"Christmas At The Diner:
Who's In The Driver's Seat?"
Dean Angell
December 11/12, 2004
Folks, last week I spoke to you about the miracles God wants to create in our lives . . . this Christmas . . . and we talked about how faith and miracles intersect . . . and that we really need to be people who expect the unexpected from God and that we really need to be people who have great expectations of a great God . . . in our lives
Now - I gotta tell you . . . last weeks response absolutely blew me away - as 100's of you responded to God with a step of faith to ask Him for your specific miracle (these yellow papers represent those faith requests - amazing). I prayed for each of those miracles this week (and I hope you have been as well). I prayed that God would answer each of your requests and that you would be able to hear from Him so as to know your part in the miracle as well . . .
See, I think God wants to teach us a little more about the miracles and promises he makes to us . . . and I think He wants us to know more about the part we play in his miracles . . . and about how vital our role is . . . in seeing His promise fulfilled in our lives . . .
Today, through the life of Joseph, we'll discover that seeing God's miracles and promises unfold in our lives has nothing to do with us fighting for control in the situations we find ourselves in . . . but instead, it has everything to do with letting God have control . . . Today, Joseph is gonna teach us that seeing miracles in our lives is about letting God into the driver's seat and it's about us intentionally sliding over to the passenger seat of life . . . That's when we'll see miracles and promises come through every time . . . So let's talk about Joseph . . (the carpenter), an ordinary guy who God used in an extraordinary way . . .
Let me read you this part of the story . . .
Matthew 1:18-24
"This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit and because Joseph, her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
And all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said (years before), through the prophet: "A virgin will be with child, and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"-which means, "God with us." . . . (and then it says) . . . And when Joseph woke up, he did exactly what the angel of the Lord had commanded him to do , . . . and took Mary home as his wife. "
This week I had a 100 questions run through my head about Joseph . . .
Questions like what would it have felt like to be him in this situation? Wouldn't you feel a little out of control - I mean . . . . it was a really big deal in those days for the girl you're going to marry (very soon) to show up
pregnant . . . That was the kinda situation that got you ostracized from families and communities and the church - it was a big deal (and it was not good) . . . And then I thought . . . I'm sure Joseph had some feelings of, "Why me God? You could have picked any one of a great number of young, Jewish, engaged, carpenters for this . . . there's 3 more in my town alone . . . Why me God? And why a carpenter, . . . it seems so ordinary" . . . . . . Then I was thinking about what I would have said to Mary, or her family, or even to God . . . if I had this idea sprung on me . . .
"You're pregnant and who's the father?" . . . Or, I wondered what I would have thought if I was Joseph . . . when Mary's dad looked at him with those eyes that said, "Sure it isn't your fault, had nothing to do with you." "Right! . . ." What would you have been tempted to say . . . or how about this, how about when God says . . . "Don't worry Joseph it's all gonna be just fine" . . . I wonder if I would have had the same response as Joseph. And if I'm gonna be honest - I'm not sure I would have . . . See, in the Christmas story I think we misread the amount of faith it took for Joseph to go along with this whole thing . . . Most of the time we think of Joseph as just this really nice guy who helped out Mary and Jesus . . . but they did the important stuff . . . But as we'll see today . . . Joseph was also chosen by God - to fulfill a promise and to create a miracle . . .
So, what was Joseph like? I mean was he really just an ordinary carpenter . . . Or were there some qualities that God saw in him that would have identified Joseph as a worthy father for the saviour of the world . . .
There must have been something God saw in Joseph to make God believe that the promise of a saviour would be fulfilled through this ordinary working man named Joe . . . . . Well, when I was looking, and reading a bit more this week, a few thoughts came to mind . . . . . .
Look at verse 19 . . . "Joseph was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly." There is one word here that is the key to why Joseph was chosen by God for a promise and a miracle . . . The word is righteous . . . Now, righteousness is a word we don't use to describe to much in our culture . . . and when we do use it - it's usually behind the closed doors of a church - (but what does it really mean?) Righteousness . . . here's a hint - it's not about being religious or going to church . . . Righteousness is about what we allow God to do through us . . . Its about a right relationship with God and it's about saying yes to God . . . and you know what? Joseph said yes to God . . . in a really big way . . . And folks I'm here to remind us all today that the promises and miracles of God in this world and in our lives often happen because someone says yes to God.
So here's the little mental jump I made in my mind that I'd like you to take with me (this . . .) . . . if Joseph's ability to say yes to God helped God's promise and Mary's miracle happen . . . well then maybe our yes to God can help our miracle and maybe even somebody else's miracle to became a reality . . . Does that kinda make sense? I don't think that's too big a jump . . .
Here's what I want to do - I want to look a little deeper into Joseph's life and watch his response to this miracle unfolding around him . . .
Here's the first thing we see . . . in Joseph's life.
I. Promises and Miracles aren't always reasonable
Joseph's first thought in the situation he finds himself in is to act like many of us would . . . . we would act out of reason . . . We would engage our minds and say - I'm a reasonable guy - let me think my way out of this challenge in front of me . . . so Joe does that in verse 19. It says . . .
" Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly."
Now, what was really going through Joseph's mind, we don't know, except he didn't want to make a bad situation worse . . . and so he thought - well whether she's telling the truth to me or not - the right thing to do would be to divorce her quietly . . . so she didn't have to go through such a public mess . . . but I'm sure his mind was reeling . . . and I'm sure he jumped to conclusions . . . and I'm sure he had a list of guys in his mind who he thought might have been involved (makes sense to me) . . . (You know . . . Pam and I didn't have sex (we were celibate) until our wedding day) and . . . we just wanted to do the right thing as followers of Jesus Christ. But I can tell you if she would have come to me and told me when we were engaged she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit - Do you know what I would have done? And said? . . . . . . I wouldn't have been righteous like Joseph who wanted to do this quietly . . . I think not . . . . . And then, carry it further . . . in a very reasonable line of thinking . . . if Joseph got involved with Mary at this point - He would be a victim of misunderstanding his whole life . . . can't you just hear it . . . "Joseph married that woman who messed around" . . . and "you do know Jesus isn't really his son. . ." And he had to be thinking that Mary and Jesus would both experience rejection from his family (can't you hear his mother . . . ) "That Mary was never good enough to marry my son." Folks, I bet all that stuff happened - it had to (at least) have gone through his mind . . . (in a reasonable kinda way . . . )
But Joseph was a righteous man . . . He was in right relationship with God and that means he chose the path that was not just reasonable . . but right. He did what was right.
. . . . . And that's the first thing we've got to learn if we want to be part of a miracle from God . . . reason is good. . . but being righteous is better . . . and God will choose that every time . . .
Stick with me - we'll apply all this in a minute.
II. Promises and Miracles aren't always comfortable
If you take a look at Joseph's life - he had a good thing going on. He had a great girl, he had a bright career ahead of him, a business of his own at a very young age, . . . he was set-up and had made plans for his life. Well laid out plans . . .
I'm sure he could picture it . . . . a nice home - a few kids and a beautiful wife - a cabin at the lake . . . the SUV . . . and great amounts of leisure time as his plan unfolded . . . (he could picture a comfortable life!!)
And boom - just like that . . . all those plans changed, because, if he actually married Mary - it would affect everything - and it actually did. . . If you read what actually happened - Joseph ended up giving up all his career plans, his business, his customers, his shop, his middle class lifestyle . . . and the cabin at the lake . . . As a result of making a commitment to Mary and this baby.
The bible says . . . that Joseph with Mary would spend the first 2 years of Jesus' life as refugees going into the land of Egypt - because Herod - the king of Israel wanted to kill Jesus - (who was now Joseph's newborn adopted son) . . . Joseph gave up his comfort and his well laid out plans and dreams . . . so he could pursue the promise of God and ensure the miracle of Jesus would become a reality.
That's the second thing we've got to remember if we want to be part of God's miracle . . . It just isn't always comfortable to see God's promises fulfilled in our lives . . .
One more idea - let me take it one step farther . . .
III. Promises and Miracles aren't always easy
If you think about Joseph's decision that day to stick with Mary and Jesus . . . Think about what it meant - for the rest of Joseph's life- not just the first couple of years fleeing into Egypt . . . By saying yes to God's promise, think about what that did . . . . . . Joseph had to feed Jesus . . . he had to clothe him and rock him when he cried . He had to get up in the night and clean up a messy bed or worse yet when Jesus got the flu when he was five . . . Joseph would have been with him . . . and he had to take him to soccer practice and guitar lessons or whatever else they did - and he took Jesus to church and to the Temple - the bible said they went regularly - it was a habit.
Joseph demonstrated life to Jesus - taught him how to be a carpenter - taught him about friendships - taught him how to pray. This stuff didn't just happen in Jesus life - Joseph taught it to him.
Joseph invested his whole life in Jesus - he taught him the promises of God from scripture . . . Ever think about the time when Jesus was an adult and was temped by Satan himself to walk away from Gods' plan for his life - do you know what Jesus did to battle and win in that situation. He quoted scripture - he quoted the promises of God as an adult . . . Where do you think he got that? Well my bet is he got it from Joseph - his dad (and his mom too) who understood that the promises of God don't just immediately happen - they have to be worked at - waited for and nurtured . . . and that a miracle and a promise can take a life time of work - - and it did for Joseph.
I read this week - some thing I've never thought of before - did you know that most historians believe Joseph died before Jesus 's public ministry even started - before Jesus was 30 years old - Joseph was dead.
Think about that - Joseph's dreams and well laid out plans and Joseph's comfort and leisure and cabin at the lake . . . and his whole life . . . spent on a promise and a miracle he never got to see . . . but he believed in the miracle God was growing in Jesus . . . and Joseph gave his life to see that promise unfold - amazing!
Why? Because Joseph was a righteous man . . . . . . Let's go back once more to the story and see how it ends . . . .
Now . . . after you've heard what must have been going through his mind. . . His reasonable - well planned - comfort filled mind . . . isn't it remarkable that he said yes to God so quickly . . . .
I mean . . . he said yes to God immediately even though Joseph knew it would mean he was no longer in control - (that he was now in the passenger seat) of life . . . He said yes to God immediately even though he knew it wasn't reasonable - or comfortable or easy . . . but he did it . . . because
Joseph was a righteous man - he was in right relationship with God and folks when you're in right relationship with God you can say yes to God and know He'll take care of you. And you can say yes to God, and know that He'll take care of your miracle and He'll come through on His promise . . . every time.
Because miracles and promises happen most often in our lives when we say y es to God. (wait)
So here comes the take home - let me cut right to the chase . . . Here's the application . . .
I'm just gonna ask you a few questions . . . that I had to ask this week . . .
What's it gonna take for you (and me) to say yes to God? . . .
And do our minds get in the way sometimes? And does our need to reason out weight our ability to act on faith? Does everything have to be in control and make sense and add up in our spiritual lives . . . before we'll step forward and do what God wants us to do?
See folks, our minds and our ability to reason and to think are wonderful gifts from God . . . but they were never given to us to stop us from responding to God . . . and I gotta tell you . . . Sometimes God just doesn't make sense . . . His ways are not our ways - His thoughts are not our thoughts . . . and sometimes His sequence of events is different from ours . . . and sometimes He just chooses to defy reason in order to show us the mystery of His power in our lives . . .
See, sometimes I think we gotta just let God be God . . . and let Him do His thing without figuring it all out first . . .
Folks . . . if your mind is getting in the way of a miracle God wants to do in your life (or through your life) Then please . . . think about this . . . Think about being unreasonable (just for a while) (think about thinking less and responding more to God's spirit?) Because God doesn't always make sense . . . He didn't make sense to Joseph . . . but Joseph followed and because of His response . . . history was changed . . . People - don't over think your faith - it is reasonable . . . but God sometimes asks us to just respond . . . and that's when miracles happen in our lives . . . When we say yes to God .
(Marriage - miracles - lots - over 100) Marriage healings often happen - marriage miracles often happen when we quit trying to reason and control and think so hard about stuff . . . and we just say yes to God and respond to Him . . . it's amazing what might happen . . .
What's it gonna take for us to say yes to God? (a few more questions)
Is our desire to fulfill our well - laid out plans and achieve our comfortable life- styles getting in the way of God's ability to speak to us?
. . . And is a bunch of stuff and things and money and the chase and effort it takes to get more stuff and things and money stopping us from seeing God's power transform our lives? . . .
I had coffee with a fella this week who I admire greatly in life, (and faith), and parenting, and business. Highly successful . . . you know what he said? He said, "Money and stuff has nothing to do with how much God works in your life - and it has nothing to do with how much God uses you . . . nothing."
Here's what the bible says . . . "Do not wear yourself out to get rich." "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires . . ." and Jesus said . . . "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions . . ." Enough said . . .
Folks, . . . if you want God to work a miracle in and around your life . . . then you've got to say yes to him . . . and that might just mean saying no to chasing more stuff, and things, and money . . . What's it gonna take for us to say yes to God?
Folks, my point is simple . . . Miracles and promises unfold in our lives when we say yes to God . . . and we've gotta do whatever it takes to not let reason, or comfort, or effort stop us from seeing His power unleashed within us . . .
Joseph . . . just said yes . . . He just simply responded to God . . . and because he responded . . . God used his life to change the world . . . A ordinary carpenter named Joe - and my bet is . . . that God can't wait to release miracles and promises into our very ordinary lives . . . All we have to do is say YES!
