Caring for People Sermon Outline / 3
Caring For People – Matthew 1:18-25, 2:13-15, 19-23 (Joseph’s Care for his Family)
“All Things New” Series
The concept behind this year’s Christmas Resources is to focus on who Jesus is through the framework of The Australia Southern Territory’s Four Mission Intentions: Transforming Lives, Caring for People, Making Disciples and Reforming Society.
The theme passage illustrates what the completion of Jesus’ work will look like; the full consummation of the Kingdom of God on earth. The theme phrase “All Things New” emphasises the kingdom mission of restoration and rebuilding, and the ongoing continuous nature of that work (Transforming Lives, Caring for People, Making Disciples and Reforming Society). Recognising the ongoing nature of Christ’s work and the mission of the kingdom should help corps enter into the Christmas story in a more immediate way, with ongoing relevance for everyday life and engagement in TSA mission.
How to Use This Outline
The emphasis of this outline is on the exegetical material for the chosen passage. It seeks to introduce the series as well as cover the material for the Transforming Lives. The emphasis of this sermon is on the following issues:
· Series Introduction – The goal of Jesus’ work is “All Things New”
· Joseph was a righteous man
· Joseph’s care for Mary
· Joseph’s care for Mary and Jesus
The outline will need to be customised and contextualised by each Corps Officer for the congregation to whom the sermon will be preached:
· Adding appropriate illustrations that will connect with the specific congregation
· Modifying language to be appropriate to the socio-cultural setting of the Corps
· Modifying sermon style if you prefer a topical rather than expository sermon style
· You may also wish to make the application more specific to your context.
PowerPoint slides have been provided for the following:
· Theme Slide – Title Slide for this Sermon
· Scripture Slide A – Matthew 1:18-25, 2:13-15, 19-23 (whole passage)
· Scripture Slide B – Matthew 1:19 (highlight verse)
· Scripture Slide C – Matthew 1:20, 24 (highlight verse)
· Scripture Slide D – Matthew 2:13-14 (highlight verse)
· Scripture Slide E – Matthew 2:19-23 (highlight verse)
· Blank Slide – which you can customise if you wish
Caring For People
Key Passage – Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)
18This 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. 19Because 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.
20But 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. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Key Passage – Matthew 2:13-15 (NIV)
13When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." 14So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
Key Passage – Matthew 2:19-23 (NIV)
19After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."
21So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."
Sermon Outline – Caring For People
Introduction
1. In the lead up to Christmas it can be easy to focus on the baubles, the tinsel and family time together. Even when we focus on the nativity story it can still be easy to lose focus of the big questions of “WHY” Jesus came, and to just enjoy a nice story about a baby in a manger. In the lead up to Christmas we are going to be looking at the question of why Jesus came, from the perspective of the Old Testament expectations of the Messiah, and the events leading up to his birth.
2. The name of this series “All Things New” comes from the book of Revelation, and summarises beautifully why Jesus came. To make all things new, to establish His Kingdom on Earth as in Heaven. In The Salvation Army Australia Southern Territory we have four mission intentions which we follow. They continue the work that Jesus did, and help to build his kingdom: Transforming Lives, Caring for People, Making Disciples and Reforming Society. We will be looking at what Jesus came to achieve through the lens of these four mission intentions.
3. This week we will be looking at the theme of “Caring for People”
4. Read Matthew 1:18-25; 2:13-15, 19-23.
Joseph was a righteous man (Matt 1:19)
1. One of the first things that the Bible tells us about Joseph is that he was a righteous (díkaios) man; that is he was obedient to God’s law, “a person who truly keeps the law or does God’s will”[1].
2. In those times, young people were betrothed to one another for a period before they were officially married. This was called betrothal. To break a betrothal required a divorce, as the betrothal was legally binding[2]. Under the law, he had every right to divorce Mary, indeed to have her put to death (Lev 20:10). Being pregnant before having been with Joseph was a sure indicator of Mary’s immorality, or so it would have seemed to Joseph and his society.
3. There were few, in Jewish society, who were more reviled than adulteresses. Very often if two people were caught in the act of adultery, the woman was blamed and the man would walk away free, we see this is in the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8. If adultery had been committed, where was the man? Why was it only the woman that was brought for stoning?
4. Because Joseph was a good man, he did not want Mary to be exposed to public disgrace, despite the fact that he must have felt pretty awful about the whole scenario. How would any one of us deal with our fiancée saying she was pregnant, but it’s ok, it was from God? Despite this, he did not want people to treat her badly. Joseph was truly a kind man. So we see that Joseph not only obeyed the law, but also was in tune with God’s mercy (Hosea 6:6). Yes, he was going to follow the law regarding divorce, but he wanted to do it quietly so that Mary wouldn’t suffer unnecessarily. He was a genuinely gracious man.
Joseph’s Care for Mary (Matt 1:20, 24)
1. Matthew tells us next that while Joseph was considering all this, that an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him it was ok, not to be afraid, and to take Mary home as his wife, and yes, the baby really was from God.
2. This is really where Joseph showed how much he really was a righteous man, obedient to God’s will. Despite the censure he would have experienced by continuing with the marriage (as it would have then been believed that he was the father of Mary’s baby, and that they had had pre-marital intercourse), he obeyed God and took Mary home as his wife.
3. Joseph was willing to forgo the good opinion of his community. He took a woman into his home who under the law could have been killed. He took on the disgrace of being believed to have fathered a child out of wedlock (John 6:42). Today this may not sound all that outrageous, it happens all the time. However, in Joseph’s time they were very serious about following God’s laws about sexuality and marriage. Adultery and fornication were death-penalty offences. Yet Joseph thought it more important to obey God and to take care of Mary than to protect his reputation.
Joseph’s Care for Mary & Jesus (Matt 2:13-14; 2:19-23)
1. Later on, after the wise men visited Mary, Joseph and Jesus, another angel appeared to Joseph. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him" (2:13).
2. Again Joseph showed himself to be a righteous man who obeyed God. He took Mary and Jesus during the night, and left for Egypt, they stayed there until Herod died. Joseph did what God said, and protected Jesus from being politically assassinated. Joseph took his family to Egypt as asylum seekers to flee persecution. Herod murdered all the male children in Bethlehem under the age of 2 in an attempt to kill Jesus. This is not something that most parents of young children have to deal with. Yet Matthew shows us that Joseph just did what needed to be done to protect both Mary and Jesus.
3. Later, after Herod died, an angel appeared to Joseph again, saying it was safe to move back to Israel. In another dream, he was instructed to move the family to Galilee, to the town of Nazareth. Being Jesus’ step-father would not have been easy. Finally it is safe to move back to Israel, but instead of going back to his home town, God has him move the family to Nazareth. “Nazareth was an insignificant agricultural village not far from a major trade route to Egypt…”[3]. Later one of Jesus’ disciples would remark “Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?” (John 1:46).
4. Joseph showed himself again, a righteous and kind man, by looking after Jesus the way he would have his own son. He moved his family around at the direction of God, for their safety. He moved to Nazareth, which was somewhere no one wanted to live. All of this he did to care for and look after his wife and step-son.
Conclusion
1. In Joseph, we see a picture of a father who cared for his wife and step-son with great integrity. He was a righteous man, who obeyed God’s direction in loving his family. A family that was different from what he had planned for himself, but the family nonetheless that God had given him. He showed remarkable mercy and integrity in caring for Mary, a disgraced woman, taking her home to be his wife. He showed great care for Jesus, his step-son. He was truly a righteous and merciful man—a man fit to raise the Son of God.
2. In Revelation, Jesus says, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:1 NIV). This is what he came to achieve, the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth, to make ALL THINGS NEW.
3. The Salvation Army mission intention of “Caring for People” is one way in which Jesus came to make ALL THINGS NEW. Joseph is a picture of what it means to care for people – taking in and protecting those scorned and persecuted by society.
4. Invite people to the Mercy Seat
[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1995). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (170). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
[2] Freeman, J. M., & Chadwick, H. J. (1998). Manners & customs of the Bible (Rev. ed.].) (397). North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos Publishers.
[3] Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). Harper's Bible dictionary (1st ed.) (689). San Francisco: Harper & Row.