A Man Named Joseph. Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Juliana Eaton
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1 1 Rev. William J. Shields St. Mark Lutheran Church, Lindenhurst, Illinois The Fourth Sunday in Advent December 18, 2016 Gospel Reading Matthew 1:18-25 A Man Named Joseph 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The birth of a child can sometimes be a very confusing event, especially if it s your firstborn and you ve never gone through the experience before. At least that s the way it was for my Uncle Ole and Aunt Lena. When Lena gave birth to their first child, Ole really didn t know what was going on. It was back in the days when fathers didn t go into the delivery room. So Ole just sat out in the waiting room for hours, without hearing any news. Finally, the doctor came into the waiting room and said, Ole? Is there an Ole here? Ole said, Dat s me, Doc! The doctor came over and took him aside and said, Ole, I have some good news for you and some bad news. Ole said, What s da good news? The doctor said, Well, the good news is that you have a healthy baby boy. Ole said, Woo hoo! Dat s yust what I was hopin for! But you said dat dere was some bad news too. What s da bad news? The doctor said, Well, the bad news is that your wife Lena had a rough time, so we had to do a Caesarean birth. When Ole heard that, he suddenly got a very concerned look on his face. The doctor said, Don t worry Ole. Lena is going to be just fine. Ole said, Oh, I m sure dat s true, Doc. But I m yust a little bit worried about da udder ting dat you mentioned you know, dat ting

2 2 about da baby bein born Caesarean. The doctor said, Yes, what about it? And Ole said, Well, Lena and I was kind of hopin dat he would be a Norwegian. Poor old Ole. He was pretty confused. But he was probably not half as confused as the man who is the main character in our Gospel Lesson for today A Man Named Joseph. Joseph was a man chosen by God to play a vital role in the most important story in the history of the world: the salvation story. But before Joseph could understand what was going on, he would have to go through a brief time of pain and confusion. And the way that he handled that situation gives us some great insight into why God chose Joseph for this important role. In this short story from the first chapter of Matthew, we are going to see that Joseph was able to be an instrument of God for two reasons: first, because he had a compassionate heart and second, because he had an obedient heart. But before I talk about those two characteristics of Joseph, I want to first spend a couple of minutes trying to answer this question: I. Who Was Joseph? Very little is said about Joseph in the Bible. He s mentioned, of course, in the stories about the birth of Jesus in the early chapters of Matthew and Luke. He appears again in a later story in the book of Luke, when Jesus is twelve years old. After that, his name is only briefly mentioned in the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John. Mark never mentions his name at all. By the time Jesus is baptized at the age of thirty, Joseph is no longer around. It seems that he was dead by then and that Mary was a widow. We do know that Joseph was a carpenter. During the ministry of Jesus, some people were skeptical of his authority to teach. They said, Isn t this just Jesus, the son of Joseph the carpenter? One person calls Jesus the carpenter, which means that Joseph must have passed on his skills to Jesus. Some people wonder why Joseph was living in the city of Nazareth, which is in the northern region of Galilee. We know that he was born in Bethlehem, which is in Judea, in the south. We know that because, when the Roman census was taken, so that taxes could be collected, every man had to travel back to the place of his birth to be enrolled. And Joseph went back to Bethlehem. So, how did he end up in Nazareth? The answer probably had to do with his profession. During that time, the Romans were building a large new city in Galilee. It was a Greco-Roman style city called Sepphoris. And it was just three miles west of the small Jewish town of Nazareth. So with all of that building going on, Sepphoris was a great place for a young carpenter to find work. And if he was a Jewish carpenter, then Nazareth would be the natural place for him to live. Either Joseph had come there by himself as a young man or maybe his father, who was probably also a carpenter, had moved the family there when Joseph was a boy. Whatever the reason, Joseph was in Nazareth. And there, one day, he met a young girl named Mary. Maybe he saw her for the first time when she was a teenager, carrying water from the city well back to her family home. Maybe they had grown up together. But, at some point, Joseph must have spoken to his father about her. He must have said, That s the girl I want to marry.

3 3 In Galilee, at that time, the next step would have been for Joseph and his father to go to the house Mary, to speak to her father. The two fathers would talk business, discussing a bride price and a dowry. Once the deal had been struck, then it would be time for a wonderful little Galilean custom. Mary would be seated in a room with her father. Joseph and his father would enter and Joseph would be holding a cup of wine. He would stand before Mary and take a drink of wine from the cup. Then he would offer it to her. If Mary simply handed the cup back to Joseph without drinking from it, that would be her way of saying that she did not want to marry this man. Her father could still force her into the marriage. But in most cases, Jewish fathers did not do that. Most Jewish fathers, if they loved their daughters, would have canceled the marriage agreement right there. But Mary did not simply hand the cup back to Joseph. Instead, she drank from the cup and then handed it to him. This signified that she agreed to the match. And from that point on, they were officially engaged. The engagement would last anywhere from 6 months to one year. And during that time, the groom would get to work. He would begin building an addition onto his father s house, where he and his bride would live. So that s who Joseph was. He was a young carpenter, born in Judea, now living in Galilee, engaged to be married, and putting the finishing touches on the home that he was building for his beloved. But then, suddenly, his whole world changed. I once heard a speaker say that a person s inner character can be compared to man at a party who is holding a tall, dark glass, half-filled with liquid. When the man is standing still and the glass is calm, you can t tell what s inside. But if someone bumps into the man and shakes his glass, whatever he has inside will come spilling out. And the same thing can be said about his character. You can t always see what is inside of a man when his world is calm. But if his world is shaken, that s when you ll see his true character. Well, Joseph s calm world got a big bump. It probably started out as rumors. Have you heard about Mary? Yes, she s looking awfully plump, isn t she? At some point, Joseph must have gotten the word. He must have found out that Mary was pregnant. The people of the town would have assumed that Mary and Joseph were impatient lovers that they just couldn t wait for the wedding. People would have frowned on their actions and maybe laughed at their lack of control. But it would not have been a terribly serious matter because, after all, they were engaged. They would just have to move the wedding date up and suffer the embarrassment. But Joseph knew something that the townspeople did not. He knew that he was not the father of that baby. And it must have broken his heart. How could Mary do this to him? He thought he knew her. But this this he couldn t understand. He probably went to talk to Mary, to find out why she had done this and with whom. But Mary gave him some crazy story about a visit from an angel an angel who told her that she was going to be impregnated by the Holy Spirit. What kind of drivel was that? Joseph must have wondered why Mary had to compound his pain by telling him such a ridiculous lie. Joseph s world was shaken and, as he thought about what he would do, his inner character spilled out. And now we can see one of the characteristics that God must have seen when he looked at Joseph. We can see that II. Joseph Had A Compassionate Heart

4 4 In first century Galilee, an engagement was legally binding just like a marriage. To break an engagement, you actually had to get a divorce. Joseph decided that he could not go through with the marriage. He didn t trust Mary anymore. By law, Joseph could have dragged Mary to the leaders of the town and publicly accused her of unfaithfulness. Mary would have been humiliated. She would have been pressured to name the father. And she would have been punished. Her punishment could have been anything from being kicked out of the community to being stoned to death in the town square. Joseph would have had the right to decide how she should be punished. But the story says that, Her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. The law gave Joseph the right to make an example out of Mary, but he wouldn t do it. He wouldn t do it because he still loved her. He was a man with a compassionate heart. Joseph decided that he would find two witnesses, as required by law (preferably two witnesses who could keep their mouths shut), and they would sign the divorce papers. Mary would be free free to marry the father of her child or free to slip out of town to visit a distant relative. God gave Joseph time to make his decision. He allowed Joseph to display his character his compassionate heart. And then he stepped in. That night, an angel of the Lord visited Joseph in a dream and said to him, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Matthew s Gospel tells us that all this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet Isaiah: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke up, he was amazed and exhilarated! Mary had not betrayed him! What she had told him was true! She was with child by the Holy Spirit by God himself! And God had chosen him, Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth, to be the earthly father of the Christ child, the one who would help to raise him, and protect him, and teach him right from wrong. You see, when God is looking for someone to carry out an important task, he doesn t look for the person who has the most impressive outward characteristics. He s not looking for the smartest, or the richest, or the most powerful person in the eyes of the world. God is looking at the heart. I read a story once about a young Christian boy named Mark. Mark was walking home from High School one afternoon, in the fall of his Freshman year, when he noticed another Freshman boy walking ahead of him. The boy s name was Kyle. Kyle s arms were loaded with all of his books and his backpack looked full too. Mark thought to himself, What kind of a kid would take all of his books home on a Friday? Just then, some other boys went running by Kyle. As they did, one of them gave him a push and Kyle went sprawling out on the sidewalk. His glasses fell off and his books went flying everywhere. Mark watched several kids, some of whom were from his church, walk right past Kyle, without helping. But Mark s heart went out to him. Mark hustled up to where Kyle had fallen. Kyle was on his knees now, reaching out for his glasses, and Mark noticed a terrible sadness in his eyes. Mark said, Those guys are really a bunch of jerks! And then he got down on his knees and starting helping Kyle pick up his things.

5 5 And to make a long story short, Mark helped Kyle carry his books home from school that day and the two became fast friends. Kyle was new in town and Mark introduced him to everyone he knew. He hung out with him at school. He invited him to his church youth group. Kyle was shy at first, but he slowly came out of his shell. And over the next four years, he blossomed into a brilliant student with a wonderful sense of humor and a powerful faith in Christ. He had all kinds of friends and the girls really liked him. But he always remembered that Mark was the first person who had been kind to him. Mark was always his best friend. Kyle ended up being the valedictorian of their Senior class. And on graduation day, he stepped up to the podium to give his speech. These were the first words that came out of his mouth. He said, Graduation is a time to say thank you to those who helped you to make it through four tough years: your parents, your teachers, your siblings, your coaches, then he paused and said, and your friends. He said, I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift that you can give to them. Then Kyle said, I want to tell you a story. And he began to tell the story of that day when he first met Mark. He was horribly depressed that day, because he was in a new town and a new school and some kids had been picking on him and calling him a nerd. He felt so low that he had decided to take his own life that weekend. He had cleaned out his locker so that his mom wouldn t have to go to the school and do it. That s why he was carrying so much stuff that day. Then Kyle said, But, thankfully, I was saved because Jesus Christ sent me a friend. Kyle had never talked about this with anyone. Mark had never realized that his small act of kindness had changed Kyle s life so profoundly. God had chosen Mark for the important task of saving Kyle s life, because Mark had a compassionate heart. And God chose Joseph for the important task of raising his Son, because Joseph had a compassionate heart. But that wasn t the only reason that God chose Joseph. He also chose Joseph because III. Joseph Had An Obedient Heart God knew that, when he revealed his plan to Joseph and told him what he must do, Joseph would do it. Matthew writes that, When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. God was asking Joseph to do a difficult thing an embarrassing thing. God was asking Joseph to take Mary as his wife. The townspeople would assume that Joseph was the father of her child. They would disapprove of Joseph. They would look down their noses at this young man who couldn t control himself. But Joseph didn t worry about what the people might think. Joseph had an obedient heart. He didn t hesitate to do what God had told him to do. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. The real test of obedience is not whether we can obey God s Word when he asks us to do something that is easy. The real test is whether we will obey when God asks us to do something difficult. When we are obedient in tough circumstances, that s when our character becomes stronger. That s when we experience spiritual growth. Pastor Breum often talks about one of his favorite Christian authors Corrie Ten Boom. She was an incredible woman of God. And one of my favorite stories about obedience to God comes from one of her books that I read when I was in college. Corrie Ten Boom was born into

6 6 a wonderful Christian family in the Netherlands in During World War II, when the Nazis occupied their country, Corrie s family hid Jews in their home in order to save them from the concentration camps. Their story later became the basis for the book and movie entitled The Hiding Place. In 1944, the Nazis discovered what the Ten Boom family was doing. They arrested Corrie, her sister Betsie, and their father, and sent them off to the camps (Corrie s mother had died several years earlier). Corrie never saw her father again. She and Betsie were eventually sent to a concentration camp called Ravensbruck, where they encountered horrible conditions and cruel guards. Betsie died in that camp, just a few days before Corrie was released. After the War, Corrie traveled throughout Europe, speaking about the need for forgiveness and reconciliation. And it was at one of those speaking engagements, in Munich, in 1947, that Corrie was faced with one of the most difficult decisions of her life. At the end of her speech, she noticed a balding, heavy-set man in a gray overcoat, making his way through the crowd toward her. Corrie recognized him immediately. He had been one of the guards at Ravensbruck. He was one of the cruel men who had been responsible for her suffering and humiliation. All of the memories came flooding back. And then, suddenly, the man was in front of her and he started to speak. He said, You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk. I was a guard there. She realized that he did not remember her. How could he? He must have seen thousands like her in the camp. He went on, Since that time, I have become a Christian. I have confessed my terrible sins to Jesus. And I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did at Ravensbruck. But it would mean so much to me if I could hear it from your lips as well. Then he held out his hand and asked, Fraulein, will you forgive me. Corrie stood there for a moment. Every day she confessed her own sins to God and asked for his forgiveness. And she knew that God did, indeed, forgive her sins for Jesus sake. But now here was this man asking her to forgive him, and she did not think that she could do it. As he stood there with his hand held out, she wrestled with the most difficult decision that she had ever had to make. Here s how she describes the moment. She says, But I had to do it I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. Jesus says, If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father in Heaven forgive your trespasses. In other words, Corrie knew that she had to obey God. She had to forgive this man. And so, mechanically, with no feeling at all, Corrie raised her hand and shook his. And then an incredible thing happened. That act of obedience opened her heart and she began to weep. She embraced the man who had once been her tormentor and said, I forgive you brother with all my heart. She said later that she had never experienced God s love so intensely as she did at that moment, in that single act of obedience. There is great power in obedience to God s commands. When we obey God, incredible things can happen. And Joseph s simple act of obedience believing that Mary was telling him the truth and taking her to be his wife, as God had commanded him to do would change Joseph s life forever. Because he obeyed God, Joseph would play an important part in the greatest story ever told. God had found the best possible earthly father for his Son a man with a compassionate heart, a man with an obedient heart, A Man Named Joseph.

7 7 Ask yourself a question this Christmas season. Ask yourself, What kind of a person does God want me to be? And you will find the answer to that question right here, in this story about Joseph. First, God wants you to be a person who loves others. And then Second, God wants you to be a person who will do what he commands. Compassion and Obedience are the two key components of the Man or Woman who desires to find his or her place in the magnificent plan of the Almighty God. Go out and find your place. Amen and Amen.

The Prince Of Peace. Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Prince Of Peace. Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Rev. William J. Shields St. Mark Lutheran Church, Lindenhurst, Illinois Christmas Eve December 24, 2014 Gospel Lesson Luke 2:1-20 1 The Prince Of Peace 1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus