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August 17,
2008 Scripture: Genesis 45:1-15 Sermon: “Plan B” You know the story of Joseph, I’m sure. You learned it one day in Sunday School. You saw Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. You know this story. Today’s scripture lesson is the climax of the old Joseph story, the part where Joseph reveals himself to his brothers (from whom he has been separated for so many years). We’ll read from chapter 45 of the book of Genesis. Turn to page 54 of the pew Bible if you like. Let’s read verses 1 through 15. Now, Joseph is going to appear rather magnanimous in this part of the story—gracious and forgiving and loving. But, you know better. You know this story. You remember the days when Joseph would parade in front of his other brothers in that fancy robe their father made for him. Joseph was the favorite. And he wasn’t afraid to let folks know it. He told his other brothers about the dreams he’d have. Remember how that dream predicted all of the older brothers would one day bow before him? Things like that. Joseph was a pompous little brat, to be honest. So, none of us were surprised when Joseph’s brothers one day decided to kill the boy. Now, killing Joseph was probably more than he deserved. And before committing the act, brother Judah suggested to instead sell him into slavery and spread the report that he’d been killed by a beast. You recall the next twist in the story. The slave traders sold Joseph to a very important man down in Egypt. And he did wonderful things there, impressing important people. That is, of course, until that man’s wife started making advances on him. All that landed him in prison. You’d think Joseph was doomed. But, all that just worked out to introduce him to the most powerful man in the world—the pharaoh of Egypt. Soon, Joseph was helping the entire nation avoid suffering through a famine. He was the second in command down there, which was quite an accomplishment given all that he’d been through. Now, the famine was causing suffering all over the place. And folks knew that there was food in Egypt. So, you remember, all the brothers who had once sold Joseph into slavery wound up trying to get something to eat. And they end up, unknowingly you remember, in front of Joseph the chief magistrate of Egypt. They don’t know it’s Joseph. It’s been years since they sold him away. And Joseph plays this ruse with them. He wants to know if these old brothers of his are still the kind of folks that would sell their own kin into slavery. So, he plants a valuable cup into the bag of young Benjamin so as to make it look like he stole the thing. You remember that? And then he had the brothers tracked down and brought back before him like a bunch of guilty thieves. Now, these guys are all quaking in their boots. And that’s where we are when we read our scripture. Listen for the word of the Lord…
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. And he
wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of
Pharaoh heard it.
Joseph 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.
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. And now do not
be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here;
for God sent me before you to preserve life.
For the famine has been in the land these two years; and
there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor
harvest. God sent me
before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive
for you many survivors.
So 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. Hurry 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.
You 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.
I 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.’
And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see
that it is my own mouth that speaks to you.
You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt,
and all that you have seen.
Hurry and bring my father down here.”
Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while
Benjamin wept upon his neck.
And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after
that his brothers talked with him. Most of you remember that Sunday right after Christmas. It was something. Those of us who were here for Sunday School were scattered about the building, doing what we do. And those of you who weren’t here yet were in your cars or having breakfast. And a few minutes before 10 o’clock somebody walked into my office, took my laptop computer, folded it up under her arm and walked out with it. Do you remember that? She didn’t even take the power cord. Just unplugged everything and high-tailed it out the front door. Something like a little laptop computer looks like an easy-to-carry and valuable thing to steal, you see. You just don’t expect somebody to take one out of a church. One of the pastors up at Graceland Baptist told me that the same thing happened to them. Right there on a Sunday morning, when everybody’s busy and the doors are all open, somebody walked in and stole a computer. Now, looking back on the whole thing, I have a different perspective than I did on that day. On that day I was pretty mad. Felt violated. And secretly I hoped that the Hindu notion of Karma was true. Karma, you know, kind of makes sure that people get what’s coming to them. You steal a laptop from a church and something dreadful will happen to you. But, we’ve got insurance, you know. And our insurance agent, Bob Bitner, he cut me a check right there in his office. And some of you pitched in with donations to cover the deductible. It wasn’t a week before I had a new computer. And you should see this thing. It’s twice the computer I used to have, and cost the same. So, I can see how the hand of the Lord was at work through the whole thing. We’ve got an elder here who isn’t quite as self-centered. On that very morning as he was about to pray at the communion table, he said that the person who stole the computer might just open it up, turn it on, and read something that would change her life forever. It was a touching moment. But, then the other elder that morning said, “I doubt it. The only thing on that computer is David’s sermons.” Sometimes it does happen, you know. The wrong choice is made. Somebody acts on an evil impulse, a selfish desire. Disaster strikes. Sometimes it happens in the midst of that and you look around and you find that, incredibly, there’s a blessing happening. Have you ever seen that? Right there in the middle of the unexpected, the unwanted—right there where you didn’t plan on being and you can see how the whole situation has actually led to new possibilities? Have you ever seen that? Now I know this girl. I say girl. I grew up with her. She lived a couple of blocks away. So, I know this woman now. And I remember that the bus would stop and pick her up on most days. And she’d come down the aisle and plop down on one of the seats next to me and my friends. Most days the bus would stop and pick her up. But, more than most other kids she’d miss school on other days. The bus would just drive by because she wasn’t there. And she’d show up again. Sometimes with bandages on her head, bruises up on her arms where you could see. And every time she showed up all banged up, she’d tell a story about playing football with her brother, or falling off the balance beam at the gym. She’d always tell a story. She quit telling those stories. And those injuries went away. That was about the same time we all saw her father carried away in handcuffs. We just stood there at the corner of the street. They stuffed him in the back of the cruiser. That’s no way to grow up, you know. And some of you are teachers. You’ve seen kids go through this kind of thing. Can’t explain it. She ended up, though. She ended up moving in with her aunt across town. Her aunt owned a little country cooking joint. Good chicken. And we’d see that girl from our neighborhood in there working all the time—hair pulled up in a bun, apron. Sometime later that girl graduated from culinary school. She’s got this fantastic restaurant. You wouldn’t believe the lasagna. It’s strange. She might’ve never discovered that gift, that love. She might’ve never found this delicious path in her life had her home life not fallen apart the way it did. Isn’t that strange? Her father wasn’t the abuser he was and she might have never put on a chef’s hat. I mean that’s the story of Joseph. Isn’t it? His brothers sell him into slavery. The commander of the palace guard has him thrown into jail. Folks are just wrecking his life, you know. At every turn. And this is the guy that just seems to land right side up every time. The slave traders took him to Egypt where he bounced his way all the way to the second in charge over the whole nation. And because all of this happened, Joseph was able to preserve the lives of the very brothers that had betrayed him. Now, none of this would have been possible had Joseph’s brothers not decided to get rid of him that day long ago. Isn’t that strange? So strange Joseph says about the whole crooked journey, “it was God acting all along”. Isn’t that what he said? He said, “it wasn’t you that sent me here, but God”. He said that to his brothers. Same brothers that had betrayed him. “It wasn’t you that sent me here, but God”. Now, some folks say that God’s in control of everything. You know? And that’s a powerful notion. God’s in control of everything. Kind of sounds like what Joseph was saying. You look back on what’s happened and you can just see God’s fingerprints all over it. Is that what Joseph said? God’s been in control the whole time? Is that what he said? Well, now, wait a minute. Is that what he said? Is that true? God’s orchestrating all things. Nothing happens beyond God’s control. I mean that’s what it sounds like. If that’s the case, was God busy getting those brothers to want to kill and eventually betray Joseph? Was God busy getting Potiphar’s wife to try to seduce Joseph? That’s what happened. Was God responsible? Kind of a hefty charge, I think. Was God in control of the famine? These are some tough questions. And I’ll tell you, I’d like to know. Wouldn’t you? I mean, was that girl’s father abusing her because God’s in control of all things? Now, we say things like this without thinking them through at times. And maybe we think we need to defend God’s omnipotence. I don’t know. But, I can’t quite come to terms with the notion God’s doing some really awful things in order for a few folks to end up in places they’d never be otherwise. You know? I’d venture to guess that you’ve got a detail or two about your own crooked journey that you’d like to ask God about, too. I mean if God’s pulling the strings somewhere up there. Is that what Joseph said? Is that what the Bible says? God’s controlling things behind the scenes? Nothing happens that God doesn’t intend? Is that what the Bible says? Sure are a lot of people saying things like that. Maybe God’s not controlling everything. Is that a safe thing to say? Can we say that? Maybe God’s not controlling everything—especially us! Maybe it is that people really do some awful things to one another. And maybe you and I really are responsible for our selfishness and our sins. And maybe there really are consequences and we are capable of wreaking havoc against God’s will. And maybe in the midst of all of that, God’s busy not giving up on us. Maybe what Joseph said was that God took some of that all-too-human wickedness and made it into a new plan for the future. Plan B. I mean, that’s probably a more powerful God anyway. Anybody can draw up a plot, come up with some characters and write a story. But, maybe only God, who created all things in the first place, maybe only God is powerful enough to take the messes we make and bless them into the possibilities we can choose. Now, you think about that. You think about that. Because not everything is going to happen according to plan, you know. Not everybody in your life is going to do the right thing all the time. And you’re not, either. You and I just don’t work that way. So, we’re going to be in the middle of some messy stuff from time to time. You think about that. God just might be so powerful as to take these broken lives of ours and bless them in ever new ways. Always a Plan B.
Rev. David James Brown Park Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
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