Saturday, August 16, 2014

Joseph - Grace Abounding.

I am not sure what kind of stories you like reading or hearing.  I like crime fiction.  The mystery of “who did it?” keeps me reading.  I have just finished a bit of a marathon of reading the novels of an author who wrote his first story in 1935 and wrote his final story in 1975 – 76 novels and novellas in all.  I read them all in chronological sequence – to get a feel for the development of the characters.

I think one of the things that I really liked about this series of stories was the author’s acute insight into human behaviour in extreme circumstances.  He painted very realistic or plausible sketches of what people would do given certain circumstances.

I think this kind of thing is what has made the Joseph stories favourite reading among both Jews and Christians.  In this story we have greed, jealousy and sibling rivalry, sex, politics and palace intrigue.  It is not hard for any one of us to relate to the humanity in this story – even though it is describing events that happened 3500 to 4000 years ago.

We began this story last week as we looked at Joseph being sold off as a slave and taken to Egypt.  To get to today’s story we have skipped over stories of things that happened back in home in Palestine as well as in Egypt. 

Two stories involved scandals – the story of Judah and his daughter-in-law; and the story of Joseph and the wife of his owner Potiphar.  While Joseph preserves his character in the incident with Potiphar’s wife it certainly seems to have been a set-back for him because he is consigned to gaol for a couple of years.

But things happen while he is in gaol and he is eventually recognised as someone who could help the Pharaoh who was troubled by dreams that none of his other advisers could interpret.

Of course we know what happened then.  The Pharaoh was so impressed by both Joseph’s ability to make sense of the dream and the reports from others of his genius at getting things done successfully.  So he was promoted.  He became the Pharaoh’s right-hand man – the effective ruler of all Egypt.

The famine he predicted came along after the seven years of bountiful harvests, and it spread right across the eastern coastlands of the Mediterranean – up into Palestine.  So it wasn’t long before the sons of Jacob came to Egypt to see if they could buy some of the grain that was in abundance in Egypt.

Of course they did not recognise Joseph, even when he started playing little games with them, getting them to bring his little brother with them when they came next time, and then planting his chalice among the goods they were taking back home.

So we arrive at the story we had read to us today.  I must admit I always get caught up in the emotion of it when I hear it – 
·        Joseph’s emotion at finally revealing himself to his brothers; and
·        His brothers’ emotions at realising who they have been dealing with all this time.

I wonder if Joseph ever contemplated getting them back for what they did to him.  He might have been tempted, but it seems that the over-riding goal he had was to see his father again, and after revealing himself to them he makes plans for the whole family to have a safe and accessible place to live near him in Egypt.

It seems to me that there are two amazing ideas embedded in this story that reveal something wonderful for us all to live by.

The first relates to the bad stuff that happens in life.  I don’t know about you, but over the years I have come across a few people – not many really – who have had really terrible things happen to them and their reaction to those circumstances, as far as their faith was concerned was that they rejected faith and God.  If God countenanced those terrible things happening to them, they figured what was the point of God?

This could have happened to Joseph after what happened to him.  He might have even regarded his eventual elevation as the result of his own genius or his just desserts after putting up with all the crap that went before it.

But the Joseph story leads us to a different conclusion. We discover that in spite of the most awful tragedies in which God seems to be utterly absent, God’s grace and care can travel with us through those circumstances in ways in which we ultimately find something good has been made out of it.

The Joseph story is a bit like a parable of what the grace of God can do in human life – the grace that can transform a curse into a blessing.

But the Joseph story is also a parable of God, of what God is like.  Joseph’s actions towards his family after the things they had done to him are a faint echo of the One who has every reason to reject a wayward human family, but who instead loves them even to the point of personally participating in their suffering.


Now that has to be good news.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

The Price of Conflict

Today we begin a series of stories centred on the 11th son of Jacob, Joseph.

Those of us who grew up in church and had Sunday school stories will have fond memories of this story.  Joseph was often portrayed as a young boy – lending itself to being told to children.  Well, he was young – just 17 years old – but he was a young man, not a child.

In the text between the story we had last week, and this one there are three basic stories followed by brief accounts of the death of Jacob and Rachel and then some genealogies.

The story of Jacob’s reunion with Esau in Genesis 33 is a lovely story of reconciliation.  If you haven’t read it, please do when you get home. 

Then there is a scandalous story about the rape of one of Jacob’s daughters and the blood-thirsty revenge that his son’s Simeon and Levi imposed on the family and tribe of the perpetrator.  There is a terrible consequence for Simeon and Levi for this violence.  When their father’s last words are recorded Genesis 49 he has no good words to say to them.  Their violence was scandalous and had long-term consequences.

The third story explains how it was that Jacob came to take his family back to Bethel – the place where he had met God on his way up to Haran and where he had built an altar making it a holy place.

The Genealogy in chapter 36 gives us an explanation of the origins of many of the different tribes who live in the lands around the Israelites.  And this leads into our story today.

When Jacob returned to the land of the Canaanites he had 11 sons.  And only one of these, the youngest, was born to him by Rachel, his most beloved wife.  This sets the scene for what is to follow – which is a story that recalls a previous theme: Favourites.

We reflected on the problem of the favouritism of Isaac over Ishmael some weeks ago, and then the favouritism of Jacob over Esau.  Both these stories showed us the problems that can be created when one child is preferred over the other.

So, again today, we have one child who is preferred over the others – and all of them with precedence in the natural order of things.  And the outcome is not pretty.

It is aided and abetted by a rather obnoxious child – who seems intent on proving to everyone else in the family that he was headed for something better.

It seems to us quite understandable that the older siblings would be seething with anger and jealousy as a result of Joseph’s behaviour.

But doesn’t this emotion lead them to do, or consider doing some terrible things – murder for their brother and lies & deception of their father.  These are the rottenest things a person can do.

We see a glimpse of character in the person of Reuben, the eldest son, when he seeks to deflect his brothers from the intention to murder Joseph.

In the end they sell Joseph off to some travellers and they think that is the end of the story of Joseph as far as they are concerned.  But that was not to be – as we will see.

But what has this got for us as God’s people today – far away in time and place from that ancient place in Palestine? 

Let me describe what it puts me in mind of.

It makes me think of quite a number of circumstances I am aware of as happening in churches where factions of support or opposition for one person or another in leadership in the church have cause good people to do things that are completely out of character for them as followers of the Way of Jesus.

Rivalry or preference of one over others in the community so often leads to bad things happening and in my experience of it no-one wins.  The one who is being preferred or opposed doesn’t win, and the community doesn’t win.

The rivalry of leaders leads to polarisation in the community and everyone is destroyed by it.  It leads people who are good people to do things they wouldn’t normally do.  They tell tales, they bully people, they collude with others to hurt another.

I have listened to a few stories about the life of Holy Cross over its 40 or more years and I suspect you have been through times like this.  I also suspect that every parish falls into this trap at some time or another.

I would like this story today to be a warning to us all – a story never to forget – about the dangers of letting such conflict arise among us.  One of the most important parts of the Gospel as both Jesus and Paul taught the early Christians was that no matter what we might have used to differentiate ourselves from others in the past – our birth place, our gender, our theological preferences, our religious piety – as men and women called into the community of the Beloved Son, these differences are meaningless now.  Remember these words of Paul to the Galatians:

26 It is through faith that all of you are God's children in union with Christ Jesus.  27 You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ himself.  28 So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free people, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus.  29 If you belong to Christ, then you are the descendants of Abraham and will receive what God has promised.


We must always be on our guard to preserve this unity into which we have been called.  You might think that we are doing alright just now.  There is no hint of conflict or rivalry.  That makes this a good time to remind us all of how important it is for us to avoid it at all costs.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

The Blessing and the Name

When I first discussed the Baptism Service with the family, I said I was not sure if the Old Testament Reading for the day would be suitable for my sermon, even though I had challenged myself to preach on these readings for the rest of the year.

But when I looked at the story this week, I thought there might be some possibilities in it.  Let’s see how we go.

Let me fill you in on a bit of the story – especially the part between what we looked at last week and what we heard here today.

After Jacob had worked off his 14 years of indenture to his Uncle in return to his two daughters as wives, Jacob thought it was probably time to go home.

There has been a common theme of cheating in these stories.  Jacob cheated his father and brother.  Jacob’s uncle Laban cheated Jacob into working for 14 years instead of 7.  But now it was time for Jacob to return to his family.

His Uncle offers him a deal, saying he should have some pay because Laban had prospered while Jacob was there.   Jacob suggests that he simply be allowed to take the blemished sheep and goats.  Laban agrees, but then secretly removes them all and sends them three day’s journey away.  But somehow more and more blemished sheep and goats are bred.  Eventually Jacob leaves with so many sheep and goats that Laban’s sons felt like they were losing all their inheritance.

In this context, as Jacob starts heading home, he begins to realise that he will soon meet his brother Esau.  He wondered if Esau would be willing to forgive him after all this time.  He was rather afraid that Esau would still remember and want revenge.

So he sent advance parties taking peace offerings to his brother.  He sent so many that eventually all that was left was his immediate family and a few belongings.  This is when the story we just read happened. 

Finally he sends his family across the river but he stays behind and during the night a man comes and fights with him.  They fought and fought all night until at dawn the man said he had better go.  But Jacob would not let him go unless the man gave him a blessing.

So the man asks Jacob his name and then offers him the new name – Israel – which means he “struggled with God”.  In this way the man is identified as God or at least God’s close representative.  Then the mad gave Jacob a blessing and left.

Now we could make all sorts of things out of this story, but the context we have today, of the baptism of Isaac gave a couple of good thoughts that will do.

When Jacob encountered this man he didn’t really know who he was but eventually he realised that he was somehow very close to God, and that in meeting him he should receive a blessing.

A little man come into their lives of this family.  In this little life they have been reminded of the miracle of birth and the wonder of each new generation.  The instinctive response they had as parents was that they wanted to seek God’s blessing because this little man had come.  So they came to us and asked about doing what we are doing here today and it is wonderful that we can join with them in this celebration.  We certainly pray that Isaac will continue to be a blessing to them.

Before the man gave his blessing to Jacob, he gave him a new name – the name that is better remembered in many ways – Israel.

Even today, but more so years ago, when a baby was brought for baptism the parents would give him a new “Christian Name” when the minister asked them to “name this child.”  That is how Baptism came to be known as Christening.  That seems to be a nice link for us today with that old old story and Jacob wrestling with God.


We pray for his blessing and we pray that he will carry his name with pride as a member of the great family of God, just as we are.

The Double-crosser is Double Crossed

Nobody hates being tricked more than someone who usually does the tricking.  I once had a friend who I thought was a bit of a shyster in his business life, and one time he told me about the time he thought he would try out running a small suburban Deli.  He got it cheap and thought it would be easy money.  Not long after he took over the business he discovered some the traps Deli owners have to deal with every day – like the bread delivery being short on what was ordered and what was charged – especially if you weren’t there when the delivery was made at 5.30am.  Similarly, the dairy delivery was often short and if you weren’t there to check it as it was delivered, there was no recourse, because anyone could have taken it.

I remember smiling to myself at the level of his indignation over this, knowing that he had done similar kinds of skimming for his own benefits in business many times.

At the heart of our story of the Great Family today is a double cross – meted out on the double-crosser.

Jacob had twice cheated his brother Esau, and here in this story his Uncle cheats on him.  I wonder if he knew the story of Jacob and wanted to teach him a lesson – I guess we will never know.  As a result Jacob stayed a long time in Haran, maybe also out of his fear that Esau would harm him if he went home.  But I wonder if there was something more to Jacob’s willingness to work that enormous period of time for his uncle.

We read four very short parables from Matthew’s Gospel today, parables illustrating what the kingdom of Heaven is like.  In one he says:  45 "The Kingdom of heaven is like this.  A man is looking for fine pearls, 46 and when he finds one that is unusually fine, he goes and sells everything he has, and buys that pearl.” 

As I look at the way Jacob stuck at the task of getting himself the wife he wanted, working for no pay for 14 years, I think you could say there was something of the Kingdom of Heaven in him.  He had found something of great value and he gave everything he had to get it.  The way I read this story the quality of the Kingdom is not the pearl.  It is the willingness of someone to give up everything to get the prize.  This is a quality Jesus is calling up in us all – to be willing to sacrifice everything we have in order to have the prize – which is true and abundant life in Jesus.

The other thing that comes out of this story for me is the overflowing grace of God in the face of people doing the wrong things – over and over and over.

Despite the acts of treachery that are at the heart of these stories, God is able to make good out of them.  It is not in the nature of God to achieve his means through foul methods – that is the earthly and failed way of us sons of Adam and daughters of Eve (as CS Lewis calls us).

We see this kind of grace from God again and again in the record we have of what we call Sacred History.  God tries to reveal his plan to people.  Sometimes they are good at getting it.  Other times the go their own way.  God then by God’s grace he can still work out his plan despite that.

Now I want to finish on a little note that really is drawn from what follows in the story – that we did not read here today.  I want to draw your attention to God’s compassion in the story of Jacob and his two wives.

The business of favourites comes up again in this story.  31 “When the LORD saw that Leah was loved less than Rachel, he made it possible for Leah to have children, but Rachel remained childless.”

It does not say “Because Jacob loved his wife Leah less than he should have, he prevent Jacob’s favourite wife from having children.”  This is not about punishing bad choices.  It is about graciously and compassionately looking after those who are being treated badly.

These are good things for us to be reminded of:

1.     We need to be willing to give up all we have to possess the fullness of live Jesus is offering us.
2.     God’s grace can still achieve his purposes despite the wilfulness of people, or even just the thick-headedness of people (they don’t get what God is trying to get us to get)

3.     God’s compassion is always offered to those who are being hurt by others.