The Father's Choice

Greeting

Good morning Lighthouse! It is so good to see you all here today. It is especially good to have this opportunity to once more share a word with you all. I have not preached on this pulpit since May 15. For those of you keeping count, that is 34 days ago. A whole month away.

But I excited to be back. I hope you are equally excited to hear from me.

After today, you won’t hear from me again until July 10.

Come on we got some BIG things happening next week, and the following week. Tell your neighbor DON’T MISS IT!

I’m going to do things just a bit different today, I have several passages that I have to read from so I will just weave those into the messages. So today I want to speak to you this message that I am calling, The Father’s Choice.

I do want to pray before we get started, so let’s just take a moment now and let’s prepare our hearts for the word that I believe God wants to speak to us today.

[PRAY]

Introduction:

Hey one more time let’s give all of our AMAZING Dad’s one more round of applause!

I’ve got a message today that is not just for Dad’s, it’s for everyone.

But before I do that, I thought that it would be appropriate to hit you with some of my FAVORITE Dad Jokes! How many of you love Dad jokes?!?!

OK, here we go...

Why do teenage girls walk in odd number groups? Because they can’t even.

I just found out I am color blind. The news came out of the purple!

How do cows stay up to date? They read the moo-spaper

My hotel tried to charge me an extra $10 for air conditioning! Not cool… not cool...

I asked my date to meet me at the gym but she never showed up. I guess the two of us aren't going to work out.

All right enough of that… let’s talk to the Dad’s right now.

Seeing the Father

It is said that many people will create an image of God based on the image of their father.

So if a person’s father is aloof, then that is the image a person has of God. He is an aloof God, seemingly disconnected from me and not concerned about what is going on in my life.

If a person’s father is a disciplinarian, then he or she will think that of God. God is keeping us on the straight and narrow. There’s no fun with God, and we must fall in line and listen to what he is saying to us.

If a person’s father is loving, caring and supportive, this will be the image a person has of God. That he is present. He sees me. He cares for me.

So with all of that being said, what a weight we carry as fathers. We have this responsibility that we didn’t even sign up for!

Some of you are a bit eager to show your children what God looks like, and you are a better man than me.

But if I am being honest, this is something that terrifies me. I don’t want the responsibility of being the first human association of what our heavenly father looks like with my children. Why? Because I am broken. I am far from a finished product. I am working on me, and now in my 40’s I feel like I am working overtime!

Isn’t that weird?

In my 20’s I felt like I had this all figured out! I know all there is to know about ANYTHING that is of importance!

In my 30’s it’s a bit of a nervous laugh, as I admit that, you know… I don’t quite know as much as I thought I know. I’ve got a lot to learn, but I know some stuff. I know what matters most...

And now, in my 40’s, I haven’t got a clue. Why do I read 2-3 books a month? Because I know NOTHING! I thought I did, but clearly I don’t. I am a perpetual student who is trying to find his way...

And that is why part of me is terrified to carry this weight. I’m too rushed. I raise my voice too quickly. I drive like an insane person most of the time. I don’t want to be the image of God to my kids.

But can you imagine how Joseph must have felt?

Joseph the Father of Jesus

Joseph gets word from an angel that he was going to be Jesus’ earthly father. Can you imagine that?

Gabriel shows up and tells him, “Hey Joseph, your wife Mary wasn’t lying. She’s pregnant and she is carrying the Messiah. I know that’s a lot to take in right now, but take it in, because you are going to be his step dad. So let’s go slugger!”

I mean think about that for a second!

This was the literal weight of the world being placed on his shoulders! Not figuratively, LITERALLY!

And in that moment, Joseph had to make a choice.

As a matter of fact, Joseph had to make one choice, after another choice, after another choice… and each time, Joseph made good decisions.

Let me ask this question… how many of you will silently confess that you aren’t good at decisions?

Don’t raise your hand. That would be a bad decision.

It’s like that Friends episode where Rachel, who is known for making bad decisions, surrenders her decision making ability to Phoebe, who REALLY enjoyed the power of making decisions for her.

I know, this isn’t a very spiritual analogy… Yes, I am the Pastor who is now layering Friends references to his sermon introduction that was his favorite Dad jokes.

But what I want to talk to you about is how we can look at Joseph and see that because he made good decision, after good decision, there was no one better suited to be the earthly father of Jesus.

Joseph Chose the Right Thing

Let’s look at Jospeh’s first good decision:

Matthew 1:18–19 NIV

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Wow, there’s a lot to take in here!

Lean in for a bit and see who Joseph was.

He was FAITHFUL to the law. Someone say FAITHFUL.

That is one thing we are going to see throughout the early life of Jesus. Joseph wasn’t playing church. He wasn’t showing up to church on Easter and Christmas. Joseph was FAITHFUL.

And out of that faithfulness to the law he knew what he could do to Mary for getting pregnant before their marriage.

I mean, let’s just stop here for a second, ONE SECOND!

Mary comes to Joseph and tells him, “I know it’s not yours, but I promise, it’s God’s!”

In Joseph’s mind, she’s a liar. This Mary went and hooked up with someone else, and here she is thinking that I am going to buy this story that it was a miraculous conception! What kind of fool does she think I am!?!?

And yet, someone say “and yet”.

And yet, he decides, I don’t want to disgrace this woman.

Joseph Chose to Do the Right Thing

The law said Joseph could go as far as stone her for this offense. Legally, he was in his right to do this. He could have made an absolute disgrace of Mary and he would have been right.

But here is what I’ve learned over the years, and what I want you to get this morning.

It’s better to get it right, than it is to be right.

It’s better to get it right, than it is to be right.

There is a difference between the two. You will be faced with choices in life - hard choices in life, and you will have to chose between being right and getting it right.

Getting it right takes a bigger person, looking at the situation from a larger perspective, and making a decision that moves everyone in the right direction.

Now some of you struggle with this. You are so concerned with you looking good all of the time that you can’t stand to be wrong! And you will sacrifice your spouse, your career, and your kids, just so that you can be right.

Well, let me ask you something, did you win?

Did you win when you made it a point to show your spouse she was wrong?

Did you win when you made it a point to put down your coworker in front of everyone?

Did you win when you disciplined your kids so harshly that they won’t ever open up to you again?

Did you win? If so, what did you win?

And so it takes wisdom to know that it is more important to get it right than it is to be right.

And Joseph, knowing the fullest extend of the law, makes the decision to handle this quietly. If he won, and Mary lost, he still lost.

Let me stop here and just say that so much is made of Mary, and how she was uniquely qualified to carry the Messiah, but what is often overlooked is how uniquely qualified Joseph was to be the Messiah’s earthly father. And we see that here in this text.

Because it is not until the next verse that he told that Mary isn’t lying. She really is carrying the Messiah.

And even WITHOUT this information, Joseph was committed to doing the right thing.

Joseph Chose to Obey the Lord

So here comes the word from Gabriel now:

Matthew 1:20–21 (NIV)

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

So Joseph was on board with not making a mockery of Mary, but now you want me to stick around a be this baby’s Daddy? And he is going to save his people from their sins? And to top it all off, he isn’t going to be Junior!?!? I have to name him Jesus?!?! People are going to walk around thinking, “Now we KNOW Mary’s was sleeping around. He won’t even name that boy after himself.”

This was Gabriel’s proposition to Joseph. And it was a lot. It was A LOT.

And yet, Joseph said, OK.

OK. I’ll do it.

Joseph Chose to Obey the Lord

Here is the reason why, Joseph not only knew how to make the right choices, but he was also committed to obeying the Lord.

Every good decision in your life is a reflection of obedience to God and his word.

I’ll say it again, every good decision in your life is a reflection of obedience to God and his word.

Someone asked me once, “what is success to you?” And after some thought I defined it as a series of successful or good decisions.

Everyone gets it right at least once.

But when you start to repeatedly do the right thing, and you string together a series of wins, that’s success to me.

And I think that when we are obedient to word of God, and when we are obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit, good decisions begin to flow, one after another.

Joseph was faithful! And becuase of that faithfulness he was pressed into this marriage, in spite of how strange things had gone, and Joseph surrenders to the plan of God and he obeyed.

Listen to me Dads, Moms, and everyone else in the tent.

Stay connected to God and his word, and when you do so obedience won’t be hard.

It’s not hard following someone worth following. I contend that if you are having a hard time following Jesus, you haven’t found him to be worth following.

This isn’t to judge you, but this is to help you! Let us help you. Let us walk with you and show you that Jesus is worth following.

Now here’s the last thing we learn from Joseph...

Joseph Chose to Protect His Family

Matthew 2:13–15 NIV

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

King Herod heard that the Messiah had been born and decided to kill all of the babies in the Bethlehem region. So the angel who had previously showed up to Joseph comes back again.

Think about that for a second… this angel was getting cozy showing up at Joseph’s house. He shows up and Joseph is just like, “Hey Gabriel, what’s up?”

And Gabriel gives him this word and Joseph has to once again make a decision. This time, he has to make a decision to protect his family. So Joseph takes his wife, and his infant son, and they move to and live in Egypt until further notice.

Could you imagine?

An Angel shows up and tells you, “You gotta move to El Centro.”

“For real? How long?”

“I’ll tell you when.”

“You’ll tell me when, what kind of answer is that? I need details!”

“No Joseph, you just need to go, and I’ll tell you when you can come back to San Diego.”

This was the plan!

I wonder if at any point Joseph was thinking, “being faithful is hard...”

And yet, there he went to do what he had to do to protect his family.

Joseph Chose to Protect His Family

And listen to me parents. It’s your responsibility to protect your family.

It’s not the Government’s job to protect your family, it’s not the school’s job to educate your children, it’s your job. And guess what? Your job is getting harder. Increasingly the world we live in is becoming unstable. Our values as Christians have never been at greater odds with our nation as they are now. And let me just say it, it’s only going to get harder.

That’s the bad news.

But, I have good news. And the good news is that Jesus isn’t changing. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever.

And you don’t have to parent alone, becuase you have the help of the Holy Spirit.

But you do have to show up! You do have to be present. You do have to do your part and protect your family.

Conclusion

In our college time together recently we discussed what could have happened to Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. We read about him at the birth of Jesus, he makes an appearance when Jesus is 12 years old in Luke’s gospel, but after that, we don’t hear about him anymore.

It is believed that Joseph must have died before Jesus’ earthly ministry began. That makes sense becuase there is no record of him when we have record of Mary, and Jesus’ brothers and sisters. Joseph is no longer included.

But Joseph made his mark.

Joseph chose to do the right thing, Joseph chose to obey God and Joseph chose to protect his family.

Father’s, that’s our example.

If this example was enough for Jesus, it will be enough for your marriage and your family.

If you are here and you are without a father, please hear me. You can do these things. You can bring these things into your home and into your family.