Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
December 20, 2020 - W2051

“Joseph’s Response”

Uncommon Gifts Strangely Wrapped

Pastor Wayne Cordeiro

December 19 & 20, 2020

Merry Christmas & Aloha, New Hope Oahu--Everywhere and Anywhere! 

Today, we will talk about Joseph's Response in this Christmas season.  Courtship stories are intriguing--none are alike. Each one is unique, and every time a couple shares their story, it will be personal and special.  Some courtships begin like a cannon blast--off they go!  Others take more time, they court for a while and slowly discover that there may be differences in their personalities, but with time and patience, realize that they would make a good team, so they get married and settle in.

But as unique as each courtship is, there is no courtship more intriguing and fascinating than that of Mary and Joseph in the Bible.  We don't know about Joseph or his family--their status, wealth, or position. Did he have siblings?  What kind of neighborhood did they grow up in?  Nothing is known about Joseph, not a thing. No one knows when he passed away--it's just not told. Not one word spoken by Joseph was ever recorded in the Bible!  Nevertheless, his assignment would be so crucial to God's overall plan that God assigns an angel to assure him to stay the course!   Joseph is about to play an integral part in the Christmas story, but for the moment, he's somewhat insignificant; yet the lesson we gain from him is anything but insignificant! 

Never think that just because you're not a celebrity or a somebody that God could not or would not choose you--that's the furthest thing from the truth! In fact, sometimes the greater the celebrity status, the lesser the long?term impact. I've seen many well?known celebrities come to Christ and, like short?term pyrotechnics, they disappear from sight! But in the case of the Christmas story, God was looking for a trusted servant with a long-term obedience in the same direction. He's still looking for those today--but not many are around!  There are a lot of "flash in the pans," but not many long?term dependable saints that you can put a finger on and say, "I know where this one will be in 20 years--faithful, still serving!"

God sometimes sends angels to show up and speak to assure those whom He has chosen--they warrant our fullest attention and obedience! The first story of an angel is in Luke 1: Some 80 miles away [from Nazareth] Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, who couldn't have a child, but would become the mother of John the Baptist!  An angel visits her husband Zacharias and announces God's choice; and six months later, the angel Gabriel visits Mary with the same kind of news. All we know about Joseph is that he worked in a carpenter shop and was deeply in love with Mary.  

Now, Mary and Joseph were betrothed; we don't use that word today--we use "engaged."  It's a romantic period that begins with a creative proposal, then an engagement ring, then preparation for the wedding.  If for some reason things don't work out, it's not the end of the world when they break off an engagement--they just return the ring and move on. But breaking off a betrothal in ancient days was not so simple a task because it was a legal contract:  The couple goes to a rabbi with their parents and announce their betrothal, and the betrothal is entered into the Synagogue Public Record; the woman is seen as that man's wife, and the man is seen as her husband, even though they won't live together yet.  

A betrothal could take up to a year while the bridegroom is building their home, and she is preparing for the wedding.  Should there be unfaithfulness during this period, it's a very serious matter because the unfaithful partner is publicly shamed. Prior to Roman rule, an unfaithful wife would actually be stoned to death as an adulteress! But none of that would matter because everything was going perfectly for Mary and Joseph--until the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear a son, even though she was unmarried and still a virgin!  The son that she would bear would be called Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Mighty God.  He would be called the Messiah, prophesied from old.  Mary was very troubled by this angelic visit, but the Bible tells that she immediately set off for the hill country of Judea (some 80 miles away) to visit her older cousin Elizabeth. Remember, she was infertile but now was pregnant in her old age!  

Mary went to Elizabeth because Elizabeth would understand as she also had an angelic visitation.  Joseph probably had no idea that Mary had left abruptly early the next morning after the announcement.  For three months, Mary would be visiting Elizabeth over what this calling might mean; then Mary returns to Galilee.  It would be late one afternoon while Joseph is working in a carpenter's shop that he looks up, lays aside his hammer, and there is Mary in the doorway!  "Mary," he would say, but when he gets up to embrace her to let her know how much he missed her, he notices that she had been crying.  She gently pushes back on his advance and Joseph said, "What's wrong?"  

At that moment, she looks at him and says, "I'm pregnant."  It was then that Joseph's mind began to spin.  "What?" "Yes," Mary says, "I'm going to have a baby, and I'm already three months along."  He stares at her and wonders who the man was.  Not some Roman, was it?  Not some thief along the way as he went into the hills of Judea, was it?  "No," she says, "it wasn't any man.  An angel appeared to me and said he was from God, and all that's happening is authored by God.  I've remained pure, I promise.  But there's a baby in my womb."

We're so familiar with this story that the shock effect of the whole scene has left us; but, for a moment, put yourself in Joseph's sandals. What if you heard this for the first time realizing that you won't be looking for wedding dresses, you'll be looking for maternity clothes--that's if they marry.  Joseph's head is still spinning.  He hangs a Closed sign on the door of his shop and slowly, very slowly, pulls the shade down and walks home alone with his thoughts rambling in his head.  He's obviously confused, angry, and emotionally exhausted.  

As Joseph is completely devastated and deeply bewildered, he collapses into bed. Since we know the end of the story, we might tend to overlook the possibility of a divorce, but Mary had no way of knowing how Joseph would respond to her pregnancy.  She is walking home wondering will he humiliate me publicly?  Will he blow up?  Will he walk out on me? Would he divorce me? As it turns out, Mary had little to fear for Joseph didn't blow his top, nor did he try to humiliate her, but he did intend on divorcing her. The account of a romance that was saved by a dream, or maybe a romance that was touched by an angel is found in...

Matthew 1:18-25 NASB says: "¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. ²⁰ But when he had thought this over, 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 give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” ²² Now all this took place so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: ²³ “Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him Immanuel,” which translated means, 'God with us.' ²⁴ And Joseph awoke 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 named Him Jesus."

Though pregnant, Mary is still pure and chaste--never before, never since, never again!  This is God's sign: "Joseph, this is a miracle like none other," the angel would say.  "You won't have any role models, and you won't have any precedent to look back on."  But Joseph's life is one of faithfulness, regardless of the ridicule and snide comments he would face--he would protect his family and keep the faith!  Joseph would later pass away, and no one would know outside of his immediate family--no news clippings, just a quiet passing.  Did that mean he was insignificant?  No.

In 1997 Princess Diana died in an automobile accident; it made worldwide news and for months on end, the news channels were filled with funeral pictures and summaries of her life and legacy, and she was the main center figure. A few months later, one of my heroes Mother Teresa died.  She had given her life to the poorest of the poor in Calcutta, India, and brought the gospel of hope to hundreds of thousands.  She never married but gave her life completely to living out the gospel. Very little would be heard about her death because it was overshadowed by the news of Princess Diana's death.  But in God's eyes, this little Albanian missionary would make front page news in heaven of a homecoming for her that would never be equaled!  Never think that being known by men is our goal--it's being known by God!  Joseph was like that.  

Below are questions that Joseph must have had to answer in the quietness of his own room. In answering them correctly, his life would be assigned with the purpose of God.  I pray that our responses, too, would be like his:  

1. If God asked you to serve Hm anonymously for the rest of your life, where no one knew your name, where no one cared about your input, and if you disappeared, no one would ever notice--Would you say, "YES!"?

I had to wrestle with that.  I remember God asking me, "Wayne, if I asked you to go to Cupcake, Idaho, where no one would ever know who you are, where you came from, and you'd never be heard from again, would you go?  It took me weeks as I wrestled with that.  Joseph wrestled with it too, yet he said yes.  He had other plans, but he left his plans, as it were.  

Matthew 6:19-21 NASB says: "¹⁹ Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal:  ²¹ for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 

I wondered what does it mean? How do I lay up treasures and invest in heaven? I was frustrated and said, "I know that Jesus will be in heaven and people will be in heaven," and came to the conclusion that the best investment of my life is to invest in Jesus and in people, thus, laying up treasures in heaven. Joseph said, "Yes, I'll do it.  No matter what it looks like, I'm good."  

1.  "Would you be willing to bear the cost of being misunderstood until one day people understand?"  

There will be times when you will be accused and blamed for things. That's quite a cross to bear, it's about forgiveness.  The toughest part of the journey was when people would look at Joseph and wonder why his wife was so unfaithful.  What happened? Are you going to get rid of her?  God asks us, "Would you be willing to bear humiliation to raise a child who will be seen as the product of sin?"  

3. "Are you willing to die to lesser dreams?"

Joseph put aside his lesser dreams to what he knew was God's ultimate dream for him. Noel Campbell was quiet, unassuming, as solid as they come, trustworthy and dependable. I was 31 years old on my way to a sleepy town of Hilo [Hawaii], collecting baseball cards when baseball cards were a rage.  I bought a large grouping of potentially valuable cards, and showed them to Noel and said, "Look, Noel, I'm going to be rich one day."  And asked Noel, "What do you collect?"  He looked at me with a slight smile, and said, "I collect friends."  Seven years later, Noel returned to the northwest to help his son?in?law in their church, and a few years later passed away.  Of all the men that had the greatest impact on my life was not a high?profile prophet that taught me faithfulness and endurance, it was a Joseph--Noel.  Jesus knows God's very best plans for you and His plans are always the best--ours are the lesser.   

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. Would you be willing to be misunderstood until one day people understand?

2. How do you invest in heaven?

3. How do you get treasures into heaven?

4. In what ways are you investing in your relationship with God and others?

5. What are you doing to get closer to God and be more like Jesus?