Alba 6-30-13
THE JOSEPH PRINCIPLE
Genesis 50:19-21
Have you heard of the Peter Principle? It was formulated by Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull in their 1969 book called The Peter Principle.
The Peter Principle is a proposition that states that the members of an organization where promotion is based on achievement, success and merit will eventually be promoted beyond their level of ability.
The principle is commonly phrased, "Employees tend to rise to their level of incompetence." In more formal parlance, the effect could be stated: Employees tend to be given more authority until they cannot continue to work competently.
The principle holds that in a hierarchy, members are promoted so long as they work competently. Eventually they are promoted to a position at which they are no longer competent (their "level of incompetence"), and there they remain, being unable to earn further promotions.
Peter's Corollary states that "In time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties". And adds that the real "work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence."
But that principle does not apply to the story of Joseph in Genesis. In fact, the example of how Joseph succeeded and was used by God is the opposite of the Peter Principle. It is enough different that it deserves its own name. It can be called the Joseph Principle.
Instead of becoming less competent, instead of missing the plan God had for his life, he lived by the plan. As a result, Joseph went from the bottom to the top, and became more competent along the way, in spite of the fact that not everything went the way he would have liked it to go.
Today, let's learn how to live by the Joseph Principle! I Think it will help us be more thankful.
A lot of bad things happen to Joseph. He is sold into slavery by his brothers. That’s bad. He finds himself in Egypt working as a slave. That’s bad. He is falsely accused of attempting to rape his master’s wife. That’s bad. He is cast into prison, and that’s bad. Meanwhile, his father is grieving over his death as it was reported to him by the brothers. That’s bad. It’s all bad!
Until suddenly Joseph finds himself second in command over the whole country of Egypt, dishing out grain to the starving multitudes who have come to that land for something to eat.
How does one make that transition? Let's look in our Bibles at Genesis 50:15-21 for clues how to be thankful and live by the Joseph Principle.
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” 16 So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, 17 ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”
19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 21 Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
These brothers should have been thankful for Joseph's forgiving attitude. But the brothers weren’t convinced that Joseph had truly forgiven them for selling him into slavery. They were thinking that since their father was dead nothing would stop Joseph from getting revenge on them for their crime. Because he had suffered a lot.
Most of us have experienced enough of the battles and burdens and heartaches of life to find ourselves at one time or another crying out, "Why, Lord? Why did this happen to me? How can I be thankful in my situation?” And we might want revenge.
Joseph had every right to be angry with them. The natural man would not have shown grace. But that is why God highlights the life of Joseph. He is not the “natural man.” He is a man who shows amazing grace.
How can we live by the Joseph Principle? First...
1. Be Thankful That You Are Not God.
In verse 19 Joseph tells his brothers, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?
In other words he is saying, “I’m just a man. I’m not God. I’m not the Judge. You don’t have to answer to me.” That is true of us as well. We don't have to take responsibility to right all wrongs or pass judgment on others. We should be thankful for that.
But those were pretty amazing words from Joseph who was the Prime Minister of Egypt at the time, and who had every right to have his brothers thrown into prison for their past crimes against him.
Joseph was able to put everything in an eternal perspective. So he reminded his brothers that he was just a man, a sinful man, just like them. He was able to say, “I’m not in the business of payback. God alone rights wrongs, so I don’t have to settle the score. You guys are good with me.”
Deep wounds will never be healed if we let ourselves become bitter. In bitterness we want to spread the hurt, share that hurt with the ones who hurt us. But we do so at the expense of leaving our own wounds unmended.
We must trust that God will judge those who’ve wronged us according to His perfect wisdom, love and grace. Just like He’ll judge us one day. We as humans must forgive each other as we want to be forgiven. How did Jesus instruct us to pray? “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Remembering that God is the Judge will help us forgive others.
Put this in your thoughts: I am not God. Therefore I can be thankful that: Since I cannot control all the circumstances of my life, and because I don’t know everything there is to know, therefore others will not stand before me on the Day of Judgment. So, thankfully, I can leave it to God to deal with them.
Keep in mind that Pharaoh thought of himself as God. Although, Joseph had the authority of Pharaoh, he choose a position of humility. He said, “I am not in the place of God!”
A second way to live by the Joseph Principle is:
2. Be Thankful That We Can Trust God In Spite of A World That Is Evil.
Joseph came face to face with that fact, thanks to his brothers who hated him when he was young. In verse 20 Joseph remembers “You meant evil against me.” The New International Version has it, “You intended to harm me.”
Who would have thought that the ten brothers of Joseph would have such hatred for him. The answer is that there is much evil in this world. We see it constantly on the news.
This world is an evil place. Expect the world to say, “Crucify him, Crucify him!” just as they did to our Savior and Lord. As Christians, if we do not anticipate a cross, we will never be able to carry one!
When things go badly, you might be asking yourself, "Why am I here? Why do I get up every morning? Why do I go to work? Why do I pay my bills? Why do I care about my family? What is the purpose of my life?"
In Isaiah 43:6-7 God speaks some very important words. Listen to them, "Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth - everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory."
This is a picture of God calling His family together. And if we’re a part of the family of God, our purpose in life, the reason He created us, is to be able to glorify Him, to reflect His presence, and to represent Him with our lives.
The Lord calls us to let [our] light shine before others [in this evil world], that they may see [our] good deeds and glorify [our] Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 The world is evil, but God is good. Be thankful.
A third way to live by the Joseph Principle is:
3. Be Thankful That God Is In Charge Of All Things.
Look at more of what Joseph said in verse 20 that even though his brothers meant to harm him, “God meant it for good.” Praise God that although this world is under the domination of Satan, God is so much greater!
Let's be thankful for that! That is why we need to live by the promises of God and not always look for an explanation. I’m pretty sure that at the bottom of a pit, Joseph wasn’t fully aware of God’s overall plan for his life. After being thrown into prison for something he didn’t do, he still probably didn’t see the whole picture.
But he lived by promises not by explanation. There is a recurring theme that appears in the story of Joseph. It’s these words, Genesis 39:2 – “The Lord was with Joseph.”
Joseph believed the promise that God would never leave him. So because of that, he didn’t have to have an explanation for each of the trials he faced. He had hope in the midst of the unknown.
If you’re suffering from a deep wound, let me read to you some of God’s clear promises out of Romans eight. Verse 18 says, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Verse 31 says, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Then verse 37 says, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
God's love makes a difference. Joseph had a strong love for his family because he understood the love of God. God had cared for him through all his years of trials. God had never let him down. And since he knew he was loved by God, he had love for his brothers – even though they sinned against him!
I don’t know what deep wound there might be in your life. But I do know that God is with you in the midst of it. And His promises will bring you healing in a way searching for an explanation never can.
Through the years of trials and triumph Joseph had come to understand that God will accomplish whatever He wants to do in this world. We might think we’re in control of our lives, but providentially God is orchestrating the concert of life. Remembering that God is in control can to help us to be thankful, and to forgive those that sin against us.
A fourth way to live by the Joseph Principle is:
4. Be Thankful That God Uses His Power For Good.
Look at verse 20 again. “As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”
Romans 8:28 tells us, "all things work together for good”. I am really thankful to know that, because we all experience some things that are not good in themselves. But the next part of that verse gives that promise, “to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
All through his 13 years of being a slave and a prisoner Joseph always trusted God. He always depended upon God to be there for him in his slavery. And he always depended on God to be there for him when he was in prison.
So, when he finally was released from prison and became a powerful man… he still saw God in everything that had happened to him. That’s why he could tell his brothers in Genesis 45:5-8:
“5 But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
6 For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
The evil his brothers had done was something that God used to benefit both Joseph and his family. What his brothers had done WAS evil…but what God did in response to their evil deed was faithful. Because God is faithful! If Joseph’s brothers had not done that evil deed, Joseph wouldn’t be where he was. So in spite of it all, he was thankful.
Now I’m not sure that everything that happens to us is God’s will. But I am convinced that we serve a MIGHTY God who can take whatever circumstances we give Him and turn it to our good. Be thankful for that.
So the conclusion to all of this is that when you think about your own life, think about Joseph and apply the principle of thanksgiving to your situation, knowing you can trust God.
CLOSE:
There is still another way to live by the Joseph Principle. That is to be thankful that God can make us a blessing to others. In Genesis 50:21 Joseph says, “So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” (NIV)
How do you become a blessing to others when life has brought evil into your life, when you have been mistreated and badly used? Listen to the example that Max Lucado tells in his book entitled, "The Applause of Heaven." Its about a young man, Robert Reid, who has cerebral palsy. Lucado writes:
He can’t brush his teeth or comb his hair or bathe himself. He can’t dress himself, or button his shirt. He has to depend upon other people to do that for him. He can’t take a walk. He can’t go from one place to another by his own power. But his handicaps did not rob him of graduating from high school, and finally earning a degree from Abilene Christian College.
Max Lucado says that Robert Reid decided that he would study to be a missionary. So he taught a couple of years in a Junior College in St. Louis. And then took 5 trips to different missionary fields. Finally he settled in Lisbon, Portugal. Robert Reid found a hotel owner who would rent him a ground-floor room. He found a restaurant owner who would feed him after hours each day.
He found a tutor who would teach him the language. And every day he wheeled out to the city park and passed out Christian literature to people who walked by. He spoke to them in his voice that sounded like a record player whose batteries are about to run down. He told them about the love of God through Jesus Christ. In 6 years Robert Reid won more than 70 people to Jesus. One of them was a young girl by the name of Rosa, who later became his wife.
Lucado recalls, "I sat in an audience of thousands and watched as strong men grabbed his wheelchair, with him sitting in it, and lifted him to the platform so that he could speak to this vast audience of people."
"I watched him as he took his stiff fingers and tried to turn the pages of his Bible. And along with thousands of others, I wiped away tears of admiration. Here is one who could have complained, one who could have been bitter, one who could have asked `Why me?’ One who could have asked, `Why do bad things happen to God’s people?’"
"But instead," he said, "Robert Reid read in his drawn out way the Words of God and gave his testimony. And when he came to the end of it, he lifted up his bent hand and arm and said, `I have everything I need for joy.’"
Lucado adds, "His shirts are held together by velcro. But his life is held together by joy." Let's not forget that we have many things for which to be thankful.
