Joseph & the Honest Men--part 1

 

JOSEPH & THE HONEST MEN—PART 1

Once upon a time, I worked briefly as a jailor. And the one thing I learned during that job was that almost everyone in jail is innocent. No matter how much evidence, many wanted you to believe they were victims of injustice. While that certainly can happen and has happened, most folks have earned their cot.

What is it about the human condition that makes us think that way? We can easily spot the sins and shortcomings of others, but somehow we struggle with admitting our own mistakes. Honesty is valued in others, but something keeps us from seeing the truth about ourselves.

We are beginning a three-part series on what is a familiar Bible story for many of us. However, there is a detail that highlights the difficulty of honest self-examination.

Genesis 42:1-20(CEB):

1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt. He said to his sons, “Why are you staring blankly at each other? 2 I’ve just heard that there’s grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us so that we can survive and not starve to death.” 3 So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4 However, Jacob didn’t send Joseph’s brother Benjamin along with his because he thought something bad might happen to him. 5 Israel’s sons came to buy grain with others who also came since the famine had spread to the land of Canaan.

6 As for Joseph, he was the land’s governor, and he was the one selling grain to all the land’s people. When Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him, their faces to the ground. 7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he acted like he didn’t know them. He spoke to them with a harsh tone and said, “Where have you come from?”

And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”

8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him. 9 Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies. You’ve come to look for the country’s weaknesses.”

10 They said to him, “No, Master. Your servants have just come to buy food. 11 We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants aren’t spies.”

12 He said to them, “No. You’ve come to look for the country’s weaknesses.”

13 They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, but one is gone.”

14 Joseph said to them, “It’s just as I’ve said to you. You are spies! 15 But here is how to prove yourselves: As Pharaoh lives, you won’t leave here until your youngest brother arrives. 16 Send one of you to get your brother, but the rest of you will stay in prison. We will find out if your words are true. If not, as Pharaoh lives, you are certainly spies.”

17 He put them all in prison for three days. 18 On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I’m a God-fearing man. 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay in prison, and the rest of you, go, take grain back to those in your households who are hungry. 20 But bring your youngest brother back to me so that your words will prove true and you won’t die.”

So they prepared to do this.

This is the word of God

For the people of God

Thanks be to God

This story is a familiar one, but let me summarize the events leading to this moment. Joseph and his brothers are the sons of Jacob. When Joseph was a teenager, he lived as his father’s favorite and had dreams about his father and brothers bowing down to him, which Joseph shared with them. Of course, the brothers loathed the idea and Daddy’s favorite, so they tossed Joseph in a pit, leaving their brother to die. But then they had a better idea, they sold him into slavery. By the grace of God, Joseph found his way to being Pharaoh’s second in command over all of Egypt.

Now here we are in Chapter 42, with Jacob and his sons in a terrible spot. There was a famine in Canaan and everyone was trying to figure out what to do. Jacob learns that there is grain in Egypt, not knowing his son he was told was dead was overseeing its distribution. So Jacob decides to send ten of his sons, the same ten who sold off their brother, to Egypt.

Verse 4 says, “Jacob didn’t send Joseph’s brother Benjamin along with his brothers because he thought something bad might happen to him.” This is significant for two reasons. One, Jacob had two wives, who were sisters, with one named Rachel being his favorite. Joseph was Rachel’s son, and so was Benjamin. The last time Jacob trusted the other ten brothers to look after Joseph, Jacob received news that Joseph was killed by a wild beast. We know that is not true, the ten brothers know that is not true, but Jacob does not know any different. Benjamin is Jacob’s last tie to Rachel, and Jacob does not trust the other brothers.

The remainder of our passage details the brothers interacting with Joseph. Joseph recognizes them instantly. How could he forget them? They were his brothers. They traumatized him. How could he forget them? But while Joseph immediately knows who they are, the brothers do not recognize him. It had been somewhere between 15 to 20 years since they threw teenage Joseph into that pit. Their brother had grown into a man, living in Egypt, talking and dressing like an Egyptian.

Joseph has a unique opportunity. He can choose a path that heals the divide between him and his brothers, reuniting Joseph with his father, or choose to walk away because his brothers have not changed. Rather than reveal his identity, Joseph tests the character of his brothers. He accuses them of being spies, which was a real threat to Egypt. The brothers deny being spies, pointing out that spy rings usually are not composed of one family. The section ends with a deal for the brothers to leave one behind, return home, and then come back with their brother Benjamin.

What does this have to do with us? We have to pay attention to the conversation between Joseph and his brothers. Joseph accuses them of being spies, and do you notice how the brothers respond? In verses l0 and 11, the brothers respond to the allegations with, “No, Master. Your servants have come to buy food. We are sons of one man. WE ARE HONEST MEN. Your servants are not spies.” Can you believe what they said? “WE ARE HONEST MEN.”

I do not know how Joseph did not laugh in their face. He was their victim. The brothers had no clue Joseph was talking to them, in their minds they had no clue whether Joseph was dead or alive. Joseph does not know the story the brothers told their father Jacob, but we as the readers know they told Jacob that Joseph was dead. For fifteen to twenty years, they had been living with that knowledge. Every time Jacob shared memories about Joseph and lamented over his son, they knew the truth but said nothing. But here in Genesis 42, face to face with the brother they had sold off and had been lying about it for two decades, they say, “WE ARE HONEST MEN.”

Why would do that? Can you imagine the guilt and shame they felt? I believe they felt that guilt and shame at the mention of Joseph’s name. As they were being interrogated by Joseph and imprisoned by him, I believe that guilt and shame were there even as they said, “WE ARE HONEST MEN.” The why is that they believe the same lie that tempts and traps us.

What is that lie? The lie that the enemy has sold us, that we have accepted hook, line, and sinker is “I am good.” It does not matter what our actions are, lies we keep secret, or any other activity we know is wrong, like Joseph’s brothers we believe, “We are honest people.” We accept this lie because the alternative is too terrible. But not recognizing the terrible keeps us and our loved ones trapped on sin’s hamster wheel of dysfunction. The terrible truth is that we are sinners who fall short of God’s will, and no matter the good we do we can never achieve being a good person on our own.

We spend so much time trying to convince everyone that we are a good person, trying to stuff our sins in the closet or under the bed because we do not want anyone to know the guilt and shame we feel. As Joseph’s brothers believed, we think our survival depends on appearing strong, while bearing our guilt and shame. Any good we do is an attempt to lessen the weight of sin on our hearts.

But that is the beautiful thing about God’s grace. Joseph’s brothers had done this terrible thing, lived their whole lives as “honest men” carrying guilt and shame. However, while they were not good, God is good. While their act was not good, God redeemed it to save their lives. You and I are not good, but God is good. Through Jesus, we have access to God’s grace which frees us from sin, guilt, and shame.

This freedom is not found by those who have convinced themselves that they are “honest men,” but by those who accept they are not. They confess their sin, change their mind about their ways, and choose to live according to God’s will, made possible by God’s grace.

Feeling the weight of our sin is not a good feeling. Accepting this truth about ourselves can be unbearable. But the good news is Jesus carried it for us.

Where are you at today? Are you holding onto the same lie as Joseph’s brothers? Or are you ready to accept the truth? Accepting the truth leads to the weight of guilt and shame being washed away in the mercy and grace of God, bought with the blood of Jesus. Confess your sins today and leave here in the peace of Jesus.

No record

 

I have been watching football for a long time, so it is a big deal when I remember a commercial. One of my favorite commercials ever aired during the Super Bowl. It was for the NFL Network, with various coaches and players singing the song “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie. At the end of the commercial, it said, “Tomorrow we are all undefeated.”

No matter how bad that season had been, after the Super Bowl was over, every team got a fresh slate. When things get all messed up and do not go the way we plan or hope, that is what we all long for is a fresh slate. The beautiful thing about the Christian faith is that we believe through Jesus our sins are washed away and we are made a new person. God gives us a fresh slate.

The text we are looking at today has the idea of a “fresh slate.” It may seem hard to see at first, but as we look at it together we will see it.

1 Chronicles 27:23-24(CEB):

23 But David didn’t count those younger than 20 years of age, because the LORD had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky. 24 Joab, Zeruiah’s son, began to count them, but he never finished. Since Israel experienced wrath because of this, the number wasn’t entered into the official records of King David.

This is the word of God

For the people of God

Thanks be to God

There is not a lot of information in this passage to help us understand how this relates to a “fresh slate,” nor is there a lot of information explaining the events leading to this census taken by David. But to expand upon the few details, we would need to read 1 Samuel 24:1-17 and 1 Chronicles 21, with 1 Chronicles being directly tied to the writer’s thoughts here.

Let me give you a summary, combining the two passages. They both give an account of a sin committed by David in the later stages of his life and reign. He, and his fellow countrymen, would know God’s promise to their forefather Abraham, which applied to them. God’s promise was, “I will bless you richly and I will give you countless descendants, as many as the stars in the sky and as the grains of sand on the seashore.” (Genesis 22:17) David decided to take a census of the people because he lacked faith in God’s promise, though he decided to disguise it by only counting the fighting men. As the process begins, God shares His displeasure with David and at the king’s choosing punishes the entire nation with a plague. The plague only stops when David pleads for mercy and builds an altar to God.

This brings us to verse 23 of our passage, “David did not count the males twenty years old and under, for the LORD had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky.” God’s promise was “as numerous as the stars in the sky.” That is an incalculable number, with astronomers estimating anywhere from 100 billion to 400 billion in our galaxy alone. In short, God would make them a nation of more than enough, but David doubted this promise. He sent out the census to confirm that God had come through but then attempted to disguise his lack of faith by only counting the fighting men. God saw through David’s scheme and was displeased with him. And whenever a leader fails, the people feel the impact.

Verse 24 mentions Joab as the one who is taking the census. Joab is not to blame for the catastrophe. As a matter of fact, in 1 Chronicles 21:3-4 records, “Joab replied, “May the LORD increase his people a hundred times! Sir, aren’t you the king, and aren’t they all your servants? Why do you want to do this? Why bring guilt on Israel?” But the king overruled Joab.” He tries to talk David out of the census. Most likely due to the outbreak of the plague, Joab only produces a partial count.

What does this have to do with us? What does this have to do with a “fresh slate”? Notice what the end of verse 24 says, “God was angry with Israel… so the number was not recorded in the scroll called The Annals of King David.” The kings of Israel kept a log for each day, but verse 24 says the number from the census was not recorded. Was this an oversight? Or was it that David did not need or want to be reminded of his sin and the cost?

This is not the only time in the Bible that David is confronted with his sin. After his affair with Bathsheba, when David had believed he tied up all the loose ends, the prophet Nathan walked in and bravely called out the king. Though David humbly repented, God told him he would be punished. The child conceived with Bathsheba was not going to live, with that news David pleaded with God. He refused to eat or drink, clinging to the altar for the child’s life. When it reached David that the child died, David got up, wiped his face, ate, and went back to his life. His sin was found out, and judged. Rather than wallow in it with self-pity, David got up. Likewise, David got up after the census and left this failure out of the records.

You see, God had forgiven David for each of these instances of sin. When God forgives sin, He loses it in the sea of forgetfulness. Though he was forgiven by God, in order for David to get back up and keep going, David had to forgive himself. To forgive himself, David had to accept the consequences but move forward remembering his slate had been wiped clean by God.

When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus summarized the law into two, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. … You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-40) As Christians, we understand that loving God is essential to our faith, demonstrated through obedience. And likewise, as Christians, we know that to love God we must love our neighbors. But we rarely stop to think about the end of Jesus’s second command, “as you love yourself.” We cannot love our neighbors properly if we do not love ourselves, and if we cannot love our neighbors properly we cannot properly love God.

In Corinthians 13, Paul defines love for us as believers. As part of that definition, Paul writes, “Love keeps no record of wrongs.” (1 Corinthians 13:5) When we profess faith in Jesus, our sins are washed away by His blood, and out of love, God remembers them no more. When it comes to our relationships with other people, we are to forgive their failures and not hold them over their heads. God gives us a fresh slate and we are to give others a fresh slate. What about when we mess up? How long do we hold onto those failures? If love keeps no record of wrongs, if God forgives and forgets our sins, why do we keep those records?

I am not saying we do not learn from our mistakes, certainly, we do not want to return to the same sins. But we cannot do is hold on to our failures. Holding onto our record of wrongs breeds self-hatred, resentment, bitterness, and guilt. All those things are contrary to love, even when applied to ourselves. The sad thing is, our adversary does not have to torture us in this state, he simply hands us the bat.

David had the number from the census left out of his records, and perhaps the reason was so he could move forward. The lesson had been learned, albeit the hard way, but nothing was gained by wallowing in that failure. The way forward was looking forward and forgiving himself as God had forgiven him.

What about you? What mistakes have you made, either recently or in the past? Have you confessed them to God? Has He forgiven you? Have you made restitution with the people you hurt? Have they forgiven you? If the answer is yes to all or most of those questions, then why are you still holding onto what God has forgotten? He loves you and wants you to let it go. It is okay to forgive yourself.

I want to invite each of us today to examine our hearts. If there is unconfessed sin, repent and you will experience the grace of God associated with His forgiveness. It will wash away your guilt and shame. But perhaps you have done that, yet the guilt and shame are still haunting you. Then maybe today you need to give yourself a fresh slate. Ask God to help you forgive yourself as He has forgiven you.

Hot Light

 

 

     I remember in high school, our youth group participated in the teen Bible quizzing program. We would not only quiz in our district meets, but we would also travel the Midwest and participate in different invitationals. On those trips, there was one light more important than the stoplight. It was the Krispy Kreme hot light. If it was on, that meant the donuts were fresh and warm, sugary goodness that melted in your mouth.

 

     What do fresh donuts have to do with our passage today? It may not seem like much, but if you keep that hot light in mind I promise you we will get there.

 

     Proverbs 22:24-25(CEB):

 

     24 Don’t befriend people controlled by anger; don’t associate with hot-tempered people; 25 otherwise, you will learn their ways and become trapped.

 

This is the word of God

For the people of God

Thanks be to God

 

 

     This passage is from the book of Proverbs, about wisdom. While there is no one-size-fits-all model for every life situation, Proverbs offers sound practical advice for dealing with many of them.

 

     Our passage offers very practical advice on the company we keep around us. Verse 24 says, “Don’t befriend people controlled by anger.” The person who is described here is one who allows their anger to dictate their life. They are angry, so they do not care what they say or who they hurt. Hurtful words may only be a small portion of their actions and reactions flowing from their anger. When they are calm this person might be quiet like a church mouse, but get them angry and they become the Incredible Hulk. Proverbs 22 ends verse 24 with, “Don’t associate with hot-tempered people.” The advice moves from making friends with such people to not even associating with them.

 

     The writer not only gives us this advice, but in verse 25 they continue with why. Verse 25 says, “Otherwise, you will learn their ways and become trapped.” The word translated “learn” is found only here and three other times in the Book of Job. The idea behind it here is to be influenced by the person of anger to behave in the same way. That influence can lead to us being trapped. While the CEB accurately articulates the danger, it does soften it. In the Hebrew, it certainly means a snare or trap. But the trap here implies an element of death, and in this case death of the soul. Death of the soul occurs through sin.

 

     What does this have to do with us? What does this have to do with the Krispy Kreme Hot Light? Hot lights are for donuts, not for people. By hot I mean people who are full of wrath.

 

     Now, you might be thinking, “Didn’t Jesus get angry and flip over tables?” Yes. Anger is an emotion common in our human experience. But Jesus flipping the tables was not a passion-filled moment controlled by anger. His reaction was from holy passion, acted upon through His holiness, not His anger. His reaction was rooted in love to restore God’s Temple to its purpose. So anger as an emotion is not a sin, but too often our human reaction comes from our sinfulness.

 

     Our passage is warning us against surrounding ourselves with angry people who tend to let their emotions be an excuse for their sin. By associating with such people, we open ourselves up to become tools of the enemy that only sow more seeds of violence, fear, and anger.

 

     Jesus tells us in His sermon, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God.” As followers of Jesus, we are children of God. Since we are children of God, we should seek to be peacemakers. A peacemaker is not someone who sweeps sin and injustice under the rug. Instead, they confront issues with a heart of love seeking to heal and reform.

 

     This is where the company we keep matters. Angry people produce more angry people. Peacemakers produce more peacemakers. As a body of believers, there are a lot of things happening in our world that makes us angry. But rather than become an angry mob, we can choose to become those who see the divides and attempt to bridge the gap by offering Jesus who filled the gap between God and humanity’s sin. There may be moments when tables need flipping, but most situations require us to have humility, respect, gentleness, patience, and kindness. All those are the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit we demonstrate naturally when we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

 

     Paul wrote in Colossians 3:12-14, “Therefore, as God’s choice, holy and loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience… And over all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” And that is our challenge as we leave today. Can we clothe ourselves in the power of the Holy Spirit?

 

     Rather than become lost in the shouts of the angry mobs, these verses in Proverbs 22 challenge us to be different. Can we leave the hot light to be a call for donuts? God is calling us through His Holy Spirit to offer peace to a world in desperate need of it.