twelve days of christmas-day five: a quiet obedience

READ: ​MATTHEW 1:18-25, LUKE 2:3-5, MATTHEW 13:54-55, LUKE 4:22 (CLICK ON VERSES TO READ)

If there is one character in the Christmas story that seems to get short shrift, it's probably Joseph. This could be because he wasn’t Jesus’ biological father or because Scripture doesn't say much about him after Christ's birth. Whatever the reason, people don’t talk about Joseph much, even today.
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But when you think about it, being the step-dad of the Messiah had to have turned that carpenter’s life upside down in ways we probably fail to fully appreciate. It would be hard, for example, to measure the price Joseph paid in loss of reputation and privacy and respect, when he married the young pregnant woman instead of finding a nice way to get her out of his life.

Or consider the inner turmoil that must have plagued Joseph as he faithfully raised the boy – wrestled with him and taught him and fed him and disciplined him and tucked him in at night – knowing all along that it wasn’t really his son at all. Can you imagine how Joseph’s heart must have been pierced after searching frantically all over the temple for Jesus during their annual visit, only to have the twelve year old ask, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 

Though we can surmise about these things, the reality is that Scripture gives us little to remember Joseph by. After the temple visit, he fades from view and we have no record of how or when he died. In all of the Gospel narratives, there is nothing written about what he felt or the things he might have said--when the angel woke him, or he took Mary as his own, or when the baby Jesus was born. It almost feels as if Joseph was a strangely silent bystander, with nothing to say at all. 

Or was he?

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Truth be told, Joseph left us a profound legacy – not in words, but through his acts of quiet obedience. 

​Truth be told, Joseph left us a profound legacy – not in words, but through his acts of quiet obedience. When Gabriel told him to wed his pregnant fiance, he did so without argument. When an angel warned him to leave Bethlehem, he took Mary and baby Jesus and traveled to a hostile land where they would have no family, no friends and no source of income. When Herod died and God told him to take his family back to Israel, Joseph packed up and went, once again. And when he got there, only to be warned not to settle in Judea--the place that clearly would have made the most sense--he journeyed instead to Galilee to set up housekeeping, ensuring that a prophecy about the Savior being a Nazarene would be fulfilled. 

What can we glean from these few scattered verses about the legal guardian of our Lord? Whatever else Joseph might have been, it is clear that he was a man who loved God enough to relinquish his rights to comfort or career or status or security or even social identity. Over and over God  asked Joseph to make hard and costly choices, and he did again and again, seemingly without complaint.
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May his life cause us to consider what kind of message our stories send to those who may be watching on any given day.

So as we approach Christmas, let us look a little more intently at this one whose quiet obedience tells a story all its own. May his life cause us to consider what kind of message our stories send to those who may be watching on any given day. And as we remember this one who stood so humbly at the edges of the Christmas chronicle, may we offer our hearts afresh to the God he served with such abandonment. 

REFLECT
Spend some time prayerfully meditating on Joseph’s quiet obedience in light of your own life. Are there acts of qiet obedience that no one knows about in your life?  Do you need to hear God whispering to you, "well done, good and faithful servant"?  Let God minister to you today.  Consider your own desire to follow, even when no one knows or affirms you.  Hear God's affirmation of love. 

RESPOND
​While our tendency is to glorify such awesome obedience, there is a hidden reality that is far more important. Why did Joseph obey?  What had he seen of God that made him so willing to sacrifice?  Only the Almighty, full of grace and glory, could inspire such incredible submission. Worship Him this morning as you make the following verses your own:

Psalm 104:1-2, 31-34
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD my God, You are very great; 
You are clothed with splendor and majesty, 
Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, 
Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain. 
Let the glory of the LORD endure forever; 
Let the LORD be glad in His works; 
He looks at the earth, and it trembles; 
He touches the mountains, and they smoke. 
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; 
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. 
Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; 
As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD. 

A CHRISTMAS ACTIVITY​
Look for opportunities to respond with quiet obedience to the Lord as you go throughout this day, and rest in the wonder that He is pleased with you, no matter who else sees what you do. ​