Don’t Be a Dreamer
A Lenten Life Lesson from Joseph of Nazareth
19th March is the Feast Day of Joseph of Nazareth, the first ‘red letter day’ since Candlemas on 2ndFebruary.
Incidentally, the phrase “red-letter day” dates back to the Middle Ages when time was marked by a myriad of feast days, saints days and holy days. In monastic books, the significant ones were highlighted in red to signify their importance. Common Worship retains that practice using red for festivals. To qualify for a festival, you really to do need to have been in the Bible, so that ship has sailed. The only exception to this is St George about whom I have written before.
Today, however, we are considering Joseph of Nazareth, a chronically overlooked figure both in New Testament studies and the Church of England. You will struggle to find a Church dedicated to St Joseph. At the time when the vast majority of churches were built in England, Mary was the highly favoured one. St Michael the Archangel was also popular. Add St Peter and St Andrew and we’ve accounted for over 5000 churches in England. St Mungo and St Olaf have more churches named after them than St Joseph.
What do these people want?
How can this be? What do you have to do to get a church named after you? Is it not enough that Joseph of Nazareth took Mary to be his wife, despite the shame of her pregnancy? Clearly, protecting his son from the murderous schemes of king Herod is no biggie. Then, having taken them down to Egypt and then back to Nazareth, he raised the Lord Jesus as his own. The man is a hero of the faith!
By the time the Georgians and Victorians were building churches for a growing population, fed by the agricultural revolution, the ‘holy family’ had fallen out of favour. In that period we get churches named ‘Holy Trinity’ or ‘All Saints’, to avoid triggering anti-catholics. The result is that there are few churches of St Joseph in England. Consequently, his feast day does not have much pageantry or tradition associated with it. Joseph clearly featured in Christmas and Candlemas when the stories were re-enacted, but was never the focus. Always the bridesmaid. Joseph did, at least, get a red-letter day.
Despite the worrying over-reach of the modern state, most of us won’t need to flee the country for our faith. So what can we learn from Joseph of Nazareth, especially in this season of Lent?
Stating the Bleedingly Obvious
To understand Joseph of Nazareth, it is helpful to think about the first Joseph who gets a lot more coverage, dominating the last 13 chapters of Genesis. In fact, he receives about as many ‘column inches’ as Abraham. This Joseph is the favourite son of Jacob and a dreamer. Literally. He has dreams that his siblings will bow down to him. This is not endearing. His brothers betray him and sell him into slavery in Egypt.
For Joseph, dreams are the problem and the solution. He works his way out of prison by interpreting dreams and soon finds himself Prime Minister of the mighty Egypt. It is only through him that Jacob’s family, Abraham’s descendants, are able to survive the famine in Canaan. Through Joseph, the Israelites become a mighty nation and return to the promised land centuries later, sweeping away all before them.
There are clear similarities between the first and the second Joseph. Joseph of Nazareth has a dream telling him that his betrothed is expecting a baby from the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:10). This is the first of four dreams, or least the ones that are recorded. (I’m sure he had dreams about flying or being in pajamas at school like the rest of us.)
Joseph’s second dream can be found in Matthew 2:13, telling him to escape to Egypt to avoid Herod’s Massacre of the Innocents. But then he has another one giving him the ‘all clear’:
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. (Matthew 2:19-21)
But there’s a setback. Don’t worry, here comes Dream Number Four.
When he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene. (Matthew 2:22-23)
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Don’t be a Dreamer
What can we learn from Joseph? Have better dreams? Eat more cheese before bed? No, wait, cheese is dairy so that’s probably not allowed. And I’m not eating vegan cheese for anyone.
Clearly, we are not in control of how the Lord speaks to us. He most commonly speaks to us by his Spirit through scripture. Sometimes, we can really feel the Lord’s hand in events. The words of a friend or elder occasionally hit us like divine revelation. We may even hear an audible voice from God (I haven’t). All that really matters is how we respond.
How does Joseph respond? With obedience. And not just obedience, but fast obedience. That’s what we can learn from Joseph.
When our children were small, we expected obedience. When we encountered foot-dragging, we would say “slow obedience is disobedience.” I can’t remember what happened after that. It seems such a long time ago. But Joseph was swift to obey. Look at how he responds to the second dream:
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. (Matthew 2:13-15)
It is a beautiful thing to behold: swift obedience. Our society hates it. In fact, swift obedience is deemed to be the very worst kind. It implies submission and slavery. It suggests unhealthy fanatical devotion. But the Lord commands. We obey. He is good and wise. He is honest and true. Do we really think obeying him insults and diminishes us? Let us fight the prevailing culture. Let us be swift to obey both God, and the authorities he has placed in our lives. And do so with joy.
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You can hear me burble on to Ros Clarke at the Church Society about Christianity and the arts, the Keswick Unconventional and this Almanac. Listen on Apple podcasts or Spotify or wherever you get your podcast.
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Friday 14th March Christ Church, Stone
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This was a really good one James. I like the practical life application. As the song goes 'trust and obey'