Portraits of faith - Joseph

In my advent series, The Christmas Story in Matthew 1 & 2, I mentioned the faith of Joseph and Mary. As I pondered this, I realized all those folks in Matthew 1 & 2 (as well as in Luke 1 & 2) teach us many things about faith that would be worth looking into.

I wanted to call this Dioramas of faith but I was concerned that some people might not remember what a diorama was!

Instead I am calling this Portraits of faith. I will look at the characters in these four chapters, in the order they appear, and see what I can learn about faith. It follows then that I will begin with Joseph.

Joseph - faith to obey

First up is Joseph and his encounters with angels. All these are found in Matthew 1 & 2

1:20, 24  But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost . . . Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

2:13-14  And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:

2:19-21  But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.

2:22-23  But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

OK, we see that Joseph had a lot of dreams, but how does this illustrate faith? I don’t see faith mentioned one time. Well, clearly Joseph believed what the angels told him; he believed this to be the word of the Lord to him and for his situation. And what does this say about Joseph's faith? Each time he had a visit from an angel, he believed what he was told to do was from God, and he did it. Every time. Immediately. Joseph had faith to obey. 

As I pointed out in my Advent series, “When you believe you obey: obedience springs from faith. Faith and obedience are like Siamese twins – you never see one without the other.” If I say I believe but I don't obey, then I do not have saving, sanctifying faith; I do not have the faith that pleases God. Throughout the entire Bible, whenever someone believed the Lord it affected what they did; and whenever folks did not obey they were charged with unbelief (Hebrews 3:17-19). Rather than singing the song of Israel in the wilderness, "I don't believe and won't obey", I would prefer my song to be:

I'll say yes, Lord, yes
To Your will and to Your way
I'll say yes, Lord, yes
I will trust You and obey
When the Spirit speaks to me
With my whole heart I'll agree
And my answer will be
Yes, Lord, yes  (Lynn Edward Keesecker, 1983)