People see what we as Christians esteem and who we love

 

Read Genesis 50

We take a brief excursion into the end of the first book of the Bible. It’s a big book, and we spent a year going through it.  We will look at the first part here.

It begins in the beginning. God told Adam to bring the creation into order and make it productive.

It doesn’t take long to get to sin and murder, and people turning away from the God who created them.

Then we get a big flood as God rebaselines the world.

Once the water receded enough, people were once again sent into the world to subdue it. During this time, God selected one people by whom to show the world how to live.  They were the Hebrew people. We mostly call them Jews these days and going back to the Babylonian Captivity.

These people were blessed to be a blessing, and through these people would come the Savior of the world.  He would come in the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom we also know as Israel.

This last part of Genesis deals with the death of Jacob. It would be a mundane story if it were not for Jacob’s sons. They were not without fault.

And you know the story of how much of the world was saved from famine because of what God did with the rather dastardly act of the brothers. Yes, they sold Joseph into slavery, but eventually that lands him as the second in command in Egypt and possibly the most powerful man in the world at that time.

Joseph saved everyone. Joseph brought his family into Egypt and cared for them. It’s a good story worth reading again but for now we go to the death of Jacob—Israel.

Let’s pick up with verse 1 in chapter 50..

Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him, and kissed him.  And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.  Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

 

Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying,  ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.’ ”

 

And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

 

So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen.  And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering.

 

Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim [the mourning of Egypt], which is beyond the Jordan.

 

So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.

 We will get to the what you intended for evil, God used for good in the next service. For now,  note two things.

First, Joseph saved everyone’s bacon, but the Pharoah and the Egyptians revered Joseph’s father. They didn’t really know him, but they knew Joseph and that was enough.

Second, those observing different aspects of this funeral and the logistics behind it noted the Egyptians' reverence for whomever this service was for. They noted that this was a big deal.

From these, we should note today that people are watching. Some have a clue as to what Christianity is and others don’t, but most are watching us.

What do we revere?

Who do we revere?

What would people see if they looked at us during the funeral of a loved one?

In Joseph’s time, the surrounding people saw grief and mourning. Jacob was an important man, for sure. That’s what the bystanders saw.

What would they see today from us?

Will they see celebration? Hope? Joy?

Or do we only mourn?

People who wish they had hope watch the people of hope.  People are watching you. We are people of hope.

What are they looking at or for? How about:

·       Did we help the least of these? Yeah, count on that being on the observer’s list.

·       Do we walk by on the other side of the road when someone needs help? That’s a big-ticket disqualifier.

·       Did we feed and clothe those who don’t have much of anything?

People will note all of those, but they will also note how we deal with death. Do we only mourn, or do we believe the promise of eternal life?

How do we deal with suffering? We just spent some time with that one. Are we still joyful as we go through our trials?

Are we forgiving? What good is it if we say we will live for eternity, but we won’t do the one thing that Jesus noted with some sternness? As your Father in heaven forgave you, you must forgive each other. Don’t mess this one up.

How do we react to the death of a loved one, suffering, and being wronged by someone?

Are we drawing people closer to God, or are we stumbling blocks for those who are lost or disconnected?

Keep feeding the hungry. Keep inviting the lost to know Christ. Keep inviting the disconnected to come home. Keep praying for those who just can’t seem to catch a break.

But know with certainty that how we respond to death, suffering, and being wronged is surely an asset or detriment to fulfilling our commission. Are we different from the world?

Let’s make it an asset. Let’s take Paul’s words as we consider Joseph’s actions.

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

We have zeal as we serve the Lord. We have hope. We are on fire when we serve the Lord.

We are joyful, patient, and faithful as we wait upon the Lord.

That’s what people should see.  The attraction to modern Christianity shouldn’t be the words on the wall or smoke coming out of the vents during the first couple of songs. It should be the very lives of those who follow Jesus.

Your life is a testimony—one way or another—your life registers with others. They may not know your needs, struggles, or desires, but they see your choices. They see your actions.  They see your attitude in victory and struggle. The people who see you regularly see how you handle life as a follower of Christ.

Your life is a testimony.

We still share words of life with others. There’s no getting off the hook with that one, nor should there be.

Understand this. Your words carry the veracity that people see in your life. Your testimony is whether or not you believe what you say you do. Is there fidelity between your words and your actions?

People should see what we are doing as we serve the Lord and want what we have. That will prompt people to seek God. That will bring glory to God.

Amen.