Joseph: Flip the Script
Ok, let's get honest...yes, the holidays are advertised as wonderful, magical, full of song, laughter and love. We imagine seeing people singing in the streets, dancing and oh, so joyful...the 'Hallmark' Christmas in our minds. However, honestly, our holiday season is probably not like that at all!! We're stressed, the commercialism is overdone, the money is running out, the kids wish lists keep growing and changing, we have to be with family that we really don't even like! On top of that we are burdened by wildfires out of control, a world in crisis, politics, family loss and grief. This Christmas season may not be at all what we expected or wanted. And it's scary.
And so, it was true for Joseph, Mary's fiancé. The news Mary delivered to him was in no way what he expected, needed or wanted. Certainly, the news leveled him, how could it not have? Many of us may have received similar news in our lifetime. One diagnosis, one accident, one phone call, one moment of news and our world crumbles. Fear enters.
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.We learn from the angel that spoke to Joseph, "do not be afraid". We learned from the shepherds watching flocks in the field, "do not be afraid", the angels exclaimed. We learn not to fear from Mary's story too: the angel greeted her with, "do not be afraid."
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.”...When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. Matthew 1:18-20, 24
God knows and acknowledges our condition, we are fearful people, clearly. And in the world today there are many opportunities for us to be afraid. But in all these stories we learn that God shows up in our weakness. We learn that we are never alone. We learn God provides a way and a direction. But yet...fear persists. Joseph and Mary still had to face the home folks. They still had to face family and coworkers. Life as they knew it had been altered and would never be the same.
Joseph had to keep going. He had to believe what he dreamed and heard from the angel of the Lord. And most interesting to me, Joseph had never met Jesus. He hadn't been born! He hadn't seen the work of Jesus, he hadn't received a Bible and read the stories of Jesus. Yet...he believed and chose to live fear-free.
We, on the other hand, have heard of Jesus and have read about his entire life. We've seen the words in red in our Bibles! He speaks directly to us. Yet, we experience fear this Christmas holiday. We may fear finances, we may fear marriage failure, we may fear joblessness, we may fear situations we cannot even acknowledge. What are we to do? How can we experience the JOY of Christmas amidst the fear in the world?
Maybe, we remind ourselves of who Jesus is or we remind ourselves of what we believe about Him. Who is Jesus to you? How do you define Him? In your own definition, can fear stand up to those traits you've thought about? If He is truly God and we truly believe that He is divine...fear can never, never co-exist with Him. For surely a God of the universe will always defeat our human fear...that's a God trait!
Do we dare take Jesus at His word? In John 17, He gives us the answer just like He gave Joseph.
"And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." John 17:22-23
The Glory God gave Jesus, Jesus then gave to those who believe. Do you understand that significance? The Glory of God has been given to us. Maybe we choose, like Joseph, to believe. Let us in this day, choose the JOY He alone has provided us. He provided it by being born. He left heaven to come get us, He left heaven to come meet us, He left heaven to show us how to live and be fulfilled and whole and to not be afraid. Let's trust in who He is and Who comes for us.
