You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." — Genesis 50:20
Opening: Start Where They Are
Before we open our Bibles today, I want you to think about a time someone counted you out. Maybe a teacher said you wouldn't make it. Maybe someone in your family underestimated you. Maybe the world looked at you — your skin, your neighborhood, your zip code — and decided your story was already written. Hold that feeling. Because today we're talking about a young man who knows exactly how you feel.
His name is Joseph. And his story is our story.
Part 1: Joseph Was Targeted Because of Who He Was
Joseph was the son of Jacob, a young man of promise. His father gave him a special coat — some translations say 'a coat of many colors' — marking him as favored, as chosen, as set apart. And the moment the world saw that coat, they decided to take it from him.
His own brothers — the people who should have loved him most — stripped him of his coat, threw him in a pit, and sold him to strangers for twenty pieces of silver. Joseph was trafficked. Enslaved. Treated as property rather than as a person.
Does that sound familiar?
For over 250 years, millions of African men, women, and children were stripped of their names, their languages, their families, and their freedom. They were chained, sold, and forced to build a nation that refused to call them human. They were thrown into a pit not of their own making.
Joseph's coat was taken. The African people's culture, language, and identity were taken. But here is what nobody could take — and this is the first thing I need you to remember today:
"The Lord was with Joseph." — Genesis 39:2
You can strip a person of everything on the outside. You cannot strip them of God's presence on the inside.
Part 2: They Tried to Bury Them, But They Were Seeds
Joseph was thrown into a pit in Canaan and then sold to Egypt. He was enslaved in the house of Potiphar. He was falsely accused by Potiphar's wife. He was thrown in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Every time it looked like Joseph might get a break, another door slammed shut.
And yet — the Scripture tells us something remarkable. Even in prison, Joseph kept his gifts. He interpreted dreams. He helped others. He refused to let bitterness become his identity. His circumstances were a prison. His spirit was free.
Sound familiar?
Think about the enslaved Africans who, in the midst of unimaginable suffering, created the spirituals — songs that carried coded messages and carried God's promises. 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot' wasn't just a song. It was a survival strategy. 'Wade in the Water' told freedom-seekers to move through streams so the dogs couldn't track their scent. They found genius in the pit.
Think about Harriet Tubman — a woman who escaped slavery and then went BACK nineteen times to free over three hundred people. They thought slavery had broken her. Instead, it forged her into something unbreakable.
Think about Frederick Douglass, who taught himself to read in secret, then used those words to tear the institution of slavery apart from the inside out.
Think about the Reconstruction era, when newly freed Black Americans built schools, businesses, churches, and sent representatives to Congress — in just a few years after emancipation.
They threw us in the pit. We were seeds. And seeds don't die in the ground — they grow.
Part 3: The Pit is Not the End of Your Story
Here's what I need every young person in this room to hear. Joseph spent years in a pit. Years in a prison. Years where it looked like God had forgotten him. But the Bible tells us that God was with him the entire time — not just when things were good, but when things were impossible.
The same is true for you. Your zip code is not your destiny. Your family's struggles are not a life sentence. The labels people put on you — whether it's in the classroom, on the street, or even online — those labels are not your identity. Joseph's brothers called him a dreamer like it was an insult. It turned out to be a prophecy.
What are they calling you that God means for good?
In 1619, the first enslaved Africans arrived on American shores. By 2008 — less than 400 years later — Barack Obama stood in Grant Park in Chicago as the 44th President of the United States. That is a Joseph story. That is a pit-to-palace story. That is God doing what only God can do.
From Phillis Wheatley writing poetry while enslaved, to Mae Jemison becoming the first Black woman in space. From the children of Birmingham, Alabama facing fire hoses and police dogs for the right to be treated as human, to Thurgood Marshall sitting on the United States Supreme Court. Every single one of those stories went through a pit first.
Part 4: You Were Sent Here on Purpose
When Joseph finally stood before his brothers — the very men who sold him into slavery — he could have destroyed them. He had the power. He had the position. He had every right, by human standards, to make them pay.
But Joseph said something that I want you to carry with you for the rest of your life:
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." — Genesis 50:20
Joseph understood something profound: his suffering had a purpose beyond himself. He wasn't just saved for himself. He was saved so he could save others.
Young people — you are not just survivors. You are not just overcomers. You are sent. You have been placed in this generation, in this moment in history, on purpose. The challenges your community faces are not obstacles to your calling. They ARE your calling.
The same way Joseph used his position in Egypt to save not just his family but entire nations from famine, you have been equipped — by your experiences, by your pain, by your resilience — to save your generation.
That could look like becoming a doctor who goes back to serve underserved communities. A lawyer who fights for the wrongly convicted. A teacher who refuses to let a single child fall through the cracks. A pastor, a poet, a programmer, a politician — whatever your gift is, your community needs it.
Don't let what they did to you make you forget what God sent you to do.
Closing: The Coat Belongs to You
Joseph's brothers took his coat. But they couldn't take his calling. They tried to take his future. But they only accelerated it.
Whatever has been taken from you — peace, innocence, opportunity, loved ones — God is not done. The same God who was with Joseph in the pit is with you right now. The same God who elevated Joseph from the prison to the palace is at work in your life this very moment.
You come from a people who survived the unsurvivable. You carry in your bloodline the faith of those who prayed in secret, sang freedom songs in chains, and built something beautiful out of nothing. That is your inheritance. That is your coat of many colors.
Don't let anyone make you take it off.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." — Romans 8:28
— Amen —
Youth Discussion Questions
1. Joseph was betrayed by the people closest to him. Have you ever felt betrayed or misunderstood? How did you handle it?
2. The enslaved Africans found creative ways to survive and resist. What gifts or strengths do you carry that the world sometimes overlooks?
3. Joseph said his brothers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Can you think of a difficult experience in your life or in Black history that God turned around for good?
4. Joseph was sent to Egypt not just for himself, but to save others. What problem in your community do you feel called to help solve?
5. What's one thing you will carry with you from this sermon?
Key Scripture References
Genesis 37 — Joseph and his coat; sold into slavery
Genesis 39 — Joseph in Potiphar's house; the Lord was with him
Genesis 41 — Joseph before Pharaoh; elevated to second-in-command
Genesis 50:15–21 — Joseph forgives his brothers; 'You meant it for evil...'
Romans 8:28 — All things work together for good
Isaiah 61:1–3 — Beauty for ashes; a garment of praise
