One of my favorite Christmas songs is a modern one. Don't get me wrong, I love the "traditional" carols like "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing", "O Holy Night", and Mariah Carey's very reverent "All I Want For Christmas Is You". There is just something about "Joseph's Lullaby" by Mercy Me that hits a little differently, and not just because of it's awesome name.
Every now and then Joseph, father of Christ, gets a passing mention but he largely gets overlooked in our nativity stories.
"Can you feel the weight of your glory? Do you understand the price? Or does the Father guard your heart for now so you can sleep tonight. [...] I believe the glory of Heaven is lying in my arms tonight. But Lord, I ask that he for just this moment simply be my child."
It chokes me up every time. The lyrics paint the picture of a father who deeply loves his son but is keenly aware of the long, long road ahead of the peaceful little baby. Whether that actual scene played out or not, we know that Joseph was aware of who the Christ child was.
The birth of Jesus came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." [...] When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord's angel had commanded him. He married her... (Matthew 1:18-21,24)
There is a reason why I think there was perhaps a bigger element of faith, at least at first, for Joseph than Mary; I caveat this by saying this is my simple opinion, but there's a point I want to make that I think is still universally valid.
Mary conceived and could feel this little baby growing in her. When I think of Meredith's pregnancy with our first child, she "felt pregnant" very early on even when I couldn't tell we were expecting a child other than her symptoms a couple lines on a plastic indicator stick. Imagine Joseph throughout this pregnancy. It would have been easier to say the angel was a dream. It would have saved him a lot of shame and humiliation from others who would have naturally assumed that he got Mary pregnant earlier than was customarily allowed. I wonder if throughout the pregnancy it took months for everything to "seem real" to him. While Mary had these little reminders moving in her constantly of the Holy Spirit's work, Joseph only had a message from God... and faith. The entire time, imagine the whispering and judgmental glances of others.
I feel like that is the testimony of Joseph that we all get to experience. Joseph had a decision to make: (1) act on what was culturally convenient and expected or (2) act on faith. We are constantly faced with these situations both in our secular lives and in our interactions with the church. There is a status quo we can maintain and very few people will ever question us. Then there's a life we can live, radically changed by the good news of the gospel and Christ's supernatural love. There is a type of relationship we can foster with God based on a zealous and uncompromising dedication, then there is the mundane, lukewarm cultural Christianity we can keep to ourselves or relegated to "organized church activities".
So what will we choose? Will we fall into the convenient and comfortable embrace of what the secular and cultural Christian world expects of us or live as something special and unique... something set apart from the rest of the world that represents an unusual type of love? That is what we see in the picture of Joseph looking down at this little baby who would save a world. He could have done the easy and expected thing by society and religious leaders, but he decided to act on faith.
So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:21)
DEVOTIONAL PRAYER
A Prayer for Zealous Uniqueness
Creative God, you have made us all beautiful in your eyes and according to your design. Help us to understand the masterpiece you wish to finish in each of our lives. Give us hearts soft and malleable so you can form it into something you find useful for your purposes and to bring you glory. In your name we pray, Amen.
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