Are You Prepared...to Stay
Advent - Are You Prepared? • Sermon • Submitted
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· 12 viewsJoseph chose to stay even when the message he was given seemed ridiculous. Are you prepared to stay when things seem crazy?
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If an angel appeared to you, and told you amazing news ... who is the first person you’d tell? If you have a spouse or a fiancé, they would likely be the first one you’d tell.
In First Century Jewish culture, being betrothed is like a step between what we know as engagement and marriage. They’re not yet married, but a breakup at this point would require a formal divorce.
But apparently Mary has not told Joseph and they haven’t been intimate when “she was found to be with child.” Imagine Joseph’s horror. Then, she tries to explain it off by saying she’s been impregnated by the Holy Spirit! HA! Can you imagine your wife telling you such a story!?
But Joseph is a good guy. He really cares about her, and doesn’t want her to suffer the indignity of a divorce, so he plans to break it off quietly ... because no one will notice he’s gone and she’s pregnant. :)
But God intervenes. An angel of the Lord appears to Joseph and confirms Mary’s ludicrous story as 100% TRUE! Joseph hears effectively the same message Mary heard earlier. So he sticks around. We don’t hear much about Joseph past this point in the Gospels. We get that he’s a carpenter, but he just kinda fades into the backdrop of Jesus’ story.
But Joseph plays an important role in Jesus’ story. The angel addresses Joseph as “son of David.” He was in the line of David, and Jews all knew Messiah would come from David’s lineage. It wouldn’t matter that Jesus is technically adopted into that line, because they didn’t make those sort of distinctions. In fact, adopted children had more inheritance rights than natural born children. So Joseph staying is important to the fulfillment of the prophecy that Messiah would be in David’s line.
Make no mistake, God’s ability to carry out the prophecies and accomplish Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice and resurrection would not have been thwarted by Joseph walking away. But he was convinced and stayed!
In your life, have you ever considered walking away from a job, an opportunity, or even a person ... because things weren’t what they seemed? Then, you play the ‘what if’ game, right? What if I hadn’t made the choice I made? What if I missed a better opportunity? What if my dream was just around the corner?
But, “what if” is a crippling game. What if doesn’t get us where we need to be. God would’ve brought about the salvation of the world with or without Joseph ... but put yourself in Joseph’s place for a moment of ‘what if’. What if he had walked away?
Most of us are likely a little bit familiar with Isaiah’s prophecy in today’s reading: “...a virgin will be with child and bear a son...” (NASB)
But do you know what comes right before it?
Leading up to Isaiah 7:14
Leading up to Isaiah 7:14
Judah has two neighbors terrorizing them. These two neighbors have carried out another - what we would call - terrorist attack, and King Ahaz is considering signing a treaty with Assyria, another terrorist neighbor. Isaiah takes him out in the wilderness to calm him down to help him think straight. Then, he tells Ahaz to be patient because the nations terrorizing them would soon be no threat at all...and Ahaz doesn’t believe it.
Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”
Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?
The King stands at a turning point and has to make a decision — just like Joseph — just like you and I often do. Like Joseph, Ahaz doesn’t believe the simple words, so God says ‘name your sign and I’ll prove it to you.’ Ahaz refuses, so God names the sign of deliverance -
(NASB):
10 Then Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
11 “Ask a sign for yourself from Yahweh your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test Yahweh!”
13 Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?
God asks Ahaz to name the sign, and Ahaz REFUSES GOD!
The King stands at a turning point and has to make a decision — just like Joseph — just like you and I often do. Like Joseph, Ahaz doesn’t believe the simple words, so God says ‘name your sign and I’ll prove it to you.’ Ahaz refuses, so God names the sign of deliverance -
(NASB):
14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
God asks Ahaz to name the sign, and Ahaz REFUSES GOD!
And God, effectively says, “Alright! Let me give YOU a sign! If you won’t participate in my deliverance, I’ll do it WITHOUT you!”
Title Slide
In the end, Ahaz signs the treaty and Assyria helps vanquish the troublesome neighbors ... eventually turning on Judah and takes command of them, too.
What’s really hard in your life right now? What is God asking you to do that you don’t want to do?
You can take comfort in knowing that he’ll accomplish his desire if you say, “No.” Is that what you want?
Ahaz denied God’s plan through him, and he accomplished it anyway! Ironically, Ahaz is part of Jesus’ genealogy at the beginning of Matthew’s gospel. But Joseph stayed, and did what the angel of the Lord told him to do.
What will be your choice? When God demands something particularly difficult...
Are you prepared .. to stay?