Tools of a tradie

by Jonathan Krause

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When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife but had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son, and he named him Jesus (Matthew 1:24,25).

Read Matthew 1:18–25

Okay, I’m just a normal everyday bloke.

So, maybe you have a different opinion about Joseph than I do.

But I see Joseph as an unsung hero of the Greatest Story.

Here he is, a humble tradie going about his business, measuring and sawing and hammering, happily in love, looking forward to a simple family life, a couple of kids, a new patio out back.

And then … the girl he plans to marry tells him she is pregnant.

Joseph knows it’s not his doing. As for what Mary says happened – really?

If that’s not enough to turn your world upside-down, the angel of the Lord then comes to Joseph in a dream and commands:

• Take your ‘somehow-pregnant’ fiancée to be your wife.
• Have no marital relations with her until after she has given birth.
• Take her all the way to Bethlehem to register for the Census, with no place planned to stay or safely give birth, and stand at her side as she gives birth to a child not your own.
• Raise this baby as your own!

While Joseph may be no ‘wise man’ (from the East or anywhere else), and stands in the shadow of shepherds who seem to get more headlines than him in the Christmas story …  I learn a lot from Joseph about what it means to be a Christian.

He’s obedient. Humble. Courageous.

Even when his pride and confidence must be battered by the situation in which he finds himself, through no doing of his own.

Just as it’s amazing that God became human in such a (literally) down-to-earth way in the birth of his Son Jesus, so too it’s amazing that simple, everyday tradie Joseph was called to play the challenging role he did.

Perhaps the same goes for you and me.

We may see ourselves as first-year apprentices when trying to live as the Lord commands us and completely unequipped to take on the specific challenges he lays before us. We may feel too weak or small or be too proud or stubborn or lack the courage or skills, but God can – and will – use us just as we are, surprisingly successful servant-tools when we surrender to the hands of the Master Tradie.

Father, you know me inside and out. All my weaknesses. All my doubts. Help me be like Joseph, a tool in your hands, humble and happy to do whatever you ask. Amen.

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