Have you ever thought that Joseph was a wimp?
Joseph shrunk back once he heard Mary was pregnant. He thought the righteous response to her pregnancy was to divorce her quietly, leaving her to raise her baby as a single mother. He could have talked to her before making a decision. He could have sought to reach out and love her before condemning her. He could have persevered through this rough time rather than giving up on this relationship.
An angel stepped into history to keep Joseph from giving into his fear saying, “Don’t be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary.� The angel convinced Joseph to do what his heart had already led him to do. How often is it that we know what we should do, but fear keeps us from moving forward? So often, God seems to call us to do that which is most difficult rather than that which is easiest. It is easier to give up. Enduring is miraculous.
Before we judge Joseph, we should consider those moments in our life when we have shrunk back. Hebrews 10:32-39 reminds us that “we are not of those who shrink back.” We can live with confidence! We can bold in speech and in action! I like Joseph because he seems so real. I hope if that happened to me I would end up making the right decision. He didn’t want to embarrass Mary. He just wanted to move on with his life after feeling betrayed, humiliated, and perhaps even heart-broken, but in the end he acted with confidence.
When you have found yourself in a moment of decision, what steps have helped you to step out in confidence? What are ways we can help others grow in confidence? What challenge lies ahead in your life right now that requires supernatural confidence?
May we all crash forward,
Eric Bryant
Navigator, Mosaic
eric@mosaic.org
http://www.xanga.com/ericbryant
Dec 9th, 2005 at 7:29 am
I appreciate that you are offering a blog and allowing us to discuss the messages.
I enjoyed your message, you made a lot of good points, and sadly I see myself doing the kind of things you mentioned at times. One thing bothered me however, and that’s how you understand Joseph’s reaction. I don’t want to mucky up the comments section here so you can read more at my blog.
Suffice to say, I’m not so sure we can know that Joseph was acting the way you were saying — I think he might have actually been carefully thinking about it.
While the points you make are dead on, convictingly (is that a word?) so — was Joseph really acting in the way you concluded? I’d appreciate your thoughts, or others.
Dec 9th, 2005 at 7:32 am
Eric- I love that you are blogging after the talks! Nice!
I see Joseph’s reaction as probably pretty normal by cultural standards. Dismissing her was what was expected, and if he really loved her, a gut wrenching decision. The cool thing about his story is that God called him OUT of the culture, and gave him permission to love beyond the cultural norms. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like Joseph lived long enough to see the result of Jesus’s ministry, and Mary was forced to endure the difficulty of the 3 years of Jesus’s ministry, death and resurrection alone.
Dec 9th, 2005 at 9:21 am
Before I get a chance to hear the podcast, here is what I wrote in your blog:
if my fiancee turned up pregnant, I think I’d be a little upset. I think I’d be embarassed. I’d be ashamed, bitter, angry, sad, and wondering what on earth I did wrong that 1)I ended up with someone who lies to me and is sleeping around; 2)she didn’t love me enough to only want to be with me.
I think of Hosea some when I think of Joseph: asked to trust in God about something that just doesn’t make sense and can’t be explained to anyone else. Maybe, just maybe God told Joseph not to be afraid because of what was going to come from others in the form of commentary. Can’t you just hear it? All the names and all the snickering behind your back? Why would any guy want to deal with that?
Anyway, God intervenes. He’s been known to do so and people who obey him follow what he says. Joseph obeys. That sounds like a quality man who isn’t necessarily afraid of anything once God leads him down that path.
Dec 9th, 2005 at 11:25 am
Wow. Thank you for allowing people to have conversations about the podcasts. I have been listening in to what God has been doing at Mosaic for the past couple of months through the podcasts. This is really great to now listen to what other people think about it and to process what God is saying to us. So thanks for that.
I don’t think i have ever looked at this passage like that before. And I definitely know that sometimes we wish we had an angel or someone to tell us exactly what to do. But I have found more and more that God does leead us and that it is very subtle yet undeniable sometimes. And there were times when i almost made a decision to do something that went against what was burning inside of my soul because i kept waiting for God to say something in a huge way or for an angel type experience to occur. It was as if i was afraid i would make the “wrong decision” if God did not come right out and say “You should do…” and then i would be held responsible for the “wrong decision.”
This makes me think of a quote from a movie. Maybe you have seen the movie “The Recruit” with Al Pacino and Colin Farrell. In it Pacino is recruiting Farrell into the CIA and he tells him at one point, “Trust no one, except for that still small voice inside of you that most civilians don’t even hear.” Now, obviously the small voice i am talking about is a little different than what Pacino is refering to. But still, i have found that God speaks through what our hearts are burning to do many times, and we make things more complicated than they should be.
Anyway, let me know what you think. And thanks again for hosting the conversations about the podcasts.
Wayne
Dec 9th, 2005 at 1:49 pm
hey eric.
i had heard at my old church, that joseph could be considered righteous in the circumstance (probably within reasonable expectations), since he wanted to quietly break off the marriage with her, as to not embarass her. i think to decry her publicly would have been the standard cultural response to someone who appeared to have been unfaithful, as i remember. and so his action wasn’t on the same level as simply condemning her, but still a loving course of action? that’s the interpretation i’ve heard before i believe.
also, i don’t know if we can say that he didn’t talk to her, can we? i’d think that she would have actually probably told him, but that circumstance of the reality was probably beyond anyone’s imagination of course. and also incidentally, i think according to the scriptural record, god was silent for a long time period between the end of old testament and the birth of christ? (i’m not too sure on that exactly.)
thanks for sharing here!
gw
Dec 12th, 2005 at 2:36 pm
Wow, I am having a very hard time agreeing to the idea that Joseph was a wimp due to the fact that he chose to divorce or give up on Mary “QUIETLY,” without any public humiliation, and in a way that shows great self-control and respect toward the dignity and image of the woman that he loved. Personally, I kind of admire the man for having the guts and the moral strength to take such a harsh blow in the manner that he did. I also think that God understood his pain and his braveness of heart and for that reason He decided to send an Angel down so that Joseph understood what had really happened. Even then, however, I just can’t help but feel further admiration for Joseph for having such a strong belief in God that he was able to humbly accept the message that the Angel brought down to him. I mean, come on… let’s be real, wouldn’t you have been a little doubtful of the whole idea that he pregnancy was an act of God? Uhmm… serious stuff! Wouldn’t you agree?
Yes, the most ideal thing to do or expect of a Christian when you are also a Christian is that no matter what happened, no matter what the story was, no matter what the pain is, no matter the situation, no matter anything at all, you would simply humble yourself, deny yourself, swallow all of your pride and go on doing the godly thing to do. Yes, such is a desire we all have within ourselves, but gosh… sometimes it is just hard! It takes a lot of work to get to that level of love and compassion for others; loving one another just like God loved us.
Naturally, we all would like to say that we would have acted the very same way that Joseph did if faced with the same adversities-I mean, it sounds good if we say we would (not to say that it is absolutely not possible, because it is)-but I think that such reaction is not very common and even, quite rare! Who knows, maybe it was in God’s plan to choose a match like Joseph for Mary because He (God) knew that Joseph had the characteristics of a person who would be able to faithfully be strong to withstand the type of unusual and harsh situations that he would have to be faced by, according to the overall plan of salvation that He (God) had for us. — Let us keep in mind that once Joseph had received the Angel’s message, he swallowed his pride and went on with God’s plan. Let us not forget either that Joseph had already swallowed his pride big time when he decided to quietly divorce or leave Mary. And yes, it is the most ideal thing to expect other Christians to be almost like God under rough positions, but gee… we’re working on getting to such most desired levels! Just my 4 1/2 cents.
Dec 14th, 2005 at 3:06 am
Hey, sorry so long - finally got a chance to download and listen. I really like what you had as a point: to dig deeper; to not give up; to love someone through whatever happens, good or bad, because are we really that righteous to think we have done nothing wrong? You push us to not take the high road but the road to healing - to finding out what really happens and not just listen to hearsay and gossip. You ask us to love and serve as Jesus loved us. So the point is that I love your point and know that it comes from a man after God’s own heart (that’d be you, Eric)
Dec 15th, 2005 at 11:00 pm
Thanks for your comments in our new adventure of podcasting!
In the end Joseph’s choice was quite remarkable. May we all be willing to make the sacrifices necessary when challenges come our way! I hope you noticed the point of my message was to call us to not forget who we are - not to give up when things get tough. Getting a divorce quietly was nice in some ways (not trying to humiliate Mary) but cowardly in other ways (leaving Mary to fend for herself as a single mom). In the end, God didn’t want a nice response; He called Joseph to a bold and sacrificial response. Remarkably, Joseph did it! I want to be like Joseph when I grow up!
Merry Christmas!
Eric
Dec 26th, 2005 at 5:04 pm
Just popping in here randomly to say we just read Erwin’s book The Barbarian Way, and were so inspired and excited, thank you for speaking truth,to hear a Pastor so out of the box, it’s refreshing and so rare ,we are curious how your Church functions, must be amazing! It was a relief to realise, we’re not insane as some would say we are!!! Our hearts have held these convictions about the man-made church system for years and we have longed for a Body of Believers that will allow God to run His Church as he would have it. Our hearts are hungry for the real, we’re over playing Church ,and sitting in pews ,listening to sermons that are empty of the annointing of God and often empty of the Word of God.We’re sad that worship has become more of an entertaining rock concert instead of waiting on Him ,allowing the Holy Spirit to have His way,giving Him time…..Programs ,schedules…..busy,busy,all the while Jesus waits outside the doors wondering when where He fits in it all!!!! There so boring and comfortable…. We watch young people, just as you say ,drift into the worldly stuff, because they’ve never experienced real adventures with Jesus, only the safe boring way, no life,no intimacy with God….why????
We’ve been saved for 27 years and worked with YWAM for the last 5 years and it was a place of Passion, Life and reaching out to the Nations, awesome, yeh we love world missions!!!We’ve wondered why Church couldn’t be just like this??? We’re told we need to be in Church, but where? We’ll go if there was one Alive like yours!!!!!Help there’s hundreds of us here on this coastline… from Followers of Jesus Downunder! Thanks for listening….God Bless your Work
Dec 27th, 2005 at 7:36 pm
Refreshing and new way to look at Joseph’s response
to God’s specific challenge for Him. Thanks for taking a look at Joseph from another angle. What’s encouragingto me is to know that God chose HIM too and he hadhis own battle of belief to navigate. Oh, the thoughts and things in between the lines that I
would love to hear and see. I think that I would discover that they are just regular people like me
living victoriously sometimes and struggling sometimes, yet always HIS in the palm of His hand.
Challenged With Fresh Appreciation
Feb 6th, 2006 at 10:18 pm
are you still taking comments? if so, along with erwin, i have found the wisdom from rich mullins to be very helpful to inspire me on my spiritual journey. mullins once said, “never forget what Jesus did for you. never take lightly what it cost Him. and never assume that if it cost Him His very life, that it won’t also cost you yours.”
p.s. if anyone knows of any pastoral leadership opportunities, please contact me.
Feb 24th, 2006 at 2:14 pm
Dear All,
I am from the UK. Everyday I hear stories of the worse and I fight to make them better. I work in a refuge for woman and children fleeing from domestic violence. Although a high percentage of the woman have not followed a so called ‘rightous path’ they all have a believeing that life has more to offer. It is my job to help them in this transitional period. But my job is not easy. I have the most difficulty with the agencies that are susposed to be there to help. They do not. My heart goes out to the woman who have no support in a world that still accepts wife beating. How do they get through it?????