Welcome, friends! Click the video below and let us gather together around the Word of God.
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For the story of Joseph set to song, click Bend by Brandon Heath.
May the Lord bless you
and keep you.
May the Lord smile down on you
and show you his kindness.
May the Lord answer your prayers
and give you peace. Amen.
When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”
Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. So, Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain, for there was famine in the land of Canaan also.
Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people. So, when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked.
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.”
Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”
“No, my lord,” they answered. “Your servants have come to buy food. We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”
“No!” he said to them. “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”
But they replied, “Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”
Joseph said to them, “It is just as I told you: You are spies! And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” And he put them all in custody for three days.
On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.” This they proceeded to do.
They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.”
Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.” They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.
He turned away from them and began to weep, but then came back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.
Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them, they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.
At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. “My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack.”
Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?” (NIV)
So far, the story of Joseph has been told in three acts:
Today’s Old Testament narrative hinges on the treatment of Joseph toward his brothers, who don’t know who he is, and on the response of guilt the brothers have concerning their encounter with Joseph. It is a story of guilt and grace; and, there must be one before the other.
Joseph’s brothers have a history; they aren’t very nice guys. Thus far in the book of Genesis, we have these events from them:
These guys seem like disappointing recipients of Abraham’s covenant. Yet, this only heightens how gracious God is (who is always the principal actor in all these stories). God’s covenant loyalty is the operative force and is not dependent on the actions of less than stellar brotherly spirit.
So, Joseph, knowing his brothers’ character, put them to the test. He did not trust them any more than he could lift a pyramid, and so, set up a ruse to find out about his brother, Benjamin, and his father, Jacob. Joseph appeared to carefully craft a plan to see Benjamin (his only full brother) and be with him – whereas he doesn’t seem to have any desire, understandably, to be with his other half-brothers.
Joseph’s plan awakened (likely unintentionally) guilt in the brothers for what they had done to Joseph. There are two kinds of guilt: true guilt and false guilt. False guilt takes responsibility for something which we have not done or assumes guilt for some nebulous action. On the other hand, true guilt arises from a specific act which spurs the person to seek forgiveness, repentance, and reconciliation. This is a grace from God.
Sometimes we need to get our behind in the past before we can get our past behind us.
Moving forward in life, while ignoring actions which have hurt or damaged others, will eventually come back to bite us in that same behind – not to mention the unattended guilt which, over time, turns into gangrene of the soul.
Today is the day to deal with unresolved stuff lingering within your spirit, for tomorrow may be too late. Let us confess our sins:
Holy and merciful God, I confess my sinfulness – the shortcomings and offenses against you and your people. You alone know how often I have sinned in wandering from your ways, wasting your gifts, and forgetting your love. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am ashamed and sorry for all I have done to displease you and harm your image-bearers. Forgive my sins and help me to live in your light and walk in your ways, for the sake of Jesus Christ, my Savior. Amen.
The New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John allow us to see Jesus for who he really is: The Son of God, the true King of the universe who seeks to reconcile people to God through his life, miracles, and teaching. The Gospels also allow us to see the disciples of Jesus for who they really are: A rag-tag bunch who express both belief and doubt, and experience both faith and failure.
The reality of the Christian life is that it is often a herky-jerky three-steps-forward and two-steps-backward kind of experience. An expectation that we will “succeed” and have everything go well every time we try something by stepping out in faith is way out of step with how things work in both this world and in the kingdom of God. It would be a bit like a basketball player expecting to make every free throw attempt – and if they cannot do it, they refuse to even try.
Doubt and failure are important experiences for the believer in Jesus Christ. Without failure, there is no Christian life. Never failing means we have not tried – we are still in the boat, having never left the safety of established routines and responded to God’s command to come, leave your comfort zone, and enter the scary world of kingdom living.
Our failures may sometimes, like the disciple Peter, be colossal belly-flops. Yet, the story of Peter getting out of the boat and walking on the water and becoming overcome with the waves is just as much or more about Jesus (Matthew 14:22-33). Christ extended grace to Peter and helped him, even in his failure of faith. Therefore, our failures do not need to define us. Jesus is Lord over the water, the storms, and of everything – including our own hardship and trouble.
Yes, there are a lot of scary things in life. Learning to ride a bike is scary. Driving for the first time on an icy road is scary. Getting married and having kids is scary. Admitting an addiction or unethical behavior is scary. Sharing the innermost thoughts with a friend is scary. It is scary just to be in this world. It can even be scary to be at church! It is all scary because we might fail, and the failure, we reason and worry about, might crush us.
However, the fear of failure need not control our lives because grace overcomes everything. We all find ourselves, at times, caught midway between faith and doubt. Yet, to know this situation is to experience grace. If the worst scenario you worry about in your head would actually come to pass, it will still never change the reality that God loves you! And it will not stop Jesus from extending his hand to you in a life-saving grip of grace.
Fear only melts away when we keep our eyes on Jesus. Christ is the polestar whom we must center our lives, instead of focusing on the waves around us. The truth sets us free, so, take note of the following truths about Jesus that will help us overcome the fear of failure and embrace a life of faith.
Jesus is a person of prayer (Matthew 14:22-24).
Jesus, the Son of God, was deeply dependent on his heavenly Father. His life exhibited the necessities of simple prayer and obedience. If Jesus found the need for solitude and prayer in his life and ministry, how much more to we need it!?
Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go out on the lake. As Lord of the elements, he knew very well they were about to face a storm. Sure enough, the storm clouds gathered, and the boat got thrown around by the waves. Even though the disciples were doing God’s will by going out on the lake, they were not spared from the adversity. In fact, Jesus wanted them to experience the storm because it is through the storm that we really learn faith.
Faith is a muscle which requires continual use. Through stressful and vigorous exercise, there is a breaking down of muscle tissue and tearing of muscle fibers which leaves the body in need of rest and recuperation. It is through this process of healing that the muscles grow and are strengthened. Muscles which do not experience this type of stress become useless and eventually atrophy. Show me a person of great faith, and I’ll show you a person who has gone through a boat load of adversity and hurt, having allowed Jesus to grace them with healing.
There is no shame in either being hurt and/or admitting failure. Where there is shame, our instinct is to run away much like our ancestors Adam and Eve. We can try and hide from the shame, but we will end up hiding ourselves from the grace that could be ours through the Body of Christ. Grace is free, not cheap – it is accessed by the humility of confession.
Jesus is present with us, bringing an end to fear (Matthew 14:25-27).
Although on the middle of a lake during a storm, Jesus was still present with the disciples. Adverse weather was no problem for Jesus – he just walked on the water to be with them. Even though the disciples had just seen and participated in the miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand, they were not looking for another miracle. Maybe that is why they did not recognize Jesus and were afraid when they saw him.
The disciples’ expectations of Jesus were far too low! Sometimes when we are afraid, we fail to see Jesus, even when he is right in front of our faces. We just do not expect him to be there. When the disciples cried out in fear, Jesus responded. I used to work at a factory where I trained people in their jobs. When the training was finished, I had the trainees evaluate our time together. The top response I received from most of them is that it was my presence that helped them to learn their job – the ability to fail time and time again. And having me there to rescue them when things got overwhelming eventually built faith that they could do it on their own.
Jesus wants those who follow him to imitate him (Matthew 14:28-31).
Jesus walked on water. Jesus invited Peter to walk on water. We are to do what Jesus did. Notice that Peter is not chided by Jesus for getting out of the boat but for doubting that he could continue in the miracle that was happening. Jesus wants more than a regurgitation or parroting of his teaching; he wants us to exercise that learning through actual deeds of faith. Once the command of Jesus was given to “come” then walking on water became nothing more than a matter of trust. Christianity is more than a set of doctrines to believe; it is a powerful reality to be live into.
“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.” –G.K. Chesterton
We understandably get nervous when a crazy Jesus and an unpredictable Holy Spirit call us to get out of the friendly confines of the boat. After all, we might fail. However, it is in such times we bank on the Word of God and the promises of God.
The Apostle James said that if we find ourselves lacking wisdom to deal with the unpredictable and unknowable that we are to ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and will be given to them (James 1:5).
Peter responded to his sinking situation by crying out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out and saved Peter from his own doubt and lack of faith. Jesus called Peter a “little-faith.” Many people have lived too long with the notion that God is some stern angry deity who is constantly displeased with his sinful people, and that only through perfection will he ever be happy with us. The truth is that Jesus wants us to imitate him; and, when we fail, he is there to pick us up.
Jesus has the authority to settle the storm when he is good and ready to do it (Matthew 14:32).
Jesus is the King of the universe and the Sovereign of the world. He will bring the crisis to an end according to his own good pleasure and in his own good timing. Rather than spending all our emotional capital by worrying or conniving to get out of a situation, we need to trust God and keep our eyes on Jesus. Our job is trust; God’s job is everything else.
Jesus’ power led the disciples to acknowledge who he is (Matthew 14:33).
Worship happens when we see Jesus as he really is, the Son of God. Flat, dull, boring worship comes from flat, dull, boring Christians who are unable to see the power of Jesus in their lives. And the way we know the power of God is when we are in a situation which requires God’s strength to deliver us. Grasping Jesus as the Son of God is more than a verbal confession of faith; it is being able to trust him, like getting out of a boat in the middle of a lake.
We are to live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us (Galatians 2:20). It does not require much faith to pray that Aunt Mable’s bunions will feel better. It only requires a little faith to give a dollar when you have ten dollars. It takes no faith to discuss the weather and steer clear of hard conversations.
However, it does require faith to pray for a miraculous healing every day without giving up for a little boy who is racked by epilepsy, and trust God to spare his life. It does require faith to write a check for $100 to someone in need when you have exactly $100 in your checking account, and you must trust God to provide for you own necessities. It does require faith to deviate from the routine schedule to have a difficult discussion about race. It does require faith to act on Christ’s teachings. It does require faith to live as though the mission of God in this world is the most important thing we could ever do.
It would be nice for me say that if you live by faith in the Son of God that you will never fail, but that would be lying. The only way of not failing is not living life, and not exercising faith. It would be great if we could pray and act without ever doubting, yet the only way to avoid doubt is to not believe.
So, may we embrace the life that is truly life by stepping out of the boat. May Jesus define our lives instead of letting failure define us. May we accept the grace that is ours in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 