J Is for Joseph
Pentecost 5 – Summer Series “The Good Book”
June 23, 2024
St. Ansgar, Cannon Falls, MN
Genesis 50.15-21
I’m a second career pastor, ordained 28 years after being in the business world 16 years. There was a point in the later part of that career where, after success and promotions, the work wasn’t going well and I was trying to figure out what I was going to do next. We were living in the Northern Virginia area of Washington, DC at the time. I learned of a job opening in Chicago for which I was excited because I was perfectly suited for the work. It would also put us closer to our Minnesota home. Cindy and I were “wined and dined” by the president of the company and his wife and I took a trip to Northern Wisconsin to meet the owner at his cabin. I thought all was well until I learned the owner went with a younger, less qualified person who was already in-house. The president was apologetic and clearly wanted to hire me but was overruled by the president. I was devastated and didn’t know what I was going to do.
That wasn’t the only dream of mine that wasn’t fulfilled, or I should say was fulfilled in an unexpected way. That brings us to the story of Joseph. (How many of you are thinking about Donnie Osmond in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?”) A brief recap of the story is in order. Joseph, of course, was the favored son of Jacob born of Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel. In his younger days, Joseph was a bit of a clueless jerk, flaunting his “technicolor” coat and telling his 10 brothers about a dream he had and which he interpreted as them bowing down to him. Not smart.
His brothers had enough and planned to kill him, but thankfully one of the brothers convinced the others to sell him into slavery to some traders instead. They then made it look like an animal killed Joseph by tearing up his precious coat and smearing it with blood. Jacob is inconsolable, but Joseph lands at the house of an important man in Egypt only to be accused of assault by the man’s wife. Potipher knows Joseph is innocent, but has no choice but to put him in prison where Joseph’s administrative skills earn the trust of the jailer. It’s also where he continues to interpret dreams, one for Pharaoh’s cupbearer and the other for Pharaoh’s baker. Both interpretations become true, and the cupbearer remembers Joseph when the Pharaoh has a dream that no one can interpret.
Pharaoh dreams of seven fat cows being swallowed by seven skinny cows and only Joseph can interpret it. Joseph informs Pharaoh that there will be seven good years for harvesting grain followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh is so impressed he makes Joseph his right hand administrator and places him in charge of storing grain. When the famine comes as Joseph predicts, it reaches all the way to his homeland. His father Jacob hears there is grain in Egypt and sends his 10 sons to buy grain. His brothers don’t recognize Joseph but Joseph recognizes them and he toys with them for a time. Even so, Joseph ultimately brings the whole family to Egypt.
Joseph’s family is welcomed by Pharaoh and flourish in Egypt. All is well until Jacob dies. Joseph’s 10 brothers not only become fearful, but they revert to lying and manipulation, saying that Jabob told them to tell Joseph to forgive them. Joseph responds with two amazing statements: “Am I in the place of God?” (Which, in some ways, is ironic because as the second most powerful person in Egypt Joseph might as well be a god to them.) The second statement, “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good…”
This is a rich, multi-layered story that one sermon couldn’t do justice, with at least two themes. First, there is the theme of forgiveness, especially within families, that I explored in the Children’s Sermon. The other theme has to do with the interplay between our plans for life and God’s plans for us.
I went to college thinking I’d become a medical doctor and then a probation officer. I had no idea I’d end up in the business world. I also thought I’d marry a woman with long, dark hair and instead I married one with short, blonde hair. My life reflects the aphorism, “If you want to make God laugh, tell God your plans.” If true, God has laughed a lot at my efforts. In my most charitable moments when I don’t know what to do, I ask God what I should do, “A or B.” It’s nice to give God options, right, except that God invariably tells me “X.” “X” wasn’t even on the list!
The takeaway for me in the Joseph story is that God frees us to make our plans and dream our dreams while realizing that those plans are provisional and we are to be open to God’s leading. And in the midst of life we are to understand that God may be working in ways not yet evident. How many of us have ended up in life where we thought we would as young people? The same is true for churches: would your forebears have predicted where you are now?
One way to think about this interplay between our plans and God’s plans is to ask the “God questions.” The first question is, “What is God up to here?” And the second follows, “What does God want to do in, with, and through us in this place?” Sometimes that means trying things, little experiments, and seeing how they turn out. Sometimes it means looking in those places where we don’t often expect to find God and see what’s there for us. Ironically, sometimes it means waiting for God to speak as we pray for discernment.
When I was devastated at not getting that perfect job, I was not able to see it as a closed door so that God could open up a door to go to seminary and become a pastor. Even as I did so, I didn’t dream I’d be an associate pastor along the way and now interim pastor. I also became a doctor, just not the kind thought. And that short-haired blonde, we’ve been married for almost 44 years. As I look back on my life, I’m grateful that I’ve been able to see how God has used my experiences for God’s purposes. My prayer for each of you is that you’d also be able to say, “God has intended my life for good.” Because that’s the story of the cross of Jesus Christ, that God can take the worst that life has to throw at us, even death, and bring about God’s purposes, which is new life. Thanks be to God, Amen.
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