Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.  “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.  And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly” (Matt. 1:18-19, ESV).[1]  We don’t know very much about Joseph the Carpenter other that he was descended from King David (Matt. 1:1, 16) and that he was a “just,” or righteous, man (Matt. 1:19).  He was also a quiet man.  In fact, in all of Scripture, not a single word from Joseph is recorded.  We have many sayings of Mary—but none from Joseph.  Of course, he wasn’t mute (so far as we know!), but he was the strong, silent type.  Joseph was a man of action—a man of faith who exercised his faith by obedience to God.

And yet Joseph also shows us that a righteous man can also do the wrong thing for the right reasons.  The baby Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb by the power of the Holy Spirit (v. 18; cf. Luke 1:35).  But who would believe that tale?  After all, who ever heard of a pregnant virgin?  By all appearances, Mary had cheated on Joseph and carried another man’s child.  I am certain that Joseph was heartbroken, perhaps even angry.  He could not claim the child as his own.  That would be a lie, and Joseph was a righteous man.

Yet neither did Joseph want to hurt or harm Mary—or her unborn child.  The punishment for Mary’s apparent adultery would be to stone her to death.  Joseph loved her too much for that.  And even though the Law of Moses demanded her death, he also believed that love covers a multitude of sins, because Joseph was a righteous man (cp. 1 Pet. 4:8).

Joseph’s conscience was troubled.  What was the right thing to do?  He couldn’t marry her, but he couldn’t testify against her at trial either.  What could he do?  Ah, he finally resolved, he would divorce her quietly.  He would bring no charge against her, but he would also quietly dismiss her from his life.

But God had other plans.  And even as Joseph still debated in his heart, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream (in fact, the first of many dreams in which God spoke to him).  “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “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, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:20-21).

What an amazing Word from God!  How wonderful to hear!  Little Mary was innocent after all!  Everything she’d told Joseph was true.  Her baby truly was a miracle—the very Son of God!  And what is more, his coming was for a very special purpose: to save his people from their sins.  This was the greatest wonder of all.  For, as a righteous man, Joseph knew that no one is perfect and blameless in the sight of God.  No matter how much good we try to do, we still come up short.  But salvation!  Forgiveness!  It was too wonderful to be true—and yet it was true.

So when Joseph woke up, he did exactly what God told him to do.  He took Mary to be his wife and called her baby Jesus.  He believed God’s Word and obeyed his commandments.  God said to take and call.  And that is what Joseph did.  Later, after Jesus was born, God would speak to Joseph by dreams on three more occasions.  Every time, God warned Joseph of danger that threatened Jesus’ life.  And every time, Joseph did exactly what God told him to do.  And so Joseph, the quiet carpenter, became a shield and protector for baby Jesus.  He was a righteous man, and everything he did was to protect a child who was not his own.  And that very child would become Joseph’s Savior—and the Savior of the world.

We also live in a world that is unsafe for children. . Hunger, child abuse, the lack of vaccines for childhood diseases, and lack of access to clean drinking water kill millions of children around the world each year.  Add to that war, genocide, gangland violence, and the heinous crime of abortion—and it’s a wonder that any children survive, particularly in the developing world and poor communities here in America.

But we are righteous people, men and women who are just because we are justified by the babe of Bethlehem, who was born to die for our sins.  Joseph protected baby Jesus so that he could die another day on the cross.  God calls on us, the people of God, the people of faith, to love and protect the children of our community.

But there are thousands of children in Douglas County.  How can we help them all?  We can’t.  But we can help the ones God places in our direct path: our own children, the kids in our church, and the neighbors’ kids.  We can learn (and use) their names and lend them a listening ear.  We can teach them the Word of God in Sunday school or serve as a confirmation mentor.  We can be present in their lives and point them the way to Jesus Christ.  It is a wonderful thing to save a child from physical death, pain, or torment.  It is an even greater thing to save them from the fire of hell.

Joseph was a righteous man, and he only protected one baby.  Yet in so doing, he saved the Savior of the world from premature death and paved the way for the salvation of every man, woman, and child who will believe in Jesus and receive him by faith.  Were it not for Joseph, Jesus could have ended up dead in Mary’s womb or slaughtered in Bethlehem or forgotten as a refugee and asylum seeker in Egypt.  But Joseph did his part.  He believed and obeyed the Word of God.  And in so doing, this quiet carpenter, this man who never uttered a word, changed the world forever.  What will God do through us if we simply love a little child?  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

[1] All Scripture references, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.