Right Kind Of Father

Matthew 1:18-25

Have you heard of the Father's Day card with these words on the front:
"If little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice, what are fathers made of?
When you open the card, you see these big green letters that say: "MONEY!"

On this Father's Day let's look at a well known father who had little money.
He had the hands of a working man and had a heart that loved God.
His name is Joseph.
Joseph is almost forgotten in Christian history.
But he was one of the really great fathers in all of history.
If we could walk in Joseph's shoes we would be the kind of fathers who would please God
and the kind our children need.

There are only five paragraphs in the Bible about Joseph.
One describes Joseph traveling with Mary to Bethlehem because of the required census.
Another time we read about Joseph is when the family went to Jerusalem, and Jesus stayed
behind conversing with the teachers in the temple.
When Jesus was missed, His parents went back to look for Him.

Then there was the dream that revealed to him that Mary was pregnant with God's child,
and then the dream that he was to take Mary and the baby, Jesus, and flee to Egypt.
Then in Egypt he had a dream telling him that it was safe to return to his homeland.
The Bible has a lot to say about dreams.
This was a one way that God revealed His nature and His will to many throughout the Bible.

Abraham Lincoln said: "It seems strange how much there is in the bible about dreams.
There are, I think, some sixteen chapters in the Old Testament and four or five in the New
in which dreams are mentions; . . .
If we believe the Bible, we much accept the fact that, in the old days, God and his angels came
to men in their sleep and made themselves known in dreams."
-- From The Religion of Lincoln by William J. Wolf

Joseph is the namesake of the Old Testament son of Jacob, who was able to interpret
the dreams of Pharoah.
God chose Joseph to be the earthly father for Jesus because he knew the heart of Joseph.
Joseph undertook the task of fatherhood unexpectedly and did it because he believed God. .
God prepared Joseph for this awesome responsibility.
Joseph had been taught well the ways and will of God.
He had all the qualities that God wanted for the man who would raise His Son, Jesus,

Isn't it interesting!
When God chose a man to raise His Son it was not a religious man -- it was an average working man.
Joseph taught Jesus how to be a good carpenter.
He also taught Him the ways and will of God.
With every cut of the saw he taught Jesus to be straight and true.
And as he would build beautiful furniture, Jesus was learning how God could make things beautiful.
Every time Joseph would mash his thumb with the hammer Jesus was being taught
how to deal with pain.

Fathers, teach your children the ways and will of God.
Teach them the worth of work, and demonstrate how they should react to the hurts of life.

Joseph was a loving father to a son who was not his own.
I have know many who have done that with children they have adopted.
Joseph reminds us that our children are not our own.
They belong to God.
God has given you children to raise for Him.
Think about that!

Joseph's dream gave him the reason that he could believe God.
Remember his situation.
He is betrothed to Mary.
This was similar to engagement period, and lasted about a year.
During this time he is told that Mary is with child.
This child was not his.

Custom would dictate that she was an outcast and should be sent away.
The King James bible states, "put her away privily".
But Joseph believed God and took Mary for his wife, and took Jesus and raised him as his own.
He exposed himself to ridicule from his community

Paul Harvey once told the story of a young woman who driving home from work
when she snagged her car fender on the bumper of another car.
She was in tears as it was a new car.
How would she ever explain the damaged car to her husband?

The driver of the other car was sympathetic, but explained that they must have each
other's license numbers and registration numbers.
As the young woman reached into the glove box, she pulled out a large brown envelope
holding the documents.

As she emptied the contents, a piece of paper fell out and caught her eye.
In a manly scrawl were these words; "In case of accident . . . Remember honey,
it's you I love, not the car!"

We raise our children in love and trust them with life.
As parents we trust them to God, and we let them go.
If we have taught them as Joseph and Mary taught Jesus, we will always have them.
And in their adult years the love and care we give will come back to us.

"When I was-

• 4 years old: My daddy can do anything.
• 5 years old My daddy knows a whole lot.
• 6 years old: My dad is smarter than your dad.

• 50 years old: I 'd give anything if Dad were here now so I could talk this over with him.
  Too bad I didn't appreciate how smart he was. I could have learned a lot from him."