I love this story. There were identical twins, who were nothing alike. One was a hope-filled optimist, the other was a dark pessimist. Their parents were so concerned about their sons, they took them to the family doctor. She came up with a plan. She said, “On Christmas day, give the pessimist a brand-new bicycle and give the optimist a box of manure.” The parents agreed to the plan. On Christmas morning, the pessimist got a brand-new state of the art bicycle. When he saw it, he said, “Oh great, I’ll probably crash and break my leg.” When the optimist opened his box of manure, he was a little confused at first, then he started to smile. He ran outside and said, “With that much manure there must be a pony!” Don’t tell me attitude isn’t important. Have you noticed our world seems to have a surplus of pessimists and a shortage of optimists? That is because there seems to be a shortage of hope. 

You really can’t blame people. Our world is filled with so many problems. Years ago, I asked my google search engine: what are the greatest problems facing our world? These are the answers I received. They came from the World Economic Forum. 

1. Climate change 
2. Large scale conflict/wars 
3. Inequality (income, discrimination) 
4. Poverty 
5. Religious conflicts 
6. Government corruption 
7. Food and water security 
8. Lack of education 
9. Safety 
10. Lack of economic opportunity 

That is a depressing list. So, I asked my google search engine another question: 

What are the greatest problems facing America? These are the answers I received. They came from the Gallup Research Group. 

1. Poor leadership 
2. Healthcare 
3. The economy 
4. Immigration 
5. National unity 
6. Unemployment and underemployment
7. Racism 
8. Terrorism 
9. Ethics and morals 
10. North Korea 

I find those lists to be depressing. Each one of those problems is massive and complex. When I look at that list, I find myself becoming a pessimist, a little less hopeful. Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987) was an American author, politician, and U.S. Ambassador. She once said, “There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless.” As a Christian people we should always have hope because we have God. That takes us to our scripture lesson.

Our scripture reading, Matthew 1:18-21, begins very matter-of-factly: This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. I’ll bet you have heard the story in the past. His mother was named Mary and was pledged to a man named Joseph. Mary was a young woman, probably a teenager, from the town of Nazareth. Joseph was older, a carpenter by trade, from the town of Bethlehem. There is no reason to think their marriage was not arranged by their families. This is where the confusion begins. To clarify the text, replace the word “pledged”, with the word “engaged”. In traditional America, couples date, get engaged, then marry. There is nothing legally binding about a contemporary engagement. Not so, in their time. In their time, the engagement period was legally binding. For a one-year period, the couple was married in every way, except sexually. Mary and Joseph had never had sex, which makes her pregnancy hard to explain. Unlike in our time, in their time morals were a big deal.

Joseph is in a hopeless situation. If he marries Mary, he brings disgrace to his own name. If he breaks off the engagement, he places Mary in danger. If the law was carried out, she could be stoned to death. God places everyone in this story in an awkward situation. Yet, Joseph finds light in this dark situation and models for us how to remain hopeful. So, what did Joseph do, that we need to do, to remain hopeful? 

First, Joseph did his best daily! Do not minimize that statement. Doing your best is very important. Doing your best is not easy or exciting, but it is exhausting. Doing your best will never grab the headlines, but it is vital. I have experienced that in my life. I served my last church for twenty-eight years. Those who were looking for perfection were often disappointed. It is impossible to excel in every aspect of the ministry. However, I can honestly say, I did my best every day. There is nothing in the Bible that indicates Joseph did not do his best. He didn’t shortchange anyone in his life. Mary got his best, he did not look down on her as a second-class citizen. Jesus got his best, it is not easy raising someone else’s child, especially, the son of God. The people in his life got his best, he paid his taxes and observed the traditions of his religion. Joseph was a good man, but like all men he made mistakes too. He was not perfect, but he did his best daily! It took me a long time to learn, our best is often good enough. Are you giving the people in your life your best every day? Joseph did his best daily!

Second, Joseph trusted God with the future! Do you remember the story? The unnamed angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him to do two things. Joseph did both things. First, in the face of a scoffing society, he discredited his own name and took Mary as his wife. Second, when the baby boy was born, he didn’t name him Joseph, he named him Jesus. It is important that you know that the name Jesus means “to deliver” or “rescue.” The scripture says his name is Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. That doesn’t mean a lot to our generation because we see ourselves as good people, who can save ourselves by our good works. That is not the story in Jesus’s generation. They saw themselves as sinners, who would be lost without hope. They longed for a Savior because they longed for hope.

It is still true today; hope is extremely important. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Hope is extremely practical. Hope moves us forward. Hope energizes us. Hope lightens our darkness. Hope increases our faith. Hope is both infectious and healing. Hope stabilizes and purifies. Be like Joseph, do your best today and trust God with the future.

Do you remember the name Terry Anderson (born 1947)? He was the Chief Middle East Correspondent for the Associated Press. He was kidnapped in Beirut on March 16, 1985. His kidnappers held him hostage for nearly seven years. It was an extremely difficult time, and he showed incredible strength. Once released, he was interviewed countless times and was asked countless questions. Someone asked him the question; did you ever lose hope? He answered with these words, “I had some blue moments. However, I will always be thankful for my Bible. I read it every day. It is a book of hope. It taught me so much about hope. It taught me to do the best I could do on that day and trust God with the future.” 

Maybe that is why there is a shortage of hope in our society. We spend too much time worrying about perfection and not enough time doing our best and trusting God with the future. Learn from Joseph’s example. I’ll bet you can do the same. American Baptist evangelist Rick Warren (born 1954) once said, “What gives me the most hope every day is God’s grace; knowing that his grace is going to give me the strength for whatever I face, knowing that nothing is a surprise to God.”