THE SUM OF OUR FEARS
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; Genesis 45:1-15
Josephís father was Jacob and you might remember that Jacob tricked his father Isaac into giving him the birthright that was really due to his brother, Esau. So there already is a family history of deception present. After Jacob stole the birthright from his brother, he had to run away for fear of his life. Jacob ended up working for a man named Laban and fell in love with Labanís daughter Rachel. Laban tricked Jacob into marrying his other daughter, Leah. Jacob had to work for Laban seven more years before he could marry Rachel.
So here is Jacob with two wives, which was very common in those days. Jacob has twelve sons and the favorite is Joseph, the first-born son of his beloved wife, Rachel. And Jacob makes no secret of the fact that Joseph is his favorite son. The ten older brothers of course are jealous of Joseph. Joseph does not have to work very hard and has wonderful dreams (real dreams) about how great he is and is more than willing to interpret his dreams in the presence of his brothers. So when Joseph shows up one day wearing this beautiful coat of many colors that was a gift from his father and boasting about how wonderful he is, the brothers just snapped. Their patience was gone. Not surprisingly, the brothers were feeling worthless and angry.
They conspire to kill Joseph but one of the brothers thinks that would be too cruel. So instead they sell him to be a slave and just tell their father that Joseph has been killed. Joseph ends up in Egypt and eventually in prison. There he meets two of the servants of Pharaoh and interprets their dreams regarding their future, and Josephís interpretations are correct. One of the servants returns to work for Pharaoh and when Pharaoh needs his dreams interpreted, this servant remembers Joseph. Joseph correctly interprets Pharaohís dreams about the seven years of good harvest and then the seven years of famine. Eventually Joseph attains an important position in the court of Pharaoh.
Here we are at the climax of the story. The brothers of Joseph have traveled to Egypt to find food for their families during this time of famine. Joseph had the power to send them back to their homeland, or send them to jail, or even send them to their death. At this point, Joseph doesn't really even think twice about what to do. Joseph chooses to follow God. God's grace has been with Joseph. God's grace will be with Joseph's brothers. God's purpose is at stake here. God is the point of grace, and Joseph is just God's servant.
Joseph offers forgiveness that is astounding and overwhelming. Even he is overwhelmed. Joseph weeps so loudly that the Egyptians outside the room and all the way to Pharaoh's house can hear him. Can you image how stunned and distressed the brothers were when they heard the words, "I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.î Right away, Joseph tells them not to be distressed or worried or even guilt-ridden, for he is offering forgiveness. But you have to wonder just what was going through their minds.
In this moment of Joseph reassuring his brothers and offering his forgiveness, I think he realizes and sees God's hand at work in his life. Joseph must have been thinking that God had sent him to Egypt so that, years later, he would be able to help fulfill God's plans for the Israelites whose survival would be threatened by the famine. Joseph explains to his brothers why things had to happen the way they did and immediately sends them back to get his father and to come back with their families and all their possessions, and make Egypt their new home so that Joseph can take care of all of them in the hard days of famine that still lie ahead.
Joseph's compassion and joy seem to know no bounds. As much as we appreciate Joseph's deep and positive faith, and as much as we see the purpose of the long Joseph story as explaining how the Israelites went to Egypt, we might want to linger a bit on his theological reflection on God's will.
Walter Brueggemann, in his commentary on Genesis, has these words to describe Joseph, "Joseph, man of faith, takes a second hard look at his life. He is willing to host the hidden, inscrutable, unresolved purpose of God for his life that is beyond his control...he is willing to trust a purpose for his life that is larger than his own horizon."
Brueggemann writes of the "hiddenness" of God at work in our lives, the "something hidden, inscrutable, playful, and unresolved about our human lives that warns us not to be too sure...that our life is an arena in which the purposes of God may be at work among us in ways we do not even recognize."
Part of my faith belief as a Calvinist, is that life is not without meaning or purpose, but it's not always easy to understand what is really happening around us, or why. One of my favorite memories as a teenager is recalling a story told by one of the speakers at a youth conference in San Antonio, Texas. He recalled how a women told him, that she would drive round and round the parking lot praying that God would open up a parking spot for her near the entrance to the store. His response, ìGod is not your personal valet.î
It would be easy to say that God is some kind of divine wizard that made the brothers do something evil in order that something good would happen later on. But Joseph does reminds his brothers that they sold him into slavery, to forget that painful and cruel act and just attribute it to Godís will is to diminish our human freedom and responsibility for our actions.
Brueggemann speaks not only of that ìhiddennessî of God at work but also of God's ability to act, in ways that are mysterious, wondrous, and good. Joseph "does a complete reversal from his deep resentment to an act of generosity, because he knows God has been at work well beyond him." Brueggemann imagines Joseph saying, "I became aware that my life was more than the sum of my little fears, my little hates, and my little loves. My life is larger than I imagined, and I decided to embrace the largeness that is God's gift for my life."
So at the point in the story when Joseph cries out and weeps loudly does he no longer feel anger at his brothers, but only joy at being able to provide for his family? Does he feel gratitude and awe for God's hand at work in his life? Does Joseph's collapse in the front of his brothers reveal his awareness of God's role in his life or does it just reveal his humanity? Has Joseph learned to interpret more than dreams? Is his dream now to be reunited with his family, and to use his power for good? Could Joseph see God's fingerprints all over the place?
Barbara Brown Taylor, one of my favorite preachers, says, ìGod isn't a puppeteer, making things happen. God is more like an artist, like one of those genius sculptors who can make art out of anything." For this kind of artist, "Nothing is too bent to be used--not even tragedies, not even bad decisions, not even plain human meanness." Joseph, she says, is "a living work of art." And the beauty of this living work of art lies in his exuberant forgiveness of brothers who resented him and showed him no mercy when they shoved him into the pit and told his father he was dead. When they had power, they ignored his pleas for mercy but now Joseph is in power, and he freely chooses reconciliation. When Joseph looks at his life, however, he doesn't see himself as a victim, Taylor also says: "When he looked at his life, he did not see a series of senseless tragedies. He saw a lighted path."
I feel the significance of Joseph act is one of extravagant, freely given forgiveness that seems to give Joseph as much joy as it gives his brothers relief. And often this is what forgiveness does, gives as much joy as relief. Brueggemann writes, ìWhen we live according to our fears and our hates, our lives become small and defensive, lacking the deep, joyous generosity of God. Life with God, is much, much larger, shattering our little categories of control, permitting us to say that God's purposes led us well beyond ourselves to give and to forgive, to create life we would not have imagined."
We, as individuals and as a community of faith are called to reflect on the ways in which God has sustained us through devastating times of human brokenness. If we see ourselves as both blessed and forgiven, we will be able to help others see themselves as forgiven and blessed.
Joseph is the example that Godís grace can transform us. In our faith journey there is truly nothing more amazing than God's grace. That unconditional love is sometimes hard to understand, because we are hardly able to offer it ourselves, even when we wish we could. Yet God's grace toward us is a faithful promise that grace if for us.
As we see in Josephís life grace is a process. Throughout our lives, we receive grace over and over again. Allowing and recognizing that Godís grace is a part of our lives allows Godís grace to take root and work in our lives. God's gift of grace is an action, which has no ending, no boundaries, no measure of fullness or completeness. The words of that familiar hymn says, "grace has brought me safe thus far, grace will lead me home."
Josephís story reminds us that God showers us with grace. At all points in life, grace can be seen in the events and happenings around us, reminding us that God is ever-present and we are recipients of God's grace, again and again. Amen.
August 17 , 2008
Mary Alice Lyman
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