The was the first of three sermons on the Joseph story. As I mentioned in the sermon, our fall preaching series is as follows: three sermons from the Joseph story; three sermons on stewardship; three sermons on Esther; and then a final sermon in which Joseph and Esther will have a conversation!
I have always loved the Joseph story, including Sondheim's musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." Doing the story in three sermons probably moves too quickly, but that is the hand I dealt. the text below was amplified quite a bit in the actual preached sermon. I must not have prepared well enough since I kept adding to what was in the written part of the sermon!
I really liked the idea of seizing the grace moments we encounter and also trying to be a moment of grace for someone else. In fact, as we started the church's Instagram (@standrewdenton) this week, we added a clip from the sermon and asked the question - how can we be a moment of grace for someone else.
“Family Life” Genesis 39:17-35; SAPC; Denton; Sept 18, 2022; Richard B. Culp
17The man said, ‘They have gone away, for I heard them say, “Let us go to Dothan.” ’ So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. 18They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. 19They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer. 20Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.’ 21But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, ‘Let us not take his life.’ 22Reuben said to them, ‘Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him’—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. 23So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; 24and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.’ And his brothers agreed. 28When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes. 30He returned to his brothers, and said, ‘The boy is gone; and I, where can I turn?’ 31Then they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. 32They had the long robe with sleeves taken to their father, and they said, ‘This we have found; see now whether it is your son’s robe or not.’ 33He recognized it, and said, ‘It is my son’s robe! A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.’ 34Then Jacob tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son for many days. 35All his sons and all his daughters sought to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and said, ‘No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.’ Thus his father bewailed him.
Introduction: We begin our falling preaching series:
three weeks in the Joseph story - we will read through parts of what is longest sustained narrative about a person in Genesis; the Joseph story is also the last story that involves primarily a single clan. After this, it will be about the people of Israel.
then, three weeks reflecting on stewardship;
three weeks in the Esther story - one of those weeks will be the Fall Festival of Faith worship service with visual arts; Esther is also the book of the Bible that never mentions God
Esther and Joseph meet one week right here at St. Andrew.
and then Advent will be here! My how the fall is already flying by!
Several themes from the Joseph story - this week we take our cue from the second verse of chapter 37: “this is the story of the family of Jacob.”
We might add, “The dysfunctional family of Jacob.”
Move 1: Look at dysfunctional family life of Jacob.
a. who do you want to be in this story?
1. Jacob? He is after all one of the patriarchs of God’s people. when they call on the name of God, they call “God the father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Pretty heady crowd.
He has shown himself to be a shrewd businessperson.
But, not so sure about his parenting style. He seems to show favoritism.
Helps create a situation that pits brother against brother where killing off a brother seems like a good option.
one more story in genesis where the father seems to create brother rivalry.
2. . If not Jacob, do you want to be one of the brothers?
Not sure what redeeming qualities we find in the story, although before the story is done they do seem to show love for the family and all the brothers. they do seem to take on some responsibility before its all said and done.
But, they are angry, jealous brothers with little concern for their brother Joseph or really their father.
3. do you want to be Rachel or Leah or some of the other mothers of Jacob’s sons?
Jealousy abounds behind the scenes; we do not know much about the women, except for Rachel and Leah, and not all that much about them.
But, it seems as if their lives were lived out at the mercy, or whim of Jacob.
4. what about Joseph? Does anyone want to be Joseph?
Before the story is done, he will have lots of power and the opportunity to save God’s people. so maybe being Joseph is a good thing.
But at this point in the story? Joseph is the brother who tattles on the other brothers.
Joseph is the one who has dreams about the power he will have over his brothers, and he shares his dreams;
We might say he gloats over his brother.
he might be Jacob’s favored son, but it does not seem like anyone really likes him.
b. Reminder that family life can be complicated.
1. Even for God’s people.
2. When asked if it felt weird being a liturgist when his parents (all people are adults) were in worship, the person responded: “Well, usually we’re more likely to call each other names than read Scripture to each other!”
3. I won’t ask for a show of hands from those here who see some dysfunction in their families, but if you do, you are right at home with one of the premier families in the Bible!
Move 2: what might we learn from observing Jacob’s family life? lots of lessons, but here are a few.
a. Do not act out of the belief that there is not enough love to go around.
1. I suspect that the real reason Joseph’s brothers resent Jacob’s show of favoritism for Joseph is that they interpret that to mean that Jacob does not have enough love for them.
2. in their minds, to eliminate Joseph might free up some love for them.
3. Family relationships are full of brokenness created by one person chasing what they perceive is a finite amount of love.
b. Do not be afraid of the future and the change it will bring.!
1. When the brothers see Joseph coming and decide to kill him, notice how they describe him “here comes the dreamer.”
2. As if by killing Joseph they can cling to their particular moment in time and then never have to deal with the future as it unfolds.
3. the dreams are particularly threatening because they speak of future challenges that will demand change and a new way of life.
4. the brothers can get rid of Joseph, but they cannot keep the future from unfolding.
5. In fact, eventually they will need their family connections to deal with the future.
c. Sense of humility
1. Joseph, for all his brilliance and ability to dream, lacks humility.
2. he seems to enjoy his favored status with his brother. Can’t you see him prancing around in his long robe with sleeves?
3. Can’t you hear the excitement in the voice as he announces to his brothers not just his dreams, but that the dreams mean his brothers will bow down to him, indeed, perhaps all the world will bow down to him.
Move 3: Seize moments of grace
a. the plan is to kill brother Joseph.
1. Get rid of the problem, literally
2. Except for Reuben.
3. Reuben cannot kill off his brother.
4. he can agree to throw Joseph in the pit, but not kill him.
5. I’m not sure how that might work, since if Joseph gets out of the pit, he has one more thing to tattle about his brothers to Jacob, but the brothers relent.
6. Instead of killing Joseph, they sell him to some Ishmaelites passing through the area. (by the way, If the twenty pieces of silver were shekels than the brothers received an average price for Joseph (Leviticus 27:5 notes that twenty shekels is the monetary equivalent of a male aged 5-20 years when paying off a vow).
b. This moment of grace changes the story in the moment and the trajectory of the overall story of God’s people.
1. We know that this moment of grace will allow Joseph to live.
2. In doing so, it will allow God’s people to live later in the story.
3. Reuben shows literally saving grace.
c. Look for those moments of grace.
1. in your complicated family relationships, look for those moments of grace.
2. maybe unintended, but still moments of grace that allow you to move to the next place.
3. Maybe surprising moments of grace - who would have expected such grace from that brother, or that sister, or that parent.
4. Look to be the moment of grace for others.
5. What can you do to breathe new life into broken relationships?
6. Seize the grace-filled moment and let it reshape the relationship.
Conclusion: Who do you want to be in the story?
Better yet, who do you want to be in your family relationships?
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