Daunting work

Friends of our just found out they're having a boy. The soon-to-be Mom and Dad posted their delight and anticipation. What will life hold for their little guy?

Today Roman Catholics celebrate the day of Holy Innocents, remembering the boys two years old and under in Bethlehem, slaughtered by Herod in his fear of displacement by the Newborn King. What mourning as the ruler exercised his right to the life and death of his subjects!

As I pondered the RC morning reading, I wondered at the lives changed by Jesus' arrival.

Joseph, like our young friend, had a challenging task ahead of him. He had been assigned to watch over and raise Jesus, a son.  What made Joseph's duty so daunting was that his boy was God's son, entrusted to Joseph's family during his childhood.

Not all adoptive fathers are equally receptive to the children in their homes. Many (including step-dads) nurture and train the kids. Some hold them at arms' length and never bond. Others abuse and mistreat them: their children hate men and grow up with a warped version of God as Father.

Judging from Jesus' interactions with people, Joseph did a good job. Jesus learned faithfulness, adherence to Jewish worship and customs, and was favored by his neighbors. My father certainly is my hero -- he cared for each of us four siblings and continues to love us to this day.

Will you pray with me that our friends -- and others about to be parents -- grow in faith and the knowledge of God to raise their child well? It takes the wisdom of Solomon and the leadership of Moses to do a great job of parenting!

Think about how your family, especially your father/s or lack of a father still influences your view of life. Do you think of God in light of your father?

Read more:
*Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;  even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalm 16:5-8 NIV

*May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, and may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13

Moravian Prayer: God of love, let us learn love, profound and defining, that gathers us when we are scattered. Anchor us in a loving and faithful community of believers that we may be at home in you. Amen. 

Inconvenient life

So, here we have Joseph.

He's a normal, all-around nice guy with a small construction shop in an obscure town. Nazareth, to be exact.

He's not exactly looking for trouble. He's got a sweet fiance who will make a good wife. Everyone likes her, and she gets along with other people. Life should be peaceful.

Except that Mary sends him a message that's really bad news. "I'm pregnant." His night visitor tells him not to be afraid - his wife-to-be is expecting God. God-with-us, Immanuel.

What? No one asked Joseph for permission to turn his world upside down. His dream of a quiet life shatters. To top it off, the census is due, and the highly-pregnant Mary and Joseph have to trek to Bethlehem with fellow villagers. It's not an easy trip, at least a few days walk.

Joseph doesn't know that he won't return to Nazareth for a few years. The rage of Herod against Joseph's son will cause the massacre of infants and toddlers around Bethlehem, hardly something to endear Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to the place. They will have fled from their country to live among stranger where the language, food, and surroundings are unfamiliar. 

Egypt. The place his people left years ago. Going backward, not forward, it may have seemed to Joseph.

We don't always choose the path by which God works in the world. Sometimes we seems to be regressing to where we thought we'd never go. 

Somehow, Joseph put one foot in front of the other in his inconvenient life. He seems to have died before Jesus reached adulthood, but from the tender care Jesus later exhibited to others--including his mom--there must have been a lot of love at home.

What diversions are driving you crazy? What detours seem hard to bear? Let's wait, watch, and work like Joseph to bring the Savior's love to those around us.

Read more:
*And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
 
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:1-7  KJV

Thank you Moravians: 
 Psalm 143:1-6 Micah 3:8-5:15; Revelation 12:18-13:10

All the people responded with a great shout when they praised the Lord,
because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. Ezra 3:11

No one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid;
that foundation is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11

Prayer: O Rock of Ages, we cling to you. When we fall on slippery slopes we
create for ourselves, your foundation is always there to provide for us
a safe place to land. All glory in Jesus Christ. Amen.