Sunday
02/24/19 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “The return of Joseph!”
Old Testament
Scripture: Genesis 45:3-11, 15
New Testament
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50
Gospel Lesson:
Luke 6:27-38
Welcome again my
friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, on this the Seventh Sunday after
the Epiphany. Seven Sundays after God in the flesh was born on that first
Christmas, and was named Jesus. This is also seven Sundays after the Wise men
came to Christ with gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh, and left different.
With this said, this morning I want to talk about the
potential that I have, that you have, that we all have, and that we have as
entire United Methodist Church denomination. The potential that all people and
churches have. As we sit here this morning, as many of you know, a very large
and critical specially called United Methodist Church General Conference is
happening right now in Saint Louis, Missouri. The United Methodist Church is
prayerfully and delicately making decisions for the United Methodist Church,
and for our future as a church.
The ironic part about this specially called General
Conference, is that it is occurring in the wake of what is likely the sharpest
decline of church membership, church attendance, and church involvement, in the
entire history of our country.
Yet in the middle of all of this, God has given you, has given
me, and has given us all potential. We have gifts, we have graces, we have abilities,
and we can use them.
Sometimes we go years in our lives not trying to do
something, because we are afraid of failing, we are afraid that we might have
wasted time, or we afraid in general. Yet God has given us all potential, has
given us all gifts, and has given us all graces.
Even though we are in the most precipitous era of church
decline in our nation’s history, I am convinced, as we are seeing here at the Sidney
UMC that the church has a bright future! I personally think that part of what
is holding some churches back, is that some of the people, and maybe even some
of the pastors, are for whatever reason, not fully using their potential, their
gifts, and their graces.
I fear that we have created some churches in recent years
where the pastor has become the “Professional Christian,” and the rest of the
church feels like that they have nothing to offer. Or perhaps you told your
pastor an idea that you had once, and you were immediately told by the pastor,
“No, you can’t do that!”
Part
of my role as the appointed pastor of this church is not only to use my
potential, my gifts, and my graces, but to help you to do the very same. It’s
not about Pastor Paul, it’s about Jesus Christ. You see, in all of us, God has
placed some amazing and varied things. I am called to pastoral ministry, but
all of you are called by God. As your pastor, I want to unleash you on Sidney
and the world, so that you can be all that God has called you to be!
For some of us though, our potential, our gifts, and our
graces, haven’t been affirmed. Instead we have been told, your potential, your
gifts, and your graces are not needed or wanted here. The pastor or some other
group of leaders in the church have said that they will do everything, and that
they don’t need your help. Has anyone here ever experienced anything like this
before? I know that I have.
For those that have experienced this, I want to first
apologize to you. You might be thinking, “but Pastor Paul why are you apologizing
to me, you didn’t do anything to hurt me?” I might not have, but some of the
people that I call brothers and sisters in Christ have. Perhaps, that person’s
gift was not personal interaction! As a result, some of you want to be all that
God has called you to be, but haven’t been helped in this process. Friends, as
long as I am the pastor of the Sidney UMC, I want everyone here to be all that
God has called you to be!
This is why we started a “Visioning Team” so that with
God’s help, I can help train and equip you to do ministry in this church, in
this community, and in the world. I truly believe that part of the reason that
many of our churches are failing, is because we are not using all of our
potential, our gifts, and our graces. Maybe though we haven’t really been given
the chance to do this. Well guess what, I am offering an open door for you to do
this!
Sometimes in the Bible people that were incredibly gifted
were not always treated as such. In trying to preach a little more from the Old
Testament or the Hebrew Bible, I decided to mostly preach on our reading from
the Book of Genesis for this morning. This being our first book of the Bible,
contains the creation story, Noah and his Ark, and many other things. It also talks
about Joseph. Not Jesus’ father, but a different Joseph. This Joseph in Genesis
37, dreams of great things (Gen. 37:1-11, NRSV). Joseph according to Genesis
37:3, was loved by Israel more than of his brothers and sisters. In fact,
Joseph was given a multi-colored tunic or coat, for those that have heard of
the production “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” (Gen. 37:3,
NRSV)!
The reaction to the great love that Joseph’s father Jacob
and all of Israel had for Joseph was great for everyone, except Joseph’s
brothers. They were jealous of Joseph, and Joseph told them of dreams he had of
how great he will become (Gen. 37:4-11, NRSV). This made Joseph’s brothers hate
him more, and even seek to even kill him (Gen 31:18, NRSV).
Joseph’s brothers then threw him into a pit, and then decided
to sell him into slavery in Egypt. They then killed a kid or a baby goat, and
put the blood of the goat on Joseph’s multi-colored tunic or coat (Gen. 37:19-36,
NRSV). This multicolored tunic or coat was then sent to Joseph’s father Jacob,
who then believe that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal (Gen. 37:32-33,
NRSV).
So Joseph is alive, and is now a slave in Egypt, yet God
has given Joseph potential, gifts, and graces. Joseph quickly rises to be the
head slave of the household he is in, but then Joseph was framed for a crime he
didn’t commit (Gen. 39:1-20, NRSV).
While in prison, Joseph quickly became the head of all of
the prisoners. The leader of Egypt and even the Pharaoh eventually saw Joseph’s
holiness, potential, gifts, and graces (Gen. 41:37-57, NRSV). The Pharaoh then
put Joseph in charge of his whole house, and made him the most powerful leader
under him (Gen. 41:37-57, NRSV). Eventually, a great famine came over most of
known world, and Joseph’s father Jacob, sent Joseph’s ten brothers to buy grain
from the Egyptians, as they were starving (Gen. 42:1:24, NRSV).
After testing his brothers, who sold him into slavery, and who
didn’t recognize the older and all grown up Joseph, by the way, Joseph sent
them home with a lot food and all their money. They felt that God had blessed
them, and the betrayed brother ended up helping them (Gen. 42:25-38, NRSV).
Joseph’s brothers then return for more food, he feeds them,
and then gives them plenty of food. His brothers still don’t know that he is
Joseph (Gen. 43:1-44:17, NRSV). Joseph finally breaks down crying and tells his
brothers who he is, and this is where our scripture picks up this morning (Gen.
44:18-45:1-2, NRSV).
Once again, our scripture from the reading for this morning
from the Book of Genesis about Joseph says:
“Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father
still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his
presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came
closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now
do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for
God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land
these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither
plowing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on
earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me
here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house
and ruler over all the land of Egypt” (Gen.
45:3-8, NRSV).
This
scripture reading for this morning once ends with Joseph saying:
“Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says
your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not
delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you
and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your
herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are five
more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you
have, will not come to poverty.’ And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after
that his brothers talked with him” (Gen. 45:9-11, 15,
NRSV).
This is really
a powerful story of redemption, forgiveness, and God’s love for us all. It is
also as my sermon title says, “The return of Joseph!” Joseph is alive, not
dead, and is no longer a slave!
Joseph, like
all of us had potential, had gifts, and had graces. Instead of celebrating his
potential though, his brothers first discussed killing him, and then sold him
into slavery in Egypt. Yet, God had given Joseph such potential, such gifts,
and such graces that Joseph used them even in the worse situations.
I worry that
one of the things that some churches have struggled with or have even failed to
do in recent years is not help people to reach their full potential, the full use
of their gifts, and the full use of their graces. Further, some of us are not
like Joseph, in that if our brothers or the church tells us that we are no
good, that we can’t do anything, and that we don’t have the ability, then we
just never try.
As the pastor
of this church, I want you to fulfill your spiritual potential, use your gifts,
and your graces. I want to help you to do what God has called you to do. As I
said, this is part of why we have a church Visioning Team, so that we can all dream
and move forward together.
So, I want to
help us to be a little more like Joseph, to maximize our potential, our gifts,
and our graces.
Now it’s
interesting that after how terrible Joseph’s brothers treated and him, and even
how they sold him into slavery that he forgave them and helped them. Jesus
calls us to love and care for each other, and even to love those who hate us.
Let’s look
again at our gospel lesson for this morning from Luke 6:27-38. Once again Jesus
says:
“But I say to
you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless
those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the
cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not
withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone
takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would
have them do to you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For
even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to
you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to
those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners
lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and
lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and
you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the
wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Do
not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be
condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given
to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be
put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back” (Lk.
6:27-38, NRSV).
I want a church where everyone here
knows that they are loved, where your potential, your gifts, and your grace are
celebrated and promoted. I want you to be all that God has called you to be in
this church, in Sidney, and in the world. As
the General Conference convenes, this morning’s gospel may be God’s reminder to
us to love everyone. People have deeply held beliefs, passions, and there are
great divisions. Things sometimes can get mean, hurtful, and sometimes people
begin to not like each other.
This morning though, as I just read
again, Jesus says to love those who hate us, and maybe even disagree with us.
Jesus tells us to bless and pray for those who curse us and abuse us. Jesus
tells us to turn the other check, Jesus tells us to give our shirt away if
someone takes our coat, to give to those who beg, and so on and so for.
Maybe the biggest message in
this gospel reading, is Luke 6:31 that says once again:
“Do to others as you would have them
do to you” (Lk. 6:31, NRSV).
So we are to
love our enemies, to not judge, be merciful, to forgive, and treat others as we
want to be treated.
Joseph, even after all of his terrible
treatment from his brothers, forgave them and was generous to them, even after
his brother tried to stop his potential, his gifts, and his graces. Friends, I
pray that we will continue to live into being a church where all of us can
realize our God given potential, our gifts, and our graces. As your pastor, I
have here to help you with this, and not to hold you back. Amen.
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