Wilmot First Presbyterian Church

Scripture: Matthew 2:18-25, I Cor 13

Joseph

We know very little about the man a little Jesus would have laughed at and called “Abba” (Daddy).  Little is written of him, but in what we do have we find a remarkable man.  We have no words of Joseph recorded in the Bible.  He appears a man of honor and a man of action.  He is not a man of words.  Now there have always been quiet leaders around who speak by their actions.  If Joseph is one of them, he demonstrates a remarkable character.  The Joseph reflected in the Bible is patient, and kind, and never insisted on his own way.  Men of words may talk well, but there is not real love in words alone.  Words may express affection or love, but love is an action.

The fact of the day was that Joseph could have had Mary stoned when she became pregnant while engaged to him.  The fact of life is that he could have gained sympathy and comfort by making a fuss and putting on a show of indignation for all to see how he was wronged.  Some of us like everyone to know when we’ve been hurt or wronged, but Joseph “had in mind to divorce her quietly” (Mt 1:19).  When an angel visits him and tells him it’s all on the up-and-up, and that he is to be father to the Son of God, he does not speak like Mary did, he does not question or doubt like Zechariah did.  Joseph just acts.

After the Magi leave, he is again visited by an angel who tells him to go to Egypt.  He does not ask where in Egypt.  He does not ask why Herod is seeking Jesus.  He doesn’t even wait until morning!  Joseph gets up then and there, packs up his family in the middle of the night and heads off.  He brings them back to Israel when he is told by God to do so, settles back in Nazareth as directed, and presumably resumes providing for “his” family.

The Bible says Mary and Joseph repeated part of their journey to Bethlehem every year by going to Jerusalem for Passover.  12 years after that fateful trip to Bethlehem for tax season, Jesus was discovered missing on the way home.  Mary and Joseph returned to Jerusalem and searched frantically for him for three days!  When they found Jesus in the temple if Joseph said anything, it wasn’t recorded.  It was Mary who asked Jesus why he treated them like that!  She also notes both she and Joseph were experiencing “odynomenoi” (painful grief).  Still, Joseph is silent except for his actions.  I understand discipline in a blended family can be awkward.

It’s easy to be a talker.  We tend to prattle on and on about the weather, or about our team, or about whatever words we can find to fill the air.  We admire talkers who can drop into any situation and charm people with their smooth tongues.  Talk is sometimes even confused for action, every election seems to remind me of that.  The world could use a few, or a lot, more people like Joseph, he is the rarest of the rare.

Joseph is a man of action who does not even talk to call attention to his actions.  Nobody knows what really became of Joseph between the temple incident with Jesus on the cusp of his teens, and 18 years later when Jesus began his ministry.  We presume Joseph died, quietly no doubt, somewhere in those years.  Though Jesus knew his real Father, I wonder if he didn’t sometimes miss the steady, quiet Joseph; his earthly Abba.  I believe he did for so many reasons, but people of action are hard to find.  Even harder to find is a person whose actions are love.

Prayer: Heavenly Abba, help us act on our faith, even using words if we have to.  Teach us to be listeners for you and for others.  We pray in Your Son’s Name, AMEN.

Activity: Silently, anonymously, do a good deed for someone today.