Looking Back

“FAMILY FEUD”
Text: Genesis 45:1-15
Faith United
August 17, 2008


I really hate election years
I hate them as much as I hate tabloids
We live in a world where people’s worst moments
are broadcast out to the whole world
to be scrutinized, judged and analyzed
Some say, well, if they want to be rich and famous
that’s the price they have to pay --
but it’s inhumane
People, as I’ve said before,
talk about how small towns are a hotbed of rumors
and false stories
this is true
but the rest of the world is no better
at least if someone spreads a rumor about us in Gibbon
it’s pretty much a rumor in Gibbon
but if someone spreads a rumor on the internet
or on cable TV
or posts something on YouTube
well, the whole world makes it their business
especially if you’re well-known
I get really angry at the hypocrisy
that comes out in election years
as if our own lives, our own families, our own communities,
our own churches
don’t have deep, infectious scars
Those stories that still cause us pain
those infidelities that are an open sore
Those mistakes, those crashes,
those times when we or somebody we love
is at their weakest
Why do you suppose we love to watch hours of Cable news
that analyzes and picks apart
` someone else’s past mistakes and screw-ups?
Because then we don’t have to pay attention
to our own
we feel better
when we can see and exploit the sins of others
The current fascination with John Edwards’ infidelities
is just another illustration
at how we feel better humiliating someone else
so that we don’t have to think about our own sins
or deepest regrets

How many stories do we read
of our favorite music or movie stars
who reached the pinnacle of success and adoration
only to crash and burn?
I don’t believe it’s entirely their fault
Sure, we’re all responsible for our lives and our decisions
but we also live in a society that takes extraordinary people
tries to make them into gods and goddesses
tries to believe that finally, someone is above
our human condition
we exploit them, we sell them like products
and when they stop making us money
or stop being wonderful
we throw them out with yesterday’s trash
and we wonder why so many lives
are ruined by drugs and alcohol
and disastrous behavior
and another gifted person crashes and burns
and we write books about them and their demise
and make lots of money
Well, CNN and Fox News
would have had a field day with the family of Jacob
Family dysfunction is not just a modern thing
Ruined lives and relationships and exploitation
are as old as humankind
We’ve been talking about Jacob
and his crazy behavior,
his bad relationships, and his deceitful ways
that God was able to redeem
by knocking his hip out of joint by a river at midnight
I love the Old Testament
some people hate it
I love it because it is so honest
it doesn’t hide anything
that’s why some people hate it
it’s confusing
It shows the worst and the best of humankind
all in the same stories
Because to be our best
we have to face our worst
and trust that God can use it all
That’s why I like Jacob and his absolutely crazy family
Jacob loved Rachel more than life itself
but his uncle tricked him into marrying Rachel’s older sister first
and then Rachel
This was of course in the age of polygamy….
Jacob never loved Leah like he loved Rachel
but Leah could get pregnant
and Rachel could not
Which was a big deal in those days
A woman was worthless if she couldn’t make babies
especially male babies
So Leah gave birth to 10 sons
While Rachel was apparently infertile and humiliated
Finally, however, Rachel gave birth to Joseph
and Joseph was therefore Jacob’s favorite son --
his beloved child with his beloved Rachel
Then Rachel gave birth to Benjamin
and she died during childbirth
They didn’t have grief support groups back then
and really, a wife then, was basically a baby machine
so no one could understand the horrible grief
that Jacob felt at Rachel’s death
He loved her so much
He never cared that she had trouble bearing children
He loved her for who she was – his precious Rachel
So when Rachel died,
Jacob went a little crazy
and he treated young Joseph like a king
because he was his mother’s first-born
Joseph became a spoiled brat
His ten older brothers all worked hard on the land
but Joseph didn’t have to
His brothers knew he was the favorite son
and they resented him more and more
for his special treatment
His dad made him a coat of many colors --
we even have a Broadway musical about it --
it was the kind of coat that a prince would wear
and not someone who worked up a sweat
Joseph didn’t work a day in his early life
he wore his precious coat
and gloated among his sweaty, overworked brothers
He shared his dreams with them
totally oblivious to how obnoxious and self-centered he was
He shared dreams he’d dreamed
about his brothers bowing down to him like a lord
and he couldn’t understand why they were so upset
When he dreamed of the very moon and stars
bowing down to him, Joseph,
Jacob thought maybe his son was going too far
But Joseph would wander the fields in his coat
and spy on his brothers
and when he caught them not working,
he’d go and tattle on them to Jacob
and get them in trouble
And so his brothers built up all this anger inside of themselves
like a bullied nerd in high school
like a woman who’s been beaten up by her husband
one too many times
like a disgruntled employee
who is tired of being taken for granted
and one day, when Joseph came to the field
they had had it
They wanted to kill him
but instead they threw him in a pit
and when some foreigners came by,
they actually sold their brother as a slave
Then they soaked his precious royal coat
in goat’s blood and took it to their father
and told him that Joseph had been mauled by a wild animal
and Jacob was irreparably stricken with grief
The brothers thought everything would be better
with Joseph gone,
but it wasn’t…
their father never recovered from his grief
and increasingly over the years,
the brothers grew more and more guilty
not knowing how to reverse their horrible secret
Meanwhile, Joseph became a slave in Egypt
just like his ancestors
but he became a slave to Pontiphar
when Joseph’s gifts for dream interpretation were discovered
he was given a high position on Pontiphar’s staff
he was given leadership and responsibility
Then, of course, as always seems to happen
they higher they go, the harder they fall
Pontiphar’s wife thought Joseph was pretty hot
and so when Joseph refused her advances
she claimed that Joseph had attacked HER
and Joseph was thrown into prison
It’s the stuff of daytime drama, isn’t it?
Joseph was in prison for a long, long time
many years
he helped his prison mates interpret their dreams
but when the others were set free
they forgot about Joseph and their promises to put in a good word
Until finally, the Pharoah had nightmares
and someone said that there was a prisoner
who could interpet dreams
and so the Pharoah sent for him
Dreams held a lot of power back then
they were highly respected as God’s way of communicating
and also of being warnings about the future
so that people could prepare
Joseph interpreted the Pharoah’s dreams
and told him that in his dreams
it was revealed that there would be 7 years of abundance of crops
followed by 7 years of famine
and so he instructed the Pharoah to store up the excess crops
during the years of abundance
so that there would be enough during the years of famine
enough for everyone
Pharoah was so grateful to Joseph
he said to all his servants,
“Can we find anyone else like this??
One in whom is the spirit of God?”
He believed that there was no one wiser than Joseph
and so he gave Joseph the responsibility
to organize the effort of preserving the food
in anticipation of the years of famine
All the other servants were to do
as Joseph said
He gave Joseph authority over all the lands of Egypt
During that first seven years of abundance,
Joseph got married and had children
and rose in respect and leadership in Egypt
as the most wise and discerning man among them
He gathered up food for seven years,
stored up grain in every city
and the grain was so abundant
it says it was like the sands of the sea
He named his first born, Manasseh
which means, “Making to forget”
because, Joseph said,
“God has made me forget all the hardship
and all the pain of my father’s house…. “
After 7 years of abundance
just as Joseph had predicted
there were 7 years of terrible famine
throughout the lands
Jacob never got over his son’s death
and over the years, Joseph’s brothers carried that awful
life-sucking burden of guilt
because they saw what irreparable pain
they’d caused their beloved father
When Jacob’s family ran out of food
during the famine
they were desperate
They heard about this leader in Egypt
who was storing up grain
and passing it out to those in need
And so the brothers were ordered to travel to Egypt
to gather grain for their family
to get them through the famine
A lot of things happened after that
that would nicely fill a TV mini series
and be just as juicy in its deceit, conniving and manipulation
but the short of it is,
finally, Joseph’s brothers came before Joseph
looking for grain for their family
They didn’t recognize their brother
after all those years
and he being dressed up in fine clothes
and exercising power and authority
They came humble, asking for bread
from this great and powerful man
Joseph knew all along who they were
but didn’t reveal himself at first
Finally, he couldn’t take it
he broke down
he sent all his servants away
and he wailed so loudly
that the whole neighborhood heard it
Everyone in town heard it
and wondered what was going on
The brothers stood there incredibly uneasy
watching this powerful man
the only one who could feed them—
seeing him completely broken apart
Joseph looked at all his brothers
the ones who’d beaten him up, humiliated him
and sold him into slavery
he’d imagined this day many years ago
he’d imagined what he would do to them when he saw them
and now that the day came,
he didn’t do anything that he would have imagined
Instead, through his tears, and with choking sobs
he reached out his hands
and said, “I am Joseph, your brother….
tell me, please, is my father still alive?”
The brothers were dumbfounded, to say the least
they’d assumed that Joseph had long been dead
Killed in slavery somewhere along the way
They didn’t speak, they couldn’t speak
what could they possibly say???
So Joseph spoke again
“Come closer,” he said
and they did….
and he said, “I am Joseph, really.
I’m the one you sold into slavery
but don’t carry the guilt anymore
don’t beat yourselves up anymore
because you did that to me...”
And they still couldn’t speak
Because Joseph was no longer their spoiled brat brother
he’d grown up
considerably
Joseph looked back on the whole story
and saw how God had put him right where he was
so that he could go ahead of his family
and prepare the grain
prepare the harvest for this famine
so that they and their people would not starve
In the end, Joseph said to them,
“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….”
In other words,
Joseph could see the Big Picture
he could see that God brought good out of all the horror of his past
I’m not saying that God made Joseph’s brothers do the evil they did
or that God justified the evil they did
But that God can take the worst that humankind
can dish out, and transform it into good
Fredrick Buechner wrote that God is the great Alchemist
An alchemist was an ancient scientist who tried to take lead
and transmute it into god
and Buechner says that God takes people
who seem to be at their absolute end
who are hopeless
who are seeming degenerates and losers
and is able to transform them—us—
into something new
Joseph broke down after taking a good look at his life
his painful past and all the anger that had built up
and he’s able to trust the mystery of God
that is beyond his control
he’s willing to trust that God has a purpose for his life
that is larger than his own horizon
Walter Brueggeman writes that life with God is a much larger life
than we can imagine
life with God shatters our little categories of control,
and that God’s purposes lead us further, high
Look at your story, look at your life
We all have stories
many of which we won’t tell
some of which the rest of the town or the family
tells for us, at least their version
But if we look back in our lives
in the life of Gibbon, Nebraska
in the life of this church
in the life of our own families
in the life and history of our nation
We’ll stumble across some terrible stories
stories that embarrass us, shame us
stories that we hope don’t make it onto CNN or Fox News
because they have the power to humiliate us
but if we look at the whole story
if we look at the Big Picture
we can see ways that God has sustained us
and even prospered us
through absolutely stony roads
through times that shattered our hearts
and through bizarre ironies
and soap-opera-like stories
I’ve often said that I don’t understand why Good Friday
the day of Jesus’ horrible crucifixion
is called Good
In fact, it could be the worst day of all
the most horrifying day of all
when humankind would attempt to kill God
and yet so often in the story of Christianity
the worst news becomes the best news
Crucifixion turns into resurrection
Devastation turns into redemption
God can use it all, there is nothing that has to go to waste
Forgiveness is a powerful gift
but it’s really, really hard
in fact, most of the time, it feels humanly impossible
and maybe it is
but it wasn’t just Joseph who forgave his brothers
their long list of horrifying atrocities against him
It was God at work in him
That gave him the courage to let go of the past
to admit it was horrible, but not unredeemable
to say, ‘hey, you screwed up, I was a spoiled brat
we made a mess of things
but God took our mess and made it into an abundant crop
of grace and love and hope…’
God’s fingerprints are all over this story
and if we look at our stories, I bet we can find God’s fingerprints
all over them too
Because even at the worst of times that we believe it’s all over
God has never left us and never let go of our hand
Barbara Brown Taylor says that God isn’t a puppeteer
forcing us to do what he wants us to do
but rather, God is the Greatest Artist --
that nothing is too bent to be used
nothing is too damaged—
not bad decisions, failed relationships,
not tragedies or even plain human meanness
We are God’s living works of art
us, this church, this community, this country, this world
and when we look back at our lives
no matter how broken they are in places
we, like Joseph, can see not a series of senseless tragedies
but a winding path
that is lit by the ever-present, life-giving light of God
You and I are God’s living works of art
and the finishing touches are a long way off
Trust in the creative, sometimes amusing, but always redeeming
spirit of God in your life….
and keep on Living in that Light…