Matthew 1:18-25 "Living into God's Story"

Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah.

! It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah,

either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for us

that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself?

The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian,

we really, I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the

Bible, they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will do

what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a non-Christian,

checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't hesitate to send us

questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the types of things

that you're really struggling with. So God bless.

God bless.

Morning, Church. Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for this morning and the chance to gather around your Word with your community at your table.

We thank you for the gift of your Word. We ask that you would help us to

eat of it this morning and that there we would find life.

We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

So over the last six years, I worked with refugees who were stuck in the middle of the desert,

in North Africa, many living in tents, extremely limited water resources, and these refugees were

hosted by another country along the border in settlements. These refugees were waiting, longing,

and fighting to go home. Their home country, in the meantime, was in fact under the control of

another authority. Their leaders were operating in the refugee camps as a government in exile.

So imagine this was you. You wake up each morning in a place that you call home somehow, but in a very

real sense is not your true home. You live under the laws and customs of a foreign land that you would

do well to obey, but that do not define you in a deeper sense. You see the signs, you see the flags,

you see all the signs that point to the fact that you're not in your home and remind you of where your

home really is. You respect these signs, these flags, but they do not define you.

Well, this is the life of someone caught up in between two very different stories, two very different

narratives, living under two sets of rules, living under two sets of customs, and somehow in your day-to-day

life you have to reconcile these two things together somehow. To stay, to set up your life in the camps

means to live into one story. To fight to go back or to abandon the cause and seek education and health

care and whatever you can get outside of the camps is to live into yet another story. And so the people

that I worked with were caught in between these two stories. In the text we read this morning from

Matthew, which tells the story of Jesus's birth from Joseph's perspective, we see that Joseph found

himself in two stories in a sense, two competing narratives, and they're the same two stories that we

find ourselves in as well this morning. One of these stories was we might call the dominant story of the day,

the story of his community expectations, the way that society sees things, the values that shaped

his society. It's the world of common sense, the world that you can touch with your hands and see with

your eyes. It's a story that we piece together and have the sense of, in our context we might call this

the Canadian story. And the other story that interposes itself onto this story is the story that God tells.

It's the story in which God is speaking to us, that he tells us where we came from, who we are,

where we're going, and how we should live. One story depends on sight, the other story depends on faith.

One story is the story of our reasoning, the other story of God's revelation.

Now these stories are not always in contradiction. There are varying degrees in which these stories

compete and align in every place and culture. But one thing is sure, that just as Joseph, as for us,

there is a point, probably many points, of time in which these stories come into direct competition

with each other. That these stories are on a crash-collision course, and we are forced to choose

which story will shape us, which story do we truly believe in. When the stories contradict one another,

which story will you find yourself in? And as we'll see this morning, we are invited to join

the better story, the truer story, the one that will lead to life.

At the start of our text, I invite you to pull up your Bibles and follow along in Matthew chapter 1.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

At the beginning of the text, we find that Joseph is very much operating within that first story.

Stuck, you might say, within that first story. He's in a moment of crisis, caught in the middle of this apparent scandal.

For Mary, his fiancée was found to be pregnant, and it certainly was not of his doing.

We're not given a lot of details in the text,

And so we might wonder exactly how Joseph found out about Mary's pregnancy.

Did it reach him through the grapevine?

Was it an official family-to-family communique,

where one father-in-law to another was trying to keep this marriage plan together?

Did Joseph drop in once and notice that unmistakable pregnancy glow that so many people talk about,

that I never saw in my wife, but other people did?

It doesn't seem that Mary told Joseph exactly what happened, what she had heard from the angels,

from the details of the text.

It doesn't sound like Joseph was weighing out this report and its accuracy.

But in any case, however Joseph heard or found out, his fiancée was indeed pregnant.

There's a song I was listening to this past week from a contemporary Christian singer-songwriter

that says, singing about Mary, says,

The day you're getting married and this isn't what you dreamed of,

walking down the aisle at eight months,

they'll never understand that this isn't what you planned.

Now it might be a little anachronistic thinking about an aisle walking

in first century Judaism and in Palestine,

but the point is this.

This marriage, this young love,

which was supposed to be a pure, good moment of community celebration,

that it was overshadowed in a sense of shame.

That Joseph, in order, you know, we know the story of Joseph walking to Bethlehem

by donkey with his wife,

that before that, Joseph would have had some sort of arrangement

where he took Mary, pregnant Mary,

to come home with him and his wife.

And we can only imagine what the neighbors would have thought.

Over the last 10 plus years,

we've lived in many cultures that are very community-based,

very traditional,

and where indeed the neighbors talk.

We had to be careful about the groceries that we brought home,

walking home in our bags,

because if we had too many Western products

or too many things that would have cost a pretty penny,

we would have been judged for that.

It seemed that the people around us,

our neighbors, the people we lived,

with and amongst,

that they would take anything to gossip about

and talk about and spin a story about you of.

And I imagine that Mary and Joseph's day was no different,

that they had to endure the judgment

and the shame that went along with this moment,

very unfortunately.

And so at the start of this,

our text,

we find that Joseph was operating

within this first story,

and of course,

it was no simple thing just to call off the engagement.

There's a friend of mine

who,

when he tells the story of his marriage,

marriage,

he talks about how he met his wife

who was engaged to another fellow at the time,

and long story short,

he got in there and stole her away.

And in his words,

he says,

it's not over till it's over.

And whether you may or may not have been so bold

as to scoop in there

and end another engagement,

we,

I think we mostly think

that this sort of thing

is acceptable,

you know,

according to our rules

of dating,

engagement,

and marriage.

You know,

it's not marriage

until both parties say,

I do.

Well,

it wasn't so in Joseph's day.

Engagement and marriage

were linked together

such that for Joseph

to call off the engagement

was for him to call off

the marriage

and a divorce

was in order.

And so this is where we find

Joseph at the start of the story

not wanting

to put Mary to shame

despite his confidence

of how this baby

must have come about.

We find him

considering,

reasoning,

agonizing,

looking at the facts,

trying to wrap his mind

around what is happening,

what God is doing.

We read in the text

that Joseph is described

as a just man,

which means that

he was a good guy.

He would have followed

God's law

and would have had

a degree of honor

and respect

from his community.

But his reputation,

the life that he built,

is all now under attack.

And all of a sudden,

upon the angel's visitation

in a dream at night,

crashing into Joseph's world

of predictability

and common sense

and community expectations,

comes God and his word.

God's story interposing itself

on his.

God's story contradicting

what Joseph saw

with his eyes.

And Joseph was at a fork

in the road,

a choice before him.

Which story would he

play into?

Which story would he choose

to be a part of?

And we read,

an angel of the Lord

appears to him

in a dream.

Do not fear

to take Mary

as your wife,

for that which is conceived

in her is from

the Holy Spirit.

And so imagine

waking up

the next day

in Joseph's shoes

or maybe

in Joseph's bed

and there's a decision

hanging over you.

I think we've all

had that moment

where we go to bed

with an awful decision

before us.

Sometimes we wake up

in this blissful

state

where we forget

the decision

before us

and it takes

a couple seconds

before we get

sucker punched

and wake up

to reality.

Sometimes we

somehow dream

all night

about the decision

and we wake up

somehow already

sick to our stomach.

Whatever it was

for Joseph,

he woke up

and we ask ourselves

the question

if you were to wake up

in his shoes,

where would your mind go?

What would you do?

All that Joseph

had built up

flashes before his eyes

and he might be

thinking to himself,

even if the angel,

even if what the angel

was telling me

was true,

who is going

to believe this?

All forever be

the loser

that got married

to a loose wife,

whose child

is not my own,

quite literally,

shame on me.

It's remarkable

what God asks

of Joseph

and what he asks

of me and you.

So often,

God's word

provides us

with the ability

to live respectable lives,

fulfilling lives

that mark us out

as good neighbors,

leaders,

spouses,

parents,

friends,

friends,

friends,

in ways that can be

appreciated and understood

by the community

around us.

The faith makes us

into people

that are serving

the common good.

But just as often,

maybe a little bit more,

God's word

has the very opposite

effect.

That living

in his story

will set us apart

in ways that

will be met

with mocking,

with incredulity,

or disbelief.

And so for Joseph,

as for us,

there was no getting

around this fact.

To go through

with what God

told Joseph to do,

being misunderstood,

would have been

completely unavoidable.

And this seems to be,

for whatever reason,

a part of God's will

for us.

To go through

with lives

where we,

at times,

will be grossly

misunderstood.

And we can feel

the whiplash

of being jostled

between our faith

being received

as a good

to society

and sometimes

our faith

being received

as an ill

to society.

I think this is

a particular challenge

for those of us

who live

in the post-Christian

culture

that we find

ourselves in,

where faith

is disputed,

where we somehow

need to give

a justification

for belief

of any kind

in this day and age.

And I don't know

about you,

but being a minority

in this majority

type of culture,

I've spent years

and much energy

trying to live out

my faith

in a way

that can be understood

and appreciated

by my wider culture.

I want to show

the world

that I have

in my faith

the very things

they long for.

Hope,

love,

forgiveness.

I want to show

that my faith

answers life's

big questions.

I want to show

the world

that I'm

intellectually honest,

that God's law

is not arbitrary

or harmful,

but is freeing,

that I can bring

together the methods

of the enlightenment,

the impulses

of romanticism,

the critiques

of post-modernity

into some

cohesive framework,

traditional,

historic and ancient

and reformed.

I want to argue

that the scriptures

have held up

against the best

criticisms of the

last centuries.

And while this is

all very good,

there's also,

I've found,

an unintended

consequence here.

As we live

to be understood,

as we spend

great efforts

to be understood,

I think it becomes,

and in my experience,

it's become harder

and harder

to stand out

and to be different

when indeed

this is required

of me.

We get quite used

to living

by the standards

and assumptions

of the prevailing culture.

We get used

to living

defensively,

apologetically.

We live in the world

and while we want,

while we might want

to not be of the world,

we want to somehow

find our place

in the world.

we don't want

to be seen

as weirdos,

extremists,

or irrelevant.

And so we do

everything in our power

to avoid being

misunderstood.

And yet the text

confronts us

with something

this morning

that at times

it is God's will

for you and for me

at times

that we will be

misunderstood.

We could talk

about tons

of examples

about how this is,

but maybe a few.

In our culture

of the therapeutic

where self-care

is everything,

where shame

has no place,

God calls us

to a life

of confession,

to walk

in repentance.

As we gather

as the church

week in and week out

and confess our sins

that we're doing

something deeply

counter-cultural

that will

very much

not be appreciated

by the wider

culture.

They'll say

no need to go there,

right?

No need to get

lost in

shame

and this negativity.

No need

to be honest

about

your sin.

Just try and

kind of pretend,

get past it,

this sort of thing.

It's amazing

when you read

the Psalms

how counter-cultural

these texts are.

people that are

lamenting

their sins,

grieving over

their sins

and there's

something that

the world

sees in us

and says

that's not

the way,

that's not

the way up,

that's not

the way to

grow.

And yet of course

we know that

in Christ

we follow him

all the way down

into his death

in order to

come up,

back up with him

into his

life.

in our

workaholic

culture

obsessed with

advancement

and materialism

God has

called us

to Sabbath

rest

to give up

of our

resources

things that

others

will look

at us

and say

you're wasting

your time,

you're wasting

your efforts,

life is hard

enough,

you don't need

to spend

your time

with a

bunch of

strangers

at church

on a Sunday.

spend your

efforts

climbing the

ladder,

the fastest

way to

the highest

pay

is the

way to

the best

life,

yet God

calls us

to seek

flourishing

of the

places in

which we

work,

to slow

down,

to give

up of our

time and

resources in

all sorts

of ways.

This

often will

be misunderstood

by those

around us.

We could

go on.

Opportunities

for being

misunderstood

abound,

spending time

with Jesus'

kinds of

people,

calling

yourself a

Christian.

For many

people this

will represent

the patriarchy,

colonialism,

systemic

oppression.

You'll be

seen by

others to

represent the

worst sins

of the

church.

You'll be

called

anti-intellectual,

bigoted,

and while we

can do our

best to

strive to

represent

Christ well

and to

explain and

show a

better way

that at the

end of the

day we

can't control

all of this

and we

will be

marked out

in some

of these

ways.

And so

why is it

that God

asks us

of these

things?

Why does

God ask

us things

that will

be unintelligible

to those

around us?

Things that

will cost

us friendships,

things that

will cost

us jobs,

honor,

and we

have to

ask ourselves

the question,

is he being

mean?

Is he

wanting us

to struggle?

Perhaps this

is a question

you're struck

with,

disappointed

with God,

reflecting on

the fact that

this whole

Christian walk

is far harder

than you thought

it would be.

reflecting on

Joseph and

his story,

sure,

Joseph meant,

obedience for

Joseph meant

that being

misunderstood

and being

judged was

his reality,

and of course

there's no

indication that

Joseph would

have been

vindicated,

publicly

vindicated

within his

lifetime,

and yet we

have to reflect

on the fact

that Joseph

gets to

father the

long-awaited

Messiah,

that Joseph

had the

honor of

bestowing the

name spoken

to him from

heaven,

Jesus,

to his

son,

the son of

God,

anticipating

that this

child will

save God's

people from

their sins,

that Joseph,

well,

taking the

words of a

song from

a few decades

ago,

from Joseph's

perspective,

it says,

Lord,

for all my

life I've

been a simple

carpenter,

how can I

raise a

king?

For

Joseph,

in his

life,

in his

place in

society,

that this

man got

to raise

Jesus,

the Messiah,

the son of

God.

And so we

find an

answer to

our question,

why does

God go

after us

to live

these lives

that are

quite

challenging?

And I

think the

answer is

this,

that he

doesn't just

want us to

struggle,

he doesn't

want us

just to

be

disagreeable

for the

sake of

it,

he wants

to lift

us up

from our

small

stories,

he wants

to lift

us from

our broken

stories,

our self-righteous

stories,

and he wants

us to live

with him

and for him,

unto him,

for a far

better story

than we could

ever come up

with ourselves.

It's because

of his love

that he goes

after us.

The example

of Joseph

is set

forth as

an encouragement

to each

of us,

that even

though Joseph

does not

speak a

single recorded

word in

the scripture,

that this

Joseph was

appointed for

something

great.

God's word

breaks into

Joseph's story

and tells him

what to do.

Do not fear

to take Mary

as your wife,

for that which

is conceived

in her is

from the

Holy Spirit.

She will

bear a son

and you shall

call his name

Jesus.

For he will

save his

people from

their sins.

And we read

that when

Joseph woke

from sleep,

he did as

the angel

of the Lord

commanded him.

From agony

to resolve,

from his

small story

to God's

big story,

he took

the words

to heart,

do not fear,

was the message

from the angel

and Joseph

courageously put

his full weight

down on God's

word.

He took his

pregnant fiancee

to be his

wife.

He did

what was

asked of

him,

despite its

shame,

to bring up

one who

would himself

be ready

to take

on shame

and disgrace

of a much

greater kind.

Jesus Christ

followed the

pattern set

by his

earthly father

and delivered

on the plan

established before

time with his

heavenly father

to take on

our shame

and disgrace

and to save

us from our

sins.

That Jesus

Christ,

Emmanuel,

God with us,

has done this

for you

and for me.

This,

Jesus Christ,

then sets the

pattern for

each of us

to rise above

our fear

and to take

on shame,

misunderstanding,

disbelief,

inviting and

equipping us

to partake in

God's great

story.

And so the

question we're

asked with this

morning,

we're left

with,

is will you

play your

part?

will you

join in

God's

story?

And who

knows how

God will

use it

in his

greater story?

I invite you

to stand

and we'll

pray together.

Yeah.

Father,

we're grateful

for this,

your word,

we're thankful

for this,

for this

familiar story,

we're grateful

for this

example of

Joseph.

Joseph,

who did

not stop

at the

prospect of

shame,

but went

through with

what you

were calling

him to

do,

and that

he was

blessed,

and we're

blessed by

reflecting and

being challenged

by his

story.

We ask that

you, by the

power of

your spirit,

would bring

these words

and this

message into

our hearts,

that you'd

make us

courageous

people,

willing to

follow you

in all

things,

today and

all days.

We pray

this in

Christ's

name.

Amen.