephs today. Common people who serve an uncommon God.
Will you be that kind of person? Are you willing to serve, to follow, to obey, even when you don’t understand?
No, the Bethlehem sky is not the first to hear the pleadings of an honest heart, nor the last. And perhaps God didn’t answer every question for Joseph. But he answered the most important one. "Are you still with me, God?" And through the first cries of the God-child the answer came. "Yes, Joseph, I am with you."
There are lots of questions about the Bible that we won’t be able to answer until we get to heaven. Many times we will wonder. But in our wonderings, there are some questions we never need to ask. Does God care? Do we matter to God? Does he still love his children?
The undeniable answer to each of these questions is absolutely YES!
We are entering into a celebration that God has entered our world in the form of a baby by the Name of Jesus. God called Him Immanuel, God with us.
