Sermon Notes for  12/03/06

1.  I want to look at the Nativity from a different angle - from the perspective of Joseph.   Joseph always gets short shrift in the Christmas plays - he has a bit role, standing in the back, no lines, away from the action, disengaged, on the periphery, and eventually he fades from the scene all together.  That might be true of a lot of fathers and husbands in America today, but it wasn't true of Joseph - he was a man of courage.  And so today I want to talk about what it means to be  a man of courage.  (Courage & Integrity are obviously a huge part of who Mary was as well, but for today I want to talk specifically to men).  We cant understand what it means to be a man unless we first understand what it means to be a boy:

2.   Now the picture above probably gives you one of two thoughts:

1.  This is uncalled for and where is that kids parents!

2. ... way to go little guy!

I want to talk specifically to those of you who fall into the second category.   John Eldredge claims that deep down inside most men have a drive for three things:

3. For some of you this is setting off alarm bells - you might say "This attitude is exactly what is wrong with the world - this is what causes patriarchy and wars..."    But like all human attributes these three can be used for Good or for evil.   The desire for a battle to fight drives a person battle against social injustice, poverty, disease, etc.   In fact I see all three attributes in Jesus.  And the beauty he rescued has a name - her name is the church.  This doesn't mean the women are helpless pretty little things who need rescuing.  It means that part of being a man is willingness to put yourself in harms way for those you love.  You can strive after the first two and still be a selfish jerk.  The third is the call to do what is best for those you love - perhaps even laying down your life.    Take a minute contemplating the courage and integrity of Joseph:

Matthew 1:18-19

18 Now the birth of Jesus 1Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been 2betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 

MORAL COURAGE:   Joseph is an ordinary man surrounded by political and cultural powers he can not control and does not  fully understand.  He is just like you and me.  Joseph is to marry his fiancé.  He has sexual desires like any man, but he refrains in order to honor her and God.  He dreams of the their wedding say and what life will be like.  He is patient and does what is right.  And what is his reward:  His fiancé turns up and says "Oh by the way, I am pregnant and its not your child."  He has not heard any angel yet.  He is tormented.  His life has exploded and there is no good choice.  If he says "It is my child" he will be lying before God.   If he says "It is not my child, Mary will be stoned to death".   Despite his anger and sorrow, he chooses to act out of love for Mary.   In about 386 A.D.  John Chrysostom wrote of this event:

To keep Mary in his house appeared to be a transgression of the law, but to expose her and bring her to trial would cause him to deliver to die.  He would do nothing of the sort.  So Joseph determined to conduct himself now by a higher rule than the law.  For now that  Grace was appearing, it would be fitting that many tokens of that exalted citizenship be expressed.  It is like the sun not yet risen, but from afar more than half the world is already illumined by its light.  So did Christ, when about to rise from that womb - even before his birth - cast light upon all the world.  In this way, even before her birth pains, prophets danced for joy and women foretold what was to come.  And John, even before his birth, leaped in the womb.

Matthew 1:20-25

 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of 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 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

 23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME 1IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."

 24 And Joseph 1awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,

 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

 GUTSY COURAGE:  But now think of what the following efforts must have been like:

MATTHEW 2

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."

 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,

 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

 16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

 18 "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."

 19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt

 20 and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."

 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.

 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,

 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

Imagine what the efforts were like - traveling for weeks by foot with a wife and young child through wilderness with meager means, with bandits on the road.   Joseph must have thought - "How can any of these be God's will when everything keeps going wrong and I keep having to change plans?"  Yet, look at how many prophesies were fulfilled by Joseph's obedience.  Do you think it felt to him like he was fulfilling prophesies ?  No it just felt like life was hard.  He didn't understand the implications of his choices - he was simply an ordinary man who loved God and was trying his best to obey and to be a man of courage and integrity.   God takes our incomplete, imperfect attempts at courage and integrity and uses them to weave his kingdom into this world.  In fact he used the efforts of two very ordinary people - Joseph and Mary to bring about the Advent of the Messiah.  Know that when you stand with courage and integrity and act in love God is weaving your efforts into his plan for this planet.

So what would the courage of Joseph look like in a man today?

To find out, go here:  http://www.cjcphoto.com/can/
(Hint: Take the time to read the text before you watch the video!)

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