21 June 2009
Father’s Day
U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris
Fortress Chapel
Contingency Operation Site (C.O.S.) Sykes
Tall-afar, Iraq
BIG IDEA: God’s plan is something people would have never dreamed of when it comes to relationship reconciliation.
REFERENCES: Ephraim (The younger son means “double fruitfulness” – “for God made him fruitful in the land of his affliction”.); Manasseh (The older son); Genesis 37:1-11 (ESV) – Joseph’s Dreams; Genesis 37:12-36 (ESV) Joseph Sold by His Brothers; Genesis 42 (ESV) – Joseph Brothers Go To Egypt; Genesis 48:15-16 (ESV) And he blessed Joseph and said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth; Isaiah 55:9 (ESV) For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts; Genesis 48:1-22 (ESV); Hebrews 11:21 (ESV) By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff; John 4:5 (ESV) So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph; Joshua 24:32 (ESV) As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph; Proverbs 10:1 (ESV) A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother. Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death; Ephesians 6:1-4 (ESV) Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord; Exodus 20:12 (ESV) Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you; Matthews 20:21-23 (ESV) – A Mother’s Request – Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus answered “you do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink? They said to him, “We are able,”
I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: Genesis 48:8-14 (ESV)
II. READ THE PERICOPE: Genesis 48:8-14 (ESV)
III. READ THE TEXT: Genesis 48:14 (ESV) And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn).
IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to affirm to others that faith – in relationship reconciliation - recognizes that God’s ways are not man’s ways.
V. SERMONIC THEME: “Dad’s Right Hand”
VI. INTRODUCTION:
Happy Father’s Day 2009 to all of our fathers today.
I also wish a Happy Father’s Day to all of your fathers too. It’s my prayer that all of you – by now - have done right and mailed cards and sent flowers, gifts, (or notes of appreciation) to your natural and spiritual fathers.
Also, we want to encourage you to extend an “Olive Branch” to those fathers and spiritual leaders that – in your opinion – “haven’t been all that and a bag of chips”. For I submit to you today that those fathers did the best they could with what they had. So, I charge you as Christians to do everything you can to reconcile your relationship with your father.
For the Good Book says in Ephesians 6:1-4 (ESV):
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor … your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord; Again, Happy Father’s Day to all fathers!
Someone has said that Faith recognizes that God’s ways are not man’s ways when it comes to relationship reconciliation; and God’s plan is something people would have never dreamed of.
Isaiah 55:9 (ESV) says … - For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
On this Father’s Day, in Iraq, we want to remind believers – everywhere - that God works unconventionally to patch up wounded relationships with our parents.
As Isaiah indicated, God doesn’t follow the traditions of men.
Now, I’m not a construction worker and I’m not a builder; but I’m been told that “usually” when a house is being built …. that the builder builds the foundation first. The builder starts from the bottom-up; But, when God – our creator builds or creates – He … The Great I am… creates differently. He creates from the Top-down.
For the Good Book says in Genesis 1:1 (ESV): In the beginning, God … created the heavens and … then the … earth. In other words, God is unconventional. – We can’t figure him out. Therefore, our FAITH (this Father’s Day) recognizes that God Ways or not man’s Ways. In our Scripture today, Joseph, like so many others, expected God to work in a certain way, but found – for himself - that God is often pleased to work differently and sometimes even unconventionally.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 1: As a result, it’s not always what it looks like – someone that is down today, because of family relationships, maybe up tomorrow; Someone that finished the race second today – in God’s plan - may finish First tomorrow when it comes to their families.
a. For God has His own traditions … and mannerisms when it comes to relationship reconciliation.
b. Who can ever forget the story of Joseph – The Dreamer – in Genesis, Chapter 37?
c. For don’t you remember – The Good Book tells us that Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son
d. Jacob loved Joseph more than his brothers because he was a son of his old age. Sometimes when children are born during a challenging time in your life, it can cause you to value that stage of life a little more.
e. Consequently, Jacob showed his love for Joseph having been borne during latter years by making Joseph a coat of many colors.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 2: For don’t you remember, it was a long-sleeved coat, richly decorated, with a shirt-like tunic reaching to the ankles?
a. It was something that “crown princes” wore while his brothers wore plain, sleeveless, short tunics while they worked.
b. As a result, he couldn’t go out into the fields and work wearing such a tunic.
c. Therefore, he was kept at home.
d. All of the special treatment caused his brothers to think that perhaps their father was planning to give Joseph the birthright and make him the leader of the family.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 3: In fact, the Good Book says Joseph brothers hated him so that they couldn’t even speak calmly to him.
a. And it didn’t help that this young, unwise, 17 years old Joseph had a dream where the “Sheaves of the brothers were bowing down respectfully before his sheaf …
b. … while his sheaf remained standing.
c. This could only mean that Joseph’s Royal Tunic had a future meaning.
d. Perhaps, he would rule over his brothers.
e. The Good Book tells us that Joseph brothers rejected this idea. Sometimes, it isn’t wise to share our “spiritual aspirations” with some of our brothers in the Lord. Because everyone can’t handle it without getting jealous.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 4: Then the Good Book tells us that Joseph had a “Second Dream”.
a. And this time, his dream indicated the sun, moon, and 11 stars were bowing down repeatedly to him. In other words, Joseph dreamed that even his mother and father would be bowing down to him along with his brothers
b. Joseph told the details of his dreams to his brothers with his father present. And in those days family respect was imperative and to allude to something like this wasn’t respectful. As a result, Jacob corrected him.
c. Still, the dream caused even more jealousy and bitterness from Joseph’s brothers. But, his father kept the matter in mind.
d. Later, Jacob (who was concerned about his sons health and welfare in the hot wilderness sun) sent Joseph to bring back a full report of how his brothers and his livestock were doing.
e. But, Joseph initially couldn’t find his brothers. And when the brothers saw Joseph coming dressed in his coat of many colors – it reminded them of his dreams and Joseph’s arrogance.
f. They planned to murder him and throw him down into one of the pits (or cisterns) at the bottom of the hill. Now, we’re not talking about enemies planning to kill Joseph, but we’re talking about his brothers – those that were reared with him; and we taught to look after him.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 5: The pits that they had in mind had narrow mouths covered by a large rock and were pear shaped, so it would be impossible for Joseph to climb out.
a. The plan was to tell their father (Jacob) that some evil wild animal had killed him.
b. Then they would see what would become of his dreams. But, when Reuben – the oldest brother - heard of the other brothers’ plan, he rescued Joseph by convincing his brothers NOT to take Joseph’s life.
c. The Good Book tells us that Reuben secretly planned to pull Joseph out of the pit later.
d. But, then the brothers saw an Ishmaelite Caravan headed for Egypt.
e. At this point, Judah took the leadership role and convinced his brothers Not to leave Joseph in the pit, because there would be “no profit” in killing him.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 6: Judah realized that leaving Joseph in the pit made them just as guilty as killing him. So, they sold Joseph for 20 Shekels of Silver to the Caravan that was headed to Egypt.
a. Now, in our text this morning, 20 years later after the narrative of Joseph and the Famine (Genesis 47:13-31), we find the family had been reunited and Jacob was losing his eyesight from old age.
b. Joseph had been informed that his father was ill; so he decides to carry his two sons with him.
c. It’s a good thing to visit our fathers; and it’s even better to carry our children with us.
d. After it was announced to Jacob that Joseph had arrived. Jacob mustered up enough energy to sit-up in bed and as he began to reminisce and share with Joseph, he suddenly noticed that there were two sons with Joseph … so he asked (in verse 48:8b) who are these?
e. Joseph replied these are the sons that God had given me in Egypt.
f. The Good Book says that Jacob requested that the boys are brought closer to him because he could not see them. As a result, he said to Joseph (in Genesis 48:11b)…
g. … I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 7: Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him.
a. The Good Book says in Proverbs 17:6 (ESV) that Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.
b. Israel stretched out his right hand … and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). And he blessed Joseph …
c. Faith recognizes that God’s ways are not man’s ways.
d. It took Jacob a lifetime of discipline to learn that fact. But he learned it, and now he blessed the younger over the elder.
e. For four consecutive generations this re-versed pattern – of blessing - was followed.
f. Now, my brothers and sisters – you maybe the last in line today – but hand in there – because tomorrow is coming!
g. God has a history of blessing the underdogs: It was Isaac blessed over Ishmael; Jacob was blessed over Esau; Joseph was blessed over Reuben, and now Ephraim is blessed over Manasseh.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 8: Not only was Joseph fully repaid for his suffering and having been placed in the pit of life for his dreams.
a. But, he was also raised to personal power, and saw his two sons adopted and given a prominent place as founders of two of the future nation’s strongest tribes.
b. God is known for choosing the underdogs of families; and the weak things of the world. Someone said that God raises the poor out of the dust of the ground.
c. He doesn’t always prefer the ones whom we think are often the fittest to be preferred;
d. but as it pleases Him. For don’t you remember he chose Abel over Cain; and Moses over Aaron.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
CELEBRATION:
Like Jacob, God the Father chooses to place his blessings in His Right Hand too:
Dad’s Right Hand-side is a position of authority and blessings!
For the Good Book says during the Final Judgment, God will separate the Sheep from the Goats (according to Matthew 25:33-34):
And will place the sheep of his right, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to those on his right,
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father … inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me ….
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ’Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
And the King will answer them; Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
In as much … as you showed love to your undeserving Fathers and Pastors … you did it also unto me …
In as much as you forgave the Fathers that left you … and your mother …when you were young … you did it also unto me …
In as much as you made attempts to strengthen and reconcile your strained relationships … you did it also unto me … well done … you’re on “Dad’s Right Hand –Side”
