Let me introduce myself. I am Joseph ben Jacob. Your pastor invited me here this morning to tell my story. I apologize for this, but I will have to keep this fairly brief as I need to leave shortly.

I want to share my testimony with you. This past year has been an up and down year. It is unlike any other I have ever faced. As I share my testimony I will tell you about three different places and the three lessons I learned in each of them.

The first place is Nazareth. I am a craftsman by trade. I work with wood and stone. Business is pretty good, though I don’t like working for the Roman government.

One of my co-workers is a godly man. He loves the Lord and seeks to obey the law. He is older than I am, but we share the same interests in spiritual things. One day I approached him and asked him if I could marry his daughter, Mary. He was overjoyed at the idea, asked Mary, and she said yes! It was one of the happiest days of my life. We negotiated the dowry and I went back to my own home to fix it up.

A couple of weeks later I was sitting in my house trying to figure out what to do with the kitchen. I knew that men and women often think differently about the kitchen, and I wanted to start our marriage on the right foot. I had it planned out, even where the pots would hang. I asked myself, “Should I buy some new pots for Mary or let her buy some after we are married?” Just then, my future father-in-law walked in. I could tell that something was wrong. He sat down and said to me in a trembling voice, “I don’t know what to say but to say it straight. Mary is pregnant.” I was shocked. She came from a godly home, her parents were godly people. I knew that she had memorized much of the Torah and seemed to be a very pious lady. He went on to tell me, “I am disappointed in my daughter. She brings great shame to our family. She even came up with a strange story about a visit from the angel of the Lord. She said that this heavenly visit was the cause of her pregnancy. I love my daughter and I know you have every right to make her a public example. But I ask you as a friend and as her father, divorce her if you must, but do so quietly.”

“Quietly?” I have no intention of being quiet. She humiliated me and put me in a very tough position. My first thought was to lash out. But then I considered the request of her father. Divorce her I must, but I would do so in such a way as to bring as little stress on her and on myself as I could.

I was so tired. I had stayed up all night tossing and turning. Now as I fell into a fitful sleep, I had a dream. In this dream an angel appeared to me and said, “…“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”” (Mt 1:20 -21 )

It was so real! I contacted her father and we got publically married right away. Privately, we did not consummate the marriage. People thought that I was the father.

Mary just gave birth to this baby, Jesus, a little while ago. All the stress of the last year, all the anxiety was worth it. Let me tell you what I learned. When Jesus came to live with us, he saved our marriage.

I’ve learned that when Jesus is in the home, he brings people together. I know my circumstances are much different than yours. But I found that Mary and I were actually on the same page spiritually. When we both listened to the angel of the Lord, Jesus came into our lives and we are deeply blessed. All families have stresses. Finances, work, church, community, home, all these make demands on us. People we used to love and treat with respect we now say horrible things to. But if Jesus were to come to your house as he has come to our house, it would make things better. I look back at my Nazareth experience and I want to say it has all been worth it because it brought Jesus to us.

My second place was Bethlehem. Mary had gone to visit her cousin Elizabeth in the hill country of Judea. We got news that Caesar was going to tax us through a census. We had to return to the home of David, Bethlehem. The trip was uneventful. Mary was very pregnant. She didn’t complain. Then we got to Bethlehem. This small village of a few hundred people was swelled as people from all over came for the census. We searched for a place to stay. Finally, one of the innkeepers said to us, “You can go stay in the stable. I was a little upset. My wife was about to give birth, we had no home to stay in. And they send a pregnant woman out to sleep with the sheep.

And here is where I learned my second lesson. God’s detours on the road of life can be beautiful and exciting when Jesus is with you.

The stable was much less crowded than the inn. The women helped with the birth. We had wrapped Jesus up in a cloth and laid him in the manger to sleep. Then, as we settled down with the newborn baby, a group of shepherds came walking into the stable.

I don’t like shepherds. They smell of sheep dung when they come to town. They are very unclean. They even work on the Sabbath, which is an abomination to God.

But these shepherds came with an incredible story. They were tending their flocks that night when they had a visit from an angel. They experienced the same fear I did. But the angel told them not to be afraid. The angel said, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”” (Lu 2:10-12)

At that moment the heavens filled with angels all praising God for what he had done. The shepherds came to our stable, saw our baby, Christ the Lord, lying in the manger and bowed down before him. They were so excited, the got up and ran out to tell others.

I would not have missed staying in the stable instead of in the inn for all the money in the world. When Jesus is with you, the detours are exciting trips.

Then a few days later we went to Jerusalem. Though the census bothered me and took me away from my work in Nazareth, I was blessed that we could have our baby circumcised in the temple in Jerusalem.

We met two people in our trip who blessed us. The first was a man named Simeon. God told him he would not die until he saw the Messiah. When he saw Jesus, he took him in his arms and blessed him. It was amazing and so hard to describe.

Then an eighty-four year old woman named Anna, a prophetess came up. She lost her husband after seven years of marriage and had dedicated herself to serving God in the temple. She saw Jesus and prayed over him. She thanked God for Jesus and told everyone she knew that was waiting for the redemption of Israel about our baby.

When Jesus is with you, the detours are exciting trips. You may be facing a change in a direction that you did not intend to go. If you go it alone, that trip could be bad. But if Jesus is with you, who knows what person you will see that you will help or will help you.

Looking back, I would say the trip to Bethlehem was well worth it because Jesus was with us.

The third place was the house. We decided to stay in Bethlehem for a while. Mary was tired from delivering the baby. I was able to find some work and so we rented a house.

One evening as I returned from work, the house was surrounded by camels. I have never seen so many camels in one place. I went inside to see what was happening. Magi from the east were there. Mary introduced me to them. I asked them what they were doing. They told me this incredible story.

It seems that they were astrologers. They also had access to the Torah. They saw an unusual star in the sky and concluded that the Messiah was to be born. They traveled to Jerusalem and then got directions to come to Bethlehem. A star had stood right over our house. They came in and found Mary and the child.

Then it got even stranger. They said they had some gifts for the child. I told them that we would be traveling soon and that we had limited ability to carry toys. Small gifts would be ok.

The leader laughed and handed me a box. “This is for the baby,” he said. I opened it. It was full of gold. A second one brought me another box. It had frankincense in it. It was one of the most expensive perfumes money could buy. A third man came and brought another box. This box had myrrh in it. This was another kind of perfume. It was also used in embalming. This was very expensive.

I said to the men, “This is more than we can take.” The man said, “This isn’t for you, it is for Jesus, the Christ. We are sorry it is so little. If we had known that this King of the Jews didn’t own a home, we would have bought one for him. If we had known that he did not have the finest clothes, we would have brought them with us. If we had known that his birth would have been so lowly, we would have arranged a place for him to stay that was better than this.”

At first I thought they were a little proud, but then I saw that their comments were not a criticism of me, they were an expression of the great value they placed on Jesus.

This is when I learned my third lesson. Jesus was worth whatever I could give him. I was going to give him a home, the best I could. They gave freely of their gold, frankincense and myrrh. I didn’t know why they were being so generous at the time, though I do now.

I will tell you that Jesus is worth what you give him and even more. Money given to Jesus is worth it. Our abilities that we give to him are worth it. Our time, our energies, our lives should be given to Jesus, he is worth it.

As I stand before you now, I am blessed. I had another dream. In it the same angel told me that Herod was coming to kill Jesus. The angel told me to get out of Bethlehem as fast as I can. So I am heading home now to get Mary and Jesus and go. I don’t like traveling at night, but as much distance as we can put between Bethlehem and us before dawn will not be enough as far as I am concerned. Don’t tell anyone, but we have decided to go to Egypt.

And that is the blessing. There is no way we could afford to travel so far for an indefinite length of time without the help of the Magi. God knew before what we would need. Having Jesus in our home is already a blessing.

And I am also blessed by knowing my son’s future. He will be king of the Jews. Every parent worries that their child might turn into a criminal and spend time in jail or get hung on a cross. I can’t see that happening to him. He is the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior.

I’ve got to go now. Time is running out. If you would let Jesus come to live in your house, I know you will be blessed.

Thank you for your time.

Narrator: Three lessons. 1. When Jesus is in the home, he brings people together. 2. When Jesus is with you, the detours can be exciting. 3. Jesus is worth whatever you can give him.

But what he wants first is your trust. He grew up to die on a cross for your sins. He was buried and rose again. He invites you to trust him.

Joseph could not see the future, the cross was not visible to him. But through the cross, Jesus, the innocent lamb of God, died because we sinned. He offers forgiveness to any who will trust in him.

And when both you and your spouse are trusting Christ, when you and your children are trusting Christ, Christ brings you together.

When you are trusting Christ, the unexpected detours give you a chance to see something about God, about Jesus, or about yourself, that you would never get a chance to see.

When you are trusting Christ, Jesus is worth whatever you give him. Joseph was a just man and gave his tithe. The Magi were very wealthy and gave out of their abundance. Was Jesus worth it?

Our answer indicates our worship. For worship as a bottom line says “yes” to the question, “Is Jesus worth it?”