I Want to Be Like Jospeh

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. . . . When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. 
---Matthew 1:18-19, 24-25

     Think about this from Joseph's point of view. He was engaged to Mary. In those times, an engagement was more formal and binding than it is for most people today. Marriage was a two step process. The first step was the official commitment to one another. The second step was the ceremony and consummation. Joseph and Mary had done the first step and were bound to each other. Then, before the second step was completed, Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant.

     Mary had been unfaithful to him. After they had been pledged to each other she slept with another man. She had betrayed him. If you were Joseph, how would you feel? Wounded, aggrieved, wronged, bamboozled, played-for-a-fool, are things that come to mind. So does anger. There's a good chance he was considerably angry. It is, therefore, remarkable what Joseph did when he learned of Mary's pregnancy. "He resolved to divorce her quietly."

     The text tells us that he was a just man. The just consequence of marital betrayal is divorce, and that was what he intended to do, divorce Mary. But the text also tells us that "he was unwilling to put her to shame." Joseph was not only a just man, he was a kind man. Though he was likely angry and hurt, he did not want to hurt Mary in return. Though he must have felt like he'd been punched in the gut, he did not punch Mary in return.

     He could have made a big scene. He could have called everyone in the village together and publicly accused and humiliated Mary. He could have dragged her before the authorities and insisted that she be stoned. Remember what the Pharisees did to the woman caught in adultery in John 8? Joseph did none of those things.

     Mary was going to experience shame. There was no way around that for a young, unmarried pregnant girl in a small village. If everyone didn't already know, they would soon. Shame and humiliation were coming for Mary. But Joseph was unwilling to participate in her shaming. He would divorce her. But, he would do it quietly. Joseph was a kind man.

     And, once the angel assured Joseph that the child Mary carried was from the Holy Spirit, not the result of adultery, and told him to marry her, he did so. It would seem from the text that he did so without delay. Joseph was not only a kind man, he was an obedient man.

     I want to be like that. I want to be kind toward others, even toward people who hurt me. And I want to be obedient to things of God. I want to be like Joseph.


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Wayne's Story: A Story of Redemption from Behind the Wire

     It's a cliche that everyone in prison claims to be is innocent. That has not been my experience, though, with the men in our Miami International Seminary (MINTS) classes in Dade Correctional Institution. I think that as they appreciate the wonder of the forgiveness and redemption they have in Christ that enables them to admit, face, and deal with their crimes. And, that further frees then to grow and change as they walk with Christ in sanctification.There is one man in our classes, though, who insists that he did not do the crimes for which he was sent to prison.

     Wayne was convicted in 1991 for two counts of armed robbery, one count of attempted murder and once count of murder. The prosecution sought the death penalty but he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Wayne swears that he is innocent.

     In our Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering class the students are giving presentations from Philip Yancey's book Where is God When it Hurts. Wayne gave his presentation yesterday.

     He described some of what it's been like for the past 25 years: the beatings and stabbings he's witnessed, watching a 16-year-old boy stabbed to death in front of him, seeing inmates attack officers and then being beaten nearly to death in return. He talked about the time he was attacked by an inmate and nearly lost his eye. He told us about being kept locked up in a cell for 23 hours a day for months and months and months. But worst of all for Wayne has been knowing that he is, according to him, locked up unjustly - and no one cares. He has no family working for his release. There are no Innocence Project people coming to his aid. He is alone. 

     For many years these experiences left him either deeply depressed and hopeless, planning his suicide, or he was full of anger and bitterness toward everyone and everything.

     Then he met Jesus.

     Since meeting Jesus the rage has subsided. He has begun to have hope, not hope that he will ever be exonerated, but hope that in the end, there is a day coming when Jesus will make all things right.

     Wayne said that through this class on pain and suffering he has "learned the power of forgiveness and unconditional love that conquerors all things. It drew me closer to God and gave me a clear, sharp understanding of Romans 8:28 which states in part 'And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.'"

     Wayne said that he has learned that though his affliction can, at times, seem unbearable he is able to rely on and trust that God, through this experience, will touch him and others and use all of this for good. "I have learned," said Wayne, "as Paul said, for me to live is Christ."

     Prison ministry can be hard. But it can also be rewarding. Yesterday was a rewarding day.

     Thanks for for prayers and financial support that makes it possible for us to be there.

     If you would like to support the Miami International Seminary In-Prison Study Center Program email mints.kendall@gmail.com and ask to be added to our prayer list. Donations can made out to MINTS and mailed to 19931 Eagle Nest Rd, Cutler Bay, Florida 33157. MINTS is a 501(c)3 charity and all donations are tax deductible.

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Seeing Jesus in Timothy McCarthy

At 2:27 PM on March 30, 1981 John Hinckley, Jr. attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. The president had just finished speaking at a meeting of the AFL-CIO at the Washington Hilton. He left the building and made his way toward his limousine, just a short walk across the pavement. Before he could reach the car, however, Hinckley fired six shots at the president. The president and three others were wounded. The wounds were serious. All four people nearly died. But, it is the actions of one of the wounded, before he was shot, that have always fascinated me. Those actions always make me think of Jesus.

When the gunfire started the people on that sidewalk did what most people do when confronted with a source of danger. If they can’t run, then they try to hide. You see the people watching the president all turn away from the sound of the gunfire or get down on the ground. They drew up into themselves. They tried to make themselves as small as possible. Which is a normal, even rational, response in the face of danger. They all did that. Except for one person.

Secret Service Special Agent Timothy McCarthy did something different, something completely counter-intuitive. He did not turn away from the source of danger. He did not make himself as small as possible. He turned toward the gunman and made himself as big as he could. He rose up to his full height. He stretched out his arms. Why? He was putting his own body between the president and the source of danger. He made himself into a human shield. And he was shot in the abdomen, almost losing his life. He risked his life, nearly giving his life, to save the life of the president.

This has always fascinated me. McCarthy’s actions were so contrary to human nature. But more, this seems to me like a picture of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Jesus spread out his arms and made himself a human shield between us and a source of great danger – the wrath of God.

We deserve God’s wrath. And God’s wrath is a far greatest danger to us than an assassin’s bullet. The threat from God’s wrath is greater than any other menace we might face from another person. Jesus said, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

The wrath of God is a terrible, fearful thing. The wrath of God destroys soul and body, in hell, forever. And, it is what we deserve. Every one of us. It is what we deserve.

What would it be like for the wrath of God to be poured out on us? Did you ever see the news coverage of civil rights protests when local officials used fire hoses against the protesters? The powerful water from the fire hoses knocks people off their feet. They try to stand up, but can’t. The force of the water is too great. It knocks them down again and again. They are powerless before it. Take that and multiple it many times over and that’s what I imagine the wrath of God to be like. It knocks you down and you can’t stand up. It overwhelms. There is no hope before it.

But, Jesus put his own body between the wrath of God and you, and me, and all those who believe. When he was on the cross, part of his payment for our sin meant absorbing into himself all of the wrath of God that should justly be poured onto us. He made himself a human shield. Like Timothy McCarthy did for President Reagan, Jesus used his own body to protect us. But he not only risked his life, he gave his life, so that we could live.

I want to think more about that, about Jesus’s love for me, a love so great that he was compelled to use his own body to shield me. I want to let the knowledge of his love for me saturate my whole being. And I want that knowledge to move me to greater love for him.

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Jesus Understands

Natural human weaknesses, though not sinful in themselves, are usually accompanied by temptations that do prod us to sin.  But Jesus, because he is a real man and experienced all the same weaknesses and temptations that we do, is able to come to our rescue.

One weakness that is not sinful but can easily become an occasion for sin is physical fatigue. When I am tired I often find myself tempted to quit or to break my promises. I give myself excuses to not keep my commitments, because I am weary.

Another way I am tempted to sin when I am tired is I am easily angered. This may come out in full blown angry words or actions, or I might just be irritable or impatient.

Whenever I react to weariness in any of these sinful ways what is really happening is that I am loving myself more than I am loving God and others. And that is the root of all my sin.

But I also know that I don’t have to sin when I am tempted in these ways. And I also don’t have to just tough it out and will myself to not sin, which pretty much always fails. I can come to Christ for comfort, and he will really help, because he really understands.

There was a time when Jesus was so weary from a trip that he just sat down and didn’t go further, while the disciples went off to run an errand. They went to go get food. (See John 4:6-8). Jesus was not lazy and he was not selfish or manipulative. He wasn’t using the disciples because he just didn’t feel like running the errand himself.

If he sent the disciples off while he stayed behind he had to have a reason. The text tells us. He was tired. Knowing that Jesus was tired on this, and, I am sure, many other occasions, gives me great comfort and hope when I am weary. It gives me comfort and hope that I don’t have to sin in my weariness.

Hebrews tells us that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin (Hebrew 4:15). That tells me that when he was tired Jesus too was tempted to quit and to not keep his promises. It tells me that Jesus too felt irritable with people and wanted to snap at them. He knows, he really knows, exactly what that feels like. But he did not sin.

So when I’m tired and feel like I don’t want to go to another meeting, or answer the phone when it rings, or when harsh words rise up to the tip of tongue, when I am tempted to love myself and my comfort more than I love God and love others, I can call out to Jesus for help. And when I do he will say, “I understand,” and he will understand. Because he really has experienced the same thing.

Jesus will be able to strengthen me at just the point of my temptation. He will be able to help me, exactly as I need to be helped, and not only because he is God. He will be able to help me because he is also a real man who has been there and done that, been tempted in exactly the same way, yet without sin.   

With his help, and the strength that he provides, I will be able to love God and others, even when I don't feel like it. I find great comfort and hope that.

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Endless, Bottomless, Boundless Grace and Compassion

In an article in Tabletalk adapted from Sinclair Ferguson's The Trinitarian Devotion of John Owen we read that there is endless, bottomless, boundless grace and compassion for believers found in Christ and this is experienced through our union with Him. Ferguson further quotes Owen that "we cannot spread our sin further than He can spread His grace. To meditate on this, to taste the waters of such a pure fountain [of grace] is surely to know 'joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory (1 Peter 1:8).'"

This endless, bottomless, boundless grace and compassion is real. Believers already have it in Christ. It is there for you when you struggle with whatever life throws at you. It is there for you when you fall short in your sin. However great your need is, the grace and compassion of Christ is greater. 

In his humanity Jesus experienced all of the same struggles and temptations that you face. He understands, really understands. Come to him with whatever problems or difficulties you face today. Think on his grace and compassion for you, let the knowledge of his love for you saturate your heart and spirit. 

In this you will find help, you will find strength, you will find hope.

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