14 August 2011
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Genesis 37:1-5
1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.
2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line.
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate[a] robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.
-- now I know that we are caught in the dog days of summer and that the temperature outside is pushing 100 degrees each day -- but just for a moment, I want you to imagine yourself in the dead of winter -- I want you to imagine that you are on a mountaintop in the northeastern U.S. -- and that you walk outside at night and are greeted by the sight of snow falling -- not a blizzard, but a gently snow -- one of those snows with big fluffy flakes that you sometime see in the wintertime -- the snow falling in such a way that you can watch each individual flake as it gently falls from the sky to the ground
-- do you have that image in your mind? -- can you picture the snowflakes? -- now, even though this is all imaginary, what is one thing that you know for sure about each and every one of those snowflakes hitting the ground all around you?
-- it's simply this -- each of those snowflakes are unique -- as Wilson Bentley proved with his photographs of snowflakes taken around the turn of the 20th century, "no two snowflakes are alike" -- we all know that -- we've all heard that -- and you can go look at Bentley's photographs and see that for yourself
-- but, here's the question -- why? -- why are no two snowflakes alike? -- have you ever thought of that?
-- well, the reason each snowflake is different is because each snowflake bears the scars of its journey from the sky to the ground -- they all start out the same -- they all start out as crystals of ice within a cloud, formed by freezing temperatures
-- but each crystal experiences different factors in their short lives which affect their final shape -- the temperature of the sky as they are being formed -- the altitude of the cloud from which it fell -- the trajectory the wind took it as it to earth -- and a thousand other factors all come together to shape the snowflake into what we see when it hits the ground
-- in other words, each snowflake that we see is the result of its response to the things of life that it experienced on its way to earth
-- people are the same way -- you are who you are because of your response to the things that you have experienced so far in your life -- and the person that you are becoming -- the person that you will be at the end of your life -- is all dependent on how you respond to your future experiences in life, especially the trials and tribulations
-- when trials and tribulations come our way, there are really only two options for us -- we can either react or we can respond
-- when we react to something, we are allowing the external event that we are experiencing to dictate what we do -- we act without thinking, and we allow the experience to shape our attitudes and feelings
-- but, when we respond to something, we make a choose about what we are going to do and what we are going to think and feel about an external event -- rather than just thinking and feeling and acting automatically, we choose how we will deal with the experience
-- to put it a different way -- when something bad happens to you -- when someone hurts you -- when you suffer a tragedy in your life -- when trials and tribulations come your way -- you can react and allow the experience to shape you -- or you can respond and choose how you will allow yourself to be changed
-- really, it all comes down to this -- you can either react and become bitter or you can respond and become better
II. The Life of Joseph
-- we see this clearly played out in the life of Joseph, one of the patriarchs of the nation of Israel -- if you would, look back with me again here in Genesis 37 and let's see what we can learn about reacting versus responding -- about being bitter or being better -- through the life of Joseph
-- look back at verse 1
1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.
2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line.
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate[a] robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.
-- here we are introduced to Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob -- Jacob had 12 sons who were born to him by four different women -- so, Joseph had 10 half-brothers and one full brother, Benjamin, who was the youngest son
-- Joseph was the oldest son of Rachel, Jacob's first love -- and because of this, Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons -- he showed that Joseph was his favorite by giving Joseph things that he wouldn't give the others -- such as the richly ornamented robe or, as the King James version puts it, the coat of many colors
-- and when Joseph's brothers saw that Joseph was the favorite and that their father loved him more than them, it made them hate him -- of course, it didn't help that Joseph was a tattletale and got his brothers in trouble by giving a bad report to his father about their actions
-- and, then, when Joseph had a dream that implied that all of the brothers were going to bow down to him in the future, it made them hate him all the more -- as it says in verse 4, they couldn't even say a kind word to him -- they hated him with all of their being -- which explains what happens next
-- skip over to verse 18
18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”
-- Jacob had sent Joseph out to help his brothers in the field with the flocks, but when they looked up and saw him coming, their hatred just poured out of them -- and they came up with a plan -- they were going to kill him and then tell their father that he was killed by an animal
-- Reuben convinced them to not kill Joseph immediately but to throw him into a cistern and wait until he got back -- so they stripped Joseph of his robe and of all his money and possessions and threw him into a dry cistern and sat down to eat
-- verse 25
25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels[a] of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
-- now skip over to verse 36
36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.
-- so, while Reuben was away, the other brothers sold Joseph to the Midianites as a slave, who took him to Egypt to sell down there for a profit
-- now, I want you to get a picture in your mind of what has just happened to Joseph -- here is a boy -- 17 years old -- who has been his father's favorite -- he grew up in the lap of luxury -- Jacob was rich and Joseph enjoyed the finer things of life -- he grew up as the favored son of a rich man, with robes and rings and all kinds of wealth and possessions
-- but, now, Joseph's life has taken a drastic turn -- his brothers, who hated him with a passion and who wanted to kill him, have sold him into slavery -- in one moment, Joseph has gone from being the son of a ruler to being a slave in a caravan headed to Egypt -- his life of luxury and ease and privilege was gone in a moment, and now all he has to look forward to was a life of burden and toil and pain
-- Joseph has a choice to make at this point -- he can either react or he can respond -- he can either be bitter or he can be better
-- there's nothing else he can do -- he's powerless -- he can't change the situation -- he can't buy himself out of slavery -- he can't call on his father's good graces -- for right or wrong, from this point on, Joseph is a slave and will probably remain so for the rest of his life
-- the only thing he can control is his response to the situation
-- Joseph's situation reminds me of a story I read one time about two monks who were walking through the countryside -- They were on their way to another village to help bring in the crops -- As they walked, they spied an old woman sitting at the edge of a river -- She was upset because there was no bridge, and she could not get across on her own
-- The first monk told her, "We will carry you across if you would like." -- and she gratefully accepted their help -- So the two men joined hands, lifted her between them and carried her across the river -- When they got to the other side, they set her down, and she went on her way.
-- After they had walked about another mile, the second monk began to complain -- "Look at my clothes," he said. "They are filthy from carrying that woman across the river -- And my back still hurts from lifting her -- I can feel it getting stiff." -- The first monk just smiled and nodded his head.
-- A few more miles up the road, the second monk griped again, "My back is hurting me so badly, and it is all because we had to carry that silly woman across the river! I cannot go any farther because of the pain." -- The first monk looked down at his partner, now lying on the ground, moaning. "Have you wondered why I am not complaining?" he asked. "Your back hurts because you are still carrying the woman. But I set her down five miles ago."
-- That is what many of us are like in dealing with our problems -- with the tragedies and trials and tribulations of life -- We are like that second monk who can't let go -- We hold the pain of the past in our hearts and we become bitter and continue to carry burdens over things that we can't change [adapted from: Dr. Anthony T. Evans, Guiding Your Family in a Misguided World.]
-- the question is what should we do when life lets us down? -- when things don't go our way just as they're not going for Joseph here in this passage? -- do we react or respond? -- do we become bitter or do we choose to become better?
-- let's look at what Joseph did -- skip over to Chapter 39
1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
2 The LORD was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field
-- Joseph was made a slave against his will -- but rather than gripe and complain -- rather than allow the situation to make him bitter and affect his spirit, Joseph chose to trust in God's providence and to respond to the situation in the best way possible
-- he embraced his new role -- he excelled in his new role -- and we read in verse 2 that the Lord was with Joseph and he prospered -- he ended up living in his master's house and being put in charge of all that his master owned
-- what would have happened if Joseph had rebelled? -- what would have happened if Joseph had reacted and become bitter? -- more than likely he would have been sent to the fields to work out his days with hard labor -- but because he chose to put the past behind him and set down the burden that he was carrying, he made the best of the situation and God worked in his life to bring beauty out of the ashes -- to bring good out of the tragedy that had befallen him
-- but, Joseph's story doesn't end there -- we read in the rest of this chapter that Joseph was well-built and handsome, and he attracted the attention of Potiphar's wife -- she wanted to sleep with him -- and when he resisted her advances -- even to the point of running from her grasp leaving his cloak behind -- she ended up claiming that he tried to rape her
-- look at verse 19
19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.
-- so, things for Joseph have gone from bad to worse -- he's gone from being the son of a rich man in the Promised Land to being a slave and now he's thrown into prison for something that he didn't do
-- if anyone had the right to complain, it was Joseph -- if anyone had the right to become bitter, it was Joseph -- none of this was his fault -- he didn't cause any of this -- but he's having to suffer the consequences none-the-less
-- once again, Joseph is faced with a situation that demands a choice -- does he react with bitterness or does he respond with grace?
-- look at the second part of verse 20
20b. But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
-- once again, Joseph chooses to respond rather than react -- he chooses to put down his burden and to accept his new role, trusting that God will be with him, even in prison
-- and we see in verse 21 that the Lord was with him again -- God worked in Joseph's life and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden, and Joseph ended up being put in charge of the entire prison
-- but once again, Joseph's story doesn't end there -- while he was in prison, he interpreted the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker -- and prophesied that the cupbearer would be restored to his position serving Pharaoh -- Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him and plead his case before Pharaoh, but when the cupbearer was released from prison, he forgot
-- it wasn't until two years later, when Pharaoh had a dream that he didn't understand, that the cupbearer remembered Joseph and Pharaoh had him brought from prison to the palace to interpret the dream for him
-- when Joseph told Pharaoh what his dream meant, Pharaoh realized that Joseph was wise and discerning and that God was with him, so he put Joseph in charge of the whole land of Egypt -- giving Joseph his signet ring, dressing him in fine robes, and allowing him to ride in Pharaoh's chariot as his second-in-command
-- while Joseph's story goes on through the rest of the book of Genesis, let's end this account by looking at the naming of Joseph's two sons
-- skip over to Chapter 41, and we'll end by reading verses 50-52
50 Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. 51 Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” 52 The second son he named Ephraim and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”
-- here we see the heart of Joseph -- here we see how Joseph was able to endure so many hardships -- from being a prince in the land of Canaan to going to the pit -- from being raised from the pit to go into slavery -- from being thrown into prison and being forgotten by those he helped
-- it all comes down to faith -- Joseph named his first son Manasseh, which means "forget" in Hebrew, because he said God made him forget all his troubles and all the pains that he had suffered
-- he named his second son Ephraim, which means "twice fruitful," because God had made Joseph prosper despite his circumstances
-- Joseph was able to respond rather than react because he trusted God -- he had faith that God would be with him and help him in all situations -- especially in the tragedies and trials and tribulations that he was facing
III. Closing
-- while none of us may face the situations that Joseph faced, every single one of us face problems and burdens in our lives -- we have to deal with people who hate us and people that we don't like -- we have to deal with difficult family members -- we have to face sickness and accidents -- we get treated unfairly -- we get accused of doing things that we didn't do
-- we get cheated -- we get stepped on -- we get overlooked -- we get disrespected -- everyday brings with it new problems and new pains that we have to face
-- but, it also brings with it opportunities for growth and grace -- as the Bible says, God's mercies are new every morning, and He gives us the grace that we need to respond to whatever comes our way
-- as Joseph's experience shows us, problems often provide us with greater opportunities -- they can promote our spiritual maturity -- they can help us become more like Jesus
-- problems prove our integrity -- and they produce a sense of dependence as we are forced to rely on God and trust in Him to see us through
-- and, problems prepare our hearts for ministry -- they make us more empathetic -- who better to help another person through a pain in their life than someone who has already walked down that road and survived
-- as we close, I want to leave you with one final story -- a true story of a man who faced adversity in his life but who chose to respond rather than to react -- who put down his burdens and moved forward in faith rather than letting the past dictate his future
-- this man had a hard life from the start -- when he was seven years old, his family was forced out of their home on a legal technicality, and he had to work to help support them -- At age nine, his mother died -- At 22, he lost his job as a store clerk
-- He wanted to go to law school, but his education wasn't good enough and he couldn't get in -- At 23, he went into debt to become a partner in a small store -- At 26, his business partner died, leaving him a huge debt that took years to repay. -- At 28, after courting a girl for four years, he asked her to marry him. She said no -- At 41, his four-year-old son died
-- all along the way, he could have given up -- he could have gotten bitter -- he could have gone through life as a victim, saying, "Woe is me" -- but each time, he got up and tried again
-- in his thirties, he decided to try his hand at politics -- At 37, on his third try, he was elected to Congress, but failed to be reelected and only served one term -- At 45, he ran for the Senate and lost -- At 47, he failed as the vice-presidential candidate -- At 49, he ran for the Senate again, and lost
-- a life of tragedy -- a life of failure -- a life like Joseph's -- but each time, this man refused to quit -- and finally, when he was 51 years old, Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States, and is considered one of the greatest leaders this country ever had
-- there is a lesson that we can learn from the stories of Lincoln and Joseph
-- we are not so different from them -- just like Abraham Lincoln -- just like Joseph -- and just like the snowflakes that I told you about at the start of this message -- we can't control what happens to us -- bad things are going to happen -- we are going to suffer loss and heartache and difficulties -- and there's nothing we can do about it -- we can't change the things that we go through in life
-- “yet even the most unjust, undeserved, and pointless suffering is an opportunity for us to respond in such a way that our Lord can turn us into His own likeness.” -- “the only way to grow into [the image of Christ] is to submit each day to the conditions God brings into our lives”
-- as we choose to submit and respond rather than to react -- as we choose to live better rather than bitter, “His holiness becomes ours -- [and] gradually…God’s Spirit begins” to make us more and more like Jesus in our hearts and our minds and our souls
-- “as Ruth Bell Graham puts it, may God give us grace ‘to bear the heat of cleansing flame, not bitter at our lot, but [able] to bear our share of suffering and [be better], in Jesus’ name.’” [adapted from Our Daily Bread Devotional, 14 August]
-- let us pray
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