Week 3 THE STORY: JOSEPH

<<<slide>>> What a great story. I have heard and read the story of Joseph many times, but never quite like this. The hard part of this story is that it really is not one story. It is a bunch of little stories all bundled together. One of the things THE STORY does is to help us hone in on one story: the story of Joseph.

<<<Slide>>>Just like the last 2 weeks this is the story of a journey. Here is the map we looked at last week. The tree is for the Garden of Eden, the star for Abraham’s home in Shechem. <<<slide>>> We have to zoom in a little. See Shechem still there under the star. Joseph’s Journey <<<slide>>> took him north to Dothan, where he was sold into slavery and then south to Goshen Egypt, represented by the pyramid. You can draw a little pyramid or triangle there at the left edge of your map if you like. That is Joseph’s journey.

Before we get to Joseph’s story, however, let me tell you two other stories.

<<<slide>>> There was a certain pastor, who really was a very good pastor. People liked his preaching, the appreciated his pastoral care, the church ran pretty smoothly most of the time. One might say he was favored.

One day one of his churches had a fire. A short time later, a flood came and threatened the other church. He felt like he had been thrown into a deep, dark hole. Things went from bad to worse and he was treated badly. He was harassed, threatened and his family was threatened. Finally, he sold out and left the church completely, never intending to return.

Feeling abandoned, betrayed and afraid; He went to work to support his family. He started as an Electrolux salesman, and that didn’t work. Then he worked as a temp worker, going from job to job. Finally, he went to work as a construction worker. Even though he didn’t realize it, God was with him in all of this.

In fact not only was God with him, but God was working in his life through people he met, jobs he had, the church to which he took his kids, and his family.

Eventually he became, depressed, unemployed, and hit rock bottom.

Story number 2:

There was a girl named Jennifer. She was a bright, pretty girl, but she came from a family that didn’t have much money. Her parents were divorced, her brother was a drug addict, and she lived in a pretty rough neighborhood. The schools would have called her “at risk.”

Jennifer, however, had a dream. She wanted to become a nurse, so she worked hard, studied hard, and got good grades. She got good enough grades that she was admitted to nursing school, but neither she nor her family had the money to pay her tuition. Being determined to see her dream fulfilled, Jennifer went to work as hard as she could to save money for her tuition. Every time she got a paycheck, she put as much as she could into a box in her bedroom. That was her savings account. She was doing pretty well, getting close to being able to start school, when she went in to her room one day and discovered the box almost empty. She knew immediately that her addict brother had taken her money to buy drugs, and she was right. All that was left was a $20 bill. Jennifer was crushed. Crushed, but God was still with her. God was already working in the hearts of some other people she didn’t even know.

We’re just going to hold on to those two stories right there, and move to Joseph.

In the lower story in this week’s reading from THE STORY, Joseph was the 11^th of the 12 sons of Jacob. Neither the oldest, nor the youngest, yet it was no secret that Joseph was dad’s favorite. Jacob even gave Joseph a special colorful coat. None of the other boys had ever seen such a thing, and they certainly did not get one from their dad. Jealousy reared its ugly head.

Here is family tip #1. Don’t do that. Whether your kids are 2, or 12, or 20, even if they say they don’t keep track. You do too. You notice if you are not treated equally by someone. Joseph’s brothers were no exception. Believe me, they noticed.

To top it off Joseph had a dream in which God came to him to say, “someday all your brothers are going to bow down to you.”

Here is family tip #2. If you have d dream like that. Don’t tell your siblings. Just don’t tell them. Joseph broke the rule and guess what happens. Yah, they started looking for an opportunity to rid themselves of that little brat.

When Joseph was 17 years old his brothers looked up and saw little Joey in the distance, you can hear the conversation.

“Look whose coming.”

“And look what he’s wearing. That stupid coat.”

“Oh yah, he’s always wearing that coat.”

 “I think he sleeps in it.”

“Do you know what he needs? He needs to be taught a lesson.” So, they decided to throw him into a nearby cistern. A hole for keeping water, but there was no water in it.

Little Joey was screaming up at them. “Come on guys, this isn’t funny. Let me out of here. You just wait … (oh man, he’s not going to say it is he? Yep!) You just wait until we get home and I tell daddy.”

 Oooo that was the wrong thing to say. It so happens that a bunch of gypsies were coming by and, you guessed it, they sold Joseph to the gypsies and told their father he was killed by a wild animal.

The Gypsies sold him to a man in Egypt named Potifer. Potifer was like the head of the secret service for the Pharaoh. From then on God blessed everything Joseph did in Potifer’s house. He weeded the garden and the produce looked great. He washed the chariot and the rusty spots disappeared. He bought the groceries and they tasted better than ever. Things were going really well for Joseph and Potifer.

There was only one problem; Joseph wasn’t a bad looking guy. He was kind of buff and athletic. Well, that’s not really the problem. The problem was Mrs. Potifer. She looked at him and said, “hmmMMmm.” She tried to get him to sleep with her but he said, “No that wouldn’t be right for my master or my God.”

Mrs. Potifer was, apparently, not used to being declined. Therefore, she cooked up a scheme to accuse him of rape and have Joseph thrown in Jail. You have to understand that jail in Egypt was not like our jails today. One was lucky to survive even a short time in an Egyptian jail.

So here was Joseph. He went from “Look at me and my special coat. And don’t be surprised when you bow down to me.” To “come on guys let me out,” and being sold in slavery. He went from the head of Potifer’s house to a common criminal in the matter of a few hours. He lands in the worst jail you could possibly imagine.

Again, the Bible says, God was with him. In spite of everything that happened to him: the teasing, the attack, being sold into slavery, trumped up rape charges, and now rotting in Jail He KNEW that God was working. And he was. God was working mightily in Joseph’s life. Joseph could see that. He had almost an upper story view of his life saying to his brothers, “What you intended for bad, God intended for good.”

He was right. No matter what happened to Joseph God’s upper story vision could not be thwarted. Remember the vision? The vision was that this nation he was raising would be a people who would walk with him. That almost came to an end when a great famine came across the land. There was no rain and no food for anyone. That could have very easily been the end of these 12 brothers who were the whole the nation of Israel.

Except. Except for the fact that God was working for good. Now I don’t believe God made Jacob stupid so that he would give Joseph the coat, so that his brothers would get jealous over his dreams, so that they would throw him in the cistern, so that they could sell Joseph to the Midianite traders, so that Joseph would end up on Egypt. I don’t think God made Potifer’s wife lust over him and trap him into a false rape conviction and land him in jail. That is not what I am saying. What I am saying, is that in those bad things and in the good things that happened, God was always with Joseph looking for an opportunity to save his nation. Just like God did not cause the fire and flood for that pastor. God did not cause Jenifer’s brother to steal her tuition money. God did not cause Joseph’s troubles. But God was not too proud to use Joseph’s troubles to suit his purposes when the opportunity presented itself.

The opportunity came when Joseph interpreted a dream for Pharaoh and got on his good side. He was named second in command in all of Egypt, which opened the door for God to save his nation. Joseph saved back wheat for 7 years so that when his brothers heard there was wheat in Egypt they came down and tried to buy some. That did two things. It gave Joseph the chance to jerk them around a little, like sending them back home to get their little brother. And it gave God the opportunity to save his people.

What Joseph’s brothers intended for bad, God intended for good.

Do you see what I am saying? I am saying that in all of this good and bad Joseph was moving toward God’s ultimate good purpose. God has a purpose and whether our lives have more good or more bad at any given moment, we are always, slowly, sometimes hesitantly, but steadily moving toward God’s ultimate good purpose.

Let me say that again. God does not send evil or bad experiences to test us, to punish us, or for his amusement. That is not the way God works. But God does have a purpose. And no matter what… In those bad experiences… just as much as in the good, we are slowly and almost irresistibly being drawn into that purpose. Call it "God’s purpose," call it, "God’s will," call it, "the kingdom of heaven." It is real and we are being shaped and drawn toward it every day. That’s what we mean when we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

What about the pastor? After hitting rock bottom, God nudged him to apply for a youth pastor’s job, then to try the local church again. Because God has a purpose for ME… because God never abandoned ME and continued to work in MY life … I stand before you today. What some people intended for bad, God used for good.

What about Jennifer? She took that last $20 and put it in an envelope. She wrote her story on a piece of paper and included it in the envelope. She put it in the offering plate the next Sunday. The pastor read it, but couldn’t figure who wrote it.

The next Sunday he told of Jennifer’s story in the first service, just as a testimony to faithful generosity. After the service, two couples came up and wanted to know who Jennifer was so they could pay for her schooling. The pastor didn’t know, so in the second service he told the same story but added, if Jennifer is here today, please come see me after the service.

After the service, Jennifer came down front timidly and the pastor introduced her to her new benefactors. She couldn’t do anything but weep in joy.

Jennifer was the first person in her family to go to college and get a degree. Today Jennifer is married with 2 children. She is an oncology nurse in a major medical center and is known for her compassion and her faith.

What her brother intended for bad, God intended for good.

What about you? Look at the story of your life. Do you see God working? Even if you don’t he is there. No matter what has happened to you. No matter what trials you may face. No matter what blessings you may receive. No matter what difficulties you might encounter, or what good things might happen to you. God has a purpose for you. God has a vision for your life. God has a vision for this world.

It is our job to not just pray, but live, thy kingdom come thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.

AMEN