During this Advent season, we reflect on the profound arrival of Jesus into our world, a moment that changed everything. This week, we focus on Joseph, a man who, like Mary, had to surrender his plans for the future. Joseph's story is a testament to the challenges of obedience and the power of faith. Unlike Mary, who was visited by an angel first, Joseph heard the news from Mary and then from an angel. This sequence is significant because it mirrors our own experiences where divine messages often come through people rather than supernatural encounters.

Joseph, a humble carpenter, faced a dilemma when he learned of Mary's pregnancy. His initial instinct was to protect her from shame by quietly divorcing her, a decision that seemed kind but was not aligned with God's plan. This reflects our tendency to offer God half-measures of obedience, doing what seems respectable without fully embracing His call. Joseph's story challenges us to move from an obedience that minimizes sacrifice to one that embraces God's power and purpose.

The angel's message to Joseph was clear: do not fear taking Mary as your wife, for her child is from the Holy Spirit. This divine intervention transformed Joseph's understanding, leading him to embrace a path of immediate and lasting obedience. His decision to marry Mary, despite the social stigma, exemplifies a faith that seeks to advance God's plans rather than avoid personal discomfort.

As we celebrate Christmas, we are reminded that Jesus' birth was not just a historical event but a divine intervention for all humanity. This season is an opportunity to share the hope of Christ with others, recognizing that our obedience to God is not a favor to Him but a pathway to experiencing His favor in our lives. Let us be bold in our faith, inviting others to experience the transformative power of Jesus' love.

**Key Takeaways:**

1. **Obedience Beyond Convenience:** Joseph's initial plan to quietly divorce Mary reflects our tendency to offer God half-measures of obedience. True obedience requires us to embrace God's call fully, even when it disrupts our plans or comfort. This kind of obedience brings God's favor into our lives. [10:48]

2. **Divine Intervention and Fear:** The angel's message to Joseph not to fear taking Mary as his wife highlights the importance of trusting God's plan, even when it seems daunting. Our faith should lead us to embrace God's purposes, knowing that His plans are greater than our fears. [13:45]

3. **Immediate and Lasting Obedience:** Joseph's decision to marry Mary despite societal judgment demonstrates a faith that is both immediate and enduring. Our obedience to God should not be temporary or conditional but steadfast, even in challenging circumstances. [20:09]

4. **Faith as Favor, Not Favors:** We often treat our relationship with God as transactional, thinking we are doing Him favors. True faith recognizes that our obedience is not a favor to God but a way to experience His favor and blessings in our lives. [18:48]

5. **Sharing the Hope of Christmas:** The Advent season is a unique opportunity to share the hope of Christ with others. We are called to be bold in inviting others to experience the love and redemption that Jesus offers, recognizing that His birth was for all humanity. [27:26]

**Youtube Chapters:**

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [03:09] - Influence and Truth
- [04:51] - Joseph's Dilemma
- [08:06] - Betrothal and Its Significance
- [10:48] - Minimizing Obedience
- [12:03] - God's Intervention
- [13:45] - Angelic Encounter
- [17:40] - Favor-Focused Faith
- [18:48] - Transactional Faith
- [20:09] - Immediate and Lasting Obedience
- [22:04] - Joseph and Mary's Shared Experience
- [24:07] - Embracing Faith and Sacrifice
- [25:09] - God's Plan and Our Role
- [26:11] - The Broader Impact of Jesus' Birth
- [27:26] - Inviting Others to Experience Hope
- [30:50] - Communion and Reflection

### Bible Study Discussion Guide

#### Bible Reading
- **Matthew 1:18-25**: This passage describes the birth of Jesus Christ and Joseph's response to the news of Mary's pregnancy, highlighting his obedience and faith.

#### Observation Questions
1. How did Joseph initially plan to handle the news of Mary's pregnancy, and what does this reveal about his character? [04:51]
2. What was the angel's message to Joseph in his dream, and how did it change his perspective? [12:03]
3. How does the concept of betrothal in Joseph and Mary's time differ from modern-day engagement? [08:06]
4. What actions did Joseph take after waking from his dream, and what do they demonstrate about his faith? [20:09]

#### Interpretation Questions
1. Why might Joseph have felt conflicted about Mary's pregnancy, and how does his story reflect our own struggles with obedience? [10:48]
2. In what ways does Joseph's obedience go beyond mere compliance, and what does this teach us about the nature of true faith? [13:45]
3. How does the sermon suggest that our obedience to God is not a favor to Him but a way to experience His favor? [18:48]
4. What does Joseph's story teach us about the importance of trusting God's plan, even when it disrupts our own? [25:09]

#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you offered God a "half-measure" of obedience. What steps can you take to fully embrace His call in your life? [10:48]
2. Joseph faced social stigma for his obedience. Are there areas in your life where fear of judgment holds you back from following God's plan? How can you overcome this fear? [13:45]
3. How can you shift your mindset from seeing your relationship with God as transactional to one of genuine faith and trust? [18:48]
4. Joseph's obedience was both immediate and lasting. What practical steps can you take to ensure your obedience to God is steadfast, even in challenging circumstances? [20:09]
5. The sermon encourages sharing the hope of Christ during the Advent season. Who in your life can you invite to experience the love and redemption of Jesus this Christmas? [27:26]
6. Consider the areas in your life where you might be minimizing obedience for convenience. What changes can you make to align more closely with God's purpose for you? [10:48]
7. How can you be more attentive to the "three nots" mentioned in the sermon, and use them as opportunities to invite others to church or share your faith? [28:14]

Day 1: Embracing Full Obedience
Joseph's initial plan to quietly divorce Mary reflects a common human tendency to offer God half-measures of obedience. This kind of obedience is often driven by a desire to maintain respectability and avoid discomfort. However, true obedience requires a full embrace of God's call, even when it disrupts our plans or comfort. Joseph's story challenges us to move beyond convenience and to trust that such obedience brings God's favor into our lives. His decision to marry Mary, despite the potential for social stigma, exemplifies a faith that prioritizes God's plans over personal ease. [10:48]

Isaiah 1:19-20 (ESV): "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

Reflection: What is one area in your life where you are offering God half-measures of obedience? How can you fully embrace His call today, even if it disrupts your plans?


Day 2: Trusting in Divine Plans
The angel's message to Joseph not to fear taking Mary as his wife highlights the importance of trusting God's plan, even when it seems daunting. Joseph's initial fear and hesitation are relatable, as we often find ourselves overwhelmed by the unknowns in our lives. However, the divine intervention Joseph experienced transformed his understanding and led him to embrace a path of obedience. This teaches us that our faith should lead us to trust in God's purposes, knowing that His plans are greater than our fears. [13:45]

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV): "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Reflection: What is a fear that is holding you back from trusting God's plan? How can you take a step today to trust Him more fully in that area?


Day 3: Steadfast Obedience
Joseph's decision to marry Mary despite societal judgment demonstrates a faith that is both immediate and enduring. This kind of obedience is not temporary or conditional but steadfast, even in challenging circumstances. Joseph's actions remind us that true obedience to God requires a commitment that goes beyond initial enthusiasm and persists through trials. His example encourages us to remain faithful to God's call, trusting that His purposes are worth any sacrifice we may face. [20:09]

James 1:22-25 (ESV): "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."

Reflection: In what area of your life do you need to move from temporary to steadfast obedience? What practical steps can you take to ensure your obedience is enduring?


Day 4: Experiencing God's Favor
We often treat our relationship with God as transactional, thinking we are doing Him favors. However, true faith recognizes that our obedience is not a favor to God but a way to experience His favor and blessings in our lives. Joseph's story illustrates that obedience is a pathway to experiencing God's power and purpose. By aligning our actions with His will, we open ourselves to the transformative work He desires to do in and through us. [18:48]

1 Samuel 15:22 (ESV): "And Samuel said, 'Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.'"

Reflection: How have you viewed your obedience to God as a transaction? What changes can you make to see it as a pathway to experiencing His favor?


Day 5: Sharing the Hope of Christ
The Advent season is a unique opportunity to share the hope of Christ with others. Joseph's story reminds us that Jesus' birth was not just a historical event but a divine intervention for all humanity. We are called to be bold in inviting others to experience the love and redemption that Jesus offers. This season, let us be intentional in sharing the transformative power of Jesus' love, recognizing that His birth was for everyone. [27:26]

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (ESV): "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Reflection: Who in your life needs to hear about the hope of Christ this Advent season? How can you intentionally share His love and redemption with them today?

Joseph is a blue-collar carpenter, and he loved Mary by all accounts, and he wanted to help her, but he was willing to step in, and he wanted to do her and God a favor of providing her with an obedience that minimizes sacrifice. Now, before you are too harsh on Joseph, we do the same thing all the time. We call it damage control. We ask ourselves the question, like, what do I have to admit to? What do I do to fix this? What's the thing I kind of have to deal with in order to keep moving? [00:04:51] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


Some of us get into this place with God where we feel like we are doing him a favor by following him. We feel like we are doing and obeying him. He's lucky to have us. Now Joseph, he finds himself in this very unique moment where when we sort of take a step back, he wants to do Mary a favor, which came from a really good place. Like, he's trying to do something that's really kind, but it wasn't something that God needed or wanted from that moment in the historic reality by which God was intervening for you and me. [00:08:06] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


We obey him because when he says do, he means he designed you that way. And when God says don't, he means don't hurt yourself. And we actually believe that. See, God graciously intervenes with Joseph. I'm so glad that he did before Joseph gets too far down the road in damage control of trying to take care of this with Mary and doing her and God this favor by divorcing her quietly. Instead, he goes from an obedience that minimizes sacrifice to an obedience that embraces power, which is the kind of obedience that God calls all of us to. Our faith looks for ways to advance, not avoid. [00:12:03] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


But as he considered these things, behold, 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 and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by his prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. [00:13:45] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


Sometimes we do God a favor by performing. I mean, I'm sure you don't, but you know, some people who do, you don't really feel that way right now about God. You don't really feel that way in worship. You don't really feel that way with that person. But there are times when you just have to like be on and you have to pretend you have to fake it. Like you're the perfect Christian. Like you have no problems or questions. And you think to yourself, I'm doing God a favor. He's lucky to have me because this whole thing would fall apart if I wasn't willing to fake it. [00:18:48] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


On the flip side, when they are themselves simply trying their best and loving others in our family, it's much, much easier to anticipate their needs and their wants to care for them well. Now, God can see everything, but he wants us to embrace full obedience out of love, not duty. We don't choose obedience so that God would love us more. He already loves us the most. We choose obedience so that we can love him more and experience more of him. [00:20:09] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


Matthew records it this way. He says, When Joseph woke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus. Now, if Joseph were hedging his bets, he could have simply stayed betrothed to Mary, hoping, people didn't find out for a while, waiting and not taking the second step, which was a ceremony called the Nisuan. [00:22:04] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


See, when we choose to embrace faith as favor from God, not favors for God, we will often have to sacrifice our otherwise needy, and tidy reputation for something less neat and tidy. People will misunderstand generosity and grace on one end of the spectrum and conviction and calling on the other end, and that's part of what it means to take up our cross and follow Jesus. [00:24:07] (25 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


Joseph learned that his obedience wasn't a favor to God, but he experienced God's favor in his life, on his life. So did Mary. Even when immediate circumstances were painful, difficult, or even tragic, it was something that required sacrifice, but carried so much more purpose, promise, and power than what their plan for life would have otherwise carried. They got to play a part in God's plan for the kingdom of heaven that was infinitely much more important than what they were supposed to do. [00:25:09] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


If you're a Christian, then Christmas is this beautiful reminder that 2,000 years ago, this historic event took place in which God won you and me back. Even secular historians, Christian or not, don't deny that Jesus entered human history 2,000 years ago. But here's where we get in trouble. As Christians, sometimes we forget that this act wasn't just for us. Maybe you know Jesus. Maybe your immediate family does. Maybe even your family does. Maybe your immediate family does. Maybe your immediate family does. Maybe your extended family does. That's amazing. [00:26:11] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

Well, good morning, Menlo Church, and welcome to the season of Advent here at Menlo. That means arrival, right?

We've been kind of in this season where, for Christians, we are anticipating the celebration of remembering that Jesus was born into this world to save the very world that He created. We remember when hope was born into our reality.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've actually had a chance to go visit all of our campuses, which was so fun. I wanted to just say a special welcome to Saratoga, to Mountain View, here in Menlo Park, and up in San Mateo. Last week, I even jumped in the online chat, so thanks so much, wherever you're joining us from, for spending part of your Advent season with us. We really consider that to be an honor.

Last week, we heard from live teachers at all of our campuses, which is a rhythm that we have throughout the year, and they did a great job of starting off this series with a focus on the disruption of Mary and her willingness to sacrifice the future that she had been dreaming about her whole life in order to make a way for us to know God now and forever, and how it changed everything, not just for her, but for us as well.

This week, we're going to focus on Joseph, who also had to surrender plans for the future. Unlike Mary, he heard the news first from her and then from an angel, and that order, it turns out, is very important. Because I'm guessing that for most of us, if you feel like God has spoken to you, you're going to have to surrender plans for the future in your life. It's usually through people, not through angelic encounters. And so you may find Joseph's story pretty relevant.

But before we get started, I'm going to pray for us. And if you've never been here before or never heard me speak, before I speak, I pray kneeling. Part of the reason that I do that is because of this deep appreciation I have for the way that stories, just like the one we're about to study together, can still bring hope even thousands of years later. Would you pray with me?

God, thank you so much. Thank you that the Christmas season, if we allow it to, is not just the hustle and bustle of what things we have to be at when and what gifts and all the details that can feel so overwhelming. But God, each one of those things can be a reminder of your grand intervention to your creation by which you restored humanity. You offered a way back.

And so even now, as we look back to the organization that we're in right now, we're in a situation where we're in a situation where of that moment 2,000 years ago. Would you use it to help shape our faith and the way we celebrate this season in the coming days? It's in Jesus' name. Amen.

Now, for many of you, you spend your daily life in some sort of a capacity where you wield significant influence over other people. Maybe you do it as a supervisor or a boss at work. Or for some of you, you do it as a teacher at school. Maybe you do it as a parent at home or really a parent everywhere, right? Even as a student, maybe, where other kids look to you for direction and influence.

All that to say, what you discover is the more influence you gain over time, oftentimes the more difficult it is to know what's really going on, to learn and discover the truth. When Frank Blake was about to be given the president role at Home Depot, he had someone warn him that he was about to become the smartest person in every room that he walked into. He was warned that every one of his jokes was about to get a lot funnier.

But the problem was he wasn't really going to get funnier, and he wasn't really the smartest person in the room. What was going to happen is that the greater the influence that he had, the more that people would defer and prefer him, and that's still what happens today.

In our story, Mary is about to give birth to the savior of the world, and her fiancé Joseph was trying to do her a favor, but it wasn't a favor that she wanted or needed, and neither did God.

Maybe in the midst of wielding influence in your life, you've had someone that's done you a favor, and you find out that there's been conflict circulating for months at work, or someone's performance has really slid, but somebody else has been covering for them, and people were doing you a favor by making sure you didn't know. And it turns out that wasn't the kind of favor that you wanted.

As a matter of fact, that's not the kind of favor that usually helps anyone involved. It might avoid conflict in the short term, but it often exacerbates the problem in the long term. Some of us get into this place with God where we feel like we are doing him a favor by following him. We feel like we are doing and obeying him. He's lucky to have us.

Now Joseph finds himself in this very unique moment where, when we sort of take a step back, he wants to do Mary a favor, which came from a really good place. Like, he's trying to do something that's really kind, but it wasn't something that God needed or wanted from that moment in the historic reality by which God was intervening for you and me.

Joseph is a blue-collar carpenter, and he loved Mary by all accounts, and he wanted to help her, but he was willing to step in, and he wanted to do her and God a favor of providing her with an obedience that minimizes sacrifice.

Now, before you are too harsh on Joseph, we do the same thing all the time. We call it damage control. We ask ourselves the question, like, what do I have to admit to? What do I do to fix this? What's the thing I kind of have to deal with in order to keep moving?

Last week, we were in the gospel account of Jesus' life written by Luke, but this week, we are looking at Matthew, who, because of his audience, primarily Jewish, starts with the account of Joseph discovering Mary's pregnancy after an extensive genealogy validating the lineage of Jesus.

And in it, Matthew continues this way. He says, "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."

Matthew and Luke give us the greatest detail into the circumstances of Jesus' birth on how Mary's pregnancy goes. But there are still a lot of gaps in the story that we just don't get to know. We don't get the dialogue between last week when Mary is visited by the angel and this week outside of her interaction with her cousin, Elizabeth, who is also experiencing a very unique pregnancy of her own.

I'm not sure it would have really helped a lot if we'd gotten it. I mean, can you imagine the conversation that would have taken place? She heads off to see Elizabeth without much explanation, and either right before or right after she says to Joseph, "Hey, Joseph, good news, bad news. I'm pregnant. I know we haven't been together. Good news, it's not your kid."

And Joseph's like, "I'm waiting for the good news, right?" Like, not only that, you don't have to freak out. It's totally fine. It's God's kid. And you can trust me because an angel from God told me that the Holy Spirit hadn't impregnated me. And Joseph's like, "Is the good news coming? Like, where is the good news?"

And, you know, at the point of, "Hey, he's going to save the entire world. Don't cancel the wedding. Keep the invites out. Don't delete the registry. Full steam ahead." Just like maybe I'm going to need some larger wedding dress options, right? Like, the dialogue, regardless of what it sounded like at the moment, probably wouldn't make it seem like it made a whole lot of sense at the time, either.

Now we get a quick summary that they are betrothed. And that's a really important word because for us, the closest analog that we have to the concept of betrothal is engagement, but really all engagement means today is that you get to post a bunch of pictures on social media, and it's this sort of loose connection between two people that at some point in the future you might get married. That's kind of what it means.

But at the time, betrothal was quite different. It carried legal, social, and spiritual significance. Betrothal, it wasn't something that was unique to Judaism or Israel, but it was done in a very unique way. First, well, that was typically arranged with the parents of the bride and groom. It also included a matchmaker, and within the context that Joseph and Mary were in, they actually had to consent. The couple themselves had to agree, and some of you are like, "Can we resume this system?"

But all of that was quite different than other ancient civilizations of the time. They would have taken part in a ceremony called Kedushin, which represented the first step towards the marriage of the bride and groom. So, it was a very different kind of formal marriage. It happened about a year before the couple would live together, be physically intimate, and be officially married.

And during that time, Joseph would either build the home that they were going to live in one day or significantly improve the home that they would live in one day when the marriage was final. And you're like, "Wait a second, they didn't live together and they weren't physically intimate until they got married? Where'd they get that idea from?" The Bible.

And so, ending a betrothal would have required a divorce. That's how significant it was legally. And the timing was really important. As a matter of fact, culturally, if Mary was seen as being unfaithful to Joseph, and that's what resulted in her pregnancy, then she could have faced abandonment by her family, lose access to the temple and religious practices, even actually potentially be stoned to death.

And so when you take all that into account, Joseph being described as just is a good guy. His goal was to help her avoid the shame and consequences of going public with the news that she was pregnant. Now, she had seen an angel, but all Joseph had seen was his future wife and life change without many options.

So he kindly tried to minimize the pain of sacrifice. He wanted to be a good guy, and he was willing to go into fix-it mode to be able to do that. If you're a husband, you know what it is to go into fix-it mode, usually followed by your spouse saying to you, "I just want you to listen," right?

That hit different for somebody. Usually, it's a half measure of obedience when we do it for God, right? I wonder, do you ever try to minimize obedience in your life? Something clearly that you know God wants you to do to the point that seems respectable, to the point that other people won't judge you, to the point that it won't change your life very much.

Maybe right now you feel called to get into community, but instead of jumping into a life group here at Menlo or checking out Discover Menlo later, you rationalize that the small talk you had while you were grabbing a donut earlier was enough. It wasn't, right?

Or maybe you feel called to make space for God in your daily life, but you aren't sure what your spouse or roommate would say. So instead, you justify that the occasional worship song in the midst of the wicked soundtrack is enough. It's not.

Or maybe you sense God calling you to help others this Christmas season, but you aren't sure how loved ones will react if their Christmas has to change because of your calling. You're willing to be obedient to God as long as it doesn't threaten your comfort, the expectations of others, or your personal priorities. That, by the way, is no longer obedience. That's just convenience.

That instinct, it's totally normal, but it's not helpful. See, your obedience isn't a favor, but it brings favor. If you want God's unique hand on your life, we don't obey to the point of pain as though it's a trade. We obey him because when he says do, he means he designed you that way. And when God says don't, he means don't hurt yourself. And we actually believe that.

See, God graciously intervenes with Joseph. I'm so glad that he did before Joseph gets too far down the road in damage control of trying to take care of this with Mary and doing her and God this favor by divorcing her quietly. Instead, he goes from an obedience that minimizes sacrifice to an obedience that embraces power, which is the kind of obedience that God calls all of us to.

Our faith looks for ways to advance, not avoid. And the pursuit of God's plans and purpose for our life. Joseph, he isn't making flippant or casual plans to divorce Mary. We don't know exactly how long this deliberation goes on, but we know that at a minimum, he sleeps on it before taking action because the dream that Matthew gives us a look at comes next when he writes this.

"But as he considered these things, behold, 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 and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by his prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.'"

We're in the second week in a row where we have this angelic encounter in a dream. And I want to just take a second and say this, especially if you're not a Christian, if you're like, "Does this just happen for Christians all the time?" This does not regularly happen where we're all like having dreams with angels in them. It actually does still happen, but it happened a lot around the time and life of Jesus 2,000 years ago.

As a matter of fact, in this moment, it tells us something about this all-consuming fear that Joseph was feeling because most of the time when an angel shows up and talks to someone, the angel tells them, "Don't be afraid of me." Now, the reason for that is because angels are described as warriors of light.

But the angel that is talking to Joseph does not tell him to not be afraid of him, the presence of the angel. The angel tells Joseph, "Don't be afraid of marriage." He says, "Don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife."

And so in this moment, as wild as it might feel to us, this is probably something that Joseph carried great stress about for every moment of his life from the moment that he knew till this very reality. As a matter of fact, we find ourselves in this unique spot with Joseph where he loved this woman and he wanted to believe what she was saying. But on the other hand, it felt so unbelievable. It felt so out of nowhere.

And the social consequences would be severe, whether he did something or even more severe if he didn't. He probably had a pros and cons list that he had. He probably talked to a close friend or two about the situation. He had shed tears over the prospect of either option. But now this angel was telling him not to be afraid to take her as his wife because the child that she was carrying was from the Holy Spirit, which was a concept that was pretty limited at the time.

As a matter of fact, for the last couple thousand years, Christians have articulated their understanding of God as something called the Trinity, that we believe in one God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But the way that was articulated to the Jewish people in the Hebrew Scriptures, or what we call the Old Testament, felt quite different.

As a matter of fact, for them, they found themselves oftentimes in polytheistic cultures where people believed in lots of gods, and the differentiator for the Jewish people was that they were monotheistic. They believed in the one true God. And to hear in one dream that the Holy Spirit, throughout all of the Hebrew Scriptures, only entered kings and key leaders at major moments in Israel's history, was now living and had done something unique in his soon-to-be wife must have been overwhelming all on its own.

And then the angel gives him like the quickest gender reveal ever, and he's like, "Oh, by the way, it's going to be a son." And he's like, "Ah, I'm going to need a minute to process." Then on top of that, in case Joseph wasn't putting it all together, this son that he was going to have would be the Messiah, the Savior of the entire world in fulfillment of more than one of his promises.

And so, as a matter of fact, there were all more than 300 future-focused prophecies from century after century after century before he was ever born. Talk about a wild dream.

Now, Joseph started with a version of obedience that tried to minimize sacrifice. And in this moment, he could have doubled down in some other ways that we slip into in a favor-focused faith where we treat God like we are doing him a favor. And again, before you're too heartbroken, you're not doing him a favor. You're not doing him a favor. You're just harsh on Joseph. Just know, like, we still do this today.

Maybe for you, you can relate. Sometimes we do God a favor as leverage. So we'll say like, "God, I'll do this, but you better do that. I'll be patient, but you better provide a perfect spouse, a perfect job, a perfect house. And if you don't, I don't know why I'm doing this."

Sometimes for us, we do a favor to God as overcompensation. We don't want to do what God is calling us to do over here. So instead of doing this, we do like a lot of this. I don't want to listen to God with what he wants me to do with my money. So instead, I will volunteer for everything. I'll show up for those people for everything. Because I'm kind of ignoring God over here.

Sometimes we do God a favor by performing. I mean, I'm sure you don't, but you know some people who do. You don't really feel that way right now about God. You don't really feel that way in worship. You don't really feel that way with that person. But there are times when you just have to like be on and you have to pretend you have to fake it. Like you're the perfect Christian. Like you have no problems or questions. And you think to yourself, "I'm doing God a favor. He's lucky to have me because this whole thing would fall apart if I wasn't willing to fake it."

See, when we say this stuff out loud, it sounds bizarre, but if we don't acknowledge these things as possibilities and others like them, we can get into a lot of trouble.

See, we actually find ourselves around Christmas with some unique expressions of these, some strange distortions that we can create about the way we approach this season and anticipate. Remember what Jesus has done for us. We want God's favor, his unique hand on our lives, but we are not doing him favors.

Your obedience isn't a favor, but it brings favor. When my kids want something from me and their behavior is simply their best guess at what will motivate slash manipulate me to give them what they want, we no longer have a relationship. We have a transaction. And that's what some of you have with God.

On the flip side, when they are themselves simply trying their best and loving others in our family, it's much, much easier to anticipate their needs and their wants to care for them well. Now, God can see everything, but he wants us to embrace full obedience out of love, not duty. We don't choose obedience so that God would love us more. He already loves us the most. We choose obedience so that we can love him more and experience more of him.

This brings us to the final scene of our passage this week, where Joseph shows us an obedience that is immediate and lasting. That's an important "and." For years, I served in student ministry, and one of the things that I loved about serving in student ministry was taking students to camp.

Now, it was really exhausting, but it felt like you watched students move forward years in their faith in just a matter of days. Students who confessed addictions or committed to being more intentional with classmates and friends in their school or community. Students who found personal rhythms of Bible study and prayer life-giving for the first time ever in their life. It was incredible, but we didn't call it a camp high for nothing.

See, the camp experience removes all distractions and barriers so that students can experience friendship with each other that feels so much more available than their normal routine and a deep connection with God that the noise of their day can sometimes create obstacles to. Can you relate to that?

In immediate obedience that is temporary, it feels very normal to most of us. But what stands out about Joseph's reaction isn't just that it was immediate, which it was, but that it was lasting even when things were difficult.

Matthew records it this way. He says, "When Joseph woke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus."

Now, if Joseph were hedging his bets, he could have simply stayed betrothed to Mary, hoping people didn't find out for a while, waiting and not taking the second step, which was a ceremony called the Nisuan. But most scholars believe he did do that ceremony. He did become formally and finally married to Mary. The only thing that they didn't do was be physically intimate until after Jesus was born.

And the reason that he did that was because by being fully married to her, he was able to offer a greater protection for her. Financially, socially, he could stand in the gap with her. He was able to offer a greater protection for her.

Now, sometimes I wonder in moments like this if Mary and Joseph were comparing notes. If at some point they talked about the angel that visited them and they discovered that it was the same angel? Did Mary describe the angel? And then when Joseph had this angelic vision, he's like, "Same one. Oh my goodness, this is crazy."

But this experience, this vision that they had, it was a common bond that they shared about this kind of unbelievable reality for the rest of their lives. Because the thing is, this isn't a fairy tale. Christians actually believe that this happened. Christians believe that God intervened in human history for what we deeply need.

So both Mary and Joseph, they embraced a plan for their lives that changed the plan for their lives, which, by the way, is what being a Christian always does. For them, it went from a storybook romance and marriage to a shotgun wedding with many people who didn't have the same angelic vision to solidify their confidence in the messianic identity of their child.

Remember, Jesus grew up in the same place among the same community of people that knew him. How much of this story got out? How many of those people judged him and gossiped about him his entire life? What work was no longer available to Joseph the carpenter because he supported Mary in this time?

See, when we choose to embrace faith as favor from God, not favors for God, we will often have to sacrifice our otherwise needy and tidy reputation for something less neat and tidy. People will misunderstand generosity and grace on one end of the spectrum and conviction and calling on the other end. And that's part of what it means to take up our cross and follow Jesus.

It's been said that in polite society, we should avoid conversations about religion and politics. And having just experienced Thanksgiving a couple of weeks ago, you may also add some other things to that list that you avoid talking about around certain family members.

But Mary, she was a walking billboard to God's intervention in her life. And Joseph, like all supportive husbands, was trying his very best to be useful and to care for his wife. And outside of a really long walk to Bethlehem so that Mary could ride on a donkey, he probably felt pretty useless, which is the way most husbands feel during pregnancy.

But either way, this conversation followed them. There was no way to avoid it. There was no way to pretend it wasn't happening. Joseph learned that his obedience wasn't a favor to God, but he experienced God's favor in his life, on his life. So did Mary.

Even when immediate circumstances were painful, difficult, or even tragic, it was something that required sacrifice, but carried so much more purpose, promise, and power than what their plan for life would have otherwise carried. They got to play a part in God's plan for the kingdom of heaven that was infinitely much more important than what they were supposed to do.

And so, Joseph learned that his obedience to God was more fulfilling than their plans on their own. And God offers the same kind of invitation to us. When we realize the favor that we have from God because of Jesus, it changes everything.

Jesus was born into this world to a virgin so that salvation would be possible for all of us. This wasn't one option among many for humanity. This represented the only option that God created to win humanity back.

Mary and Joseph's plans were broken so that God's plan for us could be restored. If you're a Christian, then Christmas is this beautiful reminder that 2,000 years ago, this historic event took place in which God won you and me back. Even secular historians, Christian or not, don't deny that Jesus entered human history 2,000 years ago.

But here's where we get in trouble. As Christians, sometimes we forget that this act wasn't just for us. Maybe you know Jesus. Maybe your immediate family does. Maybe even your extended family does. That's amazing.

But what about your classmates? Your co-workers? Your neighbors? Your extended, extended family? The barista you like? The boss you hate? The friend you love? He came for them too.

At Menlo, we believe that hope is for everyone. And this time of the year is a unique moment in our culture where there is still a little faith residue left. Just a couple days ago, we hosted a night of carols at our Menlo Park campus, and the sanctuary was filled with people. Some of them did it because it was this deep and personal reminder of the intervention by God for them into human history 2,000 years ago to redeem them. Other people did it because it feels like Christmas. And you know what? We love both groups.

We're thankful for both groups. Over the course of the next few weeks, can I tell you a secret? You're going to have tons of people in your life that are going to ask you to invite them to Christmas Eve services. You're like, "Really?" Well, they're not going to say it with those words.

Here at Menlo, we talk about the three nots to be listening for them, especially around this time of the year. That around this time of the year, you're going to hear someone say something like, "Things are not going well." Maybe things aren't going well in their marriage. Maybe things aren't going well with their kids. Maybe things aren't going well with friends or at work. And when someone says things aren't going well, they're asking for an invitation.

When someone says they're going through something that they are not prepared for, maybe that's a medical diagnosis. Maybe it's a surprise crisis. Maybe it's just some obstacle that they had no idea was coming. They're asking for an invitation.

And when somebody says to you that they've not been in church in a long time, that's a request for an invitation. Not an invitation to come to Menlo Church, an invitation to come to Menlo Church with you.

And Christmas, it stands alone in the Bay Area as a chance to ask a simple question with minimal pushback. And so some of you, you're like, "I don't do this, Phil, because I'm not sure how to have the conversation you're talking about, and I'm pretty scared that I'm going to mess it up." So I'm just going to give you your lines. You got two lines, okay?

The first line is this: "Are you going to church anywhere on Christmas Eve?" You try. Killed it. Like maybe bring the energy up a little, but if they say like, "I'm not sure," or "No," whatever, then you say this: "You should come with me to my church."

You guys are natural, so get great. I'm telling you, you're like, "Well, Phil, I don't think that will work." I'm telling you it will work. I'm telling you it will work. And God's not asking you to guarantee an outcome. He's just asking you and me to be faithful.

And there are people in your life where Christmas is this sweet, nostalgic moment that they experience the same kind of hopelessness and despair that they do the rest of their life because no one's told them that it's not just about Christmas trees. It's about the Savior of the world coming to redeem all of humanity. And you get to bring them to that conversation.

In just a minute, we're going to experience communion across all of our campuses. And it's this really important reminder that just like Christmas is not just a celebration, it's a celebration of not just the trappings and the decorations, church isn't either. That what we remember back to is that Jesus went from a crown to a cradle for a cross.

And when we celebrate communion, it's a chance for Christians, followers of Jesus, to remember that Jesus was willing to have his body broken for you, his blood poured out for you, so that you and I would actually have relationship, not just for some day, one day, heaven, but that we would bring the kingdom of heaven everywhere we go, that we would be ambassadors of hope to a world that desperately needs it.

Can I pray for you?

God, for many of us, times like this are some of the most reflective, quietest times to think about our day and our life, the week ahead. I pray that you would let these ideas linger in us, God, that we're not doing you favors when we're obedient, God, but we do want your favor on our life.

We want to experience greater relationship with you. We want to experience a greater life with you, not just so that we would experience it, but that, God, we would be able to share it with others. So even as we give somebody an invitation card or we have a conversation or, God, just bring this back to our memory, the boldness that Mary and Joseph were willing to demonstrate, God, they were willing to demonstrate it with such a small part of the story.

And, God, we've seen thousands of years of your faithfulness. We have the life of your Son chronicled in the pages of Scripture preserved. For thousands of years, you're asking us for less boldness with more information of your faithfulness. Would you help us to have the faith to respond?

Thank you for the gift you've given us in your Son. It's in his name that we pray. Amen.