When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, 'Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.' 'Why were you searching for me?' he asked. 'Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?' But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Luke 2:48-50, NIV

 

In the 2000s, the world became aware of the impact of climate change significantly through former United States Vice President Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth".

 

Spare a thought for the only man in history who was reasonably expected to accept an exceptionally inconvenient truth – that his wife was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Suspecting something altogether less wholesome, he decided to divorce her: firmly, yet quietly and lovingly.

 

Today’s passage at the temple depicts the only Gospel account of Jesus’ childhood, at 12 years of age. Once again, Joseph was on the receiving end of a rather inconvenient truth.

 

I wonder if he wasn’t hurt by his “son” Jesus’ rather casual words, not sounding particularly sorry for the inconvenience he had caused. They had “lost” four days coming back to find him and needed to make the return journey. Life was neither easy nor cheap way back then.

 

Joseph’s life had been turned upside down by more angelic messages since that first holy herald. After that initial shock, he had seen angels, had vivid dreams, met wise men, and had heard prophetic utterances. He even undertook an unplanned trip to Egypt in response to a dream.

 

By all accounts, he had sacrificed much for his family and obeyed his God immediately. It is clear that Joseph was a man of character, who had done what he could under the circumstances, assigned as he was to the household in which God had placed his begotten Son.

 

The pace of life in that backwater town of Nazareth was slow, yet, he made lightning-quick decisions out of obedience and took immediate action that often caused disruption, discomfort and inconvenience.

 

Sometimes, in all the splendour of the nativity, I forget what a man God had chosen for Mary. Can you relate? He was certainly made of sterner stuff than most. May we not relegate his role in the story to the dusty archives of history. What a man!

 

Is there an inconvenient truth in your life that God could use for his glory?

 

Prayer: God, I sometimes forget that you also chose Joseph for just that exact moment. He was precisely the right man for Mary – together in marriage, they carried out your commands in obedience to you. Help their lives to be an example when we are challenged to obey. Amen.