The Cast of Christmas: Joseph

The Cast of Christmas: Joseph
 I. Introduction - Matthew 1:18-25; 2:13-15a; 19-23a
 A. There are so many precious things in the Christmas story. And many more precious things we'll have to wait till heaven to learn about.
B. Last week: John, Today: Joseph. Then Simeon and Herod. And then on Christmas Eve, Jesus.
C. Male members of the cast (having covered the female members of the cast 5 years ago).
II. Joseph willingly played third fiddle.
A. In the story, Joseph had to play second fiddle to his wife.
1. He’s not included when Gabriel tells Mary she will conceive the Son of God.
2. Simeon addresses Mary and not Joseph in the temple.
3. He’s not mentioned in the magi visit.
4. In fact, Joseph is remarkable in what he doesn’t do. He gets sort of left out.
5. Mary’s the one who gets all the attention. And she’s the one who does all the speaking.
B. In fact, Joseph is noticeable for his silence. Joseph never speaks.
1. Mary speaks a lot. She speaks to Gabriel. She utters her magnificent Magnificat.
2. He doesn’t even speak in the story of when Jesus at 12 was lost in Jerusalem. It is Mary who rebukes Jesus, not Joseph.
3. He is a silent supporter, a man of deeds not of words.
4. In fact, he’s never even spoken to in the story except by angels in dreams.
5. He thinks and he acts. But he never speaks. (Not that he couldn’t or didn’t. But not recorded in the story.)
C. And even in Matthew and Luke, Joseph appears little in the story.
1. In our readings this morning we have almost exhausted what is said about Joseph.
2. at the temple at the 40th day in Luke
3. in Jerusalem for the Passover when Jesus was 12 in Luke
4. He was dead by the crucifixion, and probably by the time Jesus began his public ministry.
a. Simeon's words to Mary
b. Jesus giving Mary to John
D. And think about having the God of the universe as your son!
1. He was the main One.
2. Jesus pulled rank. We don’t know how much He did it, but we know He did.
a. He did it at age 12 in Jerusalem.
b. He did it at the wedding in Cana when Mary asked Him to help with the refreshments.
E. Joseph was put in a strange position, wasn’t he?
1. Family structure turned on its head. First comes the child, then the mom, then finally the dad.
F. To be the godly head of a home, a man needs to be able to lead, to make hard decisions, even to put his foot down when necessary. But I would suggest the most important ability needed to be the head of a home is to be able to submit, to be able to say 'yes sir.'
1. For although a man is the head of his home, before he is the head, he must be under THE Head, for there is a Head of the head.
2. Sometimes God will speak to him through his wife, and he needs to be able to say “Yes, Lord” when God speaks to him through his wife.
3. Sometimes God will speak to him through his child, and he needs to be able to say “Yes, Lord” when God speaks to him through his child.
4. Joseph let go of his own agenda in order to let God accomplish His.
5. A father's job as head of his home is not to impose his own will, but to seek God's will.
6. If he can’t, then it’s not godliness by which he rules his household, but pride.
G. Every wise and righteous father will at times be forced by wisdom and by a commitment to do God's will, to do what his wife thinks should be done, or what his kid thinks should be done.
1. This is hard for some, because we are proud, and we want to be the big boss.
2. Joseph had to be a humble man, he had to be willing to bend his will to God's. He had to be willing to let God be the head of his home.
H. There are a lot of important qualities to be a good father.
1. Patience, good humor, wisdom, compassion, consistency.
2. But, in my opinion, the most important characteristic of all is humility.
I. Some fathers who talk big about being dads are really just caught up in the prospect of being the messiah of their families. But the godly father knows he’s not the messiah. He knows his job is to humbly point his family to the true Messiah.
J. And one more point on Joseph's silence. Though Joseph is silent, and though the Scripture is relatively silent about Joseph, God is not silent to Joseph.
1. When Joseph needed a word from God, God was not silent. He gave him the information he needed.
2. When Joseph found out that Mary, to whom he was pledged to be married, was pregnant, he didn't know that it was by the Holy Spirit. He needed this information from God. And God gave it. He let him be torn for a time in the silence, but then He spoke.
3. When Herod was sending his soldiers to Bethlehem to kill Jesus, Joseph needed this information. And again God gave it.
4. When Herod died, Joseph needed to know so that he could move his family back from Egypt.
5. God will always give His people the information they need. If there is something that you don't know, maybe you don't need to know it!
6. And more important than having a mouth to speak for God is having an ear to listen to God.
III. Another aspect of Joseph's humility is his poverty.
A. Joseph was a strong man.
1. Physically: a carpenter? Rather, a builder. Very strong
a. Ruins remaining today.
B. But Joseph was a poor man
1. The law said in Leviticus 12:6 And when the days of her purification are completed, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting, a one year old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering... 8 But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons...
2. Luke 2:22, 24 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord... 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
C. Joseph was not ashamed to be poor.
1. That society made people ashamed to be childless.
2. Our society makes people ashamed to be poor. But Joseph was not ashamed to be poor.
D. And having eight kids didn’t make him any richer.
E. He had to be poor. “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2Cor.8:9)
F. Our society is big on outward appearances. But God isn’t.
G. God didn't look at Joseph and say, "O that fellow is poor. Look at how shabby his clothes are. Look at how little he has. He’s probably lazy. I'm not going to choose him."
1. God doesn't care about those things.
2. He looked deep into the heart and found in Joseph just he man He wanted for the task.
H. Like many of us, Joseph’s richness was not in the bank, but sitting at his dinner table or playing in the backyard.
1. And unseen to the human eye, Joseph was a rich man, rich that is in the things of the Lord, and that is all that really matters.
2. Sometimes the richest people are the poorest ones around.
IV. Joseph's humility can also be seen in his grace toward Mary.
A. Matthew 1:19 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. (NIV)
1. Joseph must have been shaken to the core when he found out Mary was pregnant. That would be hard for any man, but even more so for Joseph. For Joseph must have known what a virtuous and holy woman Mary was.
2. Was it unrighteous not to believe Mary, assuming she told him about Gabriel?
a. I don't think so. Joseph is said to be righteous in his thinking here. Based on the information he had, he was doing the righteous thing.
b. For something this strange I do not think that Mary's testimony, if he even had that, was enough to reasonably expect Joseph to go along with it.
c. He readily believed the message when the angel spoke to him in a dream.
3. Was it unloving to refuse to marry an apparently impure person?
a. Certainly not. Joseph is said to have been righteous in his decision.
4. But the main principle here is the manner in which Joseph considered divorcing Mary.
a. Joseph refused to publicly disgrace Mary, even though it appeared she had been unfaithful.
b. And here we can see that what lies at the heart of this man's silence is not timidity but grace.
5. We see here that Joseph as a righteous man was not unwilling to face the sin of another, but that he did so in the most loving and respectful way possible.
a. A righteous man respects even those who have fallen into sin.
b. Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
V. Joseph's obedience
A. Joseph wasn't apparently big with words, but he was big with actions.
B. When it was time for him to fulfill his part, he took the ball and ran with it.
1. He took Mary to be his wife, without hesitation, apparently without any delay, though it probably meant some scandal in the eyes of others.
2. He kept his wife a virgin until after the baby was born.
3. He took his family to Egypt in the middle of the night when he had been instructed in the dream.
4. He brought his family back from Egypt upon instructions given in another dream after Herod had died.
5. He did not return though to Bethlehem but to Nazareth in response to yet another dream.
C. He readily did everything God told him to do.
D. Obstacles didn't matter. They weren't going to stop Joseph from obeying God.
1. the shame of a pregnant Mary
2. foregoing marital pleasures for the first few months of marriage
3. departing for Egypt in the middle of the night
4. the hardships and unfamiliarity of Egypt
5. relocating over and over again
E. The responsibility of being father to the son of God!!! To paraphrase Michael Card: “All my life I’ve been a simple carpenter, how can I raise a King?”
VI. Conclusion
A. I would suggest that one of the greatest things Joseph did was to not get in the way. His pride didn’t get in the way. His opinion didn’t get in the way. His headship didn’t get in the way.
1. Just as Mary said, “May it be done to me as you have said” so did Joseph, though not with words but with actions.
2. He’s not a distraction in the story. He’s there to let all the attention be on Jesus.