Today is the third message in the series based on the six pillars of ‘Character Counts!’
Two weeks ago, we started with the first pillar: trustworthiness and, as we looked at the Wise Men, we were informed that:
(Slide 1) To Be Trustworthy is to be reliable-to do what you say you’ll do and have the courage to do the right thing
(Slide 2) Last week, we stopped at the second pillar, respect and spent some time with Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
What was the main point last week about respect? (Refer to the slide as necessary.)
(Slide 3) What was the point I made last week about respect with this picture? (What is this picture of?)
(Looking for: respect requires us to look deeper at a person and see them as one love by God just as much as we are loved by God. It is a picture of an older and younger women.)
(Slide 4) Today we are stopping to examine the pillar called Responsibility and while Daniel’s story has much to tell us about responsibility, we are going to go spend time with another Old Testament character – Joseph.
Our text for this morning is Genesis 41:33-44 and before we read it let me briefly sketch Joseph’s life to this point to provide the setting for our text and how it illustrates responsibility.
Joseph was one of twelve brothers. In fact, he was the youngest. How many here this morning are the youngest in their family?
Joseph had a dream that he believed indicated that his older brothers would one day bow down to him. It made them mad, very mad.
He also was given a beautiful coat of many colors by his father. This also made his other brothers very, very, angry.
One day, the brothers went on a trip and Jacob, Joseph’s father, sent him to find out how they were doing. They saw him coming and decided to get rid of Joseph because they could not stand him. So, they threw him in a pit and left him to die. However, they started feeling guilty, saw a group of traders coming, and decided to sell him to them.
Joseph eventually ends up in Egypt and in the house of captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the Egyptian ruler. Well, things deteriorate because Joseph refused to do what was wrong with another man’s wife, and ends up in jail accused of something he did not do.
While there, he meets two of Pharaoh’s servants who had been jailed because they had displeased Pharaoh. He successfully interprets their dreams but is forgotten by the one who lives.
However, two years later, Pharaoh has a dream and none of his dream interpreters could interpret it. Finally, the one who had been in jail with Joseph, remembered that Joseph had successfully interpreted his dream.
Joseph is sent for and successfully interprets Pharaoh’s dream. It is a dream about a coming record harvest followed by a terrible draught.
When asked about how to best handle this situation Joseph makes a suggestion and this is where we pick up the story in our text:
“My suggestion is that you find the wisest man in Egypt and put him in charge of a nationwide program. Let Pharaoh appoint officials over the land, and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years. Have them gather all the food and grain of these good years into the royal storehouses, and store it away so there will be food in the cities.
That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come. Otherwise disaster will surely strike the land, and all the people will die.”
Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his advisers.
As they discussed who should be appointed for the job, Pharaoh said, “Who could do it better than Joseph? For he is a man who is obviously filled with the spirit of God.” Turning to Joseph, Pharaoh said, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, you are the wisest man in the land! I hereby appoint you to direct this project. You will manage my household and organize all my people. Only I will have a rank higher than yours.”
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh placed his own signet ring on Joseph’s finger as a symbol of his authority. He dressed him in beautiful clothing and placed the royal gold chain about his neck. Pharaoh also gave Joseph the chariot of his second-in-command, and wherever he went the command was shouted, “Kneel down!” So Joseph was put in charge of all Egypt. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am the king, but no one will move a hand or a foot in the entire land of Egypt without your approval.”
Wow! That is quite a story!
Here is a man, who is hated by his brothers for having a dream that they would bow down to him (and they do later in the story when come to Egypt for food), thrown in jail, brought out of jail, and immediately is made the number two person in the country because he successfully interpreted a dream! Wow!
Joseph becomes a very responsible person! He carries out his plan and during the seven good years of harvest creates a storage network that provides food during the seven bad years of famine.
But what need to remember is that no matter what the situation was Joseph demonstrated responsibility at every turn.
(Slide 5) According to “Character Counts!” to be responsible is to Do what you are supposed to do • Persevere: keep on trying! • Always do your best • Use self-control • Be self-disciplined • Think before you act — consider the consequences • Be accountable for your choices
Joseph’s life, Joseph’s character illustrates every one of these qualities.
(Slide 5a) – Do what you are supposed to do
I think that Joseph probably struggled with feelings of fear and anger as he was taken from his brothers and faced a new life in a different country. Yet, as we read in Genesis 50:20, “As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to the high position I have today so I could save the lives of many people,” Joseph had a broader and bigger view, rooted in his faith in God that helped him navigate through the difficult times.
That is a very powerful statement. How many of us would say that if we had been through what Joseph had been through in his life?
Joseph did what he was supposed to do, because somewhere in his life, he realized that God was using him for a purpose bigger than him. He was a responsible person and in being a responsible person, he honored God.
(Slide 5b) - Persevere: keep on trying!
One of the things about Joseph is that he never stopped putting one foot in front of the other. Sold into slavery by his own flesh and blood, falsely accused of something that he did not do, forgotten in prison for two years, then in a short period went from prison inmate to number two in the country. He persevered, with God’s help to keep moving forward.
No doubt, he felt many different emotions as life progressed. But, he did not let his emotions keep him from putting one foot in front of the other. To be responsible is not to deny our emotions, we need to properly deal with them. To be responsible is to keep on trying, with God’s help, what is the next and right thing to do. I have often heard that courage is not the absence of fear but doing what is right in spite of fear.
(Slide 5c) – Always do your best
We hear that a lot don’t we? We say that a lot to our kids and to others.
Some of us deal with perfectionism and when things aren’t perfect it really bothers us. Doing your best is not perfectionism.
Doing your best is doing your best and leaving the results in God’s hands. If Joseph was a perfectionist (and we don’t know that he was) then he was probably disappointed when life took a sudden turn in a direction that he did not expect.
Be responsible is doing the best you can and learning from the results. Joseph did the best he could and ultimately saw things in a different light, God’s light, which is always right and… perfect.
(Slide 5d) - Use self-control; Be self-disciplined
I believe that self-control was one of the big secrets to Joseph’s responsibleness. At any time during his life, he could have chosen to lose control and just go with the flow. But, he did not. One of the most important characteristics of responsible people is their ability to be self-controlled.
Self-control is one of the “Fruits of The Spirit” in Galatians 5:22 and 23. In fact, it is listed last and I think for a good reason. The list starts out with love and ends with self-control. In between comes “joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness.”
Self-control comes out of loving God, others, and ourselves and allowing joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness to take root in our lives. Self-control is therefore a little easier to develop. Being responsible requires us to have self-control and work through our emotions, failures, disappointments, and even successes as Joseph did.
(Slide 5e) Think before you act — consider the consequences; Be accountable for your choices
The tests Joseph faced were tests of faith and character. Who was he going to follow? God or his own feelings and desires? What kind of character was he going to develop, a responsible or irresponsible one?
Henry Huffman has said, “Character is what you do when nobody is looking.” Many people have repeated that quote over the years and there is some truth in it.
The choices we make though, alone or with others, come out of who we are and who we have chosen to become over time. Our character is about who we are not just what we choose to do.
Joseph made some very deep choices during his life and he made them when there was pressure and when there was not pressure. He made, I believe, with an eye to obeying God and honoring Him.
As a result, he thought before he acted and he held himself accountable for his choices and with God’s help, he did what was right even though he unfairly paid for his choices.
Being responsible is hard work. It requires prayer and God’s help. To be responsible is to do the right thing even when there is someone opposed to you and your values and beliefs.
Joseph’s steady responsibleness paid off though it was many years in the making. And exercising responsibility was a key part of honoring God in his life.
What might being responsible look like today? I can think of a few things like:
Doing your homework on time.
Completing a task that you started.
Being respectful
Being trustworthy
Being responsible is also being faithful to God and how the Bible tells us to live. And speaking of the Bible, I think that it would be a great thing for each of us to re-read the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke chapter 10. It is a story that Jesus used to remind us of our responsibility to others.
As we conclude, here is a video clip that I found which illustrates some ways of being responsible today and not an endorsement of the product being sold!
(Slide 6) video clip
Joseph, demonstrated responsibility in large and small ways, and as he did so, God was at work in his life and the lives of others as well.
For this week, take a moment and write down one way that you can be responsible this week. I am going to ask you next week to share what you did.
Let us honor God by being responsible people. Amen.
