The Glory of Being Underqualified - Joseph
The Glory of Christmas • Sermon • Submitted
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· 7 viewsBig Idea: God delights to use the “under qualified” because the Giver gets the Glory.
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Introduction
Introduction
Play Video - The Glory of Christmas - Joseph by the Skit Guys
“I understand that Joseph is radically under qualified for all he’s about the encounter. But isn’t that the type of people God uses? The most unlikely folks to do the biggest things.” Skit Guys
There is a great glory in being under qualified for the tasks that God assigns.
For in that state…God is glorified.
This morning, as we consider the The Glory of Christmas, we consider the truth of and the glory of being under qualified.
An examination and meditation of Joseph prompts our hearts in that direction.
Outline
Outline
Big Idea: God delights to use the “under qualified” because the Giver gets the Glory.
The Under-qualified
Israel
Moses
Gideon
David
Paul
Joseph
Pretty Much Everyone Ever
Why God Delights to use the under qualified
The giver gets the glory - 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
The blessings of being under qualified
We receive blessings we otherwise would not have - Romans 9:1-5
We receive what only grace can provide - Romans 9:6-13
We receive mercy - Romans 9:14-18
We see His glory - Romans 9:19-24
We are claimed and spared - Romans 9:25-29
Our Faith is strengthened and deepened - Romans 9:30-10:4
Sermon Body
Sermon Body
The Under-qualified
The Under-qualified
Israel
Israel
Deuteronomy 7:6-8
“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,
but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Israel was not chosen because they somehow impressed God and God just knew he had to have them on his team…like a team captain choosing the biggest and meanest athlete in the lineup for his own…
God chose them because they were the runt and by using them, GOD would be made much of.
He remained faithful to them despite their repeated rebellion, denial, and waywardness…BECAUSE OF HIS OWN GOODNESS AND GRACE.
Moses
Moses
Exodus 3:11
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
Exodus 4:1
Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ”
Exodus 4:10
But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”
A Hebrew boy that was supposed to be killed...
A fugitive from Pharaoh
A man despised by his own people
Now a desert shepherd
A man who felt his own inadequacies (and perhaps avoiding the responsibility and confrontation he knew would be coming)
Gideon
Gideon
Judges 6:11-18
Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”
And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”
And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”
And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.
Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”
He was hiding from the Midianites
Wallowing in despair - Where is this God we have heard about in stories? The God who delivered us from Egypt? We have been abandoned.
How can I save us? My clan is the least in Manasseh
AND I the least in my Father’s house
David
David
1 Samuel 16:1-14 (Don’t read whole thing…summarize)
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”
And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’
And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.”
Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?”
And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.”
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”
Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”
And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.”
Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.”
And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.
Youngest son in his father’s house…last considered.
A mere shepherd boy.
A mere boy
Not seen by any as anything special
Dismissed by his own father as not even a likely candidate to be king.
A flawed man who fell prey to the sin of lust, sexual immorality, murder, and deception.
Yet….called a man after God‘s own heart.
Paul
Paul
1 Timothy 1:12-17
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,
though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Blasphemer
Persecutor
Insolent Opponent
All in the name of defending the glory of God but wrongly so.
Acts 8:3
But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
Notice Paul‘s own diminishing view of himself…
1 Corinthians 15:9 (AD55) - Least of the Apostles
For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
Ephesians 3:8 (AD60) - Least of the Saints
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
1 Timothy 1:15(AD62-66) - Chief of Sinners
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
The higher Paul’s view of God, the lower his view of self.
AND YET NOTE…HOW MUCH JOY, PEACE, CONTENTMENT and strength is seen in this man!
Truth is…despite the world’s views to the contrary, strength and hope, the cure of depression is NOT found in SELF actualization , self esteem, or building ONESELF up…
RATHER…IT IS in having a HIGH VIEW OF GOD and resting in who HE says we are and trusting OUR identity and standing with him.
WE ARE ALL UNDERQUALIFIED for ever task we ever embark upon.
If we are looking for hope in being qualified and capable in ourselves, we will be hopeless disappointed EVERY single time.
Consider the man of the hour for a moment….
Joseph
Joseph
Matthew 1:18-25
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.
Have you ever considered deeply what it must have been like for Joseph to embrace the role of Jesus‘ earthly father?
How under qualified must he have felt?
Matthew 13:55 - A carpenter
Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
Not a theologically trained man
John 1:43-51 - A Nazarene - Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Not favorable looked upon.
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Probably a simple man…living an uncomplicated life…that is until God interrupts his plans.
How might Joseph have felt...
He was being entrusted WITH THE SON OF GOD.
He was tasked with RAISING GOD!
Talk about an IMPOSSIBLE task. And we thought our jobs were hard. Lol. We thought OUR parenting responsibility was hard…
How he must have felt when they lost him that one time…
Pretty Much Everyone Ever
Pretty Much Everyone Ever
WE ALL are ALWAYS underqualified…
And that is ok…
That is the way God wants it…
That is what God delights in.
Why God Delights to use the under qualified
Why God Delights to use the under qualified
The giver gets the glory - 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
The giver gets the glory - 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power,
so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice this prayer….
We pray that…
GOD may make you worthy
God may fulfill every resolve for good
God may fulfill (not only every resolve) every work of faith
BY THIS POWER
SO THAT
The name of Jesus May be Glorified in you
John Piper
That means the giver gets the glory. God gave the power. God gets the glory. We have faith; he gives power. We get the help; he gets the glory. That’s the deal that keeps us humble and happy, and keeps him supreme and glorious.
Then Paul says that this glorification of Christ is “according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus.”
God’s answer to Paul’s prayer that we rely on God’s power to do good works is grace. God’s power to enable you to do what you resolve to do is grace.
That’s the way it works in the New Testament over and over. Trust God for gracious enabling, and he gets the glory when the help comes.
We get the help. He gets the glory.
That’s why Christian living, not just Christian conversion, is good news.
Let me show you how this works in just one place before I move on….
Moses - Exodus 4:11
Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
When God chooses people who are inadequate, under qualified, and insufficient (which is ALL of us), and then uses them in MIGHTY ways…HE gets the glory.
God delights in using the under qualified because it magnifies HIS worth and glory, His goodness and grace, his power and might, His wisdom and knowledge, His wonder and majesty.
There is a reason He used Moses.
There is a reason he did not just take the stutter away but worked IN SPITE of it.
It’s because...
God....never gets tired of receiving the glory in situations that only can be attributed to His own work through imperfect, lacking, weak, underwhelming, and dependent people.
Skit Guys
Listen to these familiar texts….
2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Isaiah 40:29-31
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Philippians 4:10-13
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Over and over again, we are reminded, IT IS GOD…NOT US.
It is God
The blessings of being under qualified
The blessings of being under qualified
We receive blessings we otherwise would not have - Romans 9:1-5
We receive blessings we otherwise would not have - Romans 9:1-5
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—
that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
Israel was chosen because they were least…they were small...
But look at what they recieved...
Ex 4:22 - Israel was the firstborn of God....
Romans 8:15 - They (and we - but they first) receive the adoption of sons where by we cry, Abba Father
Exodus 40:34 - The Glory; The Shekinah glory…the glory of God that resided over the tabernacle that was the presence of God with Israel.
Genesis 17:2; Deut 29:14; Gal 4:24; Eph 2:12 - The Covenants. God made covenants with Israel, with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc…This was given to undeserving, under qualified Israel
Deut 4:14 - The law was given to them
Hebrews 9:1 - The worship; the tabernacle, the temple, the ark of the covenant, the privilege to be in the presence of God, to worship, him, and to oversee proper worship of him.
Ephesians 2:12 - The promise - the promised Messiah, the promise of redemption, salvation.
TO THEM BELONG THE PATRIARCH’s....and from them…CHRIST…WHO is God.
These under qualified men and woman were blessed with all this SO THAT THE GIVER GETS THE GLORY.
We receive what only grace can provide- Romans 9:6-13
We receive what only grace can provide- Romans 9:6-13
But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”
And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—
she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
Vs. 11 - IN ORDER that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls -
Listen, the doctrine of election divides.
It is confusing.
I do not wish to create more division over it, but listen…the idea of election, of God choosing before the creation of the world, some for salvation (implying not all are chosen) IS TAUGHT in scripture. You cannot ignore it or deny it. Trying to discern the full understanding of it is a challenge, but it is there.
What we are reminded of again and again is that salvation is NOT THE WORK OF MAN. It is not ACCOMPLISHED by man’s works.
SALVATION IS AN ACT OF GRACE through and through....down to…and including…God granting THE FAITH WE NEED TO BELIEVE. If God did not grant us faith, none would believe.
GOD DID choose those who are saved.
God DID pay the penalty which man could not.
God DID DRAW US to Himself.
GOD DID change us enabling us to repent and believe.
GOD DID grant us faith to accept and believe
GOD DID then save us based upon faith he gave us, work he did for us, and based on a plan HE put into place before we were ever created.
Failure to see this is failure to see and know God AS HE IS and failure to truly stand in awe and wonder of him.
Israel was not qualified.
But that is ok
Because God had an electing plan upon their life that would not and could not be thwarted.
AND by claiming them and being faithful them, WE SEE and KNOW HIM…and He is glorious!
But if they had been qualified, it would downplay and minimize HIS WORTH.
It is NOT NOW NOR EVER WILL BE about us…our worth…our adequacies, our value. IT IS ALWAYS ABOUT HIS.
We receive mercy - Romans 9:14-18
We receive mercy - Romans 9:14-18
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!
For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
The beautiful truth I want to note in these verse is that...
IT IS GOD’s DISCRETION TO SHOW MERCY ON WHOM HE WANTS TO SHOW MERCY AND TO ENACT JUSTICE UPON WHOM HE WANTS TO ENACT JUSTICE.
God is NEVER OBLIGATED to show mercy. He is never obligated to forgive.
God is PERFECTLY GOOD AND JUST when he condemns men.
But...
When he shows mercy on the under qualified and undeserving…He display’s his mercy…a mercy that is lost if it is earned, deserved, or achieved in our own standing and power.
Mercy is mercy because we are under qualified and undeserving.
This is what makes it mercy and what makes it glorious.
And when we see His mercy show up, HIS GLORY SHINES FORTH...
We see His glory - Romans 9:19-24
We see His glory - Romans 9:19-24
You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”
But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”
Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
God HAS EVERY RIGHT TO DO WHAT HE WILLS WITH THAT WHICH HE HAS MADE.
If he desires to create man, capable of sin, and then punish them when they leap into rebellion, He is JUST AND GOOD in doing so, if he so willed.
And He does will this, for those who refuse to accept his call to repent.
BUT HE DIDN’T STOP THERE.
He provide a substitute to bear the wrath against that sin…SO THAT we could be spared and HIS GLORY COULD BE DECLARED.
God made us inadequate and left us under qualified IN ORDER TO MAGNIFY HIS WORTH AND GLORY.
His justice, his goodness, his holy wrath....and thus…his mercy and grace are seen more clearly when we understand just how undeserving and under qualified we are.
And when we are claimed as his and spared…oh the glory of His name that is seen.
We are claimed and spared - Romans 9:25-29
We are claimed and spared - Romans 9:25-29
As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ”
“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ”
And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved,
for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.”
And as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.”
When those who are under qualified, undeserving, inadequate are rescued, saved, and given the AWESOME eternal blessings that we are...
THE GIVER IS GLORIFIED.
It has NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH US.
NOTHING.
And as we reflect upon this, meditate on it, and permit our hearts to be humbled by it…we are strengthened in faith.
Our Faith is strengthened and deepened - Romans 9:30-10:4
Our Faith is strengthened and deepened - Romans 9:30-10:4
What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith;
but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.
Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,
as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
When your faith has eyes for Christ, and not the law, you see the glory, splendor and worth of HIS BEING and faith saves.
When you eyes only see law, knowledge, and one’s own self righteous qualifications…death results.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Yes....
God delights to use the under qualified because in so doing, it magnifies HIS worth and glory.
Big Idea: God delights to use the “under qualified” because the Giver gets the Glory.
As we mediate on this truth, let it fill us with wonder, awe, and praise for our great God as we continue ever growing together to become more like Jesus for the glory of God.
Application and Discussion Questions
Application and Discussion Questions
What Biblical characters, who were “under qualified” stand out to you and why?
Why does God delight in using the under qualified and inadequate?
How, specifically, is God showcased and magnified when He uses the under qualified?
What blessings are there in being under qualified to serve? How have you experienced these blessings?
What have you learned/received through being under qualified that you otherwise would not have?
In what way(s) do you feel under qualified/inadequate to serve the Lord?
In what way(s) can you embrace and rejoice in your “under qualified” state?
What is so encouraging by the fact that God uses the inadequate and under qualified to do his work