Genesis 37
The Apostle Paul wrote, “In everything,
God works for good for those who love God, and are called according to God’s
purpose. To those God predestined, God also called. Those God called, God justified; those God
justified, God also glorified.”
Such is the story of Joseph.
Joseph was the 11th of 12
children. But that didn’t matter. Joseph
was the first child born to Rachel. Jacob loved Rachel and her offspring more
than any of his other wives and children.
Perhaps this wasn’t fair, but it was the truth. From birth, Joseph was treated like royalty
and, as the text reveals, Joseph was not only favored by his father, but by
God.
Joseph was a dreamer. It is
one thing to sit around and idly daydream the day away. Joseph dreamed of the future. He imagined one day he would rule not only
his family but he would have the power of a king. Being the 11th in a household of
12 boys Joseph’s imagination and dreams were barely tolerated by his older
brothers. Joseph dreamed all of his
brothers would bow down to him. Joseph’s
brothers schemed about how they could get rid of this meddlesome half-brother. Complicating the issue, Jacob did not
discourage the boy. Much to the dismay
of his brothers, Jacob dressed Joseph in royal clothing,
At some point the older brothers had
enough of the preferential treatment.
They decided enough was enough and their lives would be much easier
without the presence of Joseph. They
lured Joseph away from the house, bound him with ropes and tossed him into a
pit. They took the royal coat, ripped it
apart and dipped it in blood. Then they
discussed the fate of their sibling. Some of the brothers wanted to kill Joseph. Cooler heads prevailed and eventually they gave
him to a slaver on his way to Egypt Egypt
This is a classic tale of the power of a
dream, the killing of a dream and the resurrection of a dream. Dreamers are hardly ordinary folks. Dreamers often get in the way of us common
folks. Most of the time our lives are
pretty much set in stone or to be more exact, lived according to our
calendars. We can look at our calendars and
figure exactly where we will be at 2:00, three days from now. That is the way we need to operate to be
productive. If I’m at work, I need to
have my day lined up so I can be prepared for each visit or meeting. If I’m at home, Deb and I coordinate our
calendars in order that chaos doesn’t rule the day. Dreamers can make mincemeat of a calendar.
Dreamers imagine another path, a different direction. This may or not be fruitful; it may or may
not be successful; but to quote Thoreau,
“If a man does not keep pace with his companion, perhaps it is because he hears
a different drummer.”
There can be no doubt that Joseph
marched to a different beat. I wonder
when he realized that this drummer was more than his own imagination. I wonder when Joseph realized he was on
marching orders from God. I wonder if he
had any idea where his dreams would take both him and his family.
There is a danger to marching to a
different beat. Ever see a marching band
parade down the street in three/four time.
You waltz to three/four, not march.
To the best of my knowledge Sousa never wrote a march in
three/four. Like wise, I doubt Strauss
wrote a waltz in six/eight. Maybe that
was the problem, Joseph waltzed in three/four and his brothers marched in
six/eight. Regardless, the whimsical
thoughts of Joseph could not be tolerated.
They were different, threatening, even embarrassing. New ideas and old traditions usually mix like
oil and water. One had to be eliminated
and in this case there was certainly strength in numbers. Truth is, if you hear the dream, and the
dream makes you nervous, than it is always safer to eliminate the dream before
it has a chance to become reality. That
made real good sense to the older brothers of Joseph.
The decision was made that the dream had
to be eliminated. But as many of us have discovered, dreams die hard. Dreams are the stuff from which resurrections
evolve. The dream the brothers killed
would eventually resurface in what woukld become their greatest nightmare. Like a cat with nine lives, Joseph would not
die. Through the pit, through escapades
with Potipher’s wife, through time in an Egyptian jail and finally as the chief
advisor to Pharaoh, Joseph continued to dream a vision he believed God had
placed in his heart.
It would have been so easy for Joseph to
play the role of the subservient brother.
As 11 of 12 he could have easily fallen in line and waited his turn. But he didn’t. Somehow, even as a child, Joseph believed God
had plans for him.
It would have been so easy for Joseph,
when placed in that pit, to have begged for his life. He could have made all kind of promises to
his brothers, but he didn’t. He might ave
been afraid, but never enough to beg for his life.
It would have been so easy for Joseph to
have celebrated his freedom once he reached Egypt. He could have rejoiced at having his life
restored and sworn off paying attention to any more dreams. But he didn’t.
Once he was given authority in Egypt, Joseph continued to dream of the
possibilities this new adventure might bring to him.
Dreaming is easy. Believing in dreams is the hard part. The poet William Yeats said, “Responsibility
begins with dreams.” Perhaps dreams got
Joseph into the pit, but his belief in those dreams allowed him to rise from
the pit and begin a life that evolved beyond his greatest imagination.
Do you have dreams? Of course you do. Some of our dreams are a bit absurd. All my adult life I have dreamed of owning a
Porsche 911. It doesn’t have to be new
as long as it is black. Now what kind of
dream is that? Three words quickly come
to mind: immature, self-serving, and impossible. I know it will never happen. Well I know Deb says it will never happen. Some dreams are no longer possible. They have been made obsolete by time. For years I dreamed of being the starting
shortstop for the Boston Red Sox. That should
have died years ago. I am not even sure I can still throw the ball across the
infield. The dream would be dead except last week Boston traded all its stars
and is starting over from scratch. Perhaps I should send them my number.
Some dreams never fade. Some folks never stop dreaming about
possibilities for their children. Some
folks never stop dreaming about starting a new vocation, or discovering a new
talent, or traveling to some exotic place.
And some folks, like Joseph, never stop dreaming about how they can
fulfill the vision God placed in their heads.
That particular dream always comes with
a price. There are folks, like the
brothers of Joseph, who will suggest that dreaming about what the kingdom of
God might be is a bit presumptuous.
They have made it habit to dig pits or
create pitfalls along the way and trust me, the bigger your dreams, the bigger
their holes. Once we stumble into their
pit, we have to carefully and prayerfully ask ourselves what we plan to do once
we get out. We usually have only two
options. We can lose the dream and join
our captors or we can crawl out of the hole, dust ourselves off, and continue
to move forward.
I hope each of you continues to dream
about what this church is and what this church can become. I hope each of you believes that these dreams
are not of your own making but are a gift of God. I pray each of your dreams has spent a little
time in the pit. Those times of
disappointment and soul searching will only serve to make your dreams
stronger.
I
hope that you find the courage to share your dreams with other dreamers. I believe God places righteous dreams into
the hearts of many. When we discover our
fellow dreamers, the will to follow God’s path will become stronger. It is
through the imagination of folks like you that the church finds life, and
courage and reason to exist. Dreaming of
what could have been serves little purpose.
Dreaming of what can be gives us vitality.
I
am challenging you to have the courage to put on your fancy coat and speak your
mind. Don’t you know by now that this is the place where dreams come to life?
We have the resources, we have the tools, and we have the willing bodies. Best
of all no one here is interested in digging a dream ending pit out back.
So
share your vision. Give the rest of us the chance to be fully engaged in God’s
amazing imagination. This is the perfect time and the perfect place for dreamers
to unite. This is the perfect time and the perfect place to join together and
work for the good of humankind. This is
the perfect time and the perfect place to show off your fancy coat and your
Godly dreams. A wise person once said
only silence and fear can effectively kill a dream. So dream, dream of what is
good, dream of what is righteous, dream of what is noble, dream of the
possibility of recreating God’s heaven right here in this holy place. Once that
is done, I can only imagine what else is possible.
To
God be the glory, Amen.
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