No Ordinary Joe

The message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish Sunday morning, December 20, 2020.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 1:18-25.

Several years ago now, we had a contest to choose our favorite Bible character.  Maybe some of you remember that.  Mary won the contest.  Joseph, on the other hand, didn’t even get to the quarter-finals.

That’s kind of how it is for Joseph.  When we hear about the story of Jesus’ birth, Joseph is pretty much the forgotten man.  We hear a lot about Mary and Jesus, and the shepherds and the wise men and the angel, but never much about Joseph.  Joseph is kind of the odd man out of the Christmas story.  It’s like he’s just sort of there. 

            But, of course, that’s not true.  Joseph was a really important figure in the life of Jesus.  The decision God made in choosing Joseph as the earthly father of Jesus was every bit as important as the decision to choose Mary as his earthly mother.  And yet, we’re told almost nothing about him.  In fact, at this point we’re not even told that he was a carpenter.  The only way we find that out is when Jesus is referred to later as “the carpenter’s son”.  We’re certainly not told anything that would indicate that Joseph was unusual in any way, any more than Mary was.

The gospels don’t even tell us how Joseph found out Mary was going to have a baby.  Matthew just says Mary “was found to be with child.”  I suppose, at some point, Mary must have told him. Imagine you’re Joseph, at that point.  The woman you’re engaged to tells you she’s going to have a baby. You know it cannot be yours.  And yet, she swears she has never been unfaithful to you, that this is some sort of miracle from God, that this child she’s carrying is going to be the savior of the world.

            How do you think you’d react to that, if you were Joseph?  I mean, you’d want to believe it.  We’re not told for sure, but the scriptures make it sound like Joseph really did care about Mary.  He’d want to believe she was telling the truth.  But how could he?  A baby born without a human father?  The savior of the world being born like a human baby, born to an ordinary, single woman?  No matter how much Joseph wanted to believe that, there’s no way he could have, any more than you or I could.  It just would’ve seemed impossible.  It would not have made any sense to him, any more than it’d make sense to you or me if it happened today.

            What would you feel, if you were Joseph?  Hurt, betrayed, angry, sad. I’m sure Joseph felt all those things, too. 

          Then, we hear that an angel came to Joseph in a dream to tell Joseph that Mary was telling the truth.  Even so, the story gives Joseph kind of short shrift.  I mean, when Gabriel came to Mary, they had a conversation.  we’re told about all of Mary’s questions, and we’re given all of Gabriel’s answers.  Eventually, we’re even given a big speech by Mary about what she thought and how she felt about all this.

            We don’t get any of that about Joseph.  In fact, you know how many words of Joseph are quoted in the Bible?  Zero.  Zip.  Nada.  Not one word.  From what we can tell in Matthew, Joseph never got to say anything.  The angel just did a monologue.  The angel told Joseph what Joseph needed to know, and Joseph did what the angel told him to do.  It’s the same every time in scripture that an angel appears to Joseph—when he’s told to take his family to Egypt, and when he’s told to go to Nazareth.  Each time it’s just, the angel tells Joseph to do something, and Joseph does it.  It’s like what Joseph might have felt or thought did not matter at all.

            But of course, it did matter.  Joseph mattered.  Joseph was chosen by God to be the earthly father of Jesus, just as much as Mary was chosen to be Jesus’ mother.  And if we want to know why God chose Joseph, we can look at the one thing about Joseph that we are told.  Matthew Chapter One, Verse Nineteen tells us that Joseph “was a righteous man”.  He may have been an ordinary man in some respects, but just like Mary, Joseph had an extraordinary faith.

            You know, after the story of Jesus’ birth, we never hear about Joseph again.  There’s one more reference to him in the Bible, in the story about when Jesus is twelve and stays behind to talk with the rabbis after Passover, but you know what?  Joseph is not even mentioned by name.  We’re just told that Jesus’ “parents” went to look for him, and we’re left to assume that includes Joseph.  Again, it’s like Joseph is just sort of there, like he’s not really very important.

           But think about it:  Joseph would’ve had a lot of responsibility for raising Jesus.  Not only was Joseph responsible for providing Jesus with food and shelter and love, he was responsible for Jesus’ education.  After all, there were no schools for kids to go to back then.  At that time, a boy would stay home with his mother until about age seven, and then go to work with his dad.  This was not just a work time, either.  It was a time for education, and the education, other than teaching Jesus a trade, would’ve been mostly religious education.

            In other words, Joseph was the one responsible for raising Jesus as a religious man.  That’s why God chose Joseph, a righteous man, to raise Jesus. Now obviously Jesus, as the divine Son of God, knew God in a way the rest of us never will.  But still, Jesus was raised as a human being.  Joseph was the one who gave him a background in the scriptures and in the religious teachings of the rabbis.  Think of all the times Jesus quoted scripture to people.  How do you think he knew it so well?  He learned it from Joseph.

            Think of the strength of character Jesus had.  Now again, Jesus was not just a human being, but he did have a human side to him, and it was important that the human side be strong.  Again, Jesus got that from Joseph.  When he was helping Joseph, Joseph was showing him how a good, righteous man is supposed to behave. 

After all, Joseph never had an easy life.  We assume, although we don’t really know, that he and Mary did not have a lot of money.  They moved around a lot—again, we’re told that they moved a couple of times when Jesus was still very young.  Joseph had to deal with lots of problems.  The way he dealt with those problems was a model for Jesus to follow.

            Joseph, as a carpenter, was what today we’d call a small business man.  That meant Joseph was always dealing with the public, and back then, just like today, there are times when the public is not all that easy to deal with.  Sometimes business was slow, and Joseph wondered how he’d have enough to pay the bills.  Sometimes a whole lot of business came in at once, and of course everyone wanted their project to be done first. Sometimes something Joseph made would break and the customer would be mad at Joseph and demand he fix it for free, whether it was his fault or not. Sometimes, Joseph would make something for someone and they’d refuse to pay him, or claim that he’d done it wrong, even if Joseph had done exactly what they’d told him to do.  Joseph had to deal with all this and more, every day.

            Now, think of all the times Jesus had to deal with difficult people.  How do you think he learned how to do that?  From Joseph.  From watching his earthly father deal with difficult people, and seeing him handle them in the way a righteous man does.

            Joseph was obviously so important in the life of Jesus.  Yet, as I said, he’s kind of the forgotten man.  He’s just sort of there.  In fact, when I was picking hymns this week, I could not find a hymn about Joseph.  There are none. Mary, the shepherds, the wise men, the angels, the baby, they all have hymns. But Joseph?  Nothing. 

We never really think about Joseph in this story.  He neither asks for nor receives any attention.  He just very quietly obeys God.  He does what God expects him to do.  A very quiet, humble, righteous man.

            How many Josephs have you known in your life?  I’ve known quite a few.  We have a lot of them in this parish.  Men and women who never look for any attention, and who don’t get or even want any glory.  People who just quietly serve the Lord and do whatever needs to be done.

            Most Josephs have no idea that they are Josephs.  They have no idea how important they are.  That’s the thing about Josephs—they don’t think they’re anybody special.  They think they’re just doing what a person is supposed to do. They don’t think they’re any different from anybody else.  They think, well, anybody else in my position would do the same thing.  They think they’re just common, ordinary, everyday people.

            It never occurs to Josephs that they are important people.  Yet, when you think about it, Josephs are the most important people in the world.  They’re the ones who do the things that everyone else just takes for granted.  They’re the ones who do the things in our lives that just automatically happen, the things we never even think about, the things that are just done.  They do them quietly, humbly.  Josephs don’t expect or even want any thank you for what they do. They don’t want anybody to make any big fuss over them.  When you do try to thank them, they tell you it was no big deal and change the subject.  Yet, without Josephs, nothing of any importance would ever get done.

            God specifically chose Joseph.  God knew that Jesus’ earthly father could not be someone who would demand a lot of attention.  God knew Jesus’ earthly father could not be someone who wanted glory for himself.  God knew Jesus’ earthly father had to be someone who did not want the spotlight, someone who would quietly do what needed to be done, and then step out of the way.  A good, humble, quiet, righteous man.

            Joseph was chosen by God.  All Josephs are chosen by God.  We would not have the Christmas story, and we would not have the Savior we have, if not for Joseph.  This Christmas season, let’s thank God for Joseph.  Let’s then think of all the Josephs in our lives, take some time to pray for them, and thank God for putting them in our lives.  Let’s make sure we thank them for all they do to make our lives and the world what they are.  Then, let’s try to think of a way we can be a Joseph, too.