The Busy Season

Listening to God's Word will Bring Peace to Your Mind. Matthew 1:18-25

Introduction Busy is the new status symbol of success. Research suggests that an individual's perceived level of busyness is directly connected to their feelings of self-worth. Busyness also tells others how successful one might be. Individuals who are always busy by choice tend to feel needed, successful, and important, thus elevating their feelings about themselves. Culturally, there has also been a shift in status perception in that material objects and goods are no longer the only indicator of one's social standing. Now, individuals who are busy at work, overworked, and have a lack of leisure time are perceived as having a higher status of success.

Now, some people are always busy as a way to avoid or numb painful feelings in their lives. By staying super busy, they are unable to focus on what may be bothering them or causing them pain in both the past and present.

Staying busy is often seen as a badge of honor and a marker of self-worth, with rest and downtime being viewed as a negative trait. However, what we are starting to see with the mental health crisis is that over-scheduling ourselves to the point where we are always busy can negatively affect our physical and emotional wellness. Busyness also impacts our ability to maintain healthy relationships. We stay busy until our mental and or physical health crashes. And Christmas is THE busy season.

But you know a place where we are even more busy and that's even more unhealthy? Our minds. Have you ever tried to stop your mind from thinking? It's not so easy, huh? The truth is that thinking is what your mind is meant to do! Your mind produces thoughts, just as your ears hear sounds and your eyes see your surroundings. Your mind is meant to think. The problem is just that we're preoccupied and often obsessed with thinking. Our thoughts rule our lives. We believe that what we think is actually the way things are and that our thoughts perfectly reflect our reality even when it's not true. As a result, we become attached to our stories and end up imprisoned by what we're thinking. Your busy mind is made up of a mix of thoughts, emotions, doubts, fears, and more. By the way, it is the same for everyone. In our society of more and better, our minds operate with constant mental noise: planning, judging, analyzing, commenting, remembering, and so on. You don't realize how much your busy mind controls your day until you collapse on your bed at night exhausted.

All this staying busy physically and mentally has led to a huge problem in our world. Overthinking. Overthinking is a major cause of chronic stress in our highly demanding culture. On any given day, you experience thousands of repetitive thoughts, many of which are tainted with judgment and anxiety. Too much planning, worrying, and replaying these loops is exhausting. Incessant thinking creates tension and robs us of peace. Although thinking is useful, overthinking is draining. Although stress is necessary to flourish at times, chronic mental stress causes chronic physical stress, which is harmful to your health. This overthinking epidemic is really showing itself in our world as mental breakdowns and mental illness are skyrocketing.

It's not just a recent problem, though. There is a character in the Bible, associated with the Christmas story who was having this same issue. Every year during this season, we hear much about the various characters of Christmas. People like Mary, the shepherds, the wise men, and even the sheep, donkeys, and cows are portrayed in our reenactments year after year. One fellow, named Joseph, is treated merely as an extra. He shows up in the Christmas program, but he brings no gifts, sings no songs, and makes no speeches. He just stands there in his sandals and his bathrobe, watching the scene unfold around him.

Joseph doesn't say much, I think, because he still processing it all. He had been through a busy season in his mind over the past few months as his life began unfolding way differently than he had ever planned in his mind. Let’s look at this scene from Joseph’s life. By the way, those events that take place in the life of Joseph can speak directly to our lives today. Matthew 1:18-25

Matthew 1:18–25 ESV

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. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 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. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Scriptural Analysis Verses 18-19 By the time of the Christmas narrative in Matthew, Mary is approximately four months pregnant. She has spent three months with Elizabeth, her “relative,” but now returns to Nazareth, where she “was found” to be pregnant. This does not imply that Mary has attempted to conceal the pregnancy, but rather that it becomes known to others, including Joseph. This is not yet public knowledge because Joseph can still divorce her privately. Some in their inner circle know, but it's not common knowledge. Galilee's norms on intimate relations with engaged partners were very strict, and the girl did not leave her own family to live with the man. Sexual unfaithfulness with another person during this stage was considered adultery.

Matthew states simply that the child was conceived through the Holy Spirit. Without knowing of the supernatural origin of the conception, Joseph naturally thinks that Mary has committed adultery. There are only three options that exist in Joesph's mind: It's him, it's a secret lover, or she was sexually assaulted by a Roman soldier. Joseph knew for sure it wasn't his. In Joseph’s mind, he has to be thinking, “You know, Mary, you look so sincere, but you must have been intimate with somebody, which means you’ve broken the moral law. You broke the law of God.”

At this point, Joseph experiences a personal dilemma. He cannot follow through and marry her because that would condone what he thinks is Mary’s sin of adultery. Divorce for adultery was not optional but mandatory among many groups in ancient Judaism. Yet, his concern for her long-term reputation compels him to avoid exposing Mary to public disgrace. Therefore, Joseph has only two options open to him. On the one hand, he could seek a public divorce, where her condition will become known overtly. But then she will be subject to community disgrace as an adulteress, and it could make her liable to be stoned according to the law. On the other hand, he could divorce her privately. The law did not require the deed to be made public, making allowance for a relatively private divorce. The latter was the only option that would allow Joseph to maintain his personal righteousness according to the law and yet save Mary from public disgrace and possible death.

The character and compassion of Joseph is revealed in this dilemma. On one hand, Joseph is faithful to the law of God. He doesn’t wink at it and push it aside, but on the other hand, he’s not self-righteous or pridefully punitive. He doesn’t want to expose her to harsh and adverse effects. That’s a remarkable balance, being moral without being judgmentally moralistic. He is a moral man who stands for right living, but he is also a merciful man to someone whom he thought had sinned. That is a rare combination: He has conviction and compassion. He understands having one doesn't have to cancel the other.

Verses 20-23 The angelic appearance in a dream provides the guidance Joseph needs. The angel addresses Joseph as “son of David.” That's the only time in Matthew’s Gospel that the expression is used describing anyone other than Jesus. The title ties Joseph and these incidents to the preceding genealogy in the first 17 verses of Matthew 1. The angel dramatically announces to Joseph that the conception of the child is from the Holy Spirit, not from Joseph (which Joseph knows personally) or any other man (which Joseph has suspected).

We saw last week that Luke focuses on Mary’s obedience and submission to the angelic announcement of these events, here, Matthew emphasizes Joseph’s likewise remarkable character. Once the angelic announcement is made, Joseph is immediately obedient.

The words spoken by the angel to Joseph are the only time in Scripture an angel quotes Scripture to clarify how these events fulfill an ancient prophecy. The angel instructs Joseph to name the child “Jesus,” which is what he is called throughout his earthly life and in the early church. The angel also refers to the name Immanuel, foretold by the prophet Isaiah. We have no record of Jesus ever being called “Immanuel” by his family or followers. Instead, as Matthew translates it for us, we see that the name is intended as a title to indicate Jesus’ messianic identity: “God with us.” Both his common name and his ceremonial name indicate profound truths: Jesus specifies what he does (“God saves”), and Immanuel specifies who he is (“God with us”).

The angel draws on the most important theme of Jesus' birth: salvation from sin. This salvation is now at hand, so Matthew points his readers to the central purpose of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry: He himself “will save his people from their sins” by giving his life a ransom for many.

The Lord initiates our redemption by creating life in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Thus, the Father spares Jesus the corruption of sin and prepares him to become the one who will save “his people from their sins.” God saves, and he inaugurates that salvation at the birth of Jesus.

Verses 24-25 In keeping with his “righteous” character (v. 19), Joseph obeys the Lord’s directives. Verse 25 goes beyond what the angel explicitly commands but further refutes any claim that might be made then or later that Joseph himself was Jesus’ biological father. Joseph married Mary, but he refrained from having intimate relations with her until after Jesus was born. Joseph acts like Old Testament men and women of God who obeyed God’s words even when it went against all human common sense.

TODAY'S KEY TRUTH Listening to God's Word will Bring Peace to Your Mind. Application In both last week's scripture and this week's scripture, we can't escape the scandal surrounding Christ’s conception. Now, if this scenario is still scandalous in our anything-goes, play-by-your-own-rules culture, imagine how it would have been in their anything-does-not-go, abide-by-God’s-rules culture. Mary was in a hard spot. But Matthew reminds us that Joseph’s spot wasn’t any softer. He thought seriously about the matter, and then he “resolved” to do what was best for both persons: “And … Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” Joseph clearly spent hours and days thinking through the situation, various different scenarios, how those scenarios would end up, what life would be like with option A versus option B, how can he act righteous without being cruel, how does he preserve his reputation and protect Mary, how will his career, family name, and future thrive while also doing the right thing. I am sure this was a busy, busy season in his mind. There's no way he is not overthinking this, causing sleepless nights, distracted days, and a restless spirit. His mind was as busy as ours.

We all know that often, the most chaotic, messy, and worst place we can be is in own own head. We stay busy in our minds. We take the problems we have and make them into other problems that don't even exist. It's head-scratching that with all the issues we actually do have, in our minds, we create problems that aren't even there. If overthinking burned calories, we'd all be supermodels. We make our lives even more diffiuclt by our constant overthinking of the issues we do have.

In the midst of Joseph's overthinking, God spoke to him through an angel. What did that angel say? That angel quoted scripture. That's a big moment. Today, we beg and plead for God to speak to us. We want a sign, a demonstration, something that gives us direction and guidance through the maze of overthinking and life. Because we have overthought almost everything, we think we need a new message. In reality, we need the same message that Joseph got: scripture.

Here is the contradiction we put ourselves in: we say we believe in the Bible but we want God to give us a new sign, a new word, a new message. That's a contradiction. Either the Bible is complete and sufficient, or it's not. This is the doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture.

Here is the definition of the sufficiency of scripture: The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contained all the words of God he intended his people to have at each stage of redemptive history and that it now contains everything we need God to tell us for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and for obeying him in living life.

In other words, everything we need to understand God, His plan for our lives, and Christian living is found in scripture. Everything we need for eternal salvation and temporal living is found in God's Word. We have everything we need in scripture.

What the sufficiency of Scripture also means is that no modern new revelations from God are coming. At various times throughout the history of the church, and particularly in the modern charismatic movement, people have claimed that God has given new revelations through them. However we may evaluate such claims, we must be careful never to allow (in theory or in practice) the placing of such revelations on a level equal to Scripture. We must insist that God does not require us to believe anything about himself or his work or his plan in the world that is not contained in Scripture. The Bible contains everything we need God to tell us in trusting and obeying him. God's completed word, scripture, is sufficient for life.

The sufficiency of Scripture is of great significance for our Christian lives, for it enables us to focus our search for God’s guidance on the Bible alone. It saves us from the endless task of searching through all the writings of other people, it keeps us from being disappointed when a miraculous sign doesn't materialize, and it protects us from allowing our emotional feelings to overwhelm our common sense when we are drowning in our overthinking.

The sufficiency of Scripture should encourage us as we try to discover what God would have us to think or to do in a particular situation. We should be encouraged that everything God wants to tell us about that question is to be found in Scripture. When we are facing a problem of genuine importance to our Christian life, we can approach Scripture with the confidence that from it, God will provide us with guidance for that problem, just like Joseph.

Listening to God's Word will Bring Peace to Your Mind. Conclusion The angel quoted Isaiah 7 to Joseph. You don’t have to turn there, but Isaiah chapter 7 tells us a story about King Ahaz and Judah. King Ahaz and the people of Judah are shaking in their boots. They’re literally afraid for their lives. Isaiah says they’re like trees trembling in the wind. They’re afraid because word on the street was that two other kings had gotten together, and they were going to come and wipe out Ahaz and Judah.

With this threat on the horizon, Isaiah meets with Ahaz and tells him these two kings are like smoldering ends of a stump. Isaiah declares they’re no threat at all. You don’t have to worry about this, King Ahaz. There’s no need to be afraid. And Isaiah says, "God is going to take care of this for you. Just believe He’s going to be with you. In fact, ask Him for a sign." King Ahaz, who is kind of a stubborn, grumpy king, says, I’m not going to ask God for a sign. And Isaiah says, well, you’re going to get one anyways. And it’s here that Isaiah says, "A virgin girl will conceive and have a baby, and His name will be Emmanuel, which means God with us. And before Emmanuel grows up, those two kings will be wiped out." It was a message to the people that those two kings would not attack, and God would be with them no matter what. That was the word from God.

Listening to God's Word will Bring Peace to Your Mind.

Today, in Matthew, we see Isaiah 7 in a more incredible way than originally thought. Isaiah’s prophecy about Mary and this Child declares the fact that God is with us, God is with all of humanity! This promise of God being with us is made by God, and it is a promise kept by God. He is Emmanuel. God is with us. That's what all of scripture together, in one unified message, declares: God is with us.

Listening to God's Word will Bring Peace to Your Mind.

Joseph allowed the busyness of his mind to be settled and calmed because he listened to God's word. All that anxiety, apprehension, consternation, and stress you wrestle with in your mind as you overthink, worry, and obsess can be made silent. God's Word speaks to you. It has everything you need to live a life filled with peace, contentment, and joy. His Word is sufficient for everything you face, in reality, and in your mind. He speaks peace to that busy mind. And in His Word, that peace is found as it declares with all of Heaven, "God is with us."

Listening to God's Word will Bring Peace to Your Mind.