Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
Joseph’s Tenacious Love
Matthew 1: 18-25 December 9 ,2007
At theist time of the year there is a lot of preaching and attention focused on Mary, the mother of
Jesus. But I believe it’s significant to note that even as God chose Mary to be the one who would
give birth to the Son of God, so in His mighty providence, God chose Joseph to be a FATHER to
Jesus. He chose him to raise his only begotten son. Mary and Joseph were chosen together to be
parents.
I remember a film that was on television several years ago. One of those depressingly sad movies
that your wife forces you to sit down and watch with her, and then at the end says: “That was so
sad - wasn’t it just wonderful?!” But this particular film I was entitled something like “WHO WILL
LOVE MY CHILDREN?” The story tells of a poor family - hard-working parents with a large
number of children - where the woman discovers that she has an incurable illness and will die
within a year. Her husband is a good man, but obviously incapable of looking after the large
number of children alone - particularly in those days when there was no government assistance or
social security. And so the heartbreaking tale is of this mother who goes out searching for loving
parents who will care for all of her children; she wants to have them all placed before she is taken.
(If you ever intend to watch this movie, be warned - it’s definitely a king-size Kleenex movie!
But as I think about this movie, I can’t help but think of the birth of Jesus. Just like that woman
who loved her children so much that she wanted to personally choose parents for them, and not
leave it to chance, God in the same way went looking for parents to raise His beloved, only-
begotten Son. He searched the earth, and He found a young girl - a teenager engaged to be married
- of whom the Bible says: she “found favour with God”. She was a choice young lady. A God-
fearing young lady.
But NOTE: God also went looking for a father. He called Mary AND JOSEPH as a couple. Joseph
was chosen. And just as God had looked for a godly young woman to bring forth the child, so He
looked for a godly man to be the father. And what an inspiring model of fatherhood Joseph was.
God made a good choice! Let’s look together, for a few minutes, at some things the Bible tells us
about this man Joseph.
First, note he was A LOVING MAN. The Scriptures draw the picture for us of a wonderfully
caring and affectionate man. And we can see this, firstly, in his relationship toward Mary.
Look at MATTHEW 1:19 for example. Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant. He hasn’t had any
great revelation yet. What is he to think? What would YOU think? You’ve fallen in love with this
pretty young girl. You do all the right things. You pursue her in the proper customary way. In
stolen moments you’ve talked with her about dreams for a future together. A cottage with a white
picket fence. A family. A business. And then out of the blue you learn that this sweet girl (you
thought you knew so well) is pregnant. NEWLY pregnant. And you don’t know who the father is -
but there is one person you know you can rule out! How does it make you feel? Angry? Betrayed?
The penalty for adultery in the Old Testament was death by stoning. And this penalty applied to
infidelity during betrothal as well as marriage. Upon discovery that Mary was pregnant, Joseph
would have been obliged to divorce her, and this would expose Mary to public shame and
humiliation.
BUT, even before God spoke to Joseph - Joseph didn’t have any vengeance or bitterness in his
heart. The Bible says: he “was minded to put her away secretly”. (There were ways in which a
divorce could be enacted very quietly, without the involvement of a judge, and Joseph was already
considering the best way to do this. That is when he had the dream and it opened the door for him
to show his love for her.
He also loved the son she bore. When the child came along - the child he had not conceived - there
was no attitude in Joseph that “THIS BOY ISN’T MY FLESH AND BLOOD”. There was no
resentment or indifference toward Him; no lack of love at all. JOSEPH ADOPTED JESUS AS HIS
OWN. He protected Him from the hatred of Herod. He nurtured Him and cared for Him. Evidently
he taught Jesus his own trade of carpentry. HE ADOPTED THE ONE THAT THE REST OF THE
WORLD WOULD REJECT.
SECOND: Joseph was A DEVOUT MAN. He not only loved Mary but he loved God and he was
willing to obey him no matter what. He explicitly followed the Lord’s leading and direction. He
didn’t follow his own marked-out plan for life - he wanted God’s plan for his life. So when God
spoke to him in a dream and told him to marry Mary (even though she was pregnant) HE OBEYED.
Then when God spoke and said: “Take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt for safety” - he
immediately obeyed. He closed up his business and left. Then when God said: “It’s O.K. now,
head back to Israel”, again he did as he was directed.
He was a man of FAITH. It takes FAITH to pack your bags and head off to a foreign country with
no prospects and no planning; simply on the basis that God said so. He had faith and obeyed the
dream. He could have made excuses to stay where the prospects looked good, but NO - he was a
man of faith.
I read the story of a farmer who had toiled over a bumper crop of grain - a badly needed crop of
grain - a badly needed crop that was going to pay off many creditors and secure the family for
another year. But just a few days before it was due to be harvested a freak wind and hail storm
ravaged the property, and the harvest was lost. The man stood with his little boy looking over the
fields of destroyed grain. The boy expected to hear his father cursing in despair. But instead his
Dad began to softly sing: “Rock of Ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.” Years later that
boy, grown into manhood, said: “That was the greatest sermon I ever heard!”
His father had shown him how faith was lived out in real life. That is what Joseph did for Jesus.
He showed him that faith in God was a blessing to be lived. I’m sure it gave Jesus courage as he
faced his own trials later on.
Finally, he was also A WISE MAN. Now listen to me carefully here. Joseph was wise because he
lived as one who REDEEMED THE TIME. By all accounts it seems that Joseph had a
SHORTENED LIFE. We don’t read of him after Jesus’ childhood, and at the Cross Jesus charged
John with the care of His mother - so it seems that Joseph was taken from them prematurely. But
JOSEPH HAD USED WHAT TIME HE HAD BEEN GIVEN HONOURABLE - WISELY! He had
provided for his family. He has set an example for them that they would remember. He had raised
them in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord.
Jesus was not the only child he had; he raised other boys for the Lord also, and possibly daughters
as well. He had other sons - TWO OF THEM (at least) WERE GREATLY USED BY GOD. They
wrote books of the Bible (James and Jude). James was leader of the church in Jerusalem.
Joseph raised his children in the ways of the Lord, and He left behind him a legacy after his
lifetime. His tenacious, his incredible love not only touched his wife and adopted son, it touched the
world.
Matthew 1: 18-25 December 9 ,2007
At theist time of the year there is a lot of preaching and attention focused on Mary, the mother of
Jesus. But I believe it’s significant to note that even as God chose Mary to be the one who would
give birth to the Son of God, so in His mighty providence, God chose Joseph to be a FATHER to
Jesus. He chose him to raise his only begotten son. Mary and Joseph were chosen together to be
parents.
I remember a film that was on television several years ago. One of those depressingly sad movies
that your wife forces you to sit down and watch with her, and then at the end says: “That was so
sad - wasn’t it just wonderful?!” But this particular film I was entitled something like “WHO WILL
LOVE MY CHILDREN?” The story tells of a poor family - hard-working parents with a large
number of children - where the woman discovers that she has an incurable illness and will die
within a year. Her husband is a good man, but obviously incapable of looking after the large
number of children alone - particularly in those days when there was no government assistance or
social security. And so the heartbreaking tale is of this mother who goes out searching for loving
parents who will care for all of her children; she wants to have them all placed before she is taken.
(If you ever intend to watch this movie, be warned - it’s definitely a king-size Kleenex movie!
But as I think about this movie, I can’t help but think of the birth of Jesus. Just like that woman
who loved her children so much that she wanted to personally choose parents for them, and not
leave it to chance, God in the same way went looking for parents to raise His beloved, only-
begotten Son. He searched the earth, and He found a young girl - a teenager engaged to be married
- of whom the Bible says: she “found favour with God”. She was a choice young lady. A God-
fearing young lady.
But NOTE: God also went looking for a father. He called Mary AND JOSEPH as a couple. Joseph
was chosen. And just as God had looked for a godly young woman to bring forth the child, so He
looked for a godly man to be the father. And what an inspiring model of fatherhood Joseph was.
God made a good choice! Let’s look together, for a few minutes, at some things the Bible tells us
about this man Joseph.
First, note he was A LOVING MAN. The Scriptures draw the picture for us of a wonderfully
caring and affectionate man. And we can see this, firstly, in his relationship toward Mary.
Look at MATTHEW 1:19 for example. Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant. He hasn’t had any
great revelation yet. What is he to think? What would YOU think? You’ve fallen in love with this
pretty young girl. You do all the right things. You pursue her in the proper customary way. In
stolen moments you’ve talked with her about dreams for a future together. A cottage with a white
picket fence. A family. A business. And then out of the blue you learn that this sweet girl (you
thought you knew so well) is pregnant. NEWLY pregnant. And you don’t know who the father is -
but there is one person you know you can rule out! How does it make you feel? Angry? Betrayed?
The penalty for adultery in the Old Testament was death by stoning. And this penalty applied to
infidelity during betrothal as well as marriage. Upon discovery that Mary was pregnant, Joseph
would have been obliged to divorce her, and this would expose Mary to public shame and
humiliation.
BUT, even before God spoke to Joseph - Joseph didn’t have any vengeance or bitterness in his
heart. The Bible says: he “was minded to put her away secretly”. (There were ways in which a
divorce could be enacted very quietly, without the involvement of a judge, and Joseph was already
considering the best way to do this. That is when he had the dream and it opened the door for him
to show his love for her.
He also loved the son she bore. When the child came along - the child he had not conceived - there
was no attitude in Joseph that “THIS BOY ISN’T MY FLESH AND BLOOD”. There was no
resentment or indifference toward Him; no lack of love at all. JOSEPH ADOPTED JESUS AS HIS
OWN. He protected Him from the hatred of Herod. He nurtured Him and cared for Him. Evidently
he taught Jesus his own trade of carpentry. HE ADOPTED THE ONE THAT THE REST OF THE
WORLD WOULD REJECT.
SECOND: Joseph was A DEVOUT MAN. He not only loved Mary but he loved God and he was
willing to obey him no matter what. He explicitly followed the Lord’s leading and direction. He
didn’t follow his own marked-out plan for life - he wanted God’s plan for his life. So when God
spoke to him in a dream and told him to marry Mary (even though she was pregnant) HE OBEYED.
Then when God spoke and said: “Take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt for safety” - he
immediately obeyed. He closed up his business and left. Then when God said: “It’s O.K. now,
head back to Israel”, again he did as he was directed.
He was a man of FAITH. It takes FAITH to pack your bags and head off to a foreign country with
no prospects and no planning; simply on the basis that God said so. He had faith and obeyed the
dream. He could have made excuses to stay where the prospects looked good, but NO - he was a
man of faith.
I read the story of a farmer who had toiled over a bumper crop of grain - a badly needed crop of
grain - a badly needed crop that was going to pay off many creditors and secure the family for
another year. But just a few days before it was due to be harvested a freak wind and hail storm
ravaged the property, and the harvest was lost. The man stood with his little boy looking over the
fields of destroyed grain. The boy expected to hear his father cursing in despair. But instead his
Dad began to softly sing: “Rock of Ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.” Years later that
boy, grown into manhood, said: “That was the greatest sermon I ever heard!”
His father had shown him how faith was lived out in real life. That is what Joseph did for Jesus.
He showed him that faith in God was a blessing to be lived. I’m sure it gave Jesus courage as he
faced his own trials later on.
Finally, he was also A WISE MAN. Now listen to me carefully here. Joseph was wise because he
lived as one who REDEEMED THE TIME. By all accounts it seems that Joseph had a
SHORTENED LIFE. We don’t read of him after Jesus’ childhood, and at the Cross Jesus charged
John with the care of His mother - so it seems that Joseph was taken from them prematurely. But
JOSEPH HAD USED WHAT TIME HE HAD BEEN GIVEN HONOURABLE - WISELY! He had
provided for his family. He has set an example for them that they would remember. He had raised
them in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord.
Jesus was not the only child he had; he raised other boys for the Lord also, and possibly daughters
as well. He had other sons - TWO OF THEM (at least) WERE GREATLY USED BY GOD. They
wrote books of the Bible (James and Jude). James was leader of the church in Jerusalem.
Joseph raised his children in the ways of the Lord, and He left behind him a legacy after his
lifetime. His tenacious, his incredible love not only touched his wife and adopted son, it touched the
world.
| Welcome to the First Baptist Church of Norwich 239 West Main Street Norwich, Connecticut Phone: 860-889-0369 |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |