The late Bruce Forsyth used to say to every couple on Strictly Come Dancing “you’re my favourite!” People say to me “what’s your favourite church?” Of course, I used to say Bishop Monkton and then they took you off me! It’s okay to have favourite food and favourite places but to have favourite people or favourite children is dangerous.
Jacob lavished all his love and attention on Joseph. And his brothers get more and more fed up. If you are always second best or overlooked in the end you are going to react. It’s rather like the explosion the older son had when the prodigal son came home and got a party while he did all the work. Joseph was clearly treated very differently from his older brothers. Jacob even gifted him with a lavish coat, symbolising that favouritism. This would have been enough for his brothers to resent him, but we are also told that “He brought bad reports to his father about what his brothers were doing.” Turns out Joseph was a bit of a tattletale!
All this seems to come to a head when Joseph began to have extraordinary dreams. He saw his brothers, symbolised first by sheaths of wheat and then by stars, bowing down before him. For his brothers, this was the last straw. So, one day when Joseph is sent by his father to check up on his brothers, the brothers decide to kill Joseph and they throw him into a dry well where they intend to leave him to die. But while they are eating lunch a group of Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt just happen to come by and the brothers decide to avoid the messiness of murder by selling Joseph into slavery instead. And that is how Joseph, son of Jacob, ended up in Egypt.
Joseph was sold to Potiphar, an influential commander in the king’s forces. As a slave, Joseph quickly rises through the ranks and becomes the manager of Potiphar’s estate. But Potiphar’s wife takes a fancy to Joseph and when Joseph refuses her advances, she accuses him of rape. Joseph is thrown in jail and again he raises quickly to a position of authority. While there he encounters two other prisoners who have experienced strange dreams. Joseph interprets those dreams which both come true.
Sometime later, when Pharaoh himself has strange dreams, one of the two former prisoners remembers how Joseph interpreted his dream, and Joseph is brought before Pharaoh.
Then Joseph’s situation changes when he is thrown into prison. It is actually rather astonishing that Joseph was imprisoned rather than being executed which would have been the normal sentence for having physical relations with his master’s wife regardless of whether it was consensual or not. In fact, prison sentences, in general, were very rare. Convictions that did not carry a death sentence usually resulted in either a fine, public flogging, or possibly even the loss of a limb. The fact that Joseph was sentenced to prison may indicate that Potiphar did not completely believe his wife’s accusations. Regardless, Joseph is thrown in jail where he once again raises to a position of authority.
Regardless, his time in prison, although perhaps not as terrible as we might think, would still have been very difficult. Prison sentences did not come with a specific term and would only end when the prisoners were freed by the person who put him there or when he was executed. This is what happened to the cupbearer and the baker, whose dreams Joseph had correctly interpreted, one of whom was executed and one of who what set free.
We are told that it was two full years after this incident before the cupbearer finally remembered Joseph and told the Pharaoh about him. Joseph is taken from prison, cleaned up, and presented to the Pharaoh. Joseph correctly interprets the Pharaoh’s dreams and once again rose to a position of power, this time second only to the Pharaoh himself.
Now we know the rest of the story. Joseph goes on to save all of Egypt from a devastation famine and eventually brings his family to join him in Egypt, saving all their lives as well.
We are also told that later on, Joseph himself tells his brothers that they are not responsible for sending him into slavery but rather that they were simply fulfilling their part in God’s plan. According to this understanding, it was God and not the brothers who wanted Joseph to become a slave.
It was God, not Potiphar’s wife who decided that Joseph should end up in prison where he could encounter the cupbearer and the baker. And it was God, whose eventual plan in all of this was that the Israelite people should end up as slaves in Egypt. We will come back to that later.
Imagine Joseph in Egypt in a position of authority reflecting on his life. Where has God been in his journey? The whole of Genesis is an account of God’s relationship with his people, most of who in Genesis are flawed and some right pains. When we look back at our experiences in life, and in the church, we see how God has blessed us with clear revelation and other times we’ve had to work out what God is up to as it all feels like hard work or it’s not going as well as we hoped. How has God blessed your church since I left you last year? The last time I was here we were celebrating the late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with a Songs of Praise. When we look back at our journey have we known God’s love in Jesus especially when it’s been tough?
This week we pray for Sarah as she spends time on retreat before ordination next Sunday. She will be reflecting how God has led us to the point she finds herself being led to be a presbyter in the Methodist Church. This week there is another anniversary. This coming Thursday, 27 June, will be the twenty fifth anniversary of my ordination. I was received into full Connexion at the Floral Hall in Southport and ordained later on that day at Leyland Road Methodist Church.
Where have twenty five years gone? What has changed in the church in a quarter of a century? A lot! We are a smaller and predominantly older group but we still work hard in our local churches to preach the Gospel and share God’s love in Christ week by week by week. This week I’m thinking about all the churches I’ve served and am serving. In twenty-seven years I’ve been the minister of thirty-two churches in six Circuits, three of them as Superintendent. I’ve held three District roles helping probationers, rural churches and ecumenical partnerships plus also sitting on various committees, and for several years I had a Connexional role supporting ministers wanting to or needing to do other than Circuit ministry. And I still have a day off a week and always have had!
I will pause somewhere on Thursday and thank God for his call on me which is still a surprise every day because even after all this time I still think others can do this far better than me…
When Joseph was sold into slavery he had a choice of how he would react. He could choose to focus on the hurt and betrayal he had suffered and do nothing. In that case, he would have made a very poor slave and would likely have spent the rest of his life being miserable. Instead, he simply did the best he could in a very difficult situation trusting that the God he worshipped would be there to help guide and protect him.
When he was accused by Potiphar’s wife he could have become angry and resentful, protesting his innocence and refusing to cooperate with his jailers. When asked to interpret dreams for other he could have refused. After all, wasn’t it his dreams that had got him into trouble with his brothers in the first place?
Instead, Joseph chose to do the best he could in very difficult circumstances. He chose to find opportunities to help others even when those others were his owners, his jailers, or his fellow prisoners. Despite everything, Joseph never stopped believing that the God he worshiped would somehow bring about some good from what was happening.
Joseph is a powerful example of faithfulness and trust. Joseph continued to do the very best he could no matter what the situation. Regardless of how difficult, how depressing, how hateful, how unjust, or how hopeless a situation appeared, Joseph refused to give in. I’m sure it wasn’t easy and I’m sure there were times he felt like giving up. So many horrible things happened to him, yet somehow Joseph held on to his hope, his dignity, and his faith.
I don’t know if I would have managed as well in those circumstances. I don’t know if I could have avoided giving in to hopelessness and despair in the face of the pain and betrayal that Joseph endured. But I do believe, that in my own life I am challenged to hold on to my own hope, dignity, and faith in whatever situations may come my way. I know there are times I don’t do it very well, but in those times when I am able to hold tightly to my faith, it is much easier to hold on to hope and to act with faith, dignity, and grace.
Corrie Ten Boom spent a number of years in a Nazi prison camp during the Second World War.
The barracks where the prisoners were held were dirty and crowded and the guards absolutely refused to come in. The wooden bunk beds were covered with straw rather than mattresses it was scratchy and itchy and full of fleas.
But because the guards refused to enter, Corrie Ten Boom was able to start holding a time of prayer and Bible Study each evening with some of her fellow inmates.
Eventually, she learned that the reason the guards refused to enter the barracks was that they were afraid of picking up fleas and taking them home to their families. That night when the group met for prayer, she offered a simple 5-word prayer … “Thank you, God, for fleas!”
Sometimes what seems like a curse can turn into a blessing! Maybe that’s the lesson of Joseph for us today. We hold on to the providence of God.
I’ll be at the opening of the representative session of the Methodist Conference on Saturday afternoon. Conference begins with the same hymn every year and ends with the same hymn every year. You might not know either! It begins with “ and are we yet alive?” Which has the words “ What troubles have we seen, what mighty conflicts past, fightings without, and fears within, since we assembled last!“ And it ends with these words “Captain of Israel’s host and guide of all who seek the land above, beneath thy shadow we abide, the cloud of thy protecting love, our strength, Thy grace; our rule Thy word; Our end, the glory of the Lord.”
Bishop Monkton friends, my prayer for you is this. I know you’ve been frustrated because your refurbishment is going so slowly as the finding windows don’t open very wide very open but a few are opening now, I know some of you haven’t had it easy recently, maybe you don’t know where you are heading but know this, God knows and invites a response in you like Joseph to just keep the faith. So happy Christmas because you know what the plan is like and do that – keep being you and keep the faith and God will sort it! You’ve already got some nice chairs J
I have struggled with how to sum up Joseph but I found this prayer on a United reformed church website that does the job well:
There are times when we all feel like our lives have been turned upside down. We struggle to understand why. There are times when life takes unexpected turns and all our carefully laid plans and dreams come to nothing. We struggle to know where to turn next.
There are times when we feel betrayed and alone. We struggle to hold on to hope. Grant us patience to wait. Open our eyes to recognise Your leading in our lives—to listen for Your gentle whisper when we least expect it.
And give us the courage to step out in faith, trusting in Your leading even when we cannot yet see the outcome. Amen.
