Joseph
Have you ever been asked to do something that you really didn’t want to do? It’s kind of an awkward place to be, isn’t it? I remember when I was in elementary school being asked to sing a song for a politician traveling in our city. They wanted a little kitschy-americana and I had sung the song many times prior. The problem wasn’t so much the song as it was the day – it was career day at my school. My school was a uniform school and career day was free reign to wear what we wanted. At that time, I wanted to be a cop or something cool but the songs performance required more of a rustic attire – jeans, flannel and suspenders. I didn’t want to do it but at the same time, I wasn’t going to say no to my music pastor (he was, and still is, a hero to me).
At the time it was kind of a big deal, but looking back I laugh at how conflicted I was about the whole scenario. My “not doing what I had been asked to do” was nothing compared to Joseph’s! I think Joseph is one of the single greatest unsung heroes of the entire Bible. Here’s this guy who’s just trying to be a good man – faithful to his God, to his family, to his community and to this young girl that he’s committed to marry. In one bang of a hammer, his whole life is flipped upside down. 
What I love about Joseph is not just his relenting to the vision God gave him. His character began well before that – when Mary told him this unbelievable news (and that’s not exaggeration – it was stupid unbelievable) he handled it pretty well. He could have called for the elders of the town and had her stoned right there on the spot. He could have screamed and yelled and embarrassed her and her family. He didn’t. He found a way to quietly divorce her – to send her away. If that sounds uncaring, but put yourself in his shoes and think how much worse it could have been. By not turning her over to the religious authorities, he was taking on a child not his, he was subjecting himself to rumors and gossip that would destroy his reputation and his career.
He was willing to do all this well before anything miraculous happened to him. That’s his character in the midst of an impossible situation. But, then God met Joseph in a vision and told him that the unbelievable story of Mary was indeed true – it was all real, and that he, Joseph, would be called the earthly father of the Son of the Most High. He would be the one to help the divine learn to walk and talk and know the stories of how God had walked with his people.
I’m a big fan of Michael Card. His music has a way of centering and grounding me. On his Christmas album entitled The Promise, Card has a song called Joseph’s Song (Click here to hear the song on Youtube) and it’s haunted me from childhood. Card sings as if he’s Joseph and he asks some questions throughout the song – questions that Joseph had to wrestle with. “How can I be father to the Son of God?” What a question of faith! He says “I know he’s not my own, not of my flesh, not of my bone. Still, Father let this baby be, the son of my love!” Can you imagine that – talk about being asked to do something that you don’t want to do!
Joseph is one of my heroes because I think his questions and his character and faith are continual lessons for me. Aren’t we all asking the question of how do we fit into this plan? As followers of Jesus, we’re asked to represent the very image and likeness of Jesus every day – it’s kind of a Joseph response to say “whoa, how could that be?!” I pray that during this Advent season, you’ll be captivated by the big call of God and that we’ll all have a little time to be thankful for this man who said yes to the impossible. Who knows, maybe God has something Joseph like for you and me to do!