This sermon is based on Matthew 1:18-25: Perhaps you have heard the one about the attractive young woman who boarded a plane in Los Angeles heading toward New York. The young woman was tired. She knew it would be a long flight, so immediately she asked the flight attendant for a pillow and a blanket. She hoped to be able to sleep most of the way to New York.
Her head had just nestled into the pillow when an obnoxious man with a loud, booming voice boarded the plane… and sat down beside her. He tapped her on the shoulder and said, “Hi there. It’s going to be a long flight, so to pass the time, would you like to play a fun game?” Politely, she declined and rolled over toward the window to take a nap. However, the obnoxious man persisted saying the game is really easy and lots of fun. He explained how the game works: “I ask you a question and if you don’t know the answer, you pay me, and visa-versa.” Again, she politely declined and settled into her pillow. The chauvinistic man figured that since she was an attractive young woman (and blonde at that) he would easily win the math, so arrogantly he made another offer. “Okay, how about this? If you don’t know the answer, you pay me only $5.00, but if I don’t know the answer, I will pay you $500.00.” This caught the young woman’s attention and she figured that there would be no end to this moment unless she played, so finally she agreed to play the game.
The man asked the first question. “What’s the distance from the earth to the moon?” The young woman didn’t say a word. She just reached into her purse, pulled out a five-dollar bill and handed it to the man. “O.K., O.K,” the man said. “Now it’s your turn. Ask me a question, any question.” She said, “What goes up the hill with three legs and comes down with four?” The man looked at her with a puzzled expression. But then he grabbed his laptop computer and searched all his references. No luck! Next, he tapped into the Airphone with his modem and searched the net, and even the Library of Congress. No luck! Frustrated, he sends E-mails to all his co-workers and friends. All to no avail.
After an hour or more of searching for the answer he finally gave up… he tapped the young woman on the shoulder to wake her up… and he handed her the $500.00. Politely, she took the money, put it in her purse and turned away and nestled back into her pillow.
“Wait a minute,” said the man. “What is the answer?” Again, without a word, the young woman reached into her purse, handed him $5.00, and went back to sleep!
Now, that’s what you call “rising to the occasion”… and that is precisely what we see Joseph doing in our scripture lesson for today. With the help of God, Joseph rises to a most difficult occasion. Remember his story with me. Joseph was a carpenter of Nazareth when he ran up on a tremendously challenging situation, a heart-wrenching problem. He was jolted by the news that his fiancée, Mary, was expecting a child… before they were together, before he knew her as a wife. Joseph was crushed, of course, but he loved Mary… and he did not want to hurt her or ridicule her or embarrass her. He was agonizing over how to handle this difficult situation. As he grappled with his problem, he turned to God… wanting so much to do God’s will and somehow the Spirit of God exploded into his mind and God spoke to him in a dramatic way and said, “Joseph, don’t be afraid. Go ahead and take Mary for your wife. Your love for each other is unique and special. The Spirit is with her bringing a new life. The child is of God. It is God’s will that she will bear a Son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save people from their sins.”
Now, when you stop to think about it, you can’t help but be inspired by the bold faith of this man called Joseph. As a matter of fact, I think way too little attention has been given to Joseph’s part in the gospel story. His faith, his sensitivity, his kindness, his bigness, his compassion, and his obedience to the will of God have had a far greater impact on Christian thought and the Christian lifestyle than most of us realize. We owe so much to father Joseph and we can learn so much from his faith. His bigness of spirit challenges us to become better people and better children of God.
But, how did Joseph do it? What gave him the poise, the resolution, the confidence, the strength, to rise to that occasion so magnificently? Well, the answer is found in one word in this passage in Matthew 1, one word that underscores the greatest promise in the Bible, the promise of Christmas. And the word is Emmanuel which means “God is with us.”
This is what Christmas is about. This is what Jesus is about. “Behold, a virgin shall bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel, which means, ‘God is with us.’”
Now, the impact of this promise is incredible. When you believe that “God is with us,” when you accept that, when you claim that promise, it will absolutely change your life! That’s what happened to Joseph at the first Christmas… and it can happen for you and me right here and right now… and the strength that comes from this amazing promise can empower us and enable us to rise to any occasion. Let me show you what I mean by bringing this closer to home.
I. FIRST OF ALL, GOD IS WITH US TO GIVE US COMFORT.
Now, I am basically by nature and by faith an optimist. I usually try to see the glass half-full rather than half-empty, but I have to tell you that 2001 and 2002 have been challenging years.
First, came the painful horror of September 11… and all the heartache and suffering and loss that came with that horrendous tragedy… and followed quickly by the anthrax threat with all of its collateral damage. Our hearts go out to all those who have had their world turned upside down by the problems of corporations like Enron and the market dive that has cut many retirements in half. The sniper attacks on the East Coast. Not to mention we have lived under the threat of attacks like September 11 ever since. By any measurement these are challenging times.
We need a good word this morning, a word of comfort… and I have one for you. The word is Emmanuel. That’s the good news… God is with us… and God will see us through. God will bring us out of the valley to the mountaintop on the other side.
The word “comfort” was created by combining two Latin words… cum which means “with” and fortis which means “strength”… so the word “comfort” literally means “with strength.” Those who are comforted are those who are given strength. Someone once expressed it in a good way something like this: “God always gives us the strength we need at the time we need it. He doesn’t give it to us in advance because if He did, we would take the credit.”
There was a family who was going through a painful, heart-breaking grief experience. Their teenage daughter had died after a long bout with leukemia. Their pastor went to their home and they sat down together around the kitchen table, sipped coffee, and reminisced about their daughter, Courtney. They poured our hearts out. They cried together as they remembered painful moments. They laughed and remembered Courtney’s incredible sense of humor through it all… and some of the funny things she had said and done over her last few years. They prayed when they recalled her amazing faith, her tender love and her brave spirit. Finally, when their pastor stood to leave, Courtney’s mom took his hands in hers, she looked him straight in the eye and she said, “Now pastor, don’t you worry about us. We’re going to be all right. This is the toughest thing we have ever been through… no question about that… but God is with us as never before, and He will hold us up… and He will see us through. He has given us strength every day throughout this ordeal… and He will give us the strength we need now to go on with life as a tribute to Courtney.”
Her words reverberate in my head… “God is with us as never before…” Why is that? Why do we feel the presence of God “as never before” when we are hurting? Two reasons came to mind…
First, when we are in trouble, we are more open to God; we tend to tune into God more, cry out to God more. We tend to realize more how very much we need him.
And second, Jesus taught us that God is like a loving parent… and loving parents want to be with their children most of all when the children are hurting. They want to be with them and they want to bring help and strength and comfort.
Isn’t that a great promise? That’s the promise Joseph felt and wrapped his arms around at the first Christmas when he didn’t know what to do or which way to turn. Joseph needed comfort that day and God came giving the strength he needed and God turned what seemed at the time like the worst day of Joseph’s life into what he realized later was the best day of his life. He grabbed hold of that promise… God is with us! That’s number one… God is with us to give us comfort.
II. SECOND, GOD IS WITH US TO GIVE US COURAGE.
In a philosophy class at Rice University, the professor told the students to bring blue books for a test the next day. On the test day, the professor said to the class, “Your test today is to write an essay on the topic, “What Is Courage?” The students began to write furiously. All, that is, except one young man. He sat there quietly, thinking deeply for five minutes. He then took his pen, wrote the title, “What Is Courage?” at the top of the page; he then wrote down two words… just two words which comprised his entire essay. Then he turned in his test… and walked out of the classroom.
Most of the students took the full hour and filled all the pages of their blue books writing on the subject “What Is Courage?” That evening the professor telephoned the young man who turned in the two word essay… and informed him that he had given him an A+ on the test… and that he would like to get to know the student better. The professor congratulated him and hung up.
I suspect that you already trying to figure out what those two words were… as I was when I first heard this story. Well, the two words the student wrote in answer to the question “What Is Courage?” were these: “THIS IS.”
“This is”… you see what he did? He didn’t just define courage. He demonstrated it. He acted it out. That was a gutsy and bold thing to do in the academic arena…
That’s one kind of courage, but there is another kind that is even better… That is the courage that comes from knowing that God is with you. That’s what Joseph knew at the first Christmas. He was in a tough spot. He knew that the world in which he lived would ridicule him, criticize him, laugh at him, make cruel jokes about him… but after his encounter with the angel, he knew that God was with him. So, he stood tall and said to the world, you want to know what courage is, this is! And rising above social pressure, he married Mary and when she gave birth to a baby boy, Joseph named him Jesus… just as God told him to do. Emmanuel… God is with us, giving us comfort and courage.
III. THIRD AND FINALLY, GOD IS WITH US GIVING US A COMMISSION… A SPECIAL JOB TO DO.
Remember Margaret Deemy’s poem called “The Greatest Words.”
“’Tis sweet to hear ‘I love you’
Beneath a giggling moon.
‘Tis fun to hear, ‘You dance well’
To a lilting, swinging tune.
‘Tis great to be proposed to
And whisper low, ‘I do’
But the greatest words in all the world are
‘I’ve got a job for you!’”
This is one of God’s greatest promises and greatest gifts to us. He says, “I’ve got a job for you. You are valuable to me. There is something special I want you to do. Take up the torch. Take up this ministry.” God came and gave Joseph a special job… to be the earthly father of Jesus, and listen… He must have done that job very well because when Jesus grew up and went out to do his ministry… he called God “Father.” When Jesus wanted to say the best and highest thing He could think of to say about God, He said, “He is like a loving parent. He is like an understanding father.” What a compliment to Joseph!
I think it is safe to say that much of what Jesus learned, he learned from Joseph. Joseph must have been a good father because Jesus called God Father… and that was a good image in His mind. He felt Joseph’s love. He saw Joseph’s grace and compassion, his mercy and kindness. He experienced his strong watch care. And then Jesus said, “God is like that! God is a loving parent. He cares for his children like Joseph cares for ME.”
Joseph did his job well because He knew God had called him to do it… and He also knew the great promise of Christmas, the promise you and I can claim today… GOD IS WITH US.
NOTE: This sermon series on Advent is currently a publication of Abingdon for Bible Study during Advent. Jim Moore has granted this series to eSermons users to use in preparation of their Advent sermons. The material may be used in oral presentation in services of worship. It has been adapted here for the use.