Joseph-God Honors Those Who are Obedient to Him
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We human beings have a long and complicated relationship with the word obedience. It was, after all, the original sin of Adam in the garden-that is a failure to obey God’s command. And it has been really at the heart of humanity’s problems ever since. We don’t want to obey God’s laws, God’s rules.
But, as I said, obedience and humanity have a complicated relationship. On the one hand, we don’t mind obeying rules and laws that benefit us. Growing up in school with the last name that started with a W, it was great to obey a law that said every kid gets one of something or other. Otherwise someone with the letter B would take them all and by the time I got to choose, there was nothing good left. That’s a good law.
Other rules were tougher. Get your homework done by tomorrow, when tonight all the classmates are going out and I have to stay home and do whatever, that’s tough. I don’t want to obey.
Probably what is toughest, however, is the laws that didn’t, and still don’t make any sense. That you don’t see the logic in following. Some laws, such as the speed limit out here on Lehigh are tough to follow. And I sit in the office and every once in a while, I hear a car race down the road and I can tell that they aren’t going 20 mph. And it’s tough. It’s a wide open stretch of road. Something happens and 512 is a long line of mess. But, there are children that live on this street, including Tanner, who is Susan’s grandson. So that law, as much as we may not like it, makes sense.
But, what about the middle of nowhere? The miles of wasteland where there is literally nothing. If you don’t know, there are places in the west, Texas and other states, that allow 85 mph speed limits because there is no one else there, there is very little to bother them.
And so, as we get into our message today, my question to you is this. Do you, are you, willing to be, to become obedient to God, no matter the cost and price that you might pay.
Think about Joseph and realize
I. Joseph was a Man Obedient to God.
I. Joseph was a Man Obedient to God.
We place a lot of emphasis on Mary, and certainly she was highly favored of God. We are told that in Luke’s account of the Christmas narrative, but we know that Joseph wasn’t a slouch himself. Verse 19 tells us such.
And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
Joseph was a just man. He was a man who was faithful, as best as he could to what God wanted Him to do. A couple of definitions about Joseph state this about the Greek word translated as just.
‘(a man) of principle’ [REB], ‘(a man who) always did what was right’ [TEV], ‘intent on doing what was right’ [NTC]. This adjective describes that which is in accordance with what God requires [LN].
Further proof of this is seen in the fact that when Joseph heard of Mar’s pregnancy, believing that it occurred through natural means, Joseph wanted to do the right thing and separate from her.
Matthew 3. The Virginal Conception: God Becomes Human (1:18–25)
He is called a “righteous” man, which for Matthew does not imply sinless perfection but regularly refers to one who is law-abiding, upright in character, and generally obedient and faithful to God’s commandments. Here Joseph’s righteousness leads him to want to spare Mary the disgrace of public divorce and censure and the legal proceedings for a suspected adulteress (m. Sota 1:1, 5). Jewish laws typically required a man to divorce an adulterous wife (m. Sota 5:1), but Joseph proposes to divorce her “quietly,” which is perhaps better translated “privately” (Goodspeed), in the sense of a settlement out of court.
this leads to my second point, which is,
II. Joseph finds Himself in an uncomfortable position.
II. Joseph finds Himself in an uncomfortable position.
Imagine you being there. You’re planning, you’re preparing for the impending wedding, and suddenly, you’re told, your spouse is pregnant. You know that the child isn’t yours, and you know what the Mosaic law tells you to do. The only reasonable, rational, and right response is to divorce her, to put her away, to say that it is over between us.
And that’s why, as we mentioned, Joseph was a righteous man. He had to obey the law of God. He had to do what God wanted Him to do. And, verse 20 tells us
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.
What do you do? How do you handle this awkward situation? that’s what Joseph is considering, and as he thinks about this, an angel of the Lord shows up and gives him the answer. Don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife.
Now when you think about that, maybe no big deal. Mom and dad like Mary, there was some dowry, perhaps a pre-arranged union, and so, you would think that Joseph is okay with this reassurance.
However, it isn’t that easy. Again, Mosaic law commanded, allowed for divorce. The town that they lived in was a small town, gossip was just as much a thing back then as it is today, and this is an honor shame culture.
You really have two choices, neither on that looks very good for Joseph. Either you marry her and expect the scorn and ridicule and whatever else might come your way from the towns folk, perhaps from your family. Or, you divorce her and incur the fact that you are not being obedient to God Himself.
What is a man to do? The answer is in our third point.
III. Joseph chooses obedience to God despite the cost.
III. Joseph chooses obedience to God despite the cost.
What do you do when your dream, your plans, all you had planned out and worked for suddenly turns upside down? Joseph has for him only one choice.
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.
He really didn’t have a choice. He felt the need to obey God, and despite what the family thought, or the pressures from the community, or what he thought was faithfulness to God’s law, Joseph chooses to obey, to follow the plans of God, to honor God in his life, and God rewards and blesses his obedient faithfulness.
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Although Joseph disappears from the scene, and most believe that he is dead before Jesus begins his earthly ministry, although Joseph needed to place his faith in His stepson for salvation, the fact is Joseph has a place in history because of his obedience to God.
So what can we learn from these lessons on Joseph’s obedience? Clearly we know that God isn’t going to send an angel to us and tell us we are going to have a virgin born child, but there are lessons that we can apply to our lives today.
IV. Lessons From Joseph’s Obedience.
IV. Lessons From Joseph’s Obedience.
A. Obedience to God begins with obedience to His Word.
A. Obedience to God begins with obedience to His Word.
This is the starting point of all obedience. One can not profess faithfulness to God if we are not first proving our faithfulness and obedience by living by His Word.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Jesus is confronted by a woman who looks at him and says your mother is blessed for having you the Messiah as her son!
As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!”
But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Jesus rebukes her and says Mary isn’t blessed because she was my mother. She was blessed because she keeps the Word of God. Joseph is blessed as he keeps the word of God. And you and I are blessed as we walk according to His Word.
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
B. Obedience often comes at a cost.
B. Obedience often comes at a cost.
I touched on it, but think about the cost to Joseph, either way. If he does pull the trigger on divorcing her, he’s disobedient to God. But if he stays the course, and marries her, then he finds himself facing ridicule, shame, and whatever else the family and community structure throws at us.
I say all that because we often as the church paint obedience as a one sided ordeal. In fact, I found this article off the NIV Bible website. It’s titled Obedience Always Brings Blessing . It’s taken from the Charles Stanley Life Principles Study Bible.
It’s based the story of Luke 5, where Jesus tells his disciples to throw down their nets after a long night of fishing. Their obedience brings in a massive haul of fish and they are blessed.
I believe in this principle. Honor God with your firstfruits.
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.
And yet, we know, obedience sometimes comes at a high cost. Paul speaks to the church at Ephesus and he says these words,
And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there,
except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.
I’m going, bound, constrained by the Holy Spirit. Obedient to God. Knowing that all that is waiting for me is imprisonment and afflictions. And yet, I’m going.
Obedience starts with obeying God’s Word, it often comes at a price, and
C. Obedience is often a difficult thing to navigate.
C. Obedience is often a difficult thing to navigate.
Sometimes obedience is easy. Thou shalt not kill. But then you throw on that crazy stuff about not hating your brother and that’s the same as murder, and it gets a little tougher.
Or what about choices that don’t seem as binary as whether or not you murder someone. Or on and on we can go.
The point is simple. Sometimes the honoring of God is a situation that is often difficult to navigate, to work through, to figure out where to go and what to do. Joseph had some very tough decisions to make, he had to navigate some difficult choices. How else do you explain hiding in Egypt for a couple of years? That’s easy? Of course not, but he strived to honor God, to remain obedient to him despite the uncertainties that lay in front of him.
D. And Yet, Obedience to God is the only way to live our lives.
D. And Yet, Obedience to God is the only way to live our lives.
The stories found in Hebrews 11 are inspiring, are encouraging and after the writer writes his list, what does he say?
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.