Sermon 8/7/11
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Sunday School Stories: Joseph, Part I
You
all know I have three
brothers. And like any good set of siblings, we have often indulged in a game
of ʺwho is Mom's favorite?ʺ We all both claim and accuse each other of holding
this title in some way. Jim is the oldest, so he had six whole years of
undivided parental attention before I came along. I am the only girl, so
obviously I am the real favorite. TJ had several health problems when he
was born, so we all know he got the most coddling. And Todd – well, Todd is the
baby, so he got everything, including my mother’s car, a gift that we
will never let either of them live down. Spoiled. Then we figure Jim reclaimed
the title by producing a grandchild, which is a totally sneaky way of winning
favorite status. But of course, we all really know that while each of us has a different
relationship with my mother, she loves us all equally. Completely,
unconditionally, but with no hierarchy.
It may or may not
surprise you to realize that this kind of equal love for children doesn’t seem
to have much place in the bible. It always surprises me when people talk about
biblical family values, because families in the bible are some of the most
dysfunctional groups of relatives I've ever ready about. The family we
encounter today is no exception. The Bible explicitly states in more than one
place that a parent prefers or loves one child more than another, that a spouse
loves one spouse more than the others. Sometimes, people in the Bible play
favorites. And that’s where we start out today.
Last week we read
about Jacob wrestling the angel or God or a man who symbolized God, or something
like that! Jacob, we heard, was on his way to reconcile with his brother Esau,
who he had tricked out of his firstborn birthright by pretending to be Esau in
front of their failing father Isaac. This week we find Jacob settling down in the land of Canaan with his
family – his wives Rachel and Leah, their maids Bilhah and Zilpah, and between
the four women, twelve sons of Jacob, and, oh yeah, a daughter named Dinah.
But our story quickly
focuses in on Joseph, one of Jacob's younger sons with wife Rachel. We learn a
couple things about Joseph. He is his father’s favorite. Jacob loves Joseph the
most, because he is the child of his favorite wife, Rachel. Jacob doesn’t try
to hide his preference. To show it clearly, in fact, Jacob gives him a coat,
described in different translations as long-sleeved or of many-colors. Either
way, the point is, it sets Joseph apart from his other brothers. On top of that,
we find out that Joseph – well, he is a tattle-tale. He and his brothers are
all shepherds, but Joseph sees fit to run back and make a bad report about the
work all his older brothers are doing. Naturally, this, coupled with his
favorite-status, doesn’t endear him to his brothers.
But there’s still
more. Joseph has these dreams. He dreams that that he and his brothers are binding
sheaves in the field, and suddenly his sheave stands straight up in the air, while
the others bow to his. And then he dreams that the sun, moon, and eleven stars,
one for each brother, are all bowing down to him. Brilliantly, Joseph shares these
dreams with his brothers. And our text says that the brothers hate Joseph and
cannot even speak peaceably to him. No reaction from Joseph is recorded. We don’t
know if he is just oblivious to their feelings or what. He certainly doesn’t seem
to act very wisely. In fact, Joseph seems like a spoiled brat.
Eventually, it becomes
too much for the rest of his brothers. One day when Jacob is coming for them as
they are pasturing their flocks, they decide to kill Joseph. ʺHere comes this
dreamer,ʺ they say. ʺLet’s see what will become of his dreams.ʺ Reuben, one of
the brothers, talks them out of outright killing Joseph, but Judah, another sibling,
persuades the group that they might benefit most if they sell him into slavery.
So they sell Joseph to some Ishmaelites, and they take him away to Egypt.
We will hear more
about Joseph next week. But what can we learn from this part of the story?
Frankly, Joseph isn’t really very likable, is he? Andrew Lloyd Webber may have
made him into the hero in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and
maybe we root for him by the end of the story. But really, Joseph is not that
likable. I obviously don’t recommend murder or selling your troublesome family
members into slavery. But who is surprised that the brothers can’t stand Joseph?
He is the clear favorite of their father, and Joseph can’t seem to stop rubbing
that fact in their face.
I told my mother that
I was going to title today's sermon something like, You know that Obnoxious
Person you Really don’t like? Yeah, God is Calling Them. Catchy, right? But
hopefully it conveys my point. Here is the hard truth about the scriptures, and
what they tell us about who God chooses. God does not choose the most faithful,
the nicest, the most devout, the most well-behaved, the most-loving. It
is a rare event in the Bible for us to read about any particularly positive
attributes of people God chooses for amazing tasks. Instead, it seems, God chooses
liars and adulterers and cheaters, even murderers, and even snotty siblings. How
frustrating, right? That means that if we think over the people who we don’t really
like very much – we have to admit that there is a chance that God will be using
them to do God's work in the world. One of the hard lessons we have to learn, though,
and I’m serious about this, is that God is often working through people we don’t
like! We have to learn to look beyond the faults we find in others because if
we can’t, we might miss where God is at work.
Hardly seems fair, does it? I've shared
with some folks here that a line from a Newsboys song goes like this: ʺWhen we get
what we don’t deserve, it’s a real good thing. When we don’t get what we
deserve, it’s a real good thing.ʺ Although we value fairness a lot in our
culture, God isn’t really into fairness. I have a lot more to say about that in
some other sermon! But we should be thankful that God isn’t all about what is
fair, because sometimes we forget that if God was being fair to us, giving us what
we deserved to get – well, maybe we, sinners, makers of bad decisions, hurters
of others, ignorers of God's calls and commands, wouldn’t really deserve much
actually, or wouldn’t want what we did deserve. What we receive from God
then, instead of fairness, is mercy, love, compassion, forgiveness, which is
infinitely more valuable to me. We don’t often deserve it. But thankfully it
comes as a gift, free, without price. So the second lesson we have to learn
from Joseph is this. Sometimes it turns out we might be acting like the
spoiled child. We might be behaving in a way that causes someone else to wonder
what God sees in us! But our bad behavior won't get us off the hook either.
God loves us anyway and calls and commands and uses us anyway too.
Next week, we will see
where God continues to be at work in the story of Joseph’s life, and the story
of his brothers too. But in the meantime, I want you to think about the people
that, for whatever reason, you find a little challenging to be around. And
start looking for God at work through them. You might be amazed at what
you find. And maybe, because of grace, you will start finding God at
work in you too. Amen.
Comments