Obeying the Lord's Command

4th Sunday in Advent – A                                                          LSB #’s 341:1-3, 454, 357:1-2, 4, 6
Text – Matthew 1:24
 
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him…
 
OBEYING THE LORD’S COMMAND
 
 
 The company commander was as hard-nosed as they come.  He was rigid in his thinking & opinionated in every topic.  He’d come up through the ranks & the “First Sergeant” demeanor never left him.  If there seemed to be no clear-cut rule,  he made one up & gigged men on inspection for failure to meet his standards. 
He had more men on company restriction than all the other units of the post  combined.  He also had a large number of men departing without official leave.   He was a tyrant,  & everyone knew it.  Human beings naturally chafe against such an uncompromising task master.  That is what the Law of God is like  without Jesus Christ  as our Lord & Savior. 
Obeying God’s Law is pointless if we’re living under a tyrant.   Since many people, believers & unbelievers alike,  consider God’s Law to be the work of a tyrant,  obeying that Law is seldom the focus of any casual Christian.  Obeying God’s Law  is not a common “bucket list” item.  People tend to look at going to heaven  as the only real goal  for being a follower of Jesus. 
From the Gospel reading,  it appears that for Joseph  simply being obedient to God was very important to him.  “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him…”  (Matthew 1:24 ESV)  
Taking that verse completely out of context,  what Joseph did sounds very unremarkable.  Putting those words into his context,  he’s facing an impossible situation.   The reason  is what Matthew had already written also in a very  understated manner, “…before they came together she was found to be with child…”  (Matthew 1:18b ESV) 
In our day & age,  that  is a very commonplace situation.   Abortion is a very common
response.  In Joseph’s day & age,  Mary,  & as a result the child Jesus,  being stoned to death would have been an accepted response.   Leviticus 20:10 records God’s command to the Israelites: “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor,  both the adulterer & the adulteress  shall surely be put to death.” 
How do those words strike you  this morning?  Do they seem to be the work of a tyrant?    Human beings naturally chafe against such an uncompromising task master.  That is what the Law of God is like  without Jesus Christ  as our Lord & Savior.  Yet, to follow the letter of God’s own Law,  Jesus would not have survived long enough  for you & I  to celebrate Christmas. 
And that is the impossible situation that Joseph finds himself in as Matthew records just the 18th verse of his very first chapter: “Now  the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.  When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,  before they came together  she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.” 
All of human experience was staring Joseph  directly in the face.  Mary  must have been unfaithful  to him. 
Nativity scenes are common in Christian homes this time of year.  Like a photograph,  they are a moment  frozen in time.  Everything is perfect.  As believers look at those scenes, it’s easy to sense the peace of God that surpasses all human understanding.  That’s what we are conditioned to believe.   It’s the version that the Gospel of Luke shares with us:
“And she gave birth to her firstborn son & wrapped him in swaddling cloths & laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn…  And [the shepherds] went with haste & found Mary & Joseph,   & the baby lying in a manger.”  (2:7, 16 ESV)   It’s obvious why the reading from Luke is much more common on Christmas Eve  than the reading from Matthew. 
It’s not that Matthew’s words are harsh in themselves,  but they reveal how the
conception & birth of Jesus were so  much more complicated  than your typical nativity scene  of peace & serenity.  The natural human evaluation of the “origin” of Jesus Christ is that it must have been  from a sinful union between Mary & another man.   In all of human history,  there’s no other way to explain it,  unless God Himself  is doing something different. 
And that is exactly the case.  Joseph’s his wife was pregnant by someone else,  yet he is a just man,  & also kind.  So, for all the right reasons, Joseph was about to do the wrong thing.  This gives a glimpse of a powerful theme in Matthew’s gospel – in order for human beings to know  the ways of Yahweh,  God must reveal them to us.  We cannot find them on our own. 
Whether it’s the difference between those who did not repent at Jesus’ miracles & those who did (11:25-28) or those on whom the seed of the Word falls in vain & those in whom the seed bears fruit (13:1-9),  what makes the difference is that human beings fail to understand   unless God reveals His purposes to save in Jesus.  And that is what God does for Joseph:
“…an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife,  for that which is conceived in her  is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, & you shall call His name Jesus,  for He will save His people from their sins.’”  (Matthew 1:20-21 ESV) 
God’s revelation to Joseph possesses the power to evoke a trusting response in men & women,  as Joseph shows in the sermon text.  Yet, sin has corrupted the response of all who refuse to believe.  You & I live in that tension between belief & unbelief.  At times,  we suffer from that tension.  At other times,  we experience God’s glory  as we live in that tension. 
The tension in Matthew’s version of the birth of Jesus  is resolved in the glory of Luke’s version of Jesus’ birth.  Both are necessary revelations  for the lives we live in the brokenness of this fallen world.  As we hear what God is doing, we begin to realize how true freedom & joy are not about managing our reality  but,  like Joseph,  about faithfully receiving whatever  God is doing: “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him…”  (Matthew 1:24 ESV)  In some ways, Luke’s gospel makes the birth of Jesus look easy.  Matthew’s version gives us the challenging view, showing us how faith & obedience are proper. 
God’s Son was already holy  when He was born in Bethlehem of Ephrathah.  He did not need to be saved,  but Jesus wanted to be obedient in our place,  & for our sake,  because no matter how we may try,  our obedience is never perfect enough.   The tension in which we live is too great.  The corruption of our nature by sin  is too complete. 
It is impossible for us to know the ways of God  unless He reveals them to us.   It is impossible to manage our reality for our own good, unless God manages it for us.   Our task  is simply to receive  whatever our heavenly Father chooses to give.   Joseph illustrates that in Matthew’s record of Jesus’ birth,  one that isn’t as perfect in appearance as Luke’s version. 
Many today consider God’s Law to be the work of a tyrant  because it is impossible to keep.  Each of us falls far short in every way.  The Law of God is a tyrant  without Jesus Christ  as our Lord  & our Savior.  Still, the heavenly Father commands our obedience.  Just living in that tension alone  is impossible for us to do.   Joseph knew that well. 
That’s why it’s so important to hear… “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, & you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”  (Matthew 1:20-21 ESV)   The angel spoke those words so that we, like Joseph, may have peace even on earth.  Amen.
 
…when at length the fullness of the appointed time was come,  He, the Word, was born of woman, left for us  His Father’s home,  blazed the path of true obedience,  shone as light amidst the gloom.   Thus, with thirty years accomplished, He went forth from Nazareth,  destined,  dedicated,  willing,  did His work,  & met His death;  like a lamb He humbly yielded  on the cross His dying breath.  Amen.  LSB 454:2-3.