May
I speak in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in Love
Amen
Today
I want us to think about faithfulness. What
does it mean to be faithful? The word faithful derives from the noun for faith
and means to believe or have faith in God or another person or a cause. To be
faithful means to be a person who is loyal, reliable, trustworthy. An
individual who is steadfast, resolute, dutiful and dedicated. In addition to be
a faithful person means to be great with or filled with faith in God one who is
grounded in God or abiding in the Lord, living in Him and His Spirit. Our
Gospel reading from Matthew focuses on the role of Joseph in the nativity
narrative. As Joseph is the person in the account usually given a back stage role
I want us to consider his faithfulness and how he can act as a role model for
us.
Joseph
is the solid silent type. Mary, Elizabeth, Gabriel and even Zacheriah all speak
but even in Matthew's account - the gospel which includes Joseph - Joseph is
silent. Often portrayed incorrectly as much older than Mary he is the
figurine that gets pushed to the back of the crowded crib. In fact Joseph is
the faithful one who holds everything together, is faithful to God, faithful to
Mary and to Jesus and who stands firm as the leader in the family. Silent,
quiet but an individual of action
What
can we learn about Faithfulness from Joseph? Let's look at Matthew's text on
the reading sheet. Joseph is faithful to Mary. We are told by Matthew that he
is engaged to Mary but engagement in Jewish legal and religious culture was
more binding than it is today. Although prior to marriage the couple did not
live together or have intimate relations Jewish law considered them already man
and wife. A woman found to be unfaithful in a betrothal relationship could be
charged with adultery or even publicly tried and executed. And Mary is with
child. So for Joseph this is personally and publicly a very risky situation and
one with life long consequences too.
We can
imagine Joseph's immediate feelings when he hears her news – outrage, anger,
hurt, disbelief. We can tell that Joseph battled with his emotions and with
himself – verse 19 tells us he decided to dismiss her quietly but the following
verse says that Joseph had to resolve to do this. It sounds as if he went through a process of resolution trying to
deal with this very difficult and delicate situation. Also in our text we are
told that Joseph is a “righteous man” and that he is unwilling to expose Mary
to public disgrace. By using the term
“righteous”, Matthew is telling us that Joseph is a man of God who worships God
fully and who keeps all the Jewish laws. So in terms of his public reputation,
Joseph has a lot to lose – the situation makes him vulnerable. At the same time
Joseph is obviously a kind man who cares for Mary - he is sensitive to her situation.
But
then – an angel of God appears to Joseph in a dream. The angel says:
“Joseph,
son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to
name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins”
Joseph
wakes up and “he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him ..”. He obeys God immediately. He doesn't
need to resolve the situation anymore, he just obeys God. Joseph's response
indicates he is very much a man of God, a righteous man – he immediately
obeys the Lord. He is submitted to God – his ego and male pride don't get in
God's way because Joseph is already faithful to God.
In
addition to being faithful to God Joseph is also a man of great faith. He is
asked to believe the impossible and once God has spoken to him via the angel he
straight away believes God rather than his own rational mind. And Joseph has
dreams. In time to come he experiences three more of these dreams in which God
speaks to him. It seems then that as a man of faith who already knows and obeys
God Joseph doesn't need a miraculous physical manifestation of an angel – God
can speak to Joseph in his dreams and Joseph already knows God's voice.
God
has confidence in Joseph – like Abraham the Lord knows He can trust Joseph
because Joseph is a person of integrity; he possesses the same faith and love
for God shown by Abraham and Moses – he is in fact a great man of faith, a
leader and a role model. God called Abraham a father of many nations but Joseph
is the human father God chose for Jesus, His divine Son.
So
what do we find in Joseph that can help us to follow the Lord faithfully? First
I want to point out two things: Joseph is faithful. And
Joseph is ordinary and human like me and you. He isn't a rabbi or a priest with
learning and authority but a carpenter or builder. He isn't affluent. He is
human – he has the same passionate emotions and responses we would have in his
situation. And he is caring. Your average Joe! But Joseph is open to God – not
only can God speak to him in his dreams but the man immediately does what God
instructs him to do, he puts aside his own feelings to serve God. Joseph
listens to God. In fact he seems to be almost like a conduit for God, an open
channel, a man who is both open to and listens for God's voice.
Joseph
trusts God. He trusts that by God's grace and by God's faithfulness, all will
work out according to God's wishes. When we consider Joseph's subsequent actions
and his lifelong trust in God we remember Paul's words in Romans chapter 8.
That all things do work together for good, for loving followers of the
Lord who are called by God for His purposes, His plans. Joseph shows us a great
example of how this living, faithful trust in God works.
Joseph
is courageous. His faith in God allows him to meet the difficulties and dangers
which face him in obeying God, the fears and apprehensions he must have
experienced. Like Mary, Joseph doesn't know where God is leading him. Like us
he doesn't have the whole picture of God's plan. But Joseph is big hearted and
trusts God faithfully enough to go ahead and take the risks, both the personal and
the life threatening dangers to come.
In
conclusion, we can learn a lot from Joseph's faithful following of God. We can
ask God for a little of Joseph's openness and his ability to listen. Perhaps we
may want to pray for Joseph's amazing trust or for his bravery. What has struck
me about Joseph is just how faithful he was. I've been praying
for greater faithfulness generally. The other thing which has impressed me is
that Joseph grew to be like God – loving, protecting, providing for his family,
guiding Jesus as a child. As a person who tries to follow God and as a parent
like Joseph, I find, probably like our Lord did, that Joseph is a role model I
want to copy and be inspired by. So I pray for Joseph's faithful love for God
and for his self-less care for others for all of us this Christmas.
Amen
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