In the Line of David and the Christ

 Read Genesis 38

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…

Judah, the brother who came up with the bright idea to sell Joseph into slavery and make a couple bucks, decided to go live on his own. 

Judah took a Canaanite wife.  It seems that this business of going back east to get a wife had come to an end. We don’t know her name but we know the names of the 3 sons born of this union.  They were Er, Onan, and Shelah.

Judah got a wife for his oldest son.  Surely that was preceded by a bicycle and, a baseball glove, but now it was time for a wife and Judah picked out a local girl. Her name was Tamar.

The problem was in the quality control department, and with the husband not the wife.  The first son, Er, was wicked and God took him out of the picture before a child was conceived.

Judah told his second son, Onan, to give Tamar a child.  It was his duty as the oldest surviving brother.  He wasn’t too keen on this idea, so he practiced the first form of birth control that we see in the Bible.

God did not approve, so that was it for Onan. 

Now Judah had only Shelah and he was too young for marriage and making children. So, Judah told Tamar to live in his household until Shelah was old enough to marry her.  She did.

We are told that after a long time, Judah’s wife—still unnamed—died.  After Judah recovered from his grief, he went out to check on his sheep.  It was time for sheep shearing.

Tamar got wind of this and went ahead of him to a place called Enaim.  She was veiled and not wearing her widow’s clothing.

What was she thinking?  The third son, Shelah, had grown up and was of marrying age but Judah had not given Tamar to him.  What’s up with that?  What had she been waiting on all this time?

In any case, the stage was set.  Judah was headed to Timnah.  Tamar picked out a spot near the road at the entrance to Enaim.  For general reference, this was about 25 miles west, northwest of Bethlehem.

Judah saw her and thought she was a prostitute.  Evidently, there was a pagan shrine in these parts and he thought she was a prostitute for the local shrine. 

If your wife is dead and you are on the road with your buddy and the opportunity presents itself, then you tell your buddy that you will be back in a few.

Judah wasn’t carrying any cash and Tamar would not take American Express.  He had to leave a pledge that he would pay her.  The agreed-upon price was one young goat.

The pledge for that goat would be some personal items—his seal and the cord that goes with it along with his staff.

Judah got what he wanted and Tamar got pregnant.

We don’t know the status of the sheep shearing but Judah returned home with his friend and sent his friend, Hirah the Adullamite, to deliver the goat.

He couldn’t find the prostitute.  The men in the area said that couldn’t remember there ever being a shrine prostitute there.  Hirah came come and told Judah.

Judah said, well we tried.

A few months later, Judah received a report that Tamar was pregnant.  It must have been from prostitution as she wasn’t married.

There was little hesitation in Judah’s decision. Burn her!  The penalty for adultery—not specifically prostitution—was death for both parties, but Tamar was the only guilty party available.

As she was being carried away to her execution, she sent a message to her father-in-law in the form of the items left as a pledge.  They were Judah’s seal and cord and staff.  Her message was that these belong to the man who got me pregnant.

I don’t think the word Oops was in the lexicon of the people of that time until that very moment. Judah realized the entirety of his error.  He had not given Tamar to his third son as he promised and had pronounced a sentence upon Tamar that appropriately would have been for him too.

Tamar gave birth to twin sons.  There was a little tussle to see who would emerge first and it was Perez.

Zerah came out second.  In Zerah’s family Bible, the lineage states that Zerah was born second and Perez was born next to last.

What does all of this mean?

If you go to the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel, you will find the lineage of the Christ.  You need only go 3 verses until you see Judah, Tamar, and Perez.  In Luke’s gospel, the genealogy goes all the way back to Adam and includes Judah and Perez but does not include Tamar.  Women seldom received much billing in the Bible.

Later in Genesis, Judah is described by his father as a lion. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah is Jesus Christ.  

Why do we care?

Jesus—yes Savior of the world Jesus—came through a line that went through Judah.  None of Judah’s sons continued the line. Judah and Tamar did.

Judah, who had the bright idea to sell his brother, Joseph, into slavery is in the line of the Christ.

Judah, who made a quick stopover with a woman he thought was a prostitute on his way to see how the sheep shearing was going, is in the line of the Christ.

Judah, who in all his self-righteousness was going to put his daughter-in-law to death for prostitution, is in the line of the Christ.

Judah, who had two sons by his daughter-in-law, is in the line of the Christ.

Tamar, who didn’t have a son by her first 2 husbands, is in the line of the Christ.

Tamar, who dressed up like a prostitute and fulfilled the role of a prostitute, is in the line of the Christ.

Tamar, who had 2 sons by her father-in-law, is in the line of the Christ.

Tamar, who was a single mother—Judah never married her, was in the line of the Christ.

We have begun the story of Joseph.  We know that in the end, he saves much of the known world.  Wouldn’t he have been a better candidate to be in the line of the Savior of the World?

But while God was working through Joseph to save a very large portion of the world in Joseph’s time; he was also setting the course to save all humankind with the advent of Jesus.

So what are our takeaways?

Let’s start with if you are on your way to a sheep shearing, always bring cash.

How about, insurance policies come in many forms.  The Seal, Cord, and Staff policy was a lifesaver for Tamar.  I think it was a Liberty Mutual policy.  You only pay for what your need.

How about, if God decides he will use you for his purpose, then he will use you for his purpose.  Neither your accomplishments nor life choices will qualify or disqualify you from serving God if he has called you to accomplish his purpose.

How about, we don’t always see the big picture.  That one should sound familiar.

How about, sometimes our own devious natures can be used for good in God’s plan.  We have seen this one in play since Abram.

We shouldn’t try to be devious, dishonest, destructive, deceptive or even words that don’t begin with the letter “d.”  We need to understand that our human frailty does not disqualify us for God’s work.

I have shared this a couple of times.  You have seen variations on the internet or on the back of a tee shirt but consider this anew this morning as we consider the people that God chose.

Noah was a drunk

Abraham was too old

Jacob was a deceiver

Leah was not good looking

Joseph was abused

Moses had a stuttering problem and was a murderer

Gideon was afraid

Samson was a womanizer

Rahab was a prostitute

David had an affair and was a murderer

Elijah was suicidal

Isaiah preached naked

Jonah ran from God

Naomi was a widow

Job went bankrupt

Peter denied Christ

The Disciples fell asleep while praying with Jesus

Martha worried about everything

The Samaritan woman was divorced many times

Zacchaeus was too small

Jesus called the disciples dull--slow

Judas would betray him

Paul was too religious

Timothy had an ulcer

Lazarus was dead

Judah and Tamar were a Netflix series waiting to happen. In fact, I have already written the first three seasons.

Don’t think that God won’t use you to complete his plan.  Be ready to respond to the leading that God’s Spirit places on your heart.

If God was looking for reasons to disqualify you from doing his work, he could find them without much effort.  We all fall short but disqualifying us for his service is just not his thing.

Yes, there are some judgments for wickedness along the way, but God is not looking to disqualify you from serving him.  You have what it takes to do his will.

He chose you—with all of your flaws and defects—to do his will, to live out his plan.  He chose you in spite of everything that you might think reasons that he wouldn’t.

He chose you.

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart!  We know that part.

Now, let’s live in a way that brings glory to God.  That’s part of the plan.

Amen.

 

Back in the Day

Read Genesis 38

Back in the day…

If you got married and your husband died, his brother should take you in marriage and give you at least one kid.  One day, she is your sister-in-law.  The next day, after her time of mourning, she is in your bed.  And it’s no harm, no foul.

At least that’s the way it was for those chosen by God.

As a brother, it was your duty. Of all of the family duties that a brother might incur, this one should not have been terribly debilitating.

But Onan didn’t want to give Tamar a child, because it wouldn’t really be his even though it really would have been his. So, he wouldn’t give her his seed.  He abbreviated the conception process.  He practiced birth control.

Some will say that birth control is not a godly thing because of this single episode.  It was not a good thing for Onan, that’s for sure.  His life was over as was his wicked brother’s before him.

But, the line of the Christ would come through Judah and Tamar and not through any of Judah’s sons.  That’s the story we will follow in the next service.

Does this birth control thing go against God’s will?  He did charge humankind to populate the earth, but did he want us to have a kid a year for all of our childbearing years?

You can anchor your belief on a single verse if you want, and some have, but I can’t find much else to corroborate this no birth control business.

We anchor our salvation in John 3:16. If you have that, you have enough, but I can give you all sorts of corroboration for that one.

So, my thoughts, and I’m not trying to convince you to make them yours, are that God’s displeasure was just with Onan and that he knew the Christ would come from Judah and Tamar. Onan didn’t affect the coming of the Christ.  There wasn’t a “didn’t see that one coming” moment with God and the angels in heaven.

How about those children—twins—conceived by Judah and Tamar?  Leviticus 18:15 should be called the Judah prohibition.

In all fairness to Judah, he didn’t know that he was having sex with his daughter-in-law.  He thought he was doing the deed with a prostitute. There is plenty of counsel concerning prostitutes, but we don’t see any real Old Testament prohibitions.

In Judah’s mind, the only thing of moral consequence was paying the girl what he promised. Do you ever wonder how the story might have changed if Judah carried a little cash with him?

Wives, if your husband says he needs to check on how the sheep shearing is going, tell him to leave his wallet at home.

In 1986, the USS Saipan ported at Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It was a fun stop.  I played some golf there.  On the way to the golf course, the taxi driver pointed out some very colorful apartments where he said divorced people lived.  The separated parents lived next door to each other with a small, child-only-sized door between the apartments.

I bet those kids really mastered the art of manipulating their parents.  But Mom said… But Dad said… Then back through the door.

I bring up Rotterdam only because on our last night in port, the colonel called his company commanders into his stateroom and said, “Let’s go window shopping.”

We all looked at each other.  We were all married, as was the colonel.  He said, “We are just going to look.”  We went and we looked and we lived to tell about it.  In some places, prostitution is just a thing. It’s part of the culture.

Window shopping was never on my bucket list. In fact, I don’t think bucket lists were much of a thing back then, but I checked it off my bucket list anyway.

Paul might counsel us more sternly concerning prostitutes.  The two become one flesh, and we are the body of Christ so joining with a prostitute goes in the that dog don’t hunt category.

In Judah’s mind, he was out of the house, his wife was dead, and sheep shearing wasn’t all that exciting anyway, so why not make a brief stop while your friend waits out on the road.

So where is all of this going?  How about, “Once upon a time in the Land of Perfect People, there were no people.”

Judah’s marriage was the first we seen in the line that leads to Christ where the wife came from the local population.  Joseph took an Egyptian wife and produced 2 children which would be apportioned land in the Promised Land.

When we get to Leviticus, God told his people that he gave them these laws because the people in Egypt and the people in Canaan did a bunch of perverse things and they would be different.

They would be set apart.

But those Chosen People would have people from many different sources, including many who had been pagan. That diversity within the Chosen People began here and would continue.  One day the Hebrew people would close ranks and not want others to marry with them, but at this time the line of Abraham began including those from the local inhabitants.

The line from Abraham to Christ became more inclusive of those who did not grow up with the one true God. As they came into the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they surely learned of the one true God, but only after coming out of Egypt would God shape his people to be truly set apart.

It is this setting apart by God that makes the Hebrew people the chosen people, not their bloodlines.

It is our response to God’s free gift of salvation that sets us apart as his people of this age.  We are to be known by our love.

So, let’s realize that we are not perfect, we all fall short, only Christ makes us complete, and we are to be known by our love.

I hope that part sounds familiar.  

Amen.

To Ordain or Not to Ordain?

  

The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is in the middle of a controversy that other denominations have already addressed.  We avoided it for as long as we could.  We turned a blind eye and acquired deaf ears when the topic was nearing a tipping point for denominational discussion.

Camps formed, then entrenched themselves, and now are ready for battle.  How long will this take?  Will the denomination divide?  Is anyone truly ready to listen or are we content just to beat our own drums?

I offer this to the general discussion, but consider it likely that many—probably most—will quit reading or denounce it without reading it in its entirety upon encountering any point that causes dogmatic thinking to be challenged.

And there will be challenges for all concerned.  This is not a message to comfort the afflicted but to afflict the comfortable.  Some need to check out here for the sake of not having your comfort zone disturbed.

Let’s address what most call the Arkansas Amendments.  I begin by addressing the elephant in the room.  The amendments take aim at practicing homosexuals and their fitness for service as a pastor in all forms or as an elder. Deacons are not addressed.

Let me say from the beginning, if the amendments are adopted, we as a denomination will be completely biblical.  We will be biblical! The problem is that we will also be the biggest hypocrites since the Pharisees.  If fact, we will have raised the hypocritical bar a good deal.

The problem is that the wording of the amendments aims a shotgun, not a rifle.  It addresses all sexual relationships outside the boundaries of marriage and not just homosexual relationships.  Perhaps the shotgun syntax was intentional, perhaps even biblical.

Just what am I talking about? We get that homosexuality is a sin thing.  Read Leviticus.  We shouldn’t adopt the world’s take that we have outgrown this thinking or that as the death penalty is no longer imposed for this offense (at least in this country) so the offense is no more. We need to remain biblically based in our thinking and doctrine.

We understand that the amendment is talking about a continuing relationship not just a past experience.  If a one-and-done approach was administered, those who have murdered, stolen, dishonored their parents or other prohibitions listed in the top 10 directives, would be disqualified from our ordained ranks and our numbers would shrink considerably. 

Yes, I know we don’t have many murderers who have been ordained, but we have many testimonies of people fully immersed in a sinful lifestyle who repented and received life in Christ Jesus and went on to ordination.  One-and-done does work when we are looking for reasons to exclude.  All have sinned and fall short.  We know that part.

I think we are talking about a continued homosexual relationship, but what about adultery?  That could be a one-and-done, but what about those among us who are ordained, yet continue in an adulterous relationship?

What?

What about those divorced Cumberlands who have remarried and as such continue in an adulterous relationship?  Are they too disqualified for ordination in any form?

Hold your holy horses!  We have a plethora of exceptions that have been written into this biblical view.  Besides, with the number of divorced people who we have welcomed into our ranks, this is politically not viable.

My mistake.  I thought we were being biblical, not political or practical. So, what should divorced people who have remarried do, divorce again?  I thought God hates divorce.

That would be ridiculous.  Remarried Cumberland Presbyterians would only need to divorce if they wanted to be ordained as a pastor or elder.  Then they would need to abstain from marriage just as the homosexual desiring to be ordained would abstain from having sex with same-sex partners.

C’mon man!  I thought that you were inclined to the conservative side.  I am, but I won’t use that as an excuse to be a hypocrite.

But that stuff about adultery came from Jesus. It wasn’t that way in the original law.

If discounting the words and teachings of Jesus were a viable response, that might be worth considering.  Instead, I ask you to consider this.

Much of the Law of Moses served to mitigate the evil in the human heart.  Jesus wants us to replace our evil hearts with the divine heart of his Father.  It’s that whole repentance thing again.

Let’s move on to the shacking-up category.  I’m guessing that’s included in the scope of the amendment.  What if the shacking up has continued to the point of being a common-law marriage?

Do committees on preparation for ministry need to add a question concerning this to their applications?

So where does this leave us?

With a thinning of the ranks, that’s where.  Only the most pious may be ordained within this denomination. 

God might call you, but you can’t answer his call here unless you are single or in a traditional marriage for the first time.  No same-sex relationships.  No divorced and remarried.  No shacking up.

You might think, I can live with that, and maybe we can.  But why stop at sexual sin?  Shouldn’t we address others?

If someone is a serial killer, the world will likely take him or her out of our ordained ranks. That’s an easy fix, but what about pride, self-righteousness, and gluttony.  Should we put out a BOLO on those for the next go-round of amendments?

I don’t know if I can start running 7 miles a day again.  Back in the days when I was lean and mean, that would be no problem, but these days, I’m just mean.

Some of us who carry extra weight might say that God made us this way.  Isn’t that the secular justification for accepting homosexual behavior?  This keeps getting messier.

Perhaps, every 3 years we should focus on a handful of sins for disqualification from ordination and thin our ranks even more.  This wouldn’t be excluding anyone from our denomination.  Race, color, sexual orientation, fat or skinny, tall or short—whosoever will may come.  You just can’t be ordained.

We need to publish a taxonomy of sin so we can address them in an orderly fashion.

I’m somewhat tongue-in-cheek here, but not entirely.  If the choice is between whosoever will may come but you might not be ordained because of selected sins or whosoever will may come but only the purest of the pure may be considered for ordination (few are called but fewer—perhaps none—are chosen), I would take the latter.

Things are so clear when we can shape God in our own image and make his instructions conform to our own. But if we truly want to be biblical in our faith and practice, then we need to thin our existing ordained ranks and ordain ever so few—if any—in the future.

Are we willing to do that?

Yes, I know that I am a stick in the mud.  I have been accused of being tactful twice in my life but was acquitted on both counts.

Some will say that I don’t truly understand God’s word—or more likely I don’t conform to your understanding of God’s word—the one that includes the taxonomy of sin.

Here is what I understand.  These things miss the mark.  They transgress God’s ways.

Homosexual relationships.

Divorce.

Remarriage after divorce.

Shacking up for sex.

We are called to minister to people in all of these areas.  These are only sexual sins.  We all fall short of God’s glory in so many other ways, but the continuation of these ways seems to be what is at issue here.

The challenge is to ordain a clergy worthy of the calling that they/we have received. Our history is one of whosoever will may come.

We all come to God out of disobedience.

But if the homosexual would just repent and seek the ways of God going forward, there wouldn’t be a problem.  That’s not fair!  That’s too much to ask!

Yes, there is a problem that many don’t think that repentance is needed.  What God said long ago on this matter is no longer valid and not a sin.

That dog don’t hunt!  That’s not biblical. It’s still a sin.

Let’s apply the same standard to divorce. All the divorced person needs to do is confess that his or her divorce was a sin and seek the ways of God going forward, which would include abstaining from remarriage and sex.

That’s not fair!  Getting married again after divorce is not a sin! That thinking is not biblical! But it is. Abstaining from marriage after divorce is biblical but very inconvenient to so many Cumberland Presbyterians. 

Should the same standard not be applied to both groups of people as we consider the proposed amendments?

Much of the law mitigated the evil in our hearts.  Jesus came to lead us to a wholesale exchange of our hearts of stone for those of flesh. Jesus wants us to have a heart that he can shape into a divine heart.

Personally, I don’t really want to see a gay pastor leading a flock. I am less bothered by a gay woman than a gay man.  Perhaps, that’s because God only mentioned men in Leviticus.  More likely, it’s just that toxic masculinity thing that’s going around these days. I am less bothered by a divorced and remarried pastor.  I am less bothered by a couple that is shacking up—it seems that most that I have encountered who are seeking God through Christ are headed toward marriage.

That’s my hierarchy, not God’s.  If we could just go with my hierarchy, I might be happy.  That is until I looked in the mirror and saw a hypocrite.

If we are going to abide by the law, let’s abide by the whole law not just the parts that we like the most.

Is it even possible to have someone who is qualified to be a pastor?  None are good save God himself. All have fallen short of the glory of God.

But God has called many to serve him and some of those were called as pastors.  Of those whom God has called, none were qualified.  Some might have had a big DISQUALIFIED stamped on their resumes, but God called them.

Can we continue as a denomination known for our grace and connectional nature or will we be divided by human decision and weaponize the law or ignore it all together?

Should I prepare to surrender my ordination or start picking out my phylacteries?

If the choice is between whosoever will may come but you might not be ordained because of selected sins or whosoever will may come but only the purest of the pure may be considered for ordination (few are called but fewer—maybe none—are chosen), I would take the latter.

Better to fulfill our commission, take the gospel to the world, and make disciples—even disciples that will have to wrestle with the old self for all of their days—than to make God’s directives in our own image and be the best hypocrites of all time.

If we pass these amendments, let us prepare to reduce the ranks of pastors and elders among us—not because of a denominational divide but because of widespread disqualification of those now serving or hoping to serve.

We can beat our chests all day and proclaim that we are biblically correct, knowing full well we are more hypocritical than the Pharisees ever were.

Paul listed his religious credentials and said that they would stack up to anyone’s, but that he counted them as dung.  That’s manure in these parts. What is our ordination worth if we apply our own taxonomy of sin to qualify or disqualify?

We might need to do the same if our credentials, specifically ordination, are a stumbling block to our commission.  If we invite people into the church (which belongs to Jesus) but say in the Cumberland part of that church, this far and no farther, have we not made them twice as much a child of hell as we are? Have we not placed ourselves in the place of God?

You can be a member but your sin is worse than the sin of others and grace only goes so far, at least where ordination is concerned.

For this protracted pontification to have any merit, it should include something of a recommendation.  I do pray that we come up with something better, but here it is.

Adopt the amendments.

Cease immediately the ordination of pastors and elders who:

Practice homosexuality.

Are divorced and not reunited with their original spouse.

Are divorced and remarried.

Are shacked up for sex.

Over the next 3 years, pastors and elders should surrender their ordinations if they:

Practice homosexuality.

Are divorced and not reunited with their original spouse.

Are divorced and remarried to another spouse

Are shacked up for sex.

 

Tom, you are crazy!  That may be true, but I’m biblical.

These mentioned above are just the sexual sins.  If we are serious about qualifying or disqualifying someone for ordination, then every 3 years, we will select 5 more sins for this purpose. Let’s start with lust.  Maybe it was included in the amendment, but let’s be sure.

We can’t skip gluttony.  This one will disqualify many.  Let’s throw in anger, jealousy, and selfish pride.  Those are all sins that often continue beyond ordination.  I’m just throwing these out there as a starting point, but we need to start somewhere.  It will take a committee at least 2 years to sort out the next 5 sins and we have people to disqualify!  Time is of the essence. The purge must begin now.

Sometimes, I am not sure if I am tongue-in-cheek or not.

So where does that leave us?

If God has called you to preach, then preach.  You will not be ordained to preach by this denomination, but you can still answer your call.

If God has called you to serve, then serve.  You will not be ordained to serve by this denomination, but you can still answer your call.

We can still answer our callings, serve in this denomination, and bring glory to God but we will do it without the human validation of that setting apart by God and for God.

This sounds radical, mainly because it is, but the concept of mercy and grace is no less radical and that’s what we have been commissioned to take to the world.  We are sent into the world to call sinners to repent and if our ordinations and institutionalism become a stumbling block to that, then we need to count all of that as dung and get back to the business of going into the world without a denominational ordination, but with these words.

Repent and believe the good news!

Should we go this route, we will surely need other constitutional revisions with regard to administering the sacraments and marriage, but these are not terribly debilitating changes.

As stated previously, I hope someone comes up with something better, but I’m also considering buying the domain name phylacteriesRus.com.  Business looks promising.

We must pray for greater understanding and discernment by us all.  We will figure this out only if we stop building our ramparts and start listening to God and to each other.

Amen. 

Keep that in mind

 Read Genesis 37

 

Joseph had two visions.  One is during harvest and he and his brothers are making sheeves.  They were binding grain into upright stacks.

In this dream, Joseph’s stack stands tall and the stacks of his brothers bow down to it.  Exactly what all is involved here is vague, but the big picture suggests that all of Jacob’s kids will bow down, revere, or serve Joseph.

That didn’t go over well with the brothers.  They didn’t care for Joseph in any case.  He had given their dad a bad report on their activities while out with the flocks.

Besides that, Joseph was Dad’s favorite.  Jacob—Israel—had made Jacob an ornate robe. Apparently, none of the other brothers had one.

Now we see this dream business in which it appears Joseph is somehow the top dog.

If that were not enough, Joseph had another dream in which the sun, moon, and 11 stars bowed down to him.  His brothers didn’t like that one either, but this one he shared with his father.

What?  Your mother and I will bow down before you?  What?

But we are told one more thing about this dream.  But his father—Jacob—kept this matter in mind.

What does that mean?

Consider in Genesis 28, Jacob also had a vision in a dream.  There were angels ascending and descending between heaven and earth. This is how God spoke to him about taking on the mantel for this Father of Many Nations business.

That was real.  Maybe, he shouldn’t doubt his son.  Perhaps the dream was from God.  Perhaps there was something to this. Perhaps there was a perhaps to this whole dream business.

But surely God would work through his firstborn, Reuben—that no good, slept with his father’s wife, firstborn son. Jacob might recall that he was born after Esau and was known as the deceiver for much of his life, but Jacob might have recalled that God chose to work through him.

So, Jacob kept the matter in mind.

What is it to keep a matter in mind?  It is not to accept it, but neither is it to reject it, but to retain it for further consideration.

Hey, Tom, do you need someone to mow your yard this year.?

No thanks.  I have someone, but will keep you in mind.

Here’s another modern-day take on keeping a matter in mind.

Let’s capture some lessons learned from this ministry.  Mind you, this is only our second year of doing this. Keep that in mind.

It’s sort of like keeping something in the back of your mind.  Why?  There just might be something to it.

That bonfire deal sounds like fun but the fire danger for most of the summer might preclude it, but I will keep it in mind for the winter months.  Bonfire, hotdogs, and hot chocolate might be fun with an inch or two of snow on the ground.

Let’s keep that in mind.

In the second service, we will look at the beginning of the story of Joseph and his being sold into slavery.  His father ripped his clothes and was inconsolable, thinking Joseph had been mauled and perhaps eaten by a wild animal.

But, remember, that these dreams of Joseph were still bouncing around somewhere in Jacob’s mind.

Think of Abraham taking Isaac up the mountain to sacrifice him unto God. Abraham believed God that this Father of Many Nations business would come through his son Isaac. 

Somehow this sacrifice would not negate the promise of God.  You know the story.  God stopped the sacrifice when he saw the faith of Abraham.

Somewhere in Abraham’s mind, he knew that God would fulfill his promise through Isaac.

That’s some really cool stuff to think about right there, but how does that apply to us?

When we face difficult times, we should remember the promises of God.  We should keep in mind that:

·       God loves us

·       God will never stop loving us

·       God has good plans for us

·       God trusts us to put our gifts and talents to use

·       God will never leave or forsake us

·       God has prepared a place for us

·       Our present suffering is nothing compared to what God has in store for us

·       Our sorrow may last for the night but joy comes in the morning

·       We are not to be afraid

·       We are not to be anxious

·       We are not to be worried

·       We are to approach the Throne of Grace with Confidence

When times are tough—perhaps even impossible—we should keep these things in mind.

We should move these promises and directives to the forefront of our minds.

Amen.

The Dreamer and the Schemers

 Read Genesis 37

For many of you, this is a very familiar story. If they let me write the subtitles in your Bibles—and for some reason, they don’t—I would have titled this The Dreamer and the Schemers.

Joseph was born when Jacob was an old man.  Benjamin was younger, but it was Joseph who was his father’s favorite.  Joseph might have been something of a tattletale.

At age 17 while tending the flocks with his brothers, Joseph saw fit to bring his father a bad report about those brothers.  We don’t know what it was, but his brothers didn’t really like Joseph.

To make matters worse, Jacob—Israel—made a special robe for Joseph.  If there was any doubt before as to who Dad’s favorite was, this coat of many colors settled the matter.

Could his brothers have been any more jealous? Could they hate their brother any more?  The answer to those questions is simple.  Yes, if he shared his dreams with you. 

Joseph had a dream in which all of his brothers were binding sheaves.  Joseph’s bundle rose up and those of his brothers bowed down to it.

As you might have guessed, the brothers didn’t really care for this dream. If that were not enough, Joseph shared another dream.

Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Joseph told this one not only to his brothers but also to his parents.  Nobody seemed to care for this dream, but his father kept pondering the matter, that is, he did not dismiss it outright.  His love for Joseph was not lessened despite his dreams.

So today’s story begins with Jacob sending Joseph to check on his brothers and the flocks.  It was a trip and a little more difficult than just putting the destination into his phone.  The brothers had moved, surely in search of new grazing.

Eventually, Joseph found them but the brothers saw him coming. Their hatred for their brother overcame any thoughts of just roughing him up.  They wanted blood.  They wanted to kill this little dreamer.

Reuben mitigated the hatred.  Let’s just throw him in this hole—an old well.  We can’t really kill him.  He is family, after all.

That’s what they did but while Reuben was away, the brothers sold Joseph into slavery.  There was an Ishmaelite caravan with Midianite merchants headed toward Egypt.  They were loaded down with spices, balm, and myrrh. 

Surely, they would be interested in a slave.  For about $300 in today’s money, they sold their brother into slavery.  The dreamer that the brothers hated so much was on his way to Egypt. Dreamer problem solved.

All they had to do was come up with a common story.  The fewer details, the easier the story would be to remember.

So, the brothers dipped Joseph’s robe—a robe that was unmistakably his—in goat’s blood and presented it to Jacob.  Instead of giving their father some concocted story—one in which 10 brothers would have to keep the facts straight—they simply gave Jacob the robe and asked him if this was Joseph’s garment.

Well played.  Jacob let his imagination run wild. Surely a wild animal had torn him to pieces. Jacob concocted his own story and it was surely the worst-case scenario.

He tore his own clothes and mourned the loss of his son.  He would not be comforted.

Meanwhile, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, a captain in the Pharoah’s guard.  There is more to come on that.

So, what do we take home with us from this part of the story of Joseph, which is just beginning?

How about, don’t share your dreams with your siblings?  That could be it, but not likely.

How about stay away from the trade routes.  You never know when your brothers might sell you for some spending money.

Maybe it’s closer to this.  God’s plan for your life might not go down the primrose path.

You might be thinking, I just want to finish school and get a good job.

You might be thinking, I just want to get my kids through school and save something for retirement.

You might be thinking, I just want to stop giving all of my money to Walmart and the Dollar Tree.

God is thinking, I have good plans for you.

Some of those plans might include some hardship.  Some might include some trials.  Some might not make sense to you, especially in the moment.

In hindsight, sometimes God’s plan is clear to us.  In the moment, we sometimes see only a series of seemingly unrelated events.

If we follow the story of Joseph, we see what God’s plan included.  We know the essence of the story in a single Bible verse.

As we near the end of Genesis and Jacob—Israel—has died, we find Joseph’s brothers fearing for their lives for Joseph has great power.  Hear what Joseph told his brothers.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

What you intended for evil, God used for good.  Because of what Joseph went through and where he ended up, much of the known world would be saved from severe famine.  We will get there chapter by chapter, but for now, realize that Joseph’s brothers did an evil thing. In the moment, what the brothers did to Joseph was an evil thing.

There was no vision given to the 10 brothers that Joseph somehow needed to work his way into the service of the Pharoah of Egypt.  They just hated their brother.

Thanks to Reuben, the oldest, they didn’t kill him. Reuben didn’t return Joseph to his father.  In fact, he left his brothers for a time and Judah came up with the bright idea of selling him. The whole thing seemed to develop moment-to-moment.

What was so important that it took Reuben away?  Maybe he stopped in for a quick visit with Bilhah.  Maybe it was something else, but whatever it was, Reuben was gone long enough for his brothers to have sold Joseph into slavery.

Reuben didn’t say, give me the silver, and I will buy him back.  How would that work out? Remember, Joseph liked to report the conduct of his brothers.  This whole throwing him in a hole and selling him to spice merchants surely wouldn’t set well with Dad.

What was done was done.  Joseph was westbound and the brothers would try to go on like they had no idea what happened to their brother.

C’mon God, was this really your plan?

Reuben rescued Joseph only to be lax in his protection.

Judah was an opportunist and saw how to make a quick buck by selling Joseph.

All seemed complicit in the goat’s blood scheme.  We don’t see it in the scriptures, but I would think that all of the brothers had meat to eat that night.  You don’t waste a goat just because all you needed was its blood.

This sounds like one of those plans drawn up on the back of a napkin at Burger King.  Was this really God’s plan?

It was, but human eyes could not see it along the way.  The plan was too big to comprehend it from a single human vantage point. It was too big to realize in the moment.

And so, we come once again to trust in the Lord with all of your heart. It may seem like God isn’t listening sometimes, but we should consider that it might also be that we are part of a plan that’s bigger than we could imagine.

It’s bigger than just getting through school.

It’s bigger than raising the kids and retiring.

It’s bigger than getting or not getting the job that you knew was best for you.

It’s bigger than how many kids come to VBS.

It’s bigger than the weekly offering.

It’s bigger than reading your daily devotion or your daily reading in Genesis.

God has good plans for you and sometimes you find that you have a big part in those plans.  Sometimes the part may not seem so big, but it is still a part of the plan.

Does that mean that we should go out and do evil because God will use it for good?  No.

We should seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness every day.  We seek these above everything else.  We should desire to be known as a disciple of Christ Jesus by our love.  We should be salt and light in this world.

But we should also not be discouraged when we can’t see the full plan right now.  This whole faith business is important.  We must trust God that he is at work at the macro level in the world and the micro level in our lives and everywhere else in between.

He is sovereign.

He is holy.

He is righteous.

He is just.

His timing is divine.

His love is everlasting.

His grace exceeds our sin.

And he has good plans for us.

Sometimes we might feel like we have been thrown in a hole and sold as a slave, but God has good plans for us. When we are in that hole and when we are sold into slavery, God is with us and has good plans for us.

OK, that is a good analogy with Joseph’s story.  You get your preacher points for today, but I feel like even though I am seeking God, I am being pulled in different directions.

I enjoy—not always at first—but I enjoy growing in God’s grace.  I relish the fellowship of believers.  Isn’t it so sweet to be in the company of those who are brothers and sisters with Christ?  I love the fellowship.

But I am also called to go into the world and call sinners to repent.  It sounds easy, but so many don’t want to hear this.  So many do not want to listen to me talk about regeneration.

What’s regeneration?  It’s being born again, and nobody comes to life eternal without being born again.

I trust that God has a plan and it’s a good plan, but sometimes I just feel pulled in different directions.  I trust but sometimes I am troubled.

Jesus told us that we must not be troubled by the trouble in the world, even when it is on our doorstep. We must take courage in the One who overcame the world.

We must not get lost in our present suffering.  We know that it will be nothing compared to what God has in store for us.

We must take our next steps in faith, even when and especially when, we have little substance or evidence to hold on to in this world.

We must remember that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

We might think that our family just disowned us and sold us into slavery, but we must trust that God will never disown us and that he has good plans for us even when we can’t see the plan—even when it feels like we were thrown in a hole and sold into slavery.

As we continue to the end of Genesis, we see that Joseph has more trials ahead of him, but God’s plan becomes more and more obvious to us as we go through this story.

God’s plan is not always as obvious in our lives.  His sovereignty, his holiness, his righteousness, and his love are apparent to those of us who have professed Jesus as Lord and have taken on his yoke and are learning from him, but we must have faith that his plans for us are good plans.

What do we take home from this story about Joseph? Trust God that he will use everything for good for we love him and are set apart for his purpose.

Trust that God has good plans for us.

Trust God even in and especially in our worst moments.

Know that God’s plans do not always mean a smooth ride.  There may be bumps in the road.

Here’s the analogy that has been around almost as long as the Wright brothers.

You have a choice of two flights. 

The first one has a good takeoff and a safe landing.  There will be some turbulence along the way.  The flight might be too rough to get your 4-ounce Dr. Pepper in that clear plastic cup with 3 pieces of ice. It might be too rough.

The second option has a silky-smooth flight with drinks and snacks galore.  You will feel like you are in First Class even though you only paid for the economy ticket.  The landing, however, is not likely to go well.  It might be bumpy or it might look more like a crash.

Which flight do you want? 

Of course, we want the one with the safe landing!

We must trust that God has good plans for us.  The road or the flight might be a little bumpy, but our landing will be fantastic.

Trust that God has good plans for us.

Trust God even in and especially in our worst moments.

Trust God even when we can see the big picture.

Amen.