The Smother’s brothers made the line, “Mom always liked you best,” the go-to line in their stand up routine. The recent Time magazine cover sought to answer the question, “Why mom liked you best." Sibling rivalry is as old as time. As Jeffrey Kluger noted, “If there are eleven worms and twelve chicks in the nest, somebody is going hungry.” So siblings fight for both physical and emotional survival. But what if there is only one worm and twelve siblings, who is going to get it? That favorite, and while this is often the eldest, the youngest one in the nest is often gifted when it comes to crafting a strategy that doesn’t rely on size or strength, but on charm and wit.
Throw into that mix twelve brothers with the same father but different mothers, and you’ve got a cocktail of envy and strife of biblical proportions. And that is what you have in the story of Joseph and his eleven older brothers. (Read Genesis 37, 39-46) In Joseph’s case, it was his dad, Jacob, who liked him best and treated him special, so Joseph thought of himself as special. I’m sure his older brothers beat him up, because that’s what older brothers have always done, but it was Joseph who got the special coat with the full sleeves. For shepherds, that was a BIG deal. Your coat was also your sleeping bag, so on the chilly nights out with the sheep, Joseph slept warm and snug.
Then he had some dreams, and in those days, dreams were viewed as omens of the future. Joseph’s dreams indicated his superiority. The first dream had his sheave of wheat standing up, and his brother’s sheaves formed a circle and bowed down to Joseph’s. The second dream had the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing down to Joseph. These are the kind of dreams it’s best to keep to yourself. But Joseph got back at his brothers by sharing his dreams and probably told them in a mocking and superior tone. Oh, things were not good and getting worse.
Things came to a head when having had enough of Joseph, his brothers decided to kill him. At the last minute, Joseph’s brother Reuben convinced his co-conspirators that it was a better idea to sell Joseph to the slave traders than it was to kill him. At least that way they got something out of the deal, and that’s what they did.
The story continues to unfold in Egypt, and it turns out that God in fact used the jealousy and stupidity to do something good. But be that as it may, how does one deal with the resentment, pain, and hurt of your own brothers trying to kill you, and then settling on selling you into slavery? I don’t care how rotten a little brother Joseph was, he didn’t deserve that.
That’s the issue we’re going to try and tackle this next Sunday. The natural thing for someone in Joseph’s position is to get even, and when the opportunity presented itself to do just that, he was sorely tempted. I’m personally fascinated with the juxtaposition being sold into slavery by your own brothers, and the miracles God wrought in Joseph’s life. How do we reconcile things like that in our lives? What if someone does something horrible to us and there does not appear to be any miracle?
Forgiveness is never ever easy. The gut wrenching wail Joseph uttered in the process of struggling to that place of forgiveness that set both him and his brothers free, came from the very core of his soul and summed up everything I know about forgiveness. We keep looking for the softer easier way, but there isn’t one.
Now for what’s on my desk…
There are moments of sheer joy that surprise all of us from time to time. One of those moments came along for me last Sunday during our 5 p.m. celebration of Don’t Go To Church—Be the Church. I looked out at the joyous faces and watched the video that told our day’s story, and I thanked and continue to thank God for every one of you who participated. Words cannot express my joy and my gratitude for the honor of serving as your pastor.
A note from our Youth Group~It's time, it's time! It's time to pre-order your Christmas Wreaths! 10/16, 10/23 and 10/30, St Andrew Youth Group will be in the fellowship hall to take wreath orders (and the money). The Christmas Wreaths will arrive the week of Nov 28th. You will be able to pick them up in the Fellowship Hall on Dec. 5th! The money raised will go towards Caravan 2012. Thank-you for supporting our youth!
Now you know what I know.
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