“Five Times the Welcome”
“The men had been seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at each other in astonishment. 34 When portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone else's. So they feasted and drank freely with him.” Genesis 43:33-34 NIV
Intro: Joseph was the great-grandson of Abraham. God had promised Abraham to be the father of many nations. Joseph was the son of Jacob and Rachel. Even though Joseph only had one whole brother, Benjamin. He had ten half brothers (and one half sister Genesis 34) and later Joseph’s had two sons of his own and together with the others are known as the patriarchs or head of the family of the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob. Joseph’s mother Rachel made him a coat of many colors. Imagine having all those older brothers and you the one with the special robe. The words jealous, envious, resentful, covetous quickly come to mind. The bible reads as though Joseph didn’t mind to show off his colorful robe and letting his brothers know that he was the favorite. One day when Joseph saw his brothers Dan and Nate and Gad and Asher, in Genesis 37 are goofing off while they were supposed to be feeding and watching the flock of sheep in the field he told on them. When I was young and told on my older brothers they got a whipping. But the lesson that I learned was that no matter how hard the whipping they got from dad I got one from them later when dad wasn’t around.
So it was that Joseph goes to the field to deliver a message to his brothers Joseph’s brothers hated him for all the things he had said and done. Joseph was wearing his special gift, the beautiful coat of many colors to the field where he shows off his best robe to his brothers who are watching the herds and flocks out in the field working. Joseph did not help himself when he taunted them by telling about how he dreamed that someday all the stalks of wheat would bow down to him. That even the sun, moon, and eleven stars (Joseph’s eleven brothers) would bow down to Joseph. His brothers became so angry they wanted to kill Joseph and so they threw him in a pit. But the oldest brother Reuben, knowing that he would be held responsible, because he was the oldest said instead of killing him, let’s sell Joseph to the band of Ishmaelite traders who were passing by.
So they take Joseph’s coat of many colors. They kill a young lamb and dip the robe in blood and agree to tell their father that they found the coat of many colors in the field. We need to stop a moment and understand how the plan of God is working here. God has a plan to take care of and deliver Josephs’ whole family. God is going to use this to save and preserve the twelve sons of Jacob who will become the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel and use this to fulfill the covenant promise to Abraham to become the father of a many nations.
These Ishmaelite traders who are passing by are on their way to Egypt. It is no accident that Joseph ends up in Egypt. What happens next is a better story than any soap opera on t.v. There is drama, and deceit and sex and narrow escapes and lies and chilling twists and all the things that make an adventure story plot. Through a series of even more complex turns of events Joseph ends up being made an adviser and ruler, and manager of this entire land of Egypt. It is this turn of events that bring God’s plans and provisions to bring the child of Israel together and make them a great nation. There is a period of 7 years of plenty and abundant crops and harvest followed by 7 years of drought and plague and famine. At least 9-10 years have past of not seeing his family when Josephs’ brothers show up in Egypt trying to buy food.
There were two men going to the same church. One had been going there a long time but he kept mostly to himself and had never really made friends. The other was new in town and had just started coming to church and had not yet made friends. If you had asked people in the church if they were are friendly church they would have said yes. If you had asked them if they were warm and welcoming they would say yes. If you had asked them if they practice hospitality they would say yes, but other than the passing of the peace and the occasional potluck most of them never spoke either inside or outside the church. After one service the long time member thought to himself that he did not like this “no speak situation.”So he said to himself that next Sunday if no one spoke to him he would never go back again. The next Sunday these two men, one a long time member the other the new stranger sat on opposite ends of the pew. Once more nobody spoke and as the long time member was getting up to leave for good. The new newcomer broke the ice and reached out his hand and said, “I am glad to see you here today.” Both men became good friends and continued to attend and worship together. I want to be part of a church where the newcomer doesn’t have to be the one to break the ice. I want to be a part of a congregation where the longtime members are the ones who initiate the welcome and the greeting and extend the hospitality.
Hospitality is more than an occasional potluck. Hospitality is more than a forced handshake during the five minute passing of the peace. Hospitality is being a community of faith outside the church building. Hospitality is kindness and friendship and warmth and welcoming inside this place we call the church. and when we leave to go out into the world in which we live. Are you the church both inside and outside the building?
Romans 15:7 says “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” Think about how Christ welcomed you. Think about Christ has welcomed you. You were a sinner. Heaven was not yet your home so you were homeless. The Holy Spirit had not yet filled you so you were still hungry and thirsty without spiritual food or spiritual water. I like men’s Polo cologne, but all cologne does is mask the smell of sweat. Without Christ we all stink of flesh and filth and the rot of sin. But with Christ we are forgiven.
At my very first appointment as pastor, at my very first Christmas play as pastor, a man walked in and sat down on the back pew of the church. I didn’t know exactly what the commotion was but almost immediately one of the ushers walked up to me and said, pastor that man who just came in just reeks of alcohol you need to ask him to leave. I went to the back pew and asked him who he was. He told me he was the father of two little girls in the Christmas play. I looked him in the eyes and said, sir I can smell the alcohol on your breath can you sit here and behave? He said yes I can. The man sat there and watched the Christmas play and then he was the first one out the door and left. I later went to his house to talk with him and invite him to Christ and the church. He told me I was the first person from that church to ever come and visit and invite him. He said, “thank you but NO thank you.” To my knowledge that man never came back to that church. To my knowledge as far as I know that man died lost without Jesus.
Two of my favorite bible verses are Romans 5:8 “While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”Matthew 19:12 “Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”
The bible is a lesson about hospitality and a lesson about gratitude and trust. Healthy Christians practice the kind of genuine caring, and love and attitude like the kind of compassion and love and attitude that Christ has shown us. If Jesus had waited for you to reach out to him would you still be lost?
Since Joseph was now in charge of Egypt he was in charge of the distribution and sale of grain. His brothers are now before him. Again the story is full of twists and unexpected turns as these Hebrews who have come into Egypt are so despised by the Egyptians who see them as people who are come to beg for grain to save their family from hunger. Joseph still remembers the threats his brothers made to kill him. He still remembers being thrown into the pit. He still remembers being sold into slavery. Even though he may have precipitated much and brought most of it on himself. He still does not trust his own family. Trust is a precious and valuable thing. It can take years to earn trust. However, trust can be lost and destroyed in a moment by a single self-centered act.
Do you know how to build trust? Building trust is really simple. You speak the truth. Then you do what you say you are going to do. In a relationship if you say, I will be there at 1:00. Be there at 1:00. If something happens and you can’t be there at 1:00 pick up the phone and call. Do you know why people who are first time visitors will come back to join this church as members? It is a matter of trust.
Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I know that you have heard many sermons on this scripture. But the original Greek word used here for treasure means: “deposit.” It is something that is given with the expectation that you are going to get something back. Listen closely to this because this is the foundation for understanding the work of the church. Mission is work and service where the church gives financially but knows you are not going to get anything back financially. On the other hand, Ministry is when you work and serve but anticipate that over time you will get back financially through growth and increase in membership, and development of disciples who will support your efforts financially.
So here we have the word treasure or deposit. For where your deposit is there your heart will be also. When I deposit something in the bank I expect to get something back. When I need it I expect it to be there. Aren’t you thankful to be part of a church that when you deposit you also get something back. Let me explain: I treasure friendship, I deposit it here, I expect to get friendship back. I treasure forgiveness, I deposit it here, I expect to get forgiveness back. I treasure compassion, and joy and patience, and kindness, I deposit it here, I expect to get it back. You treasure your children and grandchildren when you drop them off for children’s church. Well, I know sometimes you wish we would keep them a little longer…, But you do expect to get them back. When people are convinced that they can trust us with their treasure that is when they give to us and it is an investment in either missions and ministry of God’s work, When the gifts they give fulfill the purpose and plans of God there want be a budget problem in the church. We are in kingdom growth. We are in kingdom building. When people trust us that we are doing God’s work they will give. People put their treasure, people put their deposit where their heart is. Church we better be able to show them results and tell them real life stories of how we are partners in transforming the world to be a better place to live. The church must expand its Nurture, Outreach, and Witness. When a church is a faithful steward of the children that we are entrusted with in this community. When we are trustworthy of caring for the single parents, and orphans in this community. When we are caregivers to the widows and widowers and seniors citizens who need help. When we are faithful and trustworthy of the least, the last, the broken, and the lost. Then there want be any other budget problems.
We are not Pharisees and Zealots and Sadducees and just keepers of the law. I am thankful to be the pastor of a people of God who help those who have been beaten and stripped of clothing and lay bruised and bleeding in the ditch. Jesus said, “first a Priest and a second a Levite both passed him by on the other side of the road, "But a certain Samaritan from First United Methodist Church, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion. and came to him, and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.” Yes, we can teach hospitality. Yes, we can educate people on ways to welcoming. We can practice generosity
If we want a safer world. If we want better communities and to build stronger families, we have to begin by building hospitality as that center of this church. This is matter of attitude.----wonder what would happen if I placed an “Attitude Jar” on the altar and every time someone mumbled a negative or criticism you had to put a dollar in the jar how much money would we raise? It is a matter of the heart. It is a work of the Holy Spirit changing our attitude and changing our very own soul. 1 Peter 4:9 says, “Offer one another hospitality without grumbling.” Turn to someone right now and ask them how is your attitude?---that was kinda fun wasn’t it because you knew that their attitude wasn’t always how it should be. Now I am going to ask you to do something a lot more difficult. Now I am going to ask you to do something that is very hard. Turn to that same person and ask them how is my own attitude? God will reward our faithfulness. Let me say that again, God rewards faithfulness.
There are many twists and turns to the plot to the story of Joseph that I want to encourage you to read and study. But let’s look at what happens when Joseph finally reveals himself to his family. The first clue is that when he brings them to table to eat Joseph has them seated in order starting with Ruben the oldest all the way to Benjamin the youngest, his only whole brother. That is the first clue that Joseph knows what is going on. I want you to go home today and read the whole story in Genesis chapter 43-44. You will discover a mystery about a hidden silver cup in one of the bags of food that they take with them.
But without giving the whole story away. When they bring out the food and drank the servants gave Benjamin the largest serving. The bible says, “Genesis 43:34 they served Benjamin—five times as much as to any of the others.” When people come to church, as Joseph treated his brother Benjamin we need to each other. With not just a little smile, not just a brief handshake, but with five times the hospitality. We need to help newcomers and grow in faith as they become part of the body of Christ. We need to be ready to give “Five Times the Welcome” I am going to say it five times: initiate, invite, welcome, include, support. It may take years of famine and before there are years of harvest. It may take times of suffering and slavery before you become promoted to the person responsible and in charge It may take months or even years to see God’s plan fulfilled. I have learned that most of the time: that instead of God’s plan revolving around me I am most often am just a tiny piece of much, much larger story. While God wants me to fulfill his plan, and while my inaction may delay God’s blessings, by my action I can be part of Gods plan. My actions can help bring about the Kingdom.
In 1907 William C. Poole wrote the words to Hymn number 175 in the old Cokesbury Hymnal:
Just when I need Him, Jesus is near,
Just when I falter, just when I fear;
Ready to help me, ready to cheer,
Just when I need Him most.
Refrain
Just when I need Him most,
Just when I need Him most,
Jesus is near to comfort and cheer,
Just when I need Him most.
What walls of prejudices and fears and mistrust cause us to treat others as inferior or less than, different or dangerous, or unworthy in our time? What attitudes do we need to break down in order to be part of fulfilling God has a plan to bring forgiveness and salvation to the whole world? What words do we need to add to our vocabulary and language do we need to speak that are the words of the love of Christ? What actions do we need to remove the narrow thinking and the closed doors of our community of faith?
Closing: God can take the famine and drought and hunger and brokenness that happens in your life and turn those difficult and hurting moments into a deliverance and a blessing. When we the people of God become the people of God.
