In the name of Jesus. Amen.
“Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he [Joseph] was the son of his old age; and he had made him [Joseph] a long robe with sleeves.” Or a Technicolor dream coat as many of you know the story.
You all know the type: the youngest of a bunch of siblings who snaps their fingers and gets everything they want; daddy’s little baby. [Can you tell I’m an oldest???]
Joseph’s brothers hated him because his dad loved him so much. And then one day, little baby Joseph had a dream and when this snotty little dreamer told his brothers about his dream, they hated him even more. His dream pictured his brothers bowing down to him. And so the story goes. His brothers plot to get rid of him, hoping to sell him into slavery and never see him again.
Except there’s a problem with this plan; and its kind of a big problem. The little dreamer boy Joseph is an instrument of God and has only just begun to understand what God will do with his life.
To make a really great, but long story short, Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery, Joseph grows up, Joseph eventually rises to the top of the Egyptian government because of another dream which foreshadowed a drought in the entire country and allowed the Pharaoh to store up enough grain to feed all the people.
In it all, Joseph’s brothers lose contact with their brother and never realize that the very grain that is saving them from starvation was a gift because of their brother. When they eventually do find out, Joseph’s brothers have a lot of explaining to do, especially to their father who is overjoyed that Joseph was not dead, but had only gone missing.
Knowing full well that their father was the only person keeping them alive, the brothers are terrified with their father finally dies. They are terrified because little baby Joseph is now all grown up, very powerful, and good possibly be looking for some revenge now that their father is not around to protect them.
There are a million different directions we could take this story. We could talk about how families are constantly torn apart by jealously and anger. We could talk about how God provides for God’s people abundantly, even in times of drought. Any number of things come up in this story.
But perhaps the most important one of all is the difference between our plans and the purposes of God. You see, Joseph’s brothers were schemers. They plotted to get rid of their brother because their little brother constantly took the spotlight with daddy. Their little brother got everything he wanted, including the cherished robe. And when the little dreamer boy had a dream about his brothers bowing down to him it was enough to send them over the edge.
Actually killing him was a bit much, but if they could convince their dad that he’d been attacked by wild animals, they’d be golden. They’d sell him into slavery instead of killing him. And they’d wipe their hands clean.
They were schemers, conniving their way into daddy’s favor by getting rid of their brother. But their little plan was soon to be overthrown by a big, big problem. God had another big plan for little dreamer boy Joseph. It was in his dreams that God would direct that little boy into a national hero and Joseph would eventually credit his God for the gift of the grain in a time of drought.
Just like the story of Abraham last week and the story of Adam and Eve the week before that, we have another story in which human beings fail to let God be God. Joseph’s brothers need to get rid of their brother instead of trusting the God of Joseph’s dreams.
God somehow seems to be a threat for human beings, especially when we so desperately to earn our favor. Little dreamer boy Joseph has the favor of not only his father Israel, but God himself. And his brothers are angry because Joseph has done nothing to earn the favor; he is simply daddy’s favorite because he was the baby.
Human beings have this nasty tendency to want to earn favor. We are bound to sin, Luther said. And God has this unpleasant tendency to choose the last, the lost, and the least of these. The poor, the blind, the sick, the demon possessed, the sinners, the unclean, the unrighteous, the Gentiles, the list could go on and on and on. Societies outcast are the favored ones of God. Even the young Virgin Mary sang when she heard that God was going to grow his very own son in her womb. And her song proclaimed, “you have cast the mighty down from their thrones and uplifted the humble of heart. You have filled the hungry with wondrous things and left the wealthy no part.”
God has this tendency to favor those who are lowly, those who are the last, those who are the least, those whom the proud have trudged and kicked. And we humans want no part of a God like this. We are bound to sin. We make our own plans and scheme our own way to the top. Our plans include deception, lies, forced promotions, perhaps even selling our own siblings into slavery, as in the case of Joseph.
And, as scripture reminds us, God has other plans. Remember the words of Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.” Or the words of Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
If ever God had a plan, it is this: to love the unlovable, to care for those in need, and to forgive the sinner.
And Joseph knew that because of his dreams. In his dreams, God had placed with Joseph the job of caring for whole nations who would starve and forgive his sinful brothers. Joseph had a remarkable gift to dream and see God’s plan and purpose, which is to care for those who are hungry and to forgive those who sin.
And so, when Joseph’s brothers come crying at his feet, sorry for ever selling him into slavery, Joseph knows how to do only one thing: to forgive them. “But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.’”
At our worst, we hung God’s only Son on a cross. But even though we intended it for harm, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today for you. Yes, you. You who sit and scheme, you who plan and purpose. God’s ways are not your ways, nor your thoughts his. He has a plan for you, plans for your welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. And he has fulfilled his plan in his Son Jesus for your sake. So, dear people of God, rest, assured of God’s plan and purpose for your welfare and good.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
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