Sermon Tewin 2nd Sep 07
Theme: Brotherly Hate
Readings:
First: Joseph and his coat. Genesis 37: 1-11
Second: .Joseph reveals himself. Genesis 45:1-14
(The sermon was slightly ad lib from notes so this is an approximation of what I said)
The great final Genesis Saga
One of the great musical stage shows of the modern era is “Joseph and his amazing Technicolor dreamcoat”. It has made popular and accessible one of the great biblical sagas.
The Joseph story is the great final saga in Genesis stories and paves the way for the Exodus story.
It is in fact the longest and most detailed story in Genesis with each scene making a dramatic unity. In a time of peace and cultural exchange a young Hebrew man, the great grandson of Abraham, is raised up and given authority in the courts of Egypt.
But he only gets there because of brotherly jealousy..
Let’s recap the story..
We had the beginning and end of the story in our two readings but let me just remind you of the main events..
This family saga begins with history repeating. ..
As we heard a few weeks ago, Isaac had favoured Esau and Rebekah had favoured Jacob, fuelling an already existing rivalry between the twins. Jacob married two daughters of Laban: Leah and the younger Rachel plus two of their servants Bilhah and Zilpah from whom he had in total 12 sons (no mention of any daughters). Rachael was his favourite and her sons Joseph and Benjamin were conceived late in life and so were his favourites too among his many children.
Jacob shows his favouritism to Joseph by giving him a multicoloured robe. His brothers are furious. Things get worse when Joseph has some dreams in which he sees his family bowing down to him
and boasts about it. Perhaps he should have kept such things to himself but the naive and spoilt boy just can’t keep quiet. Maybe this makes Joseph a bit of a spoilt brat, but he is cast in the story as the innocent victim of his brother’s jealousy.
It is after this that his brothers first plot to kill him. To their credit they can’t quite bring themselves to do that but instead sell him to some passing Midianite traders, telling Jacob that he died after being attacked by a wild beast.Joseph winds up in Egypt as a slave and is bought by Potiphar, one of Pharoahs officials. His wife takes a fancy to him. Joseph resists her attentions but she then accuses Joseph of molesting her instead. The angry and jealous master then puts Joseph in jail.
A victim of jealousy a second time.
While in prison things start to turn in Joseph’s favour as he shows a talent for interpreting dreams and interprets dreams for two fellow inmates that then come true. Finally Joseph interprets two dreams of Pharoah that predicts 7 good harvest years followed by 7 years of famine. Pharoah is impressed and raises Joseph to a position of power. The second of the seven years of famine arrive and the original dream of Joseph about his family bowing down to him then comes true as his brothers unknowingly bow before him when they come to Egypt for supplies. Joseph can’t help himself in trying to get a bit of sweet revenge. ..
He plays a trick on his brothers as he hides a cup in Benjamin’s sack and accuses the boy of theft.
But the older brothers have changed and they cannot bear the thought of having to report bad news about Benjamin to their already mourning old father. There is a touching scene as the brothers beg for Benjamin. Joseph can no loner control his feelings and he reveals himself and they all make up. He tells them it was God’s providence at work all the time. All is well , Joseph was able to be in the right place to help his family and all their many neighbours.
Analysis..
1) Family gone wrong
On one level this is a story of family problems but with a happy outcome. In this respect the story also as a story of many families. It is the story of foolishness in favouring one child over another, and hurt and jealous feelings of the others. Of course rivalry can occur even when there is no parental favouritism. But even so forms of rivalry and breakdown may persist for many years. Human social interactions even in small family units are fraught with problems . Violent anger, depression or feelings of inferiority are some of the longer term consiquencies of when things go wrong in family life. It is a sad fact of life that the environment of the family, in which we ought to feel secure nurture and love often goes wrong. We may be the most intelligent creatures on the planet but often we don’t behave like it. Too much of our wild animal nature is still present in us with all its selfishness and self centred behaviour.
At another level the story is also sign for the tribal rivalry and later history – later rivalry between the tribes of Israel. Rivalries between the tribes led to national problems and weakness in the face of far stronger neighbours who dominated and oppressed them. There was weakness at the heart of the nation because of injustices and tribal divisions.
In this respect it is also the story of other tribal rivalries and divisions, between people of different cultures and nations throughout history. A few generations after Joseph the Egyptians got jealous and worried about the growing ethnic minorities in their midst. A new royal family and ruling elite make the settled tribes of Israel and others their slaves. Thus begins the great story first of their suffering as slaves that becomes a prelude to their release into the Promised land.
2) Salvation
But if the story is about the problem of a dysfunctional family and tribal conflicts it is also about the Salvation of that rivalry and of relationships put right. The brothers were deeply affected by their father’s great grief and mourning when they told him Joseph had died. They could not bear to take back further bad news about Benjamin being arrested in Egypt. So a dysfunctional family is put back together and the bad things that happen are actually used by God to save not just this family but many others in the middle-east. It is Joseph put there near Pharoah’s court that warns of the famine and thus saves the nation to allow them to be prepared. God has provided his prophet for the nation. He saves thousands from starvation and the unpredictable effects of climate and natural disaster.
In fact the whole story must be seen in a wider context of the whole of the bible. It is a prelude to God’s saving acts to bring a people into covenant so they can learn to be different. He calls them to be united, with allegiance to Him and His Covenant, living under his revealed laws for living, for instruction so they will be the light to the nations and lead others to Him and to healing. When it all goes wrong God provides the further way through Jesus, a descendant of Judah, one of Joseph’s brothers. People are brought into a new and boundary-crossing relationships, again so that we can overcome the worst of what we are and help others to grow up in Jesus ‘new type of humanity.
And it may be that there comes a point that someone in a family decides that enough is enough and the family feud must end before further damage is done. The rivalry has to stop. Someone makes a move to break with the past and stop repeating past mistakes. It may only take one person in the family to see the damage that has been done and is ruining relationships and attempt the reconciliation. It may not happen over night but it is possible. The story of Joseph takes more than 9 years to reach its climax in the Egyptian court. No quick fixes but it can be worked out
Likewise in cultural, religious and ethnic conflicts that may have gone on a long time and caused much suffering and death. Seeing the continuing effects on their children, the hurt that is going on, some say “this is madness. It needs to stop”. It is possible to reconcile communities. We have the example of our own province of N.Ireland and particular communities like the Corrymeela community that tried to meet together across the political and religious divide long before peace agreements were finalised and paramilitaries started handing in arms.
Last Christmas St Mary’s church supported a very special charity in Israel. A community called “Oasis of Peace”. There is a school in mixed community of Israeli Jews, Palestinian Muslims and Christians, learning together, growing up together. It can happen. It is from such small examples of living protest against rivalry that peace has a chance.
Conclusion
The story of Joseph is thus a story of family and cultural struggles. It is a story of bitterness and then the salvation from that rivalry in the providence and covenant of God. What now seems ugly and irrecoverable hatred is not the last word, nor will it ever be. In a famous speech by Martin Luther King “I have a dream” he talked about black boys and girls playing together with white boys and girls in the southern states of the USA.
So let’s dream a little about what things can be like. When we see horrible news on the TV or in news papers, pray about what the dream will be like for things to be made right again.
Prayer...
(This is a meditation based on Martin Luther King’s famous speech)
I have a dream that one day all families will grow up with wholesome relationships where each is equally valued and there are no distortions of their psychology that they carry around in their lives, and where people can overcome their past and their mistakes.
I have a dream that one day all nations will rise up and live out the true meaning of this creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all people are created equal."
Lord, help us to dream the dream
I have a dream that one day in Jerusalem and in all that land the children of Israeli settlers and the children of Palestinians will be able to sit down together at a table, and meet and dance and have fun together.
I have a dream that the sons and daughters of people from all round the world shall grow up and live in mixed communities all over Britain and Europe and none shall question their origins and rights to be here.
Lord, help us to dream the dream.
I have a dream that all our children and their children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream that Shia, Sunni and Kurdish children shall play together in the schoolyards and streets of Iraq
Lord, help us to dream the dream
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together
Lord, help us to dream the dream and take our part in it.
A-men