Merry Christmas! Today we celebrate Jesus’ birth! In my family, when it’s your birthday, you
get to do whatever you want—the day is all about you. We ask you what meals you want to eat. We ask you what things you want to do and
then we do those things together whether we like it or not. But, the next day, it’s over. In many ways, that exactly what happens in
the church as well. We take a break from
football and work and eating and go to church to celebrate Jesus’ birthday
because that’s what God wants us to do.
But tomorrow it’s not His birthday anymore, so we can go back to doing
whatever we want. That’s how birthdays
work in MY family, how about yours?
But,
when it comes to faith, it’s not about what you do on Jesus’ birthday that
matters as much as how you deal with Jesus the other 364 days in the year. The fact is that we treat Christmas more like
Memorial Day or Veterans Day than a birthday. We love the day off, we
celebrate, but then it’s back to life as normal. We act as if Jesus is dead and we are just
remembering what happened. In my family,
we may treat someone extra special on their birthday, but we also pay attention
to them every other day of the year as well.
That’s because we celebrate birthdays for people who are still alive—not
for the dead. Christmas reminds us that
God is Emmanuel, God with us, working beside us every day of the year.
Churches
often talk about the great example Mary provides for Christians as to how to
follow God. I mean, the Catholic church
even has prayers to the Virgin Mary and pretty granite statues to remind us to
be just like her. Even though she was
troubled at the words of the angel and questioned how she was going to become
pregnant while still a virgin, she simply accepted God’s word as final and
shouldered the responsibility like a trooper.
`But
Joseph, on the other hand, well, he appears to be the strong silent type. He never says anything in the Bible. The text of Matthew says, “Because Joseph,
Mary’s husband, was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public
disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of
the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him, “Don’t be afraid to take Mary
home as your wife.”
Why should we
admire Joseph? Because he loved Mary so
much that he married her anyway? A great
romance story? No. Because he was so forgiving and tolerant like
churchy guys are supposed to be?
No. Scripture says, “When Joseph
woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home
as his wife.” Joseph is a hero of the
faith because he did what the Lord told him to do. He obeyed.
Some men are great leaders, Joseph was a great follower.
And
that’s all that we ever hear about Joseph—ever.
Jesus will have several encounters with his mother, but never with Joseph. Whenever Jesus’ father is talked about, it is
referring to God, his heavenly father.
Joseph is out of the picture. He
just doesn’t seem very important.
Perhaps
that’s the example that so many men and women follow in the church today. You get married. You get the kids baptized and then, nobody
sees or hears about you again. Why, it’s
a biblical outline! You live a righteous
life, but that doesn’t mean you go to church or have that much contact with
Jesus—Joseph never seemed to. For a lot
of guys, Joseph is their role model.
But
scripture’s silence about Joseph doesn’t mean that Joseph was a deadbeat dad. Remember, while Joseph may not have been talked
about a lot in the Bible the few times he was, he was caught in the act of
obeying God. He took Mary home to be his
wife, according to the angel’s command, even though it would have cost him his
reputation. He also moved not once but
twice according the dreams he was given by God.
Instead of going home from Bethlehem, he was told to move to Egypt,
which he did, and then, he was told again in a dream to move to Israel,
eventually settling down in Nazareth. He
must have packed his bags before going to sleep every night! While Joseph may not be flashy hero, like so
many other men in the Bible, he was a committed follower of God. Not just on Jesus’ birthday, but throughout
Jesus’ life.
In
the book of 1st Thessalonians, there is a little passage that makes
me think a lot about Joseph, “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to
mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so
that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not
be dependent on anybody.” Some people
will be leaders on the front lines, like the quarterbacks and running backs on
the football team. Saint Paul, Moses and
John the Baptist—those types of guys. Others
will be leaders in the trenches, like the offensive guards and tackles. People like Joseph. Just like every position helps to make a team
successful, whatever part you play in the kingdom of God, makes a difference in
the life of your church and your family.
It may even change the world. As
you leave today, make it your ambition to work with Jesus every day, not just
Christmas, even if it’s in a quiet way. Jesus
WAS born in a manger some 2000 years ago.
But God is STILL with us today.
Amen.
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