Christmas: Cast of Characters (2)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 12/9/2012
This time of year is always special. Families all have their different traditions: decorating the Christmas tree, hanging stockings, traveling to visit family and friends. You may enjoy driving around the neighborhood, looking at the twinkling lights decorating people’s homes. As you drive around the town, you inevitably come across various nativity scenes, displaying the birth of Jesus. Many churches throughout the community will often tell the story of Jesus’ birth through dramas and children’s plays, reenacting those fateful events.
The cast of characters associated with the story of Jesus’ birth is colorful and memorable. We recognize them by their unique speaking parts. With dramatic words, the Angels take center stage to announce the birth of the Savior. They appear to Joseph to announce that the name of the child would be Jesus. The angel Gabriel makes the unforgettable announcement to Mary. An angelic choir interrupts the shepherds, singing, praises to God and goodwill toward men. Mary offers a beautiful hymn. The wise men ask to see the newborn King. The shepherds become early evangelists—spreading the news of Jesus birth.
Oddly enough, only Joseph has no speaking part. He is the lone silent member of the cast and often forgotten. Angels bring heavenly greetings. Mary sings a praiseful solo. Wise men worship. Shepherds preach. Joseph is silent. No notable lines are attributed to him. No sound bites. No quotes. Only silence. However, Joseph is irreplaceable in the story of Jesus’ birth.
In fact, A Sunday School was putting on a Christmas pageant which included the story of Mary and Joseph coming to the inn. One boy wanted so very much to be Joseph, but when the parts were handed out, a boy he didn’t like was given that part, and he was assigned to be the inn-keeper instead. He was pretty upset about this but he didn’t say anything to the director.
During all the rehearsals he thought what he might do the night of performance to get even with this rival who got to be Joseph. Finally, the night of the performance, Mary and Joseph came walking across the stage. They knocked on the door of the inn, and the inn-keeper opened the door and asked them gruffly what they wanted.
Joseph answered, “We’d like to have a room for the night.” Suddenly the inn-keeper threw the door open wide and said, “Great, come on in and I’ll give you the best room in the house!”
For a few seconds poor little Joseph didn’t know what to do. Thinking quickly on his feet, he looked inside the door past the inn-keeper then said, “No wife of mine is going to stay in dump like this. Come on, Mary, let’s go to the barn.” And once again the play was back on track!
That may not be exactly how it happened, but Joseph’s actual story is told in Matthew 1:18-25 and if we examine it closely we may find a little of our story in his. Joseph’s first scene in the nativity story focuses on his dilemma.
• JOSEPH’S DILEMMA
Joseph had a pretty big dilemma. Matthew summarizes the situation like this: “This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18 NLT).
Let me back up a little bit though, so that we can understand Joseph’s predicament. Matthew tells us that Joseph was a carpenter. In those days the job of a carpenter was to plan and build homes, manufacture household furniture and construct farming tools. If Joseph resembled the pious, hard-working class of his Jewish colleagues, he wouldn’t consider marriage until he was at least 25 years old.
Marriages in those days were usually negotiated and agreed upon by the parents. A legal contract was likely worked out between Mary and Joseph’s parents and once the contract was signed, the couple was officially betrothed to one another. Although many of these arranged marriages were planned from childhood, the betrothal period lasted for one year, during which time the groom would often build a house for his new bride. As a carpenter, Joseph probably had a beautiful home planned for Mary.
During their betrothal, I’m sure the temptation to sleep together was strong and in today’s culture it’s accepted—even expected—for couples to have sex before marriage. But in Hebrew culture it was very dishonorable to have sex before marriage. The Bible teaches that sex is precious, and God created it to be fully experienced only in the most precious relationship—marriage. So even though they were engaged, in love and committed to each other, Joseph kept his hands to himself.
So you can imagine the shock and anguish he must have felt when Mary told him that she was pregnant! The Bible doesn’t reveal Mary’s conversation with Joseph, but it’s safe to assume, it didn’t go very well.
He was clearly heart-broken and betrayed. He loved Mary and he thought she loved him. But now she’s pregnant with some else’s child. Her explanation was unbelievable—even blasphemous. If Joseph said the baby was his, it would be a lie… and if he accused Mary of unfaithfulness, she could be stoned to death at the city gate. He did not want that. He’d probably never trust her again, but he couldn’t bear to see her hurt or humiliated. This was Joseph’s dilemma.
Have you ever been hurt by someone you love? Have you ever felt like your whole world was just crumbling and you didn’t know what to do? When someone hurts you, do you lash out in anger and bitterness or do you choose mercy and forgiveness?
You make decisions every day—overtime or family time; stop on red or speed on yellow; cash or credit. Some are simple but others...well, they can affect your entire life. When you reach a crossroad in life, how do you choose which path to take? For most of us, like Joseph, the decisions we make depend on what we believe about life, relationships, and God.
Despite her impossible story of divine conception, despite the pain and disgrace she had caused him, Joseph loved God and he loved Mary. Even though he was hurt by Mary, he didn’t want to hurt her in return. He showed compassion in the midst of his pain. The Bible says, “Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly” (Matthew 1:19 NLT).
Joseph thought that was the end of it, but the second scene in Joseph’s story is his dream.
• JOSEPH’S DREAM
That night, as Joseph tossed fitfully in his sleep, God gave him a glimpse of his divine plan. An angel appears to Joseph in his dream and tells him, “Joseph, descendant of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the baby in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21 NCV).
Now, the Bible doesn’t tell us this part, but I’m certain that before Joseph fell asleep that night, he first fell to his knees and prayed to God. He asked, “Why, God? Why would she do this? Why does it hurt so bad? What have I done to deserve this?” More than anything that night, Joseph needed a word from the Lord. He needed to hear from God. Can you relate to that?
Maybe you need God’s guidance and direction for your life. Maybe you just need his comfort and assurance. Whatever the reason, I think we all experience moments when we just need to hear from God. I don’t think the problem is that God doesn’t speak to us, though. The problem is—we’re not very good at listening.
I believe that one of most valuable lessons we can ever learn is how to listen to God. In the midst of our complex and hectic lives, nothing is more urgent, more necessary, or more rewarding than listening to what God has to say. And I believe that God speaks just as powerfully today as he did to Joseph. His voice wants to be heard! He may not speak to us through a burning burn like he with Moses or through a dream like he did Joseph—but God still speaks!
Sometimes God may speak to us through a restless spirit. Other times, God uses another person’s words to speak to us—a poignant sermon that just happens to speak to your immediate needs or a spiritually insightful book that does the same. Sometimes God gives us unusual blessings to get our attention. Other times he may use disappointments, difficulties, and dilemmas for the very same reason. Sometimes God speaks to us through recurring themes—a subject that keeps coming up in a variety of ways. God may even impress a specific message into our hearts through his Spirit; what Bill Hybels calls “the quiet whispers of the transcendent God.” In each of these and other similar circumstance, we ought to turn to God and ask, “God, are you speaking to me? I’m listening.”
Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27 NLT). The opening words of the book of Hebrews assures us, “Long ago God spoke in many different ways to our fathers through the prophets, in visions, dreams, and even face-to-face, telling them little by little about his plans. But now in these days he has spoken to us through his Son…” (Hebrews 1:1-2 TLB).
The question is—are you listening? And if you do hear God’s voice… do you have the guts to respond? Joseph did. The final scene in Joseph’s story reveals Joseph’s decision.
• JOSEPH’S DECISION
I don’t know if Joseph sat on the edge of his bed in amazement for a while or if he flew out the door so fast that he forgot to tie his sandals, but one way or another he eventually wound up Mary’s door with flowers in one hand a ring in the other. The Bible says, “When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife” (Matthew 1:24 NCV).
The key phrase here is—he did as the Lord commanded. When God spoke, Joseph listened. Wouldn’t it be great if we were all like that? I heard about a Grandpa who was struggling to get his three-year-old grandson to listen this week.
“Time to put the toys away,” Grandpa said.
“No.” Came the toddlers reply.
“Come on, Aaron. Please help to put away the toys.”
“No.”
“Tell you what, you help put away the toys and you’ll get a treat afterwards.”
“I’m tired,” The little boy whined.
“You’re stubborn,” Grandpa corrected.
“No, I’m not stubborn.”
“Oh yes you are.”
“No. I’m not.”
“Do you know what stubborn means?” asked grandpa.
“No.”
“Stubborn is when you won’t do what someone asks and you won’t change your mind about it.”
“Oh, I am stubborn, then.”
We’re not a whole lot better than that three-year-old sometimes. When God speaks, do you listen? So maybe you haven’t ever heard God’s whisper, but you can certainly read God Word. His Word, the Bible, is filled with commands and instructions that God expects each of us to follow—commands like “love your neighbor as yourself,” or “do unto other what you would have them do unto you,” or “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as Christ has forgiven you.”
Most of God’s commands are simple enough, but they’re life altering when we really follow them. For Joseph to marry his bride was simple, but it changed his life forever. He became a dad to no ordinary boy. I can’t imagine that was always easy.
There’s a big difference between being a hearer of the Word and doer of the Word. There’s a big difference between going to church and being the church. But following God’s instruction—doing life God’s way—is always the best way and it’s always worth it. Jesus said, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23).
If we obey Christ’s teaching and really live life God’s way, then God—Father, Son and Spirit—will make his home in our hearts. Joseph discovered what that is like in a very tangible way.
Conclusion:
Joseph may not have a speaking role in the Nativity story, but as is often the case, his actions speak louder than words. The message of Joseph’s story is this: People may let you down. There will be times when you feel hurt, angry, or betrayed and you may not know what to do. But if we will listen, God will speak to us. Whether it’s through his word or some other means, God will let his voice be heard. From there, it’s up to us to listen and obey.
Invitation:
As you prepare for Christmas this month and you celebrate the birth of Jesus with your loved ones, keep an ear open for God’s voice. Listen to what he says through his Word and the world around you. If you will listen and obey, then God will use you in his cast of characters! If there’s any way I can help you with that please let me know as we stand and sing.
