Archives for December 2015

Matthew 2:13-15 says, After the wise men [the magi from the east] were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death…” Did it cost Joseph something to obey? Yup! He had to relocate geographically and leave behind familiarity, friends and family. But was it worth it? You bet! It saved his newborn Son from a premature death at the hand of Herod! It saved Joseph and Mary from the grief and pain that would’ve resulted from losing their baby! So of course it was worth it!

In the movie 127 Hours (based off the true story of Engineer Aron Ralston), Aron has to choose between losing his arm, which is trapped under a boulder or losing his life. Aron chooses to cut off his own arm rather than lose his life. Was that a difficult decision? To say the least! But was it worth it? Absolutely! Better to be alive with one arm than dead with two!

This is how it is with obedience. It comes at a price, but it’s worth it! Pain would’ve been the result, had Joseph disobeyed…and the same is true for us. Our disobedience to God always results in pain…in suffering…in turmoil (inward and outer). We can’t avoid all hurt and pain in this life, for pain is just a part of living in a sin-filled, broken world (unfortunately). But with that said, there’s so much pain and hurt we experience, not because of the curse of sin, rather because of our own sin – that we absolutely could avoid if we choose submission and obedience vs rebellion. Though obedience comes with a high price tag, it’s totally worth it both for the joy that comes from obedience, as well as the hurt and pain we can avoid. Joseph’s life teaches us that obedience is worth it.

As we study the story of Joseph, we learn that obedience cost Joseph his reputation. Think about it – How many of Joseph’s friends do you think believed him when he told them his fiancé was pregnant by the Holy Spirit? I’m guessing zero! I’m guessing that most concluded he and Mary lost control one night in the back seat of Joseph’s camel! And unlike today, where no one bats an eye when someone gets pregnant out of wedlock, in Joseph’s day, this was a big deal. So obedience to God’s plan, in Joseph’s case, absolutely cost him his reputation. But Joseph cared more what God thought than what people thought.

It’s different for each person, but obedience will always cost us something. When my wife said yes to God’s calling to move to MA to start a church with me, it cost her proximity to her family. It was hard enough for her to be four hours away in MD, how much more so twelve hours away in MA! When the Benham brothers refused to cow-tail to television executives who wanted them to tone down their Christian views on their new reality tv show – obedience to Jesus cost them their job. When a gunman arrived on the Oregon community college campus and asked the students “Are you a Christian?” obedience cost some students their lives. When you share your faith at work, like Joseph, it might cost you your reputation.

Joseph’s life teaches us that obedience will always cost us something. Obedience might cost you your reputation, your job, your friends or even your very life. The question then begs: Is it worth it? And that’s  exactly the question we’ll answer in tomorrow’s post.

When Joseph was considering divorcing Mary, Matthew 1:20-25 tells us how “…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…When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”

Joseph, the early father of Jesus, didn’t obey God in part. He obeyed fully. He may not have liked the idea of marrying someone that already had a kid that wasn’t his…He may not have liked the idea of waiting until after Mary had her baby to consummate the marriage…He may not have like the name Jesus. But Joseph didn’t pick and choose what to obey based on his personal preferences. He fully obeyed.

May God help us all to be like Joseph, for Scripture teaches us that God views partial obedience as complete disobedience. For example, God told Saul in 1 Samuel 15:3, “…go, attack the Amalekites and totally [everyone say “totally”] destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” Saul attacked the Amalekites (15:7) but spared Agag [the king of the Amalekites] and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These Saul was unwilling to destroy, but everything that was despised and weak he totally destroyed (15:9). When Saul runs into the prophet Samuel a couple verses later he greets him saying “I have carried out the Lord’s instructions” (15:13). But Samuel replies “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?” (15:14) Why did you not obey the Lord? (15:19) “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. ²¹ The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” ²² But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than presenting sacrifices… (15:20-22) Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” (15:23)

Saul was guilty of picking and choosing which of God’s instructions he would obey. Saul practiced what I call “Cafeteria Christianity.” In a cafeteria you get in line and say “yes please” to the stuff you like and “no thanks” to anything you find unappetizing, unpalatable or offensive. This is how some people approach God’s instructions in the Bible. If they come across anything unappetizing, unpalatable or offensive, they say “no thanks” but this is the opposite of submission. So here’s the question this passage implores us to consider: Where are we doing the same thing as Saul? It’s not “Are we doing the same thing?” rather “Where are we doing the same thing?” God has set parameters on who you can date and marry as a Christian (only another believer). God has set parameters on when you can enjoy a sexual relationship with another person (only in the context of marriage). God has given us specific instructions in how to order our finances. When we reject the parts of God’s Word we find unappetizing, unpalatable or offensive, we’re guilty of partial obedience, which God makes clear is complete disobedience. As King, we owe Jesus our submission and obedience – not partially, but fully!

In Matthew’s gospel, chapter one, Joseph has just discovered that Mary is pregnant. Knowing that he wasn’t the father, Joseph is making plans to end things with Mary. That’s when an angel appears to Joseph, and says to him “…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…” (Matthew 1:20-21)

Well lets see how Joseph responds: “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:20-25) In other words, Joseph immediately did all God had commanded him to do through the angel.

When I tell my kids to start getting ready for bed, or to start cleaning up after dinner, or whatever, I expect them to listen and obey right away. And that’s what God expects from us. Listening and obeying right away is characteristic of the godly. For example, in Genesis 22 God commanded Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering. The Bible records that early the next morning he got up and set out. That is, he obeyed right away. When Jesus called Simon Peter and his brother Andrew to follow him we read in Matthew 4:19 how “At once they left their nets and followed him.” And when Jesus called James and his brother John to follow him we read in Matthew 4:21 how “…immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” If we want to be godly then we have to master the timing of our obedience. Better late than never is true, but even better than that is to listen and obey right away.

Now why is this so important? Well, the Bible makes clear: If you won’t obey God in the current step he’s told you to take he won’t reveal to you the next step in his plan for your life. God only gave Joseph step two once Joseph had obeyed step one. And that’s how it works with us too.

Revelation 19:16 makes it clear that Jesus is “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” so we have to evaluate our lives and see if there’s any area where we’ve delayed obedience. Once we get saved the Bible says our very next step is water baptism. If you’ve been saved, are you obeying right away? When someone sins against us, we don’t have to trust them right away, but we do need to forgive them right away. If you’ve been hurt, are you obeying right away? If you have conflict with someone, the Bible says to go to them. If someone has offended you, are you listening and obeying right away? I hope you are because the first thing Joseph’s life teaches us is that delayed obedience is disobedience.

We read in Matthew 2:11 how, “They [the magi] entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” This was tradition – that when paying homage to someone you would bring them the finest things of the land you lived in and this is exactly what we see the magi doing. They brought the finest things of Persia (in the east) to pay Jesus homage.

These gifts were three things:

1. They were presents. Shortly after the magi returned to the east God instructed Joseph to flee to Egypt because Herod was seeking to kill the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:13). These presents served the immediate purpose of providing for Jesus and his family as they lived as refugees in Egypt. But these gifts weren’t just presents, secondly…
2. They were proclamations concerning who Jesus was and what he had come to do. Let me explain. First they gave Jesus some gold – a gift fit for a king. This gift proclaimed that the baby Jesus, wrapped in swaddling clothes, was none other than the King of kings and the Lord of all lords (Revelation 19:16). Second, they gave Jesus some frankincense – a gift fit for a priest. You see, in the Old Testament the priests would offer up frankincense to God (Deuteronomy 30:34-38) as a pleasing aroma. So whereas the gold proclaimed Jesus as King of kings, the frankincense proclaimed Jesus as God’s High Priest (Hebrews 6:20) who would offer up his life as a pleasing aroma (2 Corinthians 2:15) to God. Third they gave Jesus some myrrh – a gift fit for one who was to die. You see, myrrh was used in the embalming process when someone died. And this was a fitting gift to give to Jesus, since he was born to die (John 12:27-28). So the myrrh proclaimed Jesus’ forthcoming substitutionary death on the cross. So we see that secondly, the gifts were proclamations. Now thirdly we see that…
3. They were promptings. a) The gift of gold prompts the response of submission. As King, Jesus deserves our willing, submissive, obedience. Submission and obedience is the only proper response to the King. Jesus demonstrated submission and obedience to God the Father, setting an example for us to follow. Philippians 2:8 tells us that Jesus submitted himself to God the Father, “…becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!” Now we’re expected to submit to and obey the Son the same way the Son submitted to and obeyed the Father. This is why 1 Peter 1:14 says, “So you must live as God’s obedient children…” When we remember Christ’s submissive obedience, it ought to inspire our own. b) The gift of frankincense prompts the response of surrender. It took total surrender for our High Priest to offer his life up to God the Father as a pleasing aroma. Jesus prayed in Matthew 26:39, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” This should be our prayer in every situation – that God’s will be done, not our own. “…Surrender…” (2 Co 10:6, LB) is always the goal. c) The gift of myrrh prompts the response of sacrifice. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice when he died in our place, for our sins. Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” And this is precisely what Jesus did for us. He now expects us to do the same for him. This was Paul’s sentiment in Romans 12:1 when he wrote, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”