Responsible Lives.

Steve Gentry

[0:01] Alright, go ahead and have a seat. [0:04] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to Matthew chapter 1. [0:07] That’s where we’re going to be this morning. [0:08] We’re going to be starting in verse 18. [0:11] Next week is Christmas Eve, and so we’re going to be having four services next week, 9, 11, [0:17] 3, and 5.

[0:19] They’re going to be identical. [0:20] I’m getting an odd question. [0:21] I’m going to be preaching all of them. [0:24] Some people are like, which one are you preaching? [0:27] All of them. [0:28] So they’ll be identical.

[0:30] We will be having the same service all four times. [0:33] Now, in the seat, maybe last week, I think this week as well, there should be some invite [0:37] cards. [0:38] And here’s the key. [0:39] People are more likely to come to church on Christmas Eve than they really are any [0:44] other time of the year.

[0:45] So if you have neighbors that you’ve been investing in trying to form relationships [0:50] with, give them the invite. [0:52] And then the way to choose which service that you’re going to go to is by asking them which [0:57] service they can accompany you to. [1:00] I guess is the best way to say that. [1:03] Now, so do that.

[1:04] And if, man, you’ve got two services or two neighbors and one’s like, I can come to 9 [1:08] and the other one’s like, I can come to 3. [1:09] I know how I would plan my day. [1:10] I’d be there at 9 and 3. [1:12] But you’re like, you’ll be there anyway. [1:13] That’s true because I’m preaching all four services.

[1:16] So next Sunday is going to be a great time of celebration. [1:19] It’s going to be a great time of really kind of remembering and reminding ourselves what [1:26] Christmas really is all about. [1:28] It’s the gift that Jesus Christ has given us. [1:32] And so we are in the Christmas season. [1:34] And if you’ve paid attention throughout this series, the way that it’s been going is we’re

[1:39] really talking about different perspectives of faith throughout the Christmas season. [1:45] And we started with the perspective of God and the promised King who would be Jesus. [1:50] And we looked at the Old Testament to kind of see the promised prophecies of God giving [1:56] us a forever King in Jesus Christ. [1:59] And then the next week we looked at it from the perspective of the joy of the wise men [2:03] and the despair of King Herod over the birth of Christ from Matthew 2.

[2:07] And then last week we talked about the Virgin Mary and her perspective of Christmas and [2:12] the faith that was required of her by God as he came into her life. [2:16] And he said, you have conceived a child from the power of the Holy Spirit. [2:21] And so we see all of these different perspectives. [2:24] All of them, my prayer is, would give forward in our lives this great joy of the work of [2:31] God for us through Jesus Christ.

[2:34] Because if you have a season through Christmas that is joyless, then I want you to understand [2:41] that it is because you are not anchoring your faith in the objective truth of who Jesus [2:48] Christ is. [2:48] And I understand that all of us have issues in our lives and maybe this is a harder season [2:54] because you’ve had some unfortunate circumstances. [2:57] Maybe you’ve been hurt.

[2:58] Maybe you have hurt. [2:59] Maybe some things are going on in your life. [3:01] But the key difference between joy and happiness is faith in Jesus Christ. [3:08] That happiness is something that is fleeting. [3:10] That we have this ability to rejoice in good things happening to us, but then as soon as [3:15] an unpleasant thing comes our way, that happiness is over.

[3:19] That season of rejoicing is over. [3:21] The difference with joy is that joy roots itself down in the objective truth of Jesus [3:28] and the promises that he has made. [3:31] And regardless of what we are enduring, we can have joy in light of any circumstance [3:37] because nothing has changed about the gospel of Jesus Christ. [3:42] And that is why if you cannot find joy in Jesus, then you are not putting your faith

[3:50] in Jesus. [3:52] Joylessness is sin. [3:55] Joylessness is something to be repented of. [3:58] Joy is something that God has promised that faith will give us. [4:04] And so this season, my hope and my prayer is that you will give way to joy in Christ. [4:12] Now today we are going to look at the perspective of Joseph.

[4:14] Today we are going to look at the faith that God called Joseph to put in him for the choice [4:22] that God gave Joseph to make. [4:24] You know, Mary really didn’t have a choice. [4:26] Now she had a choice for joy or despair. [4:30] But God didn’t come to Mary and say, Mary, can I put a baby in you? [4:34] No, God informed Mary.

[4:36] You are going to give birth to the Son of God. [4:40] But Joseph has a totally different perspective. [4:44] And the reason for that perspective is, I don’t know if you know this or not, but men [4:48] don’t give birth. [4:50] That’s not a normal thing. [4:51] And I’m thankful for that.

[4:53] I’ve been there when it’s happened three times. [4:56] Awful. [4:57] Awful. [4:58] I really felt for my wife. [5:00] Now, I’m the kind of guy that felt more sorry for myself than I did her. [5:03] I’ll never recover.

[5:05] But look in Matthew chapter 1 verse 18 and we are going to be looking at the perspective [5:08] of Joseph. [5:10] Some of you all didn’t get that. [5:11] Talk to my wife and you’ll get it. [5:13] Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. [5:17] So he’s setting us up for a narrative where we know that the point is the birth of Christ.

[5:23] But these are the circumstances of the birth of Christ. [5:26] When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was [5:31] found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. [5:34] And her husband, Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved [5:39] to divorce her quietly. [5:41] But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a

[5:47] dream saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which [5:52] is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. [5:55] She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from [6:01] their sins. [6:02] All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. [6:06] Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,

[6:11] which means God with us. [6:13] When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. [6:19] He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his [6:25] name Jesus. [6:26] Pray with me. [6:28] Father, you are good, and we are thankful.

[6:32] Lord, a simple prayer I have, that you would give us great faith in all that you have [6:39] done to show yourself to be a good God to us. [6:42] Lord, help us to look at the Christmas narrative and see the faith that was exhibited by all [6:48] those that you called to follow you in amazing ways, and that we would be inspired and that [6:53] we would be changed and that we would seek to order our lives to live by faith. [6:59] Be merciful to me, a sinner.

[7:00] In the name of Christ, I pray. [7:02] Amen. [7:04] Joseph was tasked with something that I’ve never been asked of by God, and that is that [7:10] he was responsible for the leadership in Jesus’ life. [7:15] When you think about that, there’s a great weight that goes along with such a calling. [7:18] Now that is the calling of every father, and it is a high calling.

[7:23] To be a father is to lead. [7:26] And you either do it well or you do it poorly, but definitely you lead no matter what. [7:32] Now God called Joseph to take on the responsibility of leading God the Son. [7:39] You know that when God calls us to walk in faith, he’s calling us to a life of great [7:46] But in that joy from the world’s perspective, God is calling us to a life of risk. [7:51] And with that risk that God is calling us on, it is a life of great responsibility

[7:55] that faith demands that we shoulder. [7:58] And the privilege of faith and the amazing relationship that God will gift to us brings [8:05] with it a responsibility of living the life that God has called us into. [8:11] And so I want you to understand, number one this morning, God calls us to a faith that [8:15] risks. [8:16] God calls us to a faith that risks.

[8:20] You remember, God calls you to anything. [8:23] From the world’s perspective, it may cost us much. [8:26] And if it is a calling to exhibit faith in God, it will cost us much. [8:31] God has never called anyone to a type of faith that didn’t cost them anything. [8:36] But from the perspective of God, I want you to understand that the real risk is not following [8:42] God.

[8:43] The real risk is looking at the word of God, looking at the calling of God for faith, [8:48] and going in the opposite direction. [8:50] That is what the risk is, because what the gospel tells us is that God is the designer [8:55] of life. [8:57] He’s the restorer of life when it is lost. [9:00] And for us to look at his power, for us to look at his command, for us to look at his

[9:04] ability, and for us to look at his promises and not leverage our life for faith, that [9:11] would be the great risk if we believe that God is who God claims and has proven he is. [9:19] And I think that the life of Joseph puts that into great perspective for us. [9:25] Now what’s interesting about the Matthew 1 account is that it very briefly summarizes [9:30] what Luke 1 and 2 go into great detail about. [9:34] It very briefly summarizes Mary’s part, but it goes into a little more detail than Luke

[9:41] does about Joseph’s part in this. [9:45] When it tells us that the birth of Jesus took place in this way, it doesn’t really explain [9:50] much about the birth of Jesus. [9:51] We don’t have any of the Bethlehem narrative. [9:53] We have the promise from Isaiah, and we have a focus in on the role of Joseph in the life [9:59] of Jesus Christ.

[10:02] Joseph and Mary were betrothed. [10:04] And this is, from our perspective, a little harder to understand. [10:07] It is more than engaged, but a little bit less than married. [10:12] When we think about engagement, it’s a fairly simple thing, and it gets simpler and simpler [10:17] and a little less valuable and a little less valuable all the time, because to end an engagement [10:22] is as simple as having that teary-eyed, ripping the ring off, giving it back.

[10:27] It’s over. [10:28] That’s not what it means to be betrothed. [10:30] To be betrothed was to enter into a union and to experience what it is to be married, [10:38] but to be separated for a period of holiness and purity to be proved that they are going [10:43] to experience the celebration of this union of marriage, but it hasn’t happened yet. [10:48] But to end the betrothal process required the same type of work as a divorce would cause.

[10:56] And that is why Joseph is referred to as her husband before their marriage. [11:02] Is that being betrothed was a big deal. [11:05] Being betrothed was the same as the marriage ceremony in the eyes of culture and legally [11:12] and in the law of God as already being married minus the consummation process. [11:18] And so when Mary is found to be with child, she’s already betrothed to Joseph.

[11:26] And timeline and the chronology of the story, this probably took place right after she [11:30] returned home from Elizabeth’s home, which is recorded in Luke 1, the mother of John [11:36] the Baptist. [11:37] And so when she returns home, I don’t know if it was that she was already showing, I [11:40] don’t know if it’s that she admitted it to Joseph. [11:42] Scripture is silent, but Joseph discovers her pregnancy and he does what any man would

[11:49] do whose is it. [11:52] So Joseph wants to know. [11:54] That’s why he was going to put her away quietly. [11:58] Now the quietly part is pretty important too because the text tells us that Joseph is [12:02] a just man. [12:03] And what’s meant by this is that Joseph really wanted to follow the law of God, but he also

[12:09] loved Mary. [12:12] And so if Mary and being betrothed, if you cheat on the one that you’re betrothed to, [12:17] it is the same according to the law of Israel at that point as adultery. [12:22] And so Mary’s life could have potentially been in danger culturally. [12:26] It was practiced a little less at that time. [12:30] But Joseph is just man, so he looks to the law of God in Deuteronomy, and if you’re found

[12:34] to have committed adultery against your husband, well you were to be executed.

[12:41] But then Joseph also looked to Mary and he wants to preserve her life and he also wants [12:45] to as much as he possibly can, he wants to preserve her reputation.

[12:51] So it says that Joseph resolved, and what that means in the original language is that [12:55] Joseph had made up his mind. [12:58] Joseph had decided what he was going to do, and the text says he resolved to divorce her [13:05] quietly. [13:06] And so he believed that she had committed adultery, so he wanted to end the union, [13:10] but he wanted to preserve as much of her life as he possibly could.

[13:16] But then an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream, in a vision, and challenged what [13:24] Joseph had planned.

[13:27] The key to understand is that Joseph was set. [13:30] Joseph had a plan. [13:32] Joseph knew what he was going to do. [13:36] His plans had already been disrupted. [13:38] He had a life planned with Mary. [13:40] He had goals planned with Mary.

[13:42] He had a marriage planned with Mary, and that had been ruined. [13:46] And so if you’ve ever experienced that, I haven’t, but adultery is a very painful thing [13:51] to endure. [13:54] And Joseph is enduring it. [13:56] All of the emotional turmoil, all of the emotional pain, the future that he feels has been lost, [14:02] but he’d been resolved to that loss.

[14:04] He had accepted that loss. [14:07] He was moving on from that loss. [14:09] He had a new plan. [14:12] And what happens then? [14:13] Well, the Lord comes and the Lord shifts his plan again.

[14:19] The revelation that I would have wanted to receive is that Joseph, she’s been faithful, [14:26] and Joseph does receive that revelation, but then he received another revelation that’s [14:31] just crazy. [14:33] The challenge she’s carrying is from the Holy Spirit. [14:36] Now we like to deify these characters. [14:38] We don’t like to think that they’re like me and you.

[14:40] You can give me all the visions in the world, but once you start saying a pregnancy happens [14:44] by the Holy Spirit, it hasn’t happened before in biblical history, all right? [14:48] This isn’t something, well, this is normal in Israel. [14:51] This is the chosen people of God. [14:52] You’ve got virgins getting pregnant everywhere. [14:54] Crazy.

[14:58] God gives Joseph this vision, and I don’t believe Joseph, and this is just my opinion, [15:02] so bank on it if you want to. [15:04] But I don’t think Joseph’s looking at it and saying, of course that’s what it is. [15:10] Now, he’d probably be looking at it by the sideways that I’d be looking at it. [15:13] Really? [15:14] Holy Spirit conception?

[15:16] What?

[15:18] But the Lord gives him this vision. [15:21] And here’s the key of the text that I want you to understand. [15:25] Joseph had a choice to make. [15:28] Joseph had a risk to walk into. [15:31] Joseph had a life that he could go into, and the choice that he makes at this point in [15:35] his life will affect every choice that comes after it.

[15:38] Have you ever been in one of those moments where you knew that the choice that you were [15:41] about to make was a very important choice and would affect a hundred choices after it? [15:46] That’s where Joseph is. [15:47] He’s not too far off from where we are in the choices that God will necessarily walk into. [15:54] Have you ever known what you were going to do? [15:57] Have you ever had a plan and you said, I know exactly what I’m going to do.

[16:03] But even in the face of this tough situation where Joseph is struggling, where Joseph is [16:09] hurting, he’s walking into a future that doesn’t have what he thought it was going to have, [16:14] the Lord comes in and he says, I’m going to change your plans. [16:19] Here’s what I want you to start with is an understanding that if you follow Jesus, if [16:24] you exhibit faith, if you choose to follow God into the future that he has for you, [16:30] he will not just change your plans once.

[16:35] He will change your plans over and over and over. [16:40] And every decision that you make to walk into the life of the changed plans that God has [16:48] for you is the Lord preparing you for the next time he’s going to change plans. [16:54] And the next time he’s going to say, trust me, and the next time he’s going to look [16:58] at you and say, you are going to have to believe me and walk by faith. [17:05] Faith is never a one time exercise.

[17:09] Faith is never a one time adjustment. [17:13] Every time God grows you, it’s for the next time that God’s going to grow you. [17:18] And he grows you through faith.

[17:24] Joseph was called to more faith than he’d ever knew existed at this point in his life. [17:30] And God tells Joseph, you are going to have to walk in faith on this one.

[17:37] You see, Joseph’s plans changed. [17:41] God called Joseph to do the thing that I find in pastoral ministry and even in just knowing [17:46] people and knowing myself is the hardest thing I’ve ever called anyone to do, and [17:53] that is change your mind.

[17:58] So I told you that term resolved means he’d made up his mind. [18:03] He knew what he was going to do. [18:05] But people are stubborn. [18:08] If you believe two plus two equals five, the hardest thing in the world to do is convince [18:13] you it’s four. [18:14] And the older you are, the more exponentially complicated that gets.

[18:18] I mean, I can bring the oranges in. [18:21] All right, I can be like, here’s four oranges. [18:22] If I take away two, how many do I have? [18:24] Two. [18:25] Well, if I put two back, how many do I have? [18:26] Five.

[18:27] What?

[18:30] Because we’re stubborn. [18:31] Because we don’t want to admit, number one, that we’re wrong. [18:36] But number two, we do not envision a future that involves us changing our perspective [18:43] on anything about life. [18:45] We somehow, when we’re about, you know, in our early to mid-20s, we get set in a certain [18:51] mode of life, in a certain way of existing, in a certain way of walking, and it gets

[18:58] harder and harder to change our minds the older that we get. [19:04] That’s why, if you’ve ever, you know, experienced this, if I ever see someone change their [19:10] mind in front of me, that is a hallelujah moment for me, because that is the hardest [19:15] thing that I’ve ever seen happen to a human being, is to change your mind. [19:21] But I’ll tell you, the most liberating thing that could happen for your faith in Jesus [19:24] Christ is if you change your mind about much in your life.

[19:28] And not just once, but many, many, many times, the Father is going to look to you and he’s [19:35] going to say, I need you to change your mind about this one. [19:39] And I need you to exhibit faith in me on this one, in a way that you never thought was [19:44] ever going to be possible. [19:47] And Joseph had to change his mind.

[19:53] I was raking leaves yesterday, because I live in Virginia and I have a backyard. [19:59] They just keep coming. [20:01] I’ve counted the trees. [20:03] Somebody’s coming to my house in the middle of the night. [20:06] They can’t be that many up there. [20:10] But I love doing yard work.

[20:12] I love working outside. [20:14] And one of the reasons is that, you know, I have a large family at this point, and they [20:19] don’t like yard work.

[20:22] And so it gives me some time to think. [20:26] Gives me time to pray. [20:29] And so yesterday, the Lord was just kind of communing with me, and I was praying while [20:34] I was doing leaves. [20:36] And he just really was making me think about today’s sermon. [20:40] And this is not necessarily the norm, but for about five hours yesterday, I was just

[20:44] praying about what I was going to talk about today, because I was just like, man, this [20:48] Joseph thing, and because I’m a father and that’s difficult path that he’s going to walk. [20:53] Father, how can I even preach about this? [20:55] And the Lord just kept giving me this term opportunity, opportunity, opportunity, because [21:01] what we don’t see in the story of Joseph is the opportunity that the Lord put in front [21:08] of him, where God says this choice that you are about to make is going to open up opportunity

[21:15] that would not be there if you made a different choice. [21:20] Because if Joseph had not made the choice to marry Mary, then he would have missed the [21:30] path that God had in front of him. [21:31] He would have missed the risk of faith. [21:34] He would have missed the growing in faith, and he would have missed the opportunity to [21:39] be the father figure in the life of God the Son.

[21:43] He would have missed the opportunity to be a part of God’s mission to redeem people [21:49] unto himself through the very work that Jesus Christ came to give us. [21:55] But do you think Joseph knew in that moment the opportunities that were going to be in [22:03] front of him for the rest of his life by this one choice? [22:09] I don’t think so.

[22:11] So what we need to understand is that when the Father puts decisions in front of us, [22:18] when he puts opportunity in front of us, and he does, often we just don’t see it, we don’t [22:27] perceive it. [22:29] When he puts those opportunities in front of us, when we follow God into that opportunity, [22:36] that’s going to give way to five more opportunities in five years, ten more opportunities in [22:41] the next year.

[22:42] But that opportunity opened Joseph’s life to being a part of the greatest story ever [22:50] told, the gospel of Jesus Christ. [22:52] And in that moment he had no idea of all that was going to follow. [22:56] And in the moment that God calls you to one step of faith, to one opportunity of obedience, [23:02] to one moment where you exhibit faith, you have no idea what God is going to do with [23:12] that moment of faith.

[23:14] And so when God calls us and he says, you walk by faith, step out and walk by faith.

[23:25] Because the thing that you often don’t understand is that you cannot grow in faith without taking [23:30] the opportunity to walk by faith.

[23:34] And when you say no, and here’s the perspective, I want to talk about 15 foot view, let’s [23:41] not talk about all of the theology involved, let’s not say, well from the sovereignty [23:45] of God level it was no risk at all. [23:47] A 15 foot view, it all seems like a big risk.

[23:54] And when we’re talking about exhibiting faith in Jesus Christ, that one moment where Joseph [24:00] has the decision, do I stay in the mindset that I have or do I change my mind, Joseph [24:08] is looking into a future of opportunity, a future of growth or a future to the denial [24:16] of the path that God has for him.

[24:21] We must step out in faith over and over and over again because of the opportunity that [24:30] God has for us. [24:32] You see some of us have planned our lives.

[24:35] I know enough of you, some of y’all, y’all don’t even have a five year plan, you got [24:39] a 70 year plan. [24:41] You’ve got a plan for things that are going to happen 20 years after you’re dead. [24:46] And that’s stupid by the way. [24:49] Because as soon as you die I’m going to go tell your relatives not to do it. [24:53] Just because that was stupid.

[24:56] And y’all took that hard. [24:59] I’m not really going to do that. [25:00] Like that, nah, wow.

[25:06] But you have planned out your life, you have made up your mind, you have set your path. [25:12] And here’s the key for faith for some of you. [25:14] You will not deviate from the vision that you have for your life right now. [25:20] And if you will not deviate from the vision that you have from your life right now, you [25:27] will not see the opportunity that the Father desires to put in front of you today, tomorrow, [25:33] next week, next year.

[25:35] Because every opportunity that God puts in our path will call us to change the plans [25:42] that we have already made. [25:44] Because God desires to rewrite your plans. [25:48] There’s an Old Testament passage in the book of Habakkuk. [25:51] Habakkuk is a prophet that received bad news from God. [25:55] Habakkuk is a prophet that received news over and over and over about God’s judgment

[26:01] over Israel. [26:03] And in Habakkuk 2-4, the prophet writes from the mouth of God that when we don’t listen [26:11] to his plans, it’s because our soul is puffed up. [26:14] It is not upright within him. [26:15] But he says, the righteous shall live by his faith. [26:19] Now if you’ve heard that before, it’s because it’s in Romans 1.

[26:22] If you’ve heard that before, it’s because it’s in Hebrews. [26:24] If you’ve heard that before, it’s because the just shall live by faith is sprinkled [26:29] throughout the entire New Testament numerous times. [26:32] But here in Habakkuk, we see it for the first time that it comes to a people who are experiencing [26:38] a very dark time in their lives and they do not like the plan that God has for them. [26:46] Because it’s not the one that they want.

[26:49] And the Lord comes to them and he says, if you will not follow me in faith, then you [26:56] cannot grow in righteousness.

[27:00] Saying when you despair in the moment of darkness, when the Father wants to use it to grow you [27:05] in his way, then you cannot experience what it is to know the righteousness of God. [27:11] You cannot experience what it is to know what growing in faith really is about. [27:16] It is about a time when your plans are going to be insufficient. [27:22] It is a time when all you have to go on is what God has spoken. [27:27] And all you can see clearly is what God has promised.

[27:31] But the plans that you have don’t look good. [27:36] Because there are times when God will call you out and say, risk your plans. [27:41] There are times when God will call you out and he will say, forget your plans. [27:44] There are times when God is going to call you out and he is going to say, if you do [27:49] things according to your plan, you will not know me. [27:53] You will not grow in me.

[27:56] Walk by faith even at the cost of every plan that you have ever made.

[28:05] And it’s going to feel risky when God simply says follow me into a future when you don’t [28:10] know how it’s going to turn out. [28:12] But the real risk is not altering your plans to walk by faith.

[28:18] Number two this morning, faith makes you responsible. [28:21] You see, when God calls us to risk our lives for his faith, he is calling us into a future [28:26] that he knows but we don’t. [28:28] God knew Joseph’s future. [28:30] Joseph did not. [28:32] And so when God called him to walk by faith, he was calling him to walk by something that

[28:36] would give him the greatest responsibility that any man has ever known. [28:39] And that is to take on a new identity. [28:41] Joseph, the father of Jesus.

[28:47] The life of faith is always a life of responsibility. [28:50] But could you imagine being tasked with the leadership of the son of God? [28:57] And I know he was tasked with that leadership by the wording of the passage. [29:01] You see, fathers lead families. [29:04] Husbands lead wives. [29:05] The scripture is very clear on that.

[29:07] That’s a conversation for another day, but understand the scripture is clear.

[29:12] And when the Lord speaks to Mary, did you know he never told Mary the name to give [29:18] him?

[29:21] He tells Joseph the name. [29:25] He says, you will call his name Jesus. [29:28] And then at the end of the text, what does it say? [29:30] And Joseph called his name Jesus. [29:34] You see, God called Joseph into fatherhood. [29:37] God placed an amazing responsibility on Joseph.

[29:40] I mean, could you imagine God calling you and asking you to be the father of his son? [29:48] What an amazing calling. [29:49] And before you start going crazy and thinking, oh, well, that’s an easy thing. [29:53] He was the perfect son.

[29:56] But could you imagine being an imperfect father trying to raise a perfect son? [29:59] In Luke 2, 52, we see that Jesus, and I tell you, I can’t wrap my mind around this. [30:05] I’ve been studying scripture for a long time, but I don’t know how God the Son had to grow [30:08] in wisdom. [30:10] But the text tells me he did. [30:12] He had to grow in wisdom.

[30:13] He had to grow in stature. [30:14] He had to grow in favor with God, and he had to grow in favor with man. [30:19] And do you know who was tasked with leading him into growth?

[30:26] Joseph.

[30:29] But could you imagine the insanity of looking at toddler Jesus and explaining to yourself, [30:38] I’m leading the one who created me.

[30:42] I’m responsible for helping bring maturity into the life of the one who spoke, and universes [30:49] existed. [30:51] How can I do that? [30:53] I am unsuitable for that. [30:55] I’m not good enough for that. [30:56] And the Father says, that’s why you need to walk by faith.

[31:00] The Lord does not typically call people into a life that they are sufficient for living. [31:07] The Lord typically is going to call you to walk a path that you will feel wholly insufficient [31:12] and wholly irresponsible and wholly unqualified to follow. [31:17] And if all you’ve ever done, is that what you felt qualified for, either one or two [31:22] things are possible. [31:23] Either A, you’ve never walked in faith, or B, repent because you’re arrogant.

[31:30] Either way, you’ve got trouble on your hands.

[31:35] The Lord wants us to walk that insufficient path so that we can look to him and receive [31:39] our strength, so that every step that we take, we know we’ve got to point back to him because [31:44] we are walking by faith. [31:46] When you think about the responsibility of being a father to any child, when we see Jesus [31:53] the man, we see the legacy of Joseph the father. [31:58] When we see the earthly ministry of Jesus, Joseph is not on the scene.

[32:02] Did you know that? [32:04] That’s why he’s never mentioned in the adult life of Jesus. [32:06] Because, excuse me, Joseph was probably dead by the time Jesus started his public ministry.

[32:14] But somehow, when we look at that public ministry of Jesus, when we look at Luke 2.52, [32:19] and we begin to think, we start to think that some aspects of Christ’s earthly ministry [32:24] were forever impacted by his earthly father, Joseph. [32:27] Then when we look at the half-brother of Jesus, James, the pastor of the church of Jerusalem, [32:32] the one who was martyred, possibly the first martyr of the church, we see the legacy of [32:38] Joseph the father.

[32:41] You see, friends, I want you to understand, fathers leave an imprint on their children [32:45] for better or worse. [32:47] But it must be an imprint of faith.

[32:54] I’ve been studying the scriptures for about the last 25 years in a serious way. [33:02] And if all that I have to pass on to my children, to pass on to my wife, is an academic understanding [33:10] is parsing the terminology, is to exegete the text in a masterful way, to where all [33:16] that they see is my father the academic. [33:19] Then I’ve failed. [33:20] It’s all been for moot.

[33:22] My children must see a father that has this, the calling of God that went in Joseph that [33:28] goes into my life, and walk by faith. [33:32] In every step of it, I take the responsibility of being the man of God that God calls me [33:38] to be, to answer him when the Spirit says, Steve, I’m going to require this of you, [33:42] I’m going to require more of you, of taking the responsibility of what it means to grow [33:48] in my faith.

[33:51] What’s interesting as a pastor is that the longer I pastor, the more I call people to [33:56] a responsible faith, the more we seem to receive pushback. [34:01] It’s because we don’t want to take responsibility. [34:04] For some of you, it’s because you are irresponsible. [34:10] You’ve always been that way. [34:12] And so when somebody says, you take on a responsibility to walk in faith, you’re thinking to yourself,

[34:19] I am not even mature enough to be responsible for a hamster. [34:25] I know because I killed one last month. [34:27] It’s very painful, scarring.

[34:31] Some of you, you think that everything you put your hands to has failed. [34:37] You don’t want to take responsibility. [34:39] For some of you, it’s because you think that you always need someone to lead, because [34:44] if you ever have to lead, you will fail even leading yourself.

[34:50] So when we begin to form environments, we always get to this place with the environments [34:56] that we’re forming where we start to push back and we start to say, now is the time. [35:01] You’ve reached the environment where we are not going to be responsible, but rather we [35:06] want you to grow in responsibility. [35:09] So this one’s on you. [35:10] This one’s for you to form.

[35:12] This one’s for you to schedule. [35:13] We’re not going to do it for you because we don’t want to drown horses. [35:18] You say, what do you mean? [35:20] You’ve heard the analogy. [35:21] I’m sure that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. [35:25] Well, you can lead a follower to discipleship, but you can’t make him disciple.

[35:32] So you bring that horse to the water, and even if you, as the master of the horse, [35:37] you put your hand in the water and you put it up to its snout, and the horse says, hmm, [35:41] that’s good water. [35:42] I’m going to tell you something. [35:43] If the horse just sits there, the rider’s going to stop lapping the water up after a [35:47] while and say, you stupid horse, drink.

[35:50] But if you force the horse’s head down, one or two things are going to happen. [35:55] You’re going to get kicked in the face, and I’ve had that happen. [35:59] Or the horse is going to drown. [36:01] Those are your two possibilities, but the horse has to be healthy. [36:06] The horse has to drink. [36:09] You ever seen a 15-year-old drink in a bottle of Similac?

[36:14] Now, if you don’t have children, Similac is formula. [36:17] Babies drink it. [36:19] And some of you are like, we don’t believe in that. [36:21] Just get over it and follow me on the analogy.

[36:25] Some of you all, man, that ain’t a gospel issue. [36:27] Do whatever you want.

[36:30] That was formula fed.

[36:33] Real well.

[36:36] That’s not in the notes.

[36:40] If you saw a 15-year-old drinking a bottle of Similac, you’d look at it sideways, wouldn’t [36:45] you? [36:46] I was talking to somebody this week, and I use that analogy because I tend to use the [36:51] same analogy as I write about because I’m not that original. [36:54] But the issue is, if you saw a 15-year-old drinking Similac, you would think one of two [36:58] things.

[36:59] There’s either something wrong up here or there’s some type of disability. [37:03] There’s some type of disorder. [37:06] Because 15-year-olds should know how to make themselves sandwiches, and if they can’t, [37:09] we would think something’s wrong.

[37:13] See, the issue with discipleship is, at some point, you need to stop drinking Similac [37:17] and you need to walk by faith. [37:19] You need to eat the meat of the word. [37:21] You don’t need the teacher. [37:22] You need to be teaching. [37:24] You don’t need to be consuming.

[37:26] You need to be giving.

[37:30] The key with where God is calling Joseph to is he’s saying that if you take this step [37:37] You will grow in ways that you cannot imagine that you would grow in without making this [37:45] decision on your own, without making this decision for yourself, without making this [37:51] choice for your future. [37:54] You will not have the life that God wants you to have in this moment. [38:01] But we’re too busy pushing that off to another day, aren’t we?

[38:04] We’re too busy saying, I’ll get serious about my spiritual life in a couple of months. [38:08] I just got to get this, that, or the other thing. [38:11] And the best thing that you could do in that moment is be in Joseph’s shoes. [38:17] God’s not given him six months.

[38:20] God’s given him nine at the most.

[38:25] And God’s saying, you’ve got to make the decision now because everyone in town knows. [38:31] Will you follow me into the life of fatherhood of the Son that is not yours but is eternally [38:38] God the Son? [38:40] Will you do that? [38:41] And Joseph walked into the future that God had designed for him. [38:47] Faith is a responsibility to lead.

[38:50] It is a responsibility to take the message of God’s salvation to those around us. [38:54] And when I think about the responsibility of being the father of God the Son, and I [39:00] think about the offering that we’re going to be taking today for the Lottie Moon Christmas [39:03] offering, and I think about the faith that was exhibited by Lottie Moon herself. [39:08] And I know some of you have no idea who she is, so I’m here to tell you who she is. [39:12] She was a woman who at 33 years old answered the call of God in 1879 to go to China.

[39:21] And she would spend the next 40 years of her life starting schools, helping women, teaching [39:28] the Bible, reaching the unreached. [39:31] And her battle cry for her life was, how many can I reach?

[39:38] But what’s interesting is that she had a question that in her writings home she always asked.

[39:45] Because she understood the power of fatherhood, she understood the power of husbands leading, [39:49] and she was in China serving, and many female missionaries started coming over, and she [39:54] wrote back and she said, where are the men?

[39:59] Where are the men who will take the responsibility to answer the call of God? [40:04] Friends, I want you to understand that when God calls you to walk by faith, do not think [40:11] that you have a license to keep living a selfish, uninterrupted existence.

[40:17] This moment of faith that God would call Joseph to, it would be followed by thousands [40:23] of moments of faith as he was the father of God the Son. [40:29] Number three this morning, understand that that responsibility gave way to faith being [40:34] very rewarding. [40:36] Because faith is rewarding. [40:39] The key is that it changes your definition of reward.

[40:43] It changes the way that you look at that reward. [40:46] You see, return on investment is how we define a profitable life in this culture. [40:51] It’s ROI. [40:53] We often measure success by taking a look at what something costs versus how much profit [40:57] that we have made in return. [41:00] And I’ll tell you right now, that is not a bad way to look at life.

[41:03] I think that’s actually the most appropriate way to look at life, because that’s what being [41:06] a good steward of God’s resources looks like. [41:09] But let me challenge the way that you look at the return. [41:15] Because a question is, what is the return that God wants us to leverage our lives for? [41:21] Because so often when God calls us to exhibit faith, the way that we respond sometimes [41:26] is, man, I think God is costing too much.

[41:29] I think he’s asking too much. [41:31] To follow him in this moment would cost me too much. [41:34] We think that he will let us down. [41:38] Maybe you think God has already let you down because things might not go the way that [41:44] you thought they would, or because things have not gone the way that you envisioned [41:48] them going.

[41:49] But here’s what I want you to understand, that when things do not go the way that you [41:54] envision them going, that is not the moment to look to God and say, how dare you not make [42:00] my vision, my plan, what I want to happen. [42:04] That is the moment where you look to God and say, God, what vision do you want to replace [42:08] my vision with? [42:10] Because when things do not go according to your vision, it is because God has a different

[42:15] vision for your life. [42:19] Too often our statements that God is asking too much or God is letting us down, it’s not [42:25] because God hasn’t come through on what he has promised, it’s because you are holding [42:28] him accountable for things he didn’t promise you. [42:32] God is saying, stop trusting me for things that you want and start trusting me for visions [42:36] that I will give.

[42:38] Align your vision with the vision of God. [42:40] Here’s the key, Mary had the baby.

[42:43] Eight pounds, six ounce baby Jesus was born. [42:47] The prophecies were true. [42:49] Joseph named the baby Jesus. [42:53] Mary and Joseph’s lives would never be the same, and it would be a hard road, but the [42:59] reward was eternal.

[43:03] Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, performed many miracles, raised the [43:12] dead, made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk. [43:17] Then he went and he died on a sinner’s cross for the sins of me and the sins of you because [43:24] he had no sin of his own to have. [43:27] He rose from the dead, and during those last two events, Joseph was in heaven. [43:33] Do you think Joseph looked down from his eternal heaven in the kingdom with God?

[43:40] Do you think he looked down at the crucifixion? [43:42] Do you think he looked down at the miracles? [43:43] Do you think he looked down at the resurrection and said, man, I really wasted my life.

[43:50] I wish I could have lived differently than I did. [43:53] Man, I can’t believe I raised him. [43:55] What a disappointment. [43:57] All he did was rise from the dead.

[44:01] No, when Joseph looked down from glory, his response was, what eternal glory the Father [44:10] allowed me and his grace to be a part of.

[44:16] Friend, if your life’s been a failure, here’s what I want you to understand. [44:23] God’s grace is sufficient for your failure.

[44:27] If you’ve been irresponsible, God’s grace is sufficient for your irresponsibility. [44:32] But do not let the failure, do not let the faithlessness and do not let the irresponsibility [44:38] of yesterday hold you back from the glory of tomorrow. [44:43] From the faith that God wants you to put in him right now to walk into a future that [44:47] he’s designed for tomorrow because our Father is forgiving, our Father is empowering, our [44:51] Father is a good God who has a vision for your life that he’s calling you to walk into.

[44:57] But the question is, will you walk by faith? [45:01] Will you turn from your plan and take hold of his plan and say, I don’t know where this [45:08] is going. [45:08] I don’t have all the answers. [45:11] I don’t know how this is going to turn out except in the end, I will inherit the kingdom [45:16] of God.

[45:17] But in between here and there, I don’t really have all the answers. [45:20] But I know it will be better than what I have. [45:23] So I will walk by faith.

[45:28] Will you do that?

[45:31] Because the Lord has a future for you.

[45:36] Friends, I close by telling you this. [45:39] A life that costs you nothing is a life that has a return on investment of what you already have. [45:47] A life that costs you nothing is a life that has a return on investment of what you already have.

[45:57] See, God has designed a life for you in which you constantly grow, in which you constantly [46:02] receive from him. [46:03] But if you will not walk by faith, your reward is what stares back in the mirror with you [46:09] every morning.

[46:11] God wants you to walk by faith so that you can know what eternity and the glory of God [46:17] feels like in every moment. [46:19] So you can look to him in worship. [46:21] So you can look to him in joy. [46:23] So you can look to him in satisfaction. [46:26] And if you have received enough of Jesus and you say, I don’t need anymore, I tell you,

[46:32] you don’t know him. [46:33] Because once you taste, once you walk, you say, I can’t get enough. [46:37] I want more. [46:38] And I tell you, walk by faith. [46:43] As the band comes up,

[46:48] when we begin to talk about faith that risks, when we begin to talk about the responsibility [46:54] of faith, I know that for some of you, you’re like, responsibility, what’s that?

[47:02] But here’s what I want you to understand. [47:04] God hasn’t called you to something he’s not going to equip you for. [47:09] God hasn’t called you into something that he doesn’t know where it’s going. [47:13] Every call for faith that God puts in us, he’s seen the yesterday of it, he’s seen [47:18] the today of it, and God has seen the tomorrow of it.

[47:23] And he’s just calling you and he’s saying, walk by faith. [47:27] Trust me. [47:29] And when we say, how can I? [47:31] Because if you’re not a follower of Jesus, this sounds insane. [47:36] But if you’re not a follower of Jesus, we bank everything that we believe about faith [47:41] in the fact that the God who calls us to exhibit faith is the same God who rose from the dead

[47:49] in the person of Jesus Christ. [47:51] And I believe that if Jesus has the power to rise from the dead, then any promise that [47:57] he makes after that, I can bank on returning my investment tenfold in. [48:04] Because he keeps his word. [48:07] He is a God who makes promises that he always follows through on, and he has the track [48:12] record of proving it.

[48:14] And for you, I say, stop trusting in everything that you’ve ever trusted in and you follow [48:18] Christ. [48:19] It’s that simple. [48:21] And if you will, he will save you. [48:25] For those of you that have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, I’m calling you to walk in [48:30] faith in new ways.

[48:32] Because some of y’all thought you made a decision to walk in faith one time, and you’re just [48:39] banking on that one time being it. [48:42] It’s never how it works. [48:44] One step of faith prepares you for the next step of faith, prepares you for the next step [48:48] of faith. [48:49] And by God’s grace, when I’m in my 70s and 80s, if the Lord gives me that long, I’ll

[48:54] still be taking steps in faith. [48:56] He’s never done till I’m done.

[49:02] We celebrate in communion, and today as we look forward to Christmas Eve, it may seem [49:07] odd to look at the plate and see the body of Christ, and look at the cup and see the [49:13] blood of Christ broken and bled for us, and reflect on his death at a time of his birth. [49:18] But here’s the key, Jesus was born to die. [49:22] That was his mission. [49:23] And he died for me, and he died for you, so that I could have the life that God wants

[49:28] me to have in satisfaction and worship of God.

[49:34] When you are ready, come, proclaim to God, I’m gonna walk by faith. [49:39] Eat, drink, celebrate the death of our King.