INTRODUCTION
Opening Statement: I have to tell you that I’m proud of my WV heritage, but over the years I have had to overcome a lot of adversity associated with my home state. People actually think that one leg is longer than the other and that people don’t wear shoes. In fact, I pulled out of my files an Application to Live in WV that just verifies all of the stereotypes. [Read application] You can see by that application that I have had to overcome a lot of adversity. We’re going to talk about a guy today who although he wasn’t from WV, he certainly had to overcome a lot of adversity.
Title: Joseph: A Hero of Adversity and Grace
Observation: Unlike last weeks story about the superhuman Samson, our story this week is about a guy who had no supernatural strength. He had no halos. He never performed miracles. But he had a great heart of grace. The Joseph story is quite a lengthy story (Gen.37 – 45), so allow me to summarize. The dramatic narrative takes place in THREE PRIMARY LOCATIONS – at home, in captivity, and when he was ruler over Egypt. This is in your notes and on the screen.
Joseph At Home – Favorite Son and Despised Brother (Genesis 37:1-8)
Joseph In Captivity – Faithful Servant and Diligent Inmate (Genesis 37:12-33; 39:1-6)
Joseph Over Egypt – Loving Brother and Gracious Leader (Genesis 41:39-40; 42:5-28; 43:15-34; 44:1-34; 45:1-15; 46:29)
Life Story Background: For the first 30 years of Joseph’s life, the adversity he faced was incredible; he’s a suffering servant. Young Joseph, the favorite of his father, was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. He ended up in Egypt and found gainful employment in Egypt and did a great job for an Egyptian leader named Potiphar and his household. But Potiphar’s wife wanted to cheat on her husband with Joseph. Joseph refused, she lied about him trying to take advantage of her, and he was thrown into prison for two years. But even there, Joseph made the prison better and interpreted a dream or two for some other prisoners, who when they were out of prison, forgot that Joseph had helped them. Joseph finally gets out of prison after he interprets Pharoah’s dream about a coming famine and becomes the second in command in Egypt. There’s a famine in the land so intense that it brings Joseph’s family down into Egypt to purchase food years after he was sold into slavery by his brothers. After a series of events where Joseph knew who his brothers were and they did not know who he was, we arrive at a very emotional moment where adversity and grace meet – where the bitter events of adversity meet head-on with the flow of forgiveness. As it turned out, these years of adversity mixed with periods of promise and greatness, were the formative years that would shape his next 80 years as an Egyptian ruler.
Key Word: So we arrive at our text at the moment of truth. After about 25 years of separation from his family, the tension of jealousy and sibling rivalry and personal rejection that began in Genesis 37 finds resolution in Genesis 45, our passage today.
Text: Miscellaneous
Recitation:
[Judah so impressed Joseph with the sincerity of his repentance and the tenderness of his affection for Benjamin, Joseph’s biological brother, that Joseph broke down completely.]
Joseph Discloses His Identity
Genesis 45:1 Joseph was no longer able to control himself before all his attendants, so he cried out, “Make everyone go out from my presence!” No one remained with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 45:2 He wept loudly; the Egyptians heard it and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. [At this point, Joseph’s brothers are probably thinking…this Egyptian ruler is little unstable. Never, ever be afraid to cry or honestly express how you feel. When years of accumulated heart-ache can be reconciled with forgiveness, it is a God-event. There are moments like this when God let’s his presence be seen through our emotions. I think God took the tapestry of Joseph’s life and flipped it over to the side that finally made sense to him.]
Double Revelation
45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” His brothers could not answer him because they were dumbfounded before him. [Talk about angst and panic. I know they were checking out the nearest exits.] 45:4 Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me,” [This is the last thing they wanted to do, but note the intimacy of the body language.] so they came near. Then he said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. [At this point, Joseph could twist the sword with bitterness, rancor and revenge, but notice what he does.] 45:5 Now, do not be upset and do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. 45:6 For these past two years there has been famine in the land and for five more years there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 45:7 God sent me ahead of you to preserve you on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 45:8 So now, it is not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me an adviser to Pharaoh, lord over all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Migration Instructions
45:9 Now go up to my father quickly and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay. [Joseph’s father and family migrated to Egypt and several years later after Joseph’s father died, his brothers still did not understand grace.]
Guilt Resurfaced, Grace Revisited
50:15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay us in full for all the harm we did to him?” 50:16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave these instructions before he died: 50:17 ‘Tell Joseph this: Please forgive the sin of your brothers and the wrong they did when they treated you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sin of the servants of the God of your father.” When this message was reported to him, Joseph wept. 50:18 Then his brothers also came and threw themselves down before him; they said, “Here we are; we are your slaves.” 50:19 But Joseph answered them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 50:20 As for you, you meant to harm me, but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. 50:21 So now, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” Then he consoled them and spoke kindly to them.
Definition: When I read those words, I can only think of one word – grace. Grace is defined by Swindoll, “To show grace is to extend favor or kindness to one who doesn’t deserve it and can never earn it.” Joseph could have killed grace – he now had that kind of power; instead he dispensed grace. He never rubbed their noses in it. “Regardless of how he was treated, in spite of unfair and erroneous accusations, even though he was rejected, abandoned, abused, maligned, and forgotten, he refused to become resentful or bear a grudge or succumb to bitterness (Joseph, 2). Can you detect any hint of bitterness in our text? Here is a guy who has been isolated from his family for years, sold into slavery, tossed from pillar to post and imprisoned for unjust cause.
Observation: This story is so true to life. People really are misrepresented and treated unfairly and they really do get hurt by the actions of others. Tragically, some people never get over the hurt. They are bitter toward people or their family for the rest of their lives. Joseph did not choose the bitter path. Though betrayed by his own family, he decided to make the best of it and began to excel, even in a captive state. I love how the writer summarizes with the reoccurring phrase in the Joseph narrative: “And the Lord was with Joseph…” in whatever he did. Adversity and grace meet head-on and grace won in Joseph’s life. All of you, like Joseph, will face adversity and will have to make a choice like this. As you flesh out your theology of adversity, you will have plenty of things to be bitter about. Joseph wasn’t treated fairly by his family, by Potiphar, by the guy who forgot him in prison (Genesis 40:23). Nevertheless, he continually gave people what they did not deserve from him.
Explanation: My great challenge to you on this Life Story day is to determine to be a Joseph. Make your choice today. You will resist temptation and you will not indulge in bitterness and revenge. Swindoll expresses this well: “Joseph’s brothers deserved no grain. They deserved no money. They deserved punishment, perhaps even imprisonment, for what they had done to their brother. Instead, they wound up with freedom, a full sack of grain, and all of their money returned (Joseph, 100).” That’s grace!
Application: Would you really like to be a Joseph? If so, there are at least five decisions that you will have to make. I believe that Joseph made these five decisions.
1. Release your grudges. Joseph was sold out by his own family! They sent him to slavery. But he released all of that. Let it go. Move toward people, not away from them. “The miracle of forgiving is the creation of a new beginning. It does not always take away the hurt. It does not deny the past injury. It merely refuses to let them stand in the way of a new start (Lewis B. Smedes).” Yancey notes, “When we genuinely forgive, we set a prisoner free and then discover that the prisoner we set free was us.” You can have and nurse a grudge; but the grudge will eventually have you if you refuse to release it. It is very tempting to try to get revenge on the Reuben’s and the Judah’s and the Mrs. Potiphars from our past. But from age 30 to 110 when he died, we don’t find a word of resentment on Joseph’s lips. He really released any grudge he could have held. I read this week about some American soldiers who during the Korean War had rented a house and hired a Korean man to cook for them. This guy had an unbelievably great spirit about him. The Americans loved teasing him. They nailed his shoes to the floor. They put grease on the stove handles. They balanced buckets of water over the door. The Korean, brushed it off, and kept working with a smile, holding no grudges. Finally, the Americans were just ashamed of themselves and wanted him to know that they were going to stop all the practical jokes. The Korean asked, “You mean no more nail shoes to floor?” “No more.” “You mean no more sticky on stove knobs?” “No more.” “You mean no more water buckets on door?” “No more.” “Okay then, me no more spit in soup,” the Korean responded with a smile and shrug. We smile and say we’ve released our grudges but we’re still spitting in the soup! (Swindoll, Two Steps, 76, 77). Joseph refused to spit in the soup!
2. Guard your attitudes. Everywhere Joseph ended up, even in the dreariness of a prison for 2 years, he simply made it better. Only a good attitude can position a person to do that. Your attitude is not automatically good just because you belong to Christ. I have known many Christians who have chosen a horrible attitude. The longer I live the more I realize that a hero to me is one who though they have incredible stories of injustice and hardship to tell, their spirit is unconquerable. You cannot defeat a person who chooses to make the best of a bad hand. I loved the ability of Ronald Reagan to do this. Despite having a bullet lodged near his heart, he brushed off the Secret Service agents, stood up, buttoned his jacket, then walked into the emergency room. During the medical procedures, he quipped to his wife, “Honey, I forgot to duck,” and to the surgeon about to operate, “I hope you’re a Republican (Myra, Leadership Secrets).” Joseph was like that. There’s no way you can come through what he came through and act as he did without a great attitude.
3. Fight for your heart. Joseph was falsely accused and thrown into prison for “attempted rape.” He had to fight for his heart. Maybe you’re looking for your heart today. Maybe you’re numb from pain. Jesus wants to take you into your wound and heal it. John Eldredge observes: “If you ever really got your heart back, lived from it with courage…you would do a lot of damage.” You become dangerous to the Enemy when your heart belongs to God. Joni Erickson Tada said that shortly after her accident that left her paralyzed from the neck down, she found herself moving toward bitterness, but she said, I did not want to miss God’s grace to me in my sadness, so I chose to give my heart’s hurts to Him. She has been so dangerous to the Enemy since then.
4. Trust your God. He has ways of taking broken dreams and deep disappointments and using them for good. Joseph had to trust in the pit. He had to trust in the prison. Who did he trust? God! The true hero of the Joseph story is God. It was God that arranged the events of Joseph’s life in such a way that he could do great things through him. It was God who was sovereignly preserving life in time of famine. And it is God who takes the evil that people do and still bring about his plan through it all. It’s not the evil that we do that surprises me; it’s the good that God brings from the evil that we do that surprises me! It was jealousy and hate that sent Joseph to Egypt and God used that to position Joseph for His work. Joseph even said, “God sent me (Gen.45:7).” God is able to bring good out of evil. There is no situation that we can create for God that He cannot handle. Have you been unfairly represented in court, and your ex-spouse took you to the cleaners? Trust God. Has the doctor’s diagnosis left you paralyzed? Trust God. Is your life on hold? Trust God. Have you lost your job? Trust God. He’s writing your story and the most exciting chapters are still to come. Trust God; don’t panic. “God is too good to be unkind. God is too wise to be confused. When you cannot trace His hand, you can always trust His heart.”
5. Take a risk on your dream. Bruised and crushed by the blows of disappointment and unrealized dreams, Joseph discovered that God had never left his side. Through the doubts, adversity, changes, and surprises, God had given him a dream of leading and blessing his family some day. His life didn’t start well. His family never believed in him. But he never gave up on seeing the best in a bad situation. He learned the art of leadership, forged in the furnace of obscurity, and that’s why God used him. Thousands lived through famine because of Joseph’s leadership and food management skills.
CONCLUSION
Application: I see two groups of people here today. There are those who need to extend grace. You need to forgive. And then, there are those who need to receive God’s immeasurable grace. You need to be forgiven.
Those who need to extend grace and forgiveness…
Quotation: My wife wrote down a quotation on an index card just for me. She was reading the book by Bill Gaither with Ken Anderson, entitled; It’s More Than The Music – Life Lessons on Friends, Faith, and What Matters Most. Gaither quotes Rudyard Kipling on a piece he called “If.” Kipling wrote:
If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you… If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same… If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the earth and everything that’s in it, And which is more – you’ll be a man, my son.
When you choose to forgive, you become a trophy of grace. God is going to orchestrate a meeting with someone from your past. When he does, set them free. It’s called grace. Rudyard Kipling calls it maturity.
Those who need to receive extravagant grace…
Invitation: Perhaps, you’re here today and you’ve mishandled your wounds. Pride is in your way. Why don’t you make a choice to give your brokenness to Christ? Let him restore wholeness and completeness to your fragmented heart. Maybe like Joseph’s brothers, you don’t understand grace. I have to tell you that God has already given you what you don’t deserve. You can’t earn it. And he will never take away his favor from you when you come to him saying, “Lord, would you put my life back together again?” Why don’t you do that and begin a new life today? Just like Joseph eagerly awaiting the arrival of his family in Egypt, so God has been awaiting your arrival back to Him.
Illustration: In Victor Hugo’s French Revolution story called Les Misérables, Jean Valjean is a newly released convict looking for a place to sleep. He had been imprisoned and sentenced to hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread. He found a place to lodge with a priest for the night. Late that night, Jean Valjean strikes the priest as he steals the silver from his home. He rushes away but is captured by the police. They bring him back to the priest. Watch how an act of grace changed his life. Bear in mind that Jean Valjean has stolen the silver and note how the priest handles that in grace. Jean Valjean went on to live a life of a changed man.
