The Joseph could lend itself to a sermon on immigration, which I alluded to in the opening section of the sermon. We had a lot of our liturgy focused on World Communion Sunday, so that was the explicit background to the sermon. Not sure I connected the sermon and World Communion Sunday themes as well I as could have.
“Power” Genesis 42: 6-28 Genesis 45: 1-15; SAPC; Denton; October 2, 2022; World Communion Sunday; Richard B. Culp
45:1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, ‘Send everyone away from me.’ So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come closer to me.’ And they came closer. He said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest. 7God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, “Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. 10You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.” 12And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. 13You must tell my father how greatly I am honoured in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.’ 14Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.
Introduction: As we gather around our Lord’s Table on World World communion Sunday can claim our connectedness to others around the world, consider Joseph’s situation.
He was a foreigner in a strange land.
not there by choice, but forcibly migrated there as he was sold into slavery and taken to Egypt from his homeland.
He becomes a powerful leader as a stranger in a foreign land.
he uses his power to save God’s people from their country and invites them to migrate to Egypt.
And as a foreigner, he saves the people of Egypt, the land to which he migrated.
A complicated, interconnected world we discover in Joseph’s story, which perhaps speaks to us in the complicated, interconnected world in which we live.
A couple of reflections this morning.
Move 1: Joseph has risen to power in Egypt.
a. Remarkable, isn’t it?
1. Joseph is given access to power.
2. Joseph, a stranger in Egypt.
3. Jospeh, who spent time in prison.
4. Joseph, a foreigner, is chosen by Pharaoh to be in charge of Egypt’s affairs.
b. Joseph had little going for him, except….
1. Except he had God-given gifts for organization and interpreting dreams that we used.
2. Except, he kept the faith in the midst of his struggles.
3. Except, kept listening and doing what he hears God calling him to do.
c. Joseph has risen to power and now he is in a position to do something.
Move 2: What does Joseph do with his power?
a. The stories we read this morning reveal that he has the power to mess with his brothers and the power to save.
1. We see the temptation to use his power to destroy those who have tried to destroy him.
2. he can accuse his brothers of being spies.
3. He can refuse to offer them help.
3. he can set a trap that makes it look like the brothers have been stealing from Pharaoh.
b. His brothers are at his mercy and Joseph has the power to destroy them or save them.
1. Joseph chooses to save.
2. to save his brothers;
save his father;
save his extended family
save the remnant of Israel.
3. God’s people continue to have a future because Joseph has used his power to save.
4. In doing so, Joseph reflects on how God chooses to use God’s power.
5. Barbara Brown Taylor, The Preaching Life: “God’s power is not a controlling power, but a redeeming power – the power to raise the dead, including those who are destroying themselves…” (10)
b. I suspect many of us are in positions of power, or if you don’t want to call it power, positions of influence.
1. I look out at the gathered congregation each week and read the names of those who sign in from the livestream, and I see people who have positions of influence at work, in school, and in their communities - wherever you go, you are given responsibility and power.
2. Joseph’s question for you today - are you using your power to redeem and save, or are you using your power for self-serving destructive purposes, or are you not using your power at all?
3. Joseph makes his choice - he uses his power to save.
Conclusion: We come to the table today and imagine the way we are connected and united in Christ around the world.
A reminder that we are called to use our power to bring God’s desire to redeem and save to all places and all people.
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