Christ Church

Aug 14, 2005 (8 and 10am)

Genesis 45:1-15

I want to take part of one verse from our Old Testament reading this morning- Verse 8 from Genesis 45: So, then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.

The compilers of our lectionary had a stroke of genius in placing today’s reading from Genesis 45 after last week’s from Genesis 37. For those who weren’t here last week that passage dealt with Joseph being conspired against by his brothers and being sold into slavery with the Ishmaelites.

This morning we read of their being reunited in Egypt after Joseph has been put in charge. There’s no bitterness, no sense of revenge from Joseph, just that surety that ‘God sent me here’.

I will come back to Joseph in a moment, but I want us to focus our attention on the matter of God’s promises, and of God’s promises to the Christian, and especially in the midst of life’s crises, in the midst of life’s difficulties, troubles and upsets. In the midst of these, what is our attitude as Christians? How do you and I react?

There are those people who say, “Since I have been a Christian, all of life’s problems have gone away”. That can easily lead to a false and dangerous evangelism which says, “Come to Jesus and he will solve all your problems”. Both these are an escapist attitude, and the person who said that being a Christian solved all their problems is not a very mature Christian. But- how do you and I react? How should or how can we react?

Well, there are some other blind alleys, which are not true to real life.

We can, of course, bury our heads in the sand and think that if we deny the reality of the problem, trouble or painful events of life, then it will all go away!

Then there are those Christians, especially evangelical Christians in the USA, who hold to the ‘Prosperity Gospel’ “Name it and claim it”. The old motor has broken down, so claim a new and better one, and in the morning you wake up to find a brand new BMW in the driveway, which someone has been ‘led’ to give you. That is a corruption of true Christianity.

God is however a God of promises. When things go wrong, or even when we anticipate something going wrong, some trouble or suffering or hardship coming our way, our natural human reaction is to press the panic button, to worry, to be anxious. Maybe to lose a night’s sleep. That is not God’s intent. God wants us to have peace, not a false sense of security, but a knowledge of his promises and his provision.

When Moses led the Children of Israel out of Egypt, they came to the Red Sea, and they know that Pharoah’s horsemen were in hot pursuit. They pushed the panic button. They say to Moses What have you done bringing us out of Egypt…It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert. What does Moses do? Give them a crash course in boat-building? A crash course in swimming? No- He says to them Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today (Exodus 14)

There are promises in the Bible, and it is lack of faith not to trust in those promises. And Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Psalm 91 and verse 2 , the psalmist says [The Lord] is my refuge and my fortress.

Yes, we fail; yes, we fail to trust God, but one great promise says this:

If we are faithless, he remains faithful. He cannot deny himself. (2 Tim 2:13)

When Paul wrote his letter to the Romans he addressed them as those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. (1:6) I quote that to introduce one of the greatest and best-known (but quickest forgotten) promises of the Bible. In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28). God works all for the good of those he has called. This is a promise for every Christian, not just for the very good or very special. And just to underline this promise for us, the believer is called ‘according to God’s purpose’ Do you think or believe any purpose of God is going to fail? Is it being presumptuous to claim God’s promise? I think we often think this. ‘Name it and claim it’ may be presumptuous, but to claim what God has promised is sorely the very antithesis of that attitude and the very antithesis of faith. Rather, we are commanded to take..the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph 6:17)- promises included. Why do you think that the Bible is packed full of promises? God is not a God who will play games with us.

So, back to Joseph. Back to Joseph meeting his brothers and making himself known to them. Now Joseph could have been nursing a very big grudge against his brothers. But no, he says to them it was not you who sent me here, it was God. Joseph had learned to trust God, to know that God was with him through good and bad. He had learned the truth of Romans 8:28. God had indeed worked everything to his good, and not only his personal good but that of his family, for he was uniquely in the position to rescue them from the famine that his father and brothers were suffering under. Just think back to that account of his brothers’ attempt to dispose of him. We are all familiar with this sequence of events.

-was it good that Jacob had shown such favour to Joseph as to provoke his brothers’ jealousy? No- but it worked for good.

-was it good that Joseph’s brothers hated him? No- but it worked for good

-was Reuben’s suggestion not to take Joseph’s life good? Yes and - it worked for good

-Was Judah’s suggestion to sell Joseph good? No- but it worked for good

-Was it good that the Ishmaelites came along good? Yes, it was good, and it worked for good.

-Was it good that Jospeh was sold as a slave. No, but it worked for good

And how about subsequent events?

-Was it good that Joseph was sold into Potiphar’s house. Yes, it was good, and it worked for good

-Was it good that Joseph became master of Potiphar’s estate. Yes,. It was good, and it worked for good

-Was it good that Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph and have him imprisoned? No, it was not good, but it worked for good

From there on all things turned out well. Joseph was put in charge of running the prison, had the chance to interpret the officials’ dreams, foresee the famine, be released from prison and put in charge of food-aid distribution.

In this story of Joseph then we have an object lesson. We see very clearly that God had called Joseph as part of his plan for his people. Joseph was God’s chosen. His experience, as is the human lot were a mix of good and bad. At times he could have despaired. But he learned that within God’s purpose, God would work out everything to his good.

This is true not just for Joseph. As believers it is true for us. At times we may feel like despair in life’s troubles and difficulties. At times we may feel like giving up. We may want to push that panic button. But in Joseph, there is a lesson for us all. A lesson to trust God, to trust that God is in charge. A lesson to claim God’s promises for the believer and so, in short, a lesson in faith. We are assured that God for those God has called, he will work all for our good. At times it may seem all is bad, all is black. That is the time when faith is tested and also the time whne faith grows.

It is a lesson I still need to learn. And I suspect a lesson a lot of us need to learn. So, let’s pray…..