Life in His Presence | In His Presence, He Provides Us A Role in Redemption

Lemanuel Williams: Father, we come before you, Lord. Lord, our trust often we we place it in ourselves, in our own strength. This song reminds us, Lord, that it is our trust in you, Lord, that gives us hope, that gives us a rock and a refuge to stand on. So I pray this evening, Lord, as we've witnessed baptisms, we see people place their faith and their trust in you and their confession in you. Lord, even by your word right now, we would hear from it and we would trust what it can do in our hearts. That it would transform us from glory to glory, that it would do the work that only it can do inside of our hearts and no man can do. And so I pray now, Father, open our ears, our hearts, and our minds to receive your word. That you may be glorified in this hour, and you may edify your people. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. If you will remain, if you would stand for the reading of God's word, will be in Matthew chapter 1, verse 18 to 25. The word of the Lord reads this way. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, for they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, 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. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the burgeon shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife. But he knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. Truth of the text I want us to be able to see this evening as we look in God's Word is that in his presence he provides us a role in his redemption. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. I don't know if you've ever been in a situation where you don't know which way to turn. I know I have, or maybe you've been in a situation where you're so confident that you're right and you got the right thing to do and you know the right decision to make, but then you get into that situation and immediately you begin questioning whether it was the right decision. I can't think of a better situation that actually illustrates that than romantic relationships or dating. I've been in a few of those in my lifetime, right before I met my wife. It was hard for me to navigate those relationships, especially the one right before, a year before I met my wife. It was a good relationship. We had a few bumps in the road, but ⁓ to you to use the word we use nowadays, we were compatible, but we had our differences. ⁓ we shared a lot of similarities and views. Our families were worlds different, but we figured we can manage that. We were walking our way towards marriage. Well there came a point ⁓ to where there seemed to be some irreconcilable differences inside of the relationship. And I was standing at a crossroads. I was in a situation where I didn't know which way to turn. I was asking myself, can can we work through the differences? Am I am I being unrealistic? Am I am I not compromising enough? Am I being too prideful? Is is this who the Lord really wants me to be with? I was in a situation where I didn't know which way to turn. Reminds me of that song, a song that's sung at every black family reunion and every ⁓ cookout. ⁓ in fact every black festivity I would say. If you don't know it, you need your black card taken. It's that song by Frankie Beverly and Patrick Beverly. The classic R and B song. You know what it is, Before I Let You Go. While that song brings up some sense of jubilation and celebration at ⁓ function that we'll be at. It's actually a very sad song if you read the lyrics. It's a true R and B song. It it has all the rhythm ⁓ in the R for R and B, but it it's far more blues inside of the song. ⁓ I don't know if they actually made it to be for for cookout to be played, but here's a lic here's our lyrics. Now we've had good times. That's not the same. We're hurting each other. Girl, it's a shame. I won't be foolish, no no. I wanna know. I wanna make sure I'm right, girl. ⁓ before I let you go. I was having a Frankie Beverly moment in that relationship and I was standing at this crossroads where I didn't know which way to turn. But as Frankie Beverly said, I I didn't want to be foolish. No, no, I I want to know. I wanna know and make sure that I'm right, girl, before I let you go. I turned out to be right. I let go. And ⁓ the Lord sent me the woman of my dreams. But it was not easy making that decision in a relationship that you didn't know which way to turn. In our texts, Joseph is in a situation where he doesn't know which way to turn. I want you to lean in here with me and imagine this with me. I love how Matthew paints a picture in the drama in two sentences, verse 18. He says, Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she found and she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. You know, so often we think about the birth narrative in the scripture, but we just think about it as Mary's problem. Matthew is trying to get us to see that this is a Joseph problem too. Matthew isn't giving us a flowery description of things. He's hopping straight inside of the drama. You ever have a person like that where they they just hop straight to the end of result? Well, so-and-so punched so-and-so in the face, but you're like, man, what's detail? How did this how did we get there? How do you get to those results? If you don't see the drama here that Matthew's trying to paint, I want to paint it for you. Matthew's trying to get us to see that the birth narrative is not just Mary's problem, it's Joseph's problem. We know the story. One night, Luke's gospel says, An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph's betrothed, Mary. They're engaged. And the angel says to Mary, You're going to have a child, not by Joseph, but by the Holy Spirit. Again, this is not a Mary problem. It's a Joseph problem. The plot thickens. Here's more. The story goes on. Mary hears the words from the angel, and she could have rejected the words from the angel and said, No, no, no, no. I'm engaged. This is gonna be a big problem. Can you find somebody else? But the text says she accepts his words and she's overwhelmed and she's overjoyed. But make no mistake, she also knows this is a problem. But it's not just a Mary problem, it's a Joseph problem. The plot thickened, she sets, she she gets up and it says she has to go tell somebody. I I don't know if you've ever received some good news that was also complicated news. I received some of that myself this week. At the same time, you you you want to get up. You don't want to share with everybody, but you gotta tell somebody. So tell Mary, that's what she does. The story goes. Mary got up. She went with haste, Luke's gospel said. And she went to go tell her cousin Elizabeth about the word she just received from this angel. I can imagine her bursting through the door of her cousin's house. And the text said Elizabeth heard her greeting, which means she wasn't standing at the door to greet her. Mary just opened up her mouth. Elizabeth, you will not believe what this angel just told me. In fact, she does believe her. And Elizabeth, and she just had something similar happen to her. We know that inside of the story. She's beyond Elizabeth. She's old. She's beyond childbearing years. And ⁓ the Lord had blessed her and her husband Zachariah with a baby. I can imagine Elizabeth. Think about it with me. Looking Mary looking at Elizabeth. Elizabeth with wrinkles on her face. You imagine your your grandmother. Well, black don't crack. So ⁓ but but but imagine imagine the wrinkles being on the face and the woolly gray hair going down, but then there's a little round bump. And Mary would be standing there, shocked in her face, and thinking to herself, this is a miracle. ⁓ It's true, you're pregnant, Elizabeth. You're way too old to have a baby girl. This must be the Lord. It has to be the Lord. In that moment, I don't know what's going through Mary's head, but I could say she's standing looking at a miracle that no doubt strengthens her faith to believe the miracle she has received. And yet, as she's staring at this miracle of Elizabeth, if we admit it, it's a little easier to believe the miracle that Elizabeth received than to believe the miracle that Mary just had received. You have to understand just how impossible the situation looked. Mary's pregnancy didn't fit in anybody's category. I don't think anybody in Mary's life was looking at Mary and saying, ⁓ yeah, I see how God can do that. No. Everything they could see told them one thing while God was doing something that their eyes could not explain. And maybe that's where some of you are right now. You can't see how. You can't see how the marriage comes back. You can't see how the child comes home. You can't see how the bills get paid. You can't see how the addiction gets broken. You can't see how God redeems what has been ruined. But hear me. I can't see how never meet God can't. Your inability to see a way is not evidence that God doesn't actually have a way. Because if the Holy Spirit can put the Son of God in the womb of a virgin, your inability to imagine a way forward is not evidence that God doesn't have a way forward. Yes, it may seem impossible, but with God, as we know, all things are possible. We come back to the story in Matthew. We live on the other side of the story, so we see how it is possible. But in the story we're reading of Matthew, it's still a problem. This isn't just a Mary problem, it's a Joseph problem. The plot actually thickens. Immediately after Mary receives the word, she accepts those words from the angel Gabriel. She goes to Zachariah and Elizabeth. And Luke's gospel says that she stayed there for three whole months. That's not a small detail. That means that Zachariah not only had to deal with Elizabeth in her third trimester of pregnancy. The text doesn't say how hard the pregnancy was. I'm pretty sure it's pretty hard on the body. She's old. But he also had to deal with Mary in her first trimester, all the nausea and the exhaustion and all the things that are there. I won't even go there how Zachariah was feeling. But here's the point. Zachariah was probably going through it. It makes me ⁓ wonder if that's why he she only stayed three months. Zachariah. She'd he'd probably I don't know where you're gonna go, Mary, but you gotta get up out of here. I don't want you to miss this. Mary was with them for three months. I don't know if you ever watched someone pregnant, but There's a moment when the clothes stop fitting and the cute belly begins showing. If they had Instagram back then, Mary probably would have been doing, you know, a little selfie of her of her bump. And actually, ⁓ I'll take that back. No, she wouldn't. Because it's in secret. The only people that know thus far about her pregnancy is Mary, Elizabeth, and Zachariah. Remember, she's been with them for three months. And now she's heading back to her hometown and she's showing. Y'all ain't hearing me. Y'all trying to be all high and holy. Imagine your fiancé went out of town for three whole months. And you didn't go with her. And when she came back, she was showing. This isn't just a Mary problem. It's a Joseph problem. The plot thickens. Come back when we need how Matthew begins the whole story. Now, hopefully, you can hear the drama a little clearer in verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together or they consummated the marriage, she was found to be with child. In other words, y'all, Joseph wasn't told about the child. Joseph found out about the child. Can you imagine the gossip that would be stirring up around town? ⁓ you we live in Rocky Mouse fifty two thousand people, it feels like a small town. ⁓ word goes around real fast. You find yourself on two five two hood news and ⁓ it gets even worse, right? They'd indeed a hood news in Nazareth. Mary and Joseph, they lived their scholars would suggest it's only a few hundred people inside of town. So word would have moved around town real fast. And sure Joseph may have heard some rumors, but by the time Mary returned back to town, it was an undeniable reality. This isn't just a Mary problem. It's a Joseph problem. The plot thickens. Joseph is hit with a problem that he did not see coming. Can you relate to that? I know on a day-to-day basis we're hit with big problems and small ones that we didn't see coming. You didn't see the relationship falling apart with somebody you thought would always be there. You didn't see that job ending and the hours getting cut and the bills showing up and the rent go ⁓ going up on you. You didn't see your your your child making that decision that keeps you awake at night wondering if well what what actually went wrong. You didn't see the betrayal coming from somebody you actually trusted. Sometimes it's not even one big thing, it's five little things that keep hitting you from the same to the at the same time and you finally just say, Lord, Lord, I can't take this anymore. And the question isn't if problems like this will come into our lives. The reality is as Christians, problems like this, the Lord said they're going to fill our lives. Ones where you don't just you where you don't actually see them coming. And and here's the reality. What we need in times like this is not a thin theology that teaches us every problem comes from the enemy and therefore it isn't meant for me. What we need is a thick theology that teaches us that even though some problems may come from the enemy, what hell plans for my undoing, heaven has orchestrated for my transforming. When the enemy intends to break me, God will use that to build me. What the enemy intended to make me bitter, God will use to make for me to savor more of the sweetness of the Savior. When the enemy intends to destroy my faith, God will use this thing to deepen my faith. Because sometimes the very problem I'm asking God to get me out of is the problem God is using to get something out of me. Come back to the story with me. Joseph is hit with the problem that he didn't see coming. Because The the type of problem Joseph is facing, it's not just any type of problem. I like to call this a pivotal problem. When you have a situation before you where you don't know which way to turn, but you know whichever way you turn, you know it will change not only the trajectory of your life, but it will trajectory it will change the trajectory of other people's lives. Joseph is facing a pivotal problem. It's not just Samaria's problem, it's Joseph's problem. Blot continues to thicken. Imagine with me. Joseph has found out. He sees Mary with her little bum. And I can imagine Mary pleading with him, just using my sanctified imagination. Joseph. This is not some other man's baby, Joseph. I I know I was in the Judean ⁓ hill country for some time, but but but I I've been faithful to you, Joseph. This is not some other man's baby. This is this is a baby from the Holy Spirit. Maybe Joseph, he's lost for words. Maybe he brushes her away. Looks down at Mary's pregnant belly. And I don't know the type of shock that he had on his face. I don't know the type of anger he would have felt. I don't know the type of confusion that he would have that would have actually entered his mind. I don't know the type of pain that would have pierced his heart. But here's what I do know. As I've said before inside of the chapel, circumstances don't make you who you are in the moment. They reveal who you are in the moment. I don't know all that Joseph was going through, but in this moment we learn about the man who is going through it. And Matthew shows us when Joseph is faced with this unforeseen problem, a pivotal problem, it reveals the person. Who does the problem or the circumstance actually reveal to us? Look at verse 19. Matthew says, and Joseph, or her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her. Quietly. The problem of the moment didn't make the person. The problem of the moment revealed the person. Matthew says, Joseph was a just man. In other words, before the problems came, Joseph was a man who practiced being a just man. Before unjust circumstances came upon him, he was practicing justice before them. He ⁓ what he practiced before actually taught him to do justice in the midst of the circumstances he was in. This says a lot about justice. I want you to lean back into the story with me. Your fiance is pregnant. And the one thing you know, this is not my baby. It it may be some other man's baby from the hills of Judea, but it ain't my baby. And you can only imagine what's going through Joseph. He's been faithful, but it seems his betrothed or his engaged fiance has been faithless. He he has been honored, he's honored her, but now he has been humiliated by her. He's become the talk of the town. Because remember, this this ain't just a married problem. It's a Joseph problem. And the plot continues to thicken. Here's what makes this more insightful about the man that Joseph is. To be engaged with someone in Joseph's time would have been much different than in our time. To be engaged with someone was to pledge that that it was a pledge that was actually legally binding. And the only way that you could get out of this legally binding engagement could be through a broken act of infidelity or adultery. And according to the law, adultery during betrothal or being engaged was no small matter. Deuteronomy 22 actually treats this type of unfaithfulness during being engaged as adultery and even ⁓ prescribes a severe punishment of stoning. Now we shouldn't ⁓ just implant that on the text here. By Joseph's day, exactly how those penalties were actually being practiced under Roman law is actually very complicated. So we shouldn't assume that Mary was was moments away from being stoned. But here's the point. What Joseph believed. Mary had actually done was very, very serious. Joseph has every reason to believe he has been wronged. He has every reason to be angry. He has every reason to feel betrayed. He has every reason to want everybody to know what she actually did. But look at Joseph. Matthew says he was unwilling to put her to shame. Joseph had been wounded, but he refused to use his wound as a weapon. He could have exposed her, but he chose not to shame her. He could have humiliated her, but he chose to protect her dignity. He could have made sure everybody knew that he was the victim and she was a villain, but he resolved to divorce her quietly. And remember, just as ⁓ Joseph doesn't even know the truth yet. The angel hasn't appeared, God hasn't explained anything. As far as Joseph knows, Mary has betrayed him. And yet, even when Joseph believes he's been treated unjustly, he refuses to become unjust. And there's a word for somebody right there. You don't get the permission to become the wrong kind of person just because somebody did you wrong. Their injustice doesn't give you permission to become unjust. Their dishonor doesn't give you the permission to become dishonorable. Their sin against you doesn't give you the permission to sin against them because problems don't just reveal what happened to you, problems reveal what is actually happening inside of you. And there's one more thing that this problem actually reveals about Joseph. It actually tells us about a lot about the man that he is. He's not a man who makes rash decisions. He's not someone ruled by his feelings. He's not someone who makes a decision without thinking it through. No, the text says in verse 20. But as he considered these things, it says a lot about Joseph. Other translations would say that Joseph was a righteous and a devout man. He was a Jewish man. And what that meant for him to be righteous in the vow as a Jewish man is he practiced his Judaism faithfully. And one thing that we know about the Jews is they were people who knew how to pray. They had set times during the day where they were praying. In fact, early Christians would get the rhythm of their daily prayer from Jewish practices. So, what did it mean for Joseph? They say that he was a righteous and a devout man meant he was a praying man. And the text says he considered these things. You can have no doubt that he was wrestling in prayer about these things. And this brings us full circle. When we begin talking about ⁓ where we have life ⁓ in their situations that we come to a crossroads in, but we don't know which way to go. We don't know which way to turn. Joseph is having his Patrick Beverly moment. He doesn't want to let her go, but he's trying to work it out. Joseph is in the midst of a pivotal problem. Remember, the pivotal problem is when you have a situation before you that you don't know which way to turn, but whichever way you turn, you know it will change the trajectory of your lives and the lives of others. He's facing this pivotal problem and he's considering these things. He's praying in the midst of this pivotal problem. This is a hard situation. No easy answers. And as you and I, we've been going through this series on practicing the presence of God in prayer. Sometimes God will lead us to a place where there's not an easy answer. Where we're trying to figure out in prayer which direction to go. This is where we wrestle with God in prayer. Notice I said God leads us there in prayer. Joseph had come to the place where he is. He's considering these things not because Satan led him there. No, the Spirit of God orchestrated this story and he led him there. God leads him to a place where he must wrestle with him in prayer. This is what I mean that Joseph is wrestling with God in prayer. The text doesn't explicitly say Joseph prayed. It says Joseph consider these things. But Matthew has already told us what kind of man we're considering. He's a righteous man, he's a devout man, he's a man whose life has been shaped by the practices of faith. So when a man like Joseph comes to a pivotal problem and begins deeply considering what he should do, we have every reason to believe that the consideration that he has has been gone before it has gone before the face of God. This is what I mean that he's wrestling in prayer. He's saying things like, God, I know what I see, but I don't know what you want me to do with what I see. God, I know what seems right, but is this is this what you want me to do? Is this where you want me to go? God, I I have to make a decision, but I need you to direct me. That's what wrestling looks like. It's when you you you bring the problem before God, which you cannot see, a clear way forward, and you stay before him, seeking his direction until he shows you how to walk forward. And beloved, this runs throughout the entire story of the scriptures. Abraham wrestles on Mount Moriah after being promised a son that will bring forth a nation. How can the God ask for the very son through whom he promised to fulfill the promise? But Abraham keeps walking. God provides his ram, shows him the way forward. He wrestles with God in prayer as he walks up that mountain. David wrestles in the cases, he's been promised to become the king. He's been anointed for the throne, but he finds himself hiding from Saul. And rather than letting the pressure of the problem determine his direction, David keeps inquiring of the Lord, Should I go? Should I stay? Should I pursue? And God gives him direction. Then we get Jesus. Beginning of his ministry, the spirit led him into the wilderness, and Satan tempted him there. The spirit led him there. And at the end of his ministry, he enters another wilderness called Gethsemane. Jesus falls on his face. Father, if it's possible, let this cup fall pass from me. He wrestles, he agonizes, he seeks his father. And nevertheless, until he rises from prayer, he says, Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. And Jesus gets up with direction and walks towards the cross. Do you see the pattern? Abraham wrestles. David wrestles. Jesus wrestled. Many more wrestled in prayer. And in the wrestling, they find a way forward. So when Matthew says Joseph was considering these things, Joseph is wrestling. Lord, which way do I go? And sometime, beloved, God leads us into circumstances where we have to actually wrestle with Him for direction. Sometimes what looks like Satan has backed you into a corner is actually the Spirit leading you to a place where you have to seek God for what comes next. Because sometimes God doesn't give you a map before you wrestle. Sometimes He gives you direction in the midst of the wrestling. And that's exactly where Joseph is. He's considering these things. He's wrestling. He's seeking a way forward. And while Joseph is considering what he should do, God is about to tell him which way to go. But I don't want you to miss this. Sometimes God puts us in pivotal positions that drives us to prayer for his direction. And it is actually there in prayer that he prepares us to participate in his work of redemption. Prayer is not merely where we ask God to do something for us. Prayer is often where God prepares to do something through us. I love how Tyler Stanton says it. He puts it this way: he says, God has freely chosen to act almost exclusively in partnership with people. When we pray, we both participate in God's action and benefit from God's action. We join God. I love how he goes on to actually talk about the life of Mother Teresa. He says, Mother Teresa actually resisted the idea that the center of her life was actually activism or social work. She described, she works amongst the poor, she's helping the poor. She described herself and those serving alongside her as contemplatives, prayer, prayerful contemplatives in the heart of the world. In other words, she wasn't primarily trying to change the world. She was trying to be with Jesus. And out of being with Jesus came feeding the hungry. Out of being with Jesus came caring for the dying. Out of being with Jesus came loving the forgotten. Out of being with Jesus came a life that impacted the world. Her fruitfulness flowed from her intimacy. She wasn't waking up every morning asking, How can I do something significant today? She was seeking God, and in seeking God, she found herself participating in what God was already doing. Beloved, that's what Joseph is doing here. In Joseph's perspective, he's not trying to change the world, he's just trying to figure out how to be faithful before God. He's not trying to play some major role in redemptive humanity. No, he's trying to figure out what to do with Mary. He doesn't know that heaven has wrapped the redemption of the world up in this very situation that he's actually wrestling over. To Joseph, this looks like a mess. To God, this is redemption. To Joseph, this is a complicated relationship. To God, this is a part of the fulfillment of his promises made generations ago. To Joseph, he's simply asking, Lord, what should I do? But God is about to answer, Joseph, let me show you what I am doing and the part that I have for you inside of my plan of redemption. And it happens as Joseph is considering these things, friends. As he wrestles before God, as he seeks the will of God, as he waits for direction from God, it is there that he discovers his place in the redemptive work of God. Maybe that's one of the greatest mysteries of prayer. You can enter prayer simply trying to find your way through the problem and discover that God is showing you your place and his purposes. Because prayer isn't merely where we get in we get God involved in what we're doing. Prayer is where God gets us involved in what he is doing. Put it another way: God employs praying people into his redemptive work. Intimacy with God. Becomes participation with God. We get with God, and then God sends us with him. And that's what happens to Joseph here in our text in verse twenty through twenty-four. But as he considered these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, 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 ye shall save his people from the sins. All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken to the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. Notice verse 24. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but he knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. There's two things I want you to notice, and then I'm done. First, although God allowed Joseph to wrestle through what to do, he did not leave Joseph without direction for what to do. God our Father answers the prayers of his children. We are not a people praying into an empty ⁓ heaven to some silent God who does not have direction for his children. It may be when you don't hear and things are aren't actually clear, you need to wait. It may be, yes, and he provides the clarity for you to go. It may be no, where there's no clarity and there's no provision to go. That may be a no. But he always answers our prayers. He could you could be waiting, you can go, he could say no. But here's the second thing I want you to see. When God gives you direction, the direction he gives us is his will, it's not yours. And that means the question isn't only, God, what do you want me to do? The deeper question is: God, when you show me what you want me to do. Will I actually do it? Because prayer for direction requires surrender to direction. I think the prayer Mary prayed when God revealed his will for her life is a good example for us to pray when God reveals his will for our life. Here it is. She says in Luke's gospel, I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled. I want to give you two simple phrases, the way that you could pray when you're wrestling for direction. The first is so we've been practicing the presence of God and you're wrestling for direction. Pray as Mary prayed. Lord, I am your servant. Before you ask God what to do, remember who you are. I am not Lord, I am the Lord's servant. This is his story, his kingdom, his redemptive work. His and this life belongs to him. So begin your prayers. Father, I'm your servant. My life belongs to you. Whatever you want from me, I am available to you. Then pray the second part. May your word to me be fulfilled. In other words, Father, whatever you reveal, my answer is yes. If you tell me go, I'll go. You tell me stay, I'll stay. You tell me give, I'll give. You tell me forgive, I'll forgive. You tell me speak, I'll speak. You tell me listen, I'll listen. You tell me wait, I'll wait. You tell me serve, I'll serve. Whatever your will is, my answer is yes. Because the goal of prayer isn't merely to get direction from God. The goal is to become surrendered enough to follow God wherever his direction actually leads us. Look at Joseph. God says, take Mary as your wife. Joseph takes Mary as his wife. God says, call his name Jesus. Joseph calls his name Jesus. He asks for direction, and when direction comes, he obeys. And maybe some of us, we need to stop asking God for more direction when he's waiting for us to actually be obedient to the direction he's already given us. So what do you what do you know? When what we need to actually know when we're praying is these two things. We need to say these words, I am the Lord's servant. And when he shows us what to do, we pray this may your word to me be fulfilled. Lord, show me your will, and whatever you show me, my answer is yes. This is what Joseph is faced with. He was wrestling with his own will, seeking to discern whether his will aligned with God's will. And when God revealed that Joseph's will, which was to divorce Mary, was not aligned with his will, Joseph had to make a choice. Will I go forward with my will, or will I surrender my will and participate in God's will? I don't want you to miss this as I rush to close. We can read this story with rose-colored glasses because we already know it's in. But God's revealed will for Joseph was not easy to accept. God's will meant accepting a harder path. Joseph will will would have relieved him of what appeared to be his problem. But in prayer, God enlarges Joseph's vision. This isn't merely Mary's but Mary's problem. It's not only Joseph's problem. This is a problem much larger than Joseph can actually see. And God is inviting Joseph to participate in what he's about to be doing inside of the world. If Joseph chooses his own will, he walks away from the mess. But if Joseph chooses God's will, he walks right into the mess. He takes he he has to take Mary as his wife. He has to bear with the whispers and the rumors. He has to live with the misunderstanding. He has to accept the path that may include humiliation before there's ever any exaltation. But Joseph gets up from the prayer and he essentially says, Not my will, Lord, but yours. In church, doesn't that sound familiar? Because years later, the child Joseph chose to receive would find himself wrestling in prayer too. But this time it wouldn't be Joseph considering what to do in the night. It would be Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane praying in the night. And Jesus would he would come, what would come before him is this path that is far more painful than what Joseph could ever imagine. It was the cross, it was rejection, it was shame, it was suffering. And Jesus praised, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but your will is begun. That that there it is. For us, he's praying, he's wrestling that Jesus, the Son of God, is surrendering participation in the redemptive work of God. Looks like this. Joseph gets up from his wrestling to take Mary as his wife, but Jesus gets up from his wrestling to walk towards the cross. Joseph surrenders his will and receives the Savior into his home. Jesus surrenders his will and gives himself to save the world. Joseph accepts humiliation so that he might participate in God's plan to bring forth the Savior. Jesus accepts humiliation so he might become Our salvation, and this is where all this is heading to. Prayer is not always where God gives you an easy way out. Sometimes prayer is where God gives you the grace to walk through the harder way. Sometimes we enter prayer asking God to remove the cup and we leave prayer strengthened to drink the cup. Sometimes we enter prayer asking God to change our circumstances and we leave prayer with God, having changed our will but not our circumstances. Because prayer is where we leave and we learn to say. I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled. Not my will, but your will be done. And thank God Jesus prayed that prayer. Because our salvation is the fruit of his surrendered will. Had he chosen comfort over the cross, there'd be no forgiveness. Has he chosen to escape our obedience, there be no reconciliation. Had he chosen to his own relief over the father's redemptive purpose, there'd be no salvation for us. But Jesus prayed. He surrendered. He got up. He went to the cross. He was humiliated and the father exalted him. He died and the father raised him up. He gave his life and through his life, death, and resurrection, he brought many sons and daughters to glory. So when God brings you into a place where your will and his will actually collide, I want you to remember: you're not being asked to save yourself. Jesus has already done that. But the Jesus who saved you now invites you to follow him, to become a praying, surrender participant in the redemptive work he's still doing in the world. So we should pray. I am a servant of the Lord. May your word be fulfilled. And with our Savior in the garden, we could say, nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. Do you want to roll in his redemptive work? Well, you'll find that in seeking his will in prayer, in submitting to his will in prayer. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father. Often we want to go our own way. Often we use prayer to get our own way. We think that you're there to serve our way, but Lord, I pray that your word challenge us tonight to be a people of prayer who are seeking your way, seeking your will. That our lives are not our own, but you have a role for us in your redemptive plan. And I pray as we walk day by day, reveal that to us, Lord. That we would be obedient in the moment, that we would be a people that share intimacy with you. And in that intimacy, we would follow you. And as we follow you, we would bear much fruit in our lives and we would have the impact you desire us to have in your redemptive plan. But we trust in your work and your work in our hearts. Not our own. We ask you to continue to work through your people here, City of Shalom Church, and those that are with us, or that you would work in their hearts and use them for your redemptive work inside of the world. I pray that we would all find that through a life of deep and rich intimacy and prayer with you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. We turn to a time very quickly of response to the word of God. And there's a few ways of responding here at City of Shalom Church. One will be a time. We're going to take communion because what Jesus Christ has done and surrendering his will in prayer and finding and surrendering to the will of the Father ⁓ in prayer. He went to the cross. Body was broken. His blood was shed. And so we'll come to the table and we'll take, partake of that bread that represents his body that was broken for us and dip it into the juice which is blossomed.

Matthew 1:18–25