TerryLema

Tim McGraw sings a song titled, “It Wasn’t His Child.” It is a song about Joseph, the oft forgotten member of most manger scenes.

We always talk of Mary and, of course, the Christ Child. We speak of shepherds and angels and stars and Magi. We do not talk about Joseph. He is the silent one. While none of his words are recorded, his character and obedience are.

Matthew Chapters 1 and 2 tell us most about Joseph. He was a righteous man. He was also a kind man as evidenced by the fact that when he found out Mary was pregnant, he did not want to publicly shame her. We see his obedience when the angels appear to him in dreams three times and tell him what to do and he immediately gets up and does it.

He takes Mary as his wife. He takes his family to safety in Egypt. He brings them to Nazareth when it is safe. (Read Matt 1 & 2 today)

We know he took Mary and Jesus to do the things prescribed by law when Jesus was dedicated. We know he anxiously searched for Jesus when as a 12-year-old He disappeared on their trip to Jerusalem. He was a father who cared. (Luke 2)

What we assume from the culture of the day is that Joseph would have taught his son his own trade, carpentry. He would have taken him to synagogue and educated him in the things of God. All this, knowing that Jesus was not his child.

As I listened to the song, I thought, isn’t it amazing that Jesus, God’s Son, was adopted and raised by Joseph as his child here on earth and that now we are adopted by Father God as His children through Jesus His Son.

I have a hymnal called “Hymns of Glorious Praise.”  The Table of Contents for that hymnal tells me it is laid out by theme. The first section is worship. “O, Worship the King all glorious above, and gratefully sing His Power and His love.” (Franz Joseph Hayden, 1732-1809)

Right after the worship section in this hymnal come the songs of the Incarnation, songs of Christ-mas. Yet too soon, following the Christ-mas songs come songs of the cross.

It was for the cross that Christ came. It was for the cross that He abandoned all the rights and privileges of His divine nature and came to earth as a babe. It was for the cross that He took upon Himself the sins of this world and surrendered Himself to death, even a death on a cross. [Philippians 2]

And the cross was for us. To fully appreciate the babe born in the manager, we must always do so in sight of the cross. If Jesus were only a great teacher, a good man, or a prophet, celebrating his birth would not be much different than celebrating the birth of any other good teachers or good men.

But Jesus was not only a great teacher, a good man, and a prophet. He was and is and always will be God the Son, and He came to Bethlehem that wondrous night for a single purpose, to reconcile man and God. That reconciliation meant the giving of His very life’s blood on a heathen cross, the one true spotless sacrifice offered for the sins of men.

Both the star over the stable and the cross on the hill cast shadows that stretch through all eternity to remind us of what our salvation cost our God.

I love laughing with old friends … or with new ones! I love laughter. I love laughter that is so hard my ears and stomach muscles ache. What had me laughing today was my skewed view of Elizabeth in Luke 1.

When Mary came to visit, Elizabeth called her blessed three times. She said that Mary was blessed among women. And that Mary was blessed for the child she would bear. And also, that Mary was blessed for believing that what the Lord spoke to her would be accomplished.  [Luke 1:39-45]

What got me laughing was my take on that meeting and Elizabeth’s last blessing of Mary for “believing what the Lord spoke to her.”  

 I had just read the Song of Zacharias, Elizabeth’s husband. Zacharias unfortunately did not believe what the Lord said, and the consequences of that unbelief was that he was mute for nine months until John was born. In my imagination I could hear Elizabeth say to Mary … blessed are you for believing what the Lord spoke … all the while thinking … unlike this man of mine who did not believe and now sits over there unable to speak.

 I am not sure that is what Elizabeth really thought but it is what I would have thought! I wonder if it is something Elizabeth and Mary discussed while they were together … all the while Zacharias looked on sheepishly quiet.

We need to remember that the people in the Bible were real people, with thoughts and emotions just like us. They are not superheroes, they are people empowered by the Spirit of God, just like us.

We can learn from Mary’s example of faith and obedience what TO DO and learn from Zacharias’ example of unbelief what NOT TO DO.

You cannot think of Christ-mas without thinking of Mary. Mary is often misunderstood, idolized by some, ignored by others. Yet Mary has much to teach us. Mary teaches us about the blessedness that comes from obedience. When Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce to her that she was blessed among women and would be the mother of God’s Son, her response was simple. “Be it done to me according to your (God’s) word.”  [Luke 1:38]

Later in Jesus’ ministry when someone shouted to Him from the crowd, “Blessed is the womb that bore You,” His response was simply, “rather, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and obey it.”  [Luke 11:28]

Jesus was not downplaying Mary’s role, but rather pointing out that the way of blessedness for her is the way of blessedness for all of us … “be it done to me according to God’s Word.”  In other words, OBEDIENCE.

Jesus Himself would cry out similar words as He agonized in Gethsemane before his arrest and crucifixion, “Father, not my will but Yours.” 

We must understand that being obedient and blessed does not mean we escape all unpleasantness. I imagine Mary would be gossiped about much of her life as “that woman who became pregnant before marriage.” She would also stand and watch her son publicly humiliated and executed. Jesus’ obedience led to the cross.

Obedience does not always mean escaping difficulties, but it does mean we are saturated with blessings from God that accompany us through every and all.

I have been thinking of that first Christ-mas night and how silent it was. There was no royal herald racing through town announcing that a king had been born. The bells did not ring. Trumpets did not blast. No one cried out from the rooftops. People were in their beds. Bethlehem was quiet, sleeping on in the darkness.

 While everyone slept the seismic event that would change this world forever was happening in a place that protected animals from the elements. A young girl was giving birth to the Light of the World. God’s Dawn was breaking forth, pushing back the darkness. The shadow of death that blanketed this world would soon bow to the Dayspring from on high. Even though no one noticed, nothing would ever be the same.

Isaiah had prophesied of the light: “The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.” [Isa 9:2]

Zacharias repeated that prophecy shortly before Jesus’ birth: “The Dayspring from on high has visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.” [Luke 1:78-79]

All was silent. All was quiet. Except for a few shepherds, no one was aware of what was happening. The Dayspring, the Dawn, the Son-rise had come.

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given.
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming but in this world of sin
Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.

Isaiah 33:6: “The LORD will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.”  [NIV]

Yahweh (YHWH), the LORD, “will be the sure foundation (the stability) for your times.” 

Whenever you see “LORD” in all caps in the Old Testament, the original language is usually YHWH, Yahweh. It is the name of God given in four consonants to Moses. It is called “The Tetragrammaton.”  In Latin, it became JHVH, Jehovah. It is the most sacred name of God.

Isaiah wrote that the great LORD (YHWH), the Powerful God of Moses, would be the sure foundation for Israel in her times. He then added that the LORD would be “a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge” and that “the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.”  

May I be so bold to say that the LORD is the sure foundation for our times as well?  Stability is lacking in our nation as it was in Isaiah’s. Nothing is sure, no matter how much they try to make it so. The stock market could plummet (again); terrorism could raise its ugly head in our midst in greater measure; a kook with a nuclear device could devastate our cities. Nothing is sure if we are looking to nationalism to make it so.

Isaiah tells us that we do, however, have a key to stability. It is the fear of the LORD. When we fear (respect, reverence, stand in awe) of the LORD we have the key that will open His rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.

We, as individuals, and corporately as the church, must use that key; we must see a return of respect, reverence, awe of the LORD or we will never experience that sure foundation!

Psalm 118 came across my reading path the other day. My Bible titles it “Thanksgiving for Victory.”

We are all probably familiar with these three verses: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This came from the Lord; it is wonderful in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  [vs 22-24 HCSB]

 We find those verses repeated in the NT, but it was a different verse that caught my attention. “There are shouts of joy and victory in the tents of the righteous: ‘The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly!’” [Psalm 118:15]

Shouts of joy and victory! In the tents of the righteous!

As believers we inhabit the “tents of the righteous.” We are the righteous – but not because we are all perfect, or morally flawless.  We are the righteous – but not because we earned a reward or qualify for brownie points. We are the righteous – but not because of who we are or whom our parents were.

We are the righteous – because Christ Jesus exchanged His sinless life for our sin-filled one. He gave His life for ours.

“He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” [2 Corinthians 5:21 HCSB]

Amen.