Expect Nothing in Return?

Genesis 45:1-15; Luke 6:35


Someone once said: Love your enemy. Do good to them. Forgive them. Expect nothing in return. Wow! What an idiot. Obviously that person did not live in the real world. We all have enemies. What fun would life be if we didn’t have someone to talk about? On the other hand, our personal investment in an enemy is minimal if at all. But what happens if you have been harmed by someone you really love? How do you continue to trust them? How do you do good to them? How do you forgive them? How can you expect nothing in return?


Twenty years ago had a great sermon on this dilemma called, What Would Jesus Do. Today I find Jesus, the person I quoted, not so helpful. All I dare do is share a story. Once upon a time there was a young man possessed by dreams he couldn’t keep to himself. Those dreams became the source of ambition and jealousy, love and hate, even glory and spite. The young man’s name was Joseph, the eleventh of twelve sons. He was his father’s favorite.


Decked out in a beautiful robe given by an adoring dad the dreamer proclaimed one day his brothers would bow down and declare him to be their Lord. Joseph is seventeen. Judah is close to 30. It has been seventeen years since the eldest heard a tender word from his father. Now the runt was demanding the keys to the kingdom. Knowing the father would never turn down Joseph’s request, the eldest decided the best way to squelch a dream was make it a nightmare.


A scheme was created. The dreamer was invited to join his brothers in the field. Once beyond the protection of his father, Joseph was stripped, gagged and thrown into a pit. The siblings sold Joseph to slavers, then dipped the dreamers coat into the blood of an animal. The soiled garment was offered to the father as proof of death. In reflecting on this story Elie Wiesel comments, “When brothers become enemies, God refuses to participate and becomes only a spectator.”


Joseph was taken to Egypt where he was purchased by an officer of Pharaoh. He became Potiphar’s most trusted slave until Joseph’s good looks placed him in a compromising situation. Potiphar’s wife attempted to seduce the young Hebrew but Joseph rebuked her advances. The scorned wife claimed Joseph insulted her and Potiphar threw the boy into prison. But the story did not end. We are told, “God was with Joseph and made Joseph favorable in the eye’s of the chief jailer.”


Once again the dreamer began to dream. The dreams predicted life and death. The dreamer became known as one who spoke the truth regardless of the consequences. Joseph was brought before Pharaoh where he predicted seven years of plenty and seven of draught. Believing the foreigner, Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of grain collection and distribution. The dreamer was now 30.


Seven years later a famine entered the whole region. The children of Jacob feared they would not survive. The eldest, Judah, addressed his father. “If we stay here we will die.” Jacob responded, “If we go to Egypt we will be enslaved.” Judah countered, “Better to live as a slave than die free.” Jacob, no longer trusting Judah said, “Go to Egypt but leave Benjamin with me.”


The ten older brothers headed south, never suspecting who they would encounter. Even the dreamer had not imagined this scenario. Joseph was married to an Egyptian woman and had two sons. His only links to the past were memories of his father and youngest brother Benjamin.


Judah and the brothers arrive. Joseph not only recognized them, he realized Jacob and Benjamin were absent. The plot thickened. There was neither love nor forgiveness in the heart of Joseph. Not realizing it was Joseph who stood before them, the brothers were at a huge disadvantage. The Egyptian inquired about their family. The brothers’ told of their father and the younger brother at home. Most of us would have screamed, “What about the brother you nearly killed and sold into slavery?” But not Joseph. He had waited too long time to misplay this hand. He demanded the brothers prove they were telling the truth by bringing the younger brother to Egypt.


Benjamin arrived, the grain was given, silver was planted in Benjamin’s bags, and Benjamin was arrested. Joseph was ruthless, cunning, and vengeful. He had forgotten nothing. He was willing to do anything to separate the younger brother from Jacob’s malignant family. After 20 years of dreaming and scheming Joseph was now ready to have his older brothers bow down in absolute fear. But the one thing Joseph had not counted on happened. Judah begged for mercy, not for himself but his father. He begged to be allowed to take the place of Benjamin.


Joseph had not anticipated compassion from this brother he hated. Joseph had been dead to his family for twenty years. He could not believe the events of the past few days. He had the power to destroy Judah with a single word. But Judah, the source of all Joseph’s pain begs, “Don’t break my father’s heart.”


Joseph, no longer able to control himself, broke down and cried. Judah was in the crosshairs and Joseph could not finish the execution. All he could manage was a whisper. “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?”


Joseph held all the cards. He could have snapped his finger and Judah would have been executed. I imagine Joseph screaming, “God you put me here. What am I supposed to do?” The dreamer was given no vision by the God who remains a spectator in family quarrels. The story ends with Judah being tolerated without any expectations.


Eventually the entire family moved to Egypt. They stay long enough to forget Jacob, and Joseph, and even Yahweh. One morning they woke up and discovered their status had changed from visitor to slave. Only then did Yahweh move from the bleachers to the playing field. God chose to stay clear of this family’s bitter dysfunctional behavior even as it drove them further into the darkness. But when they hit rock bottom, when all expectations were gone, Yahweh devised a plan to bring them back to the Promised Land. 


      It is amazing how the Genesis stories mimic the relationships between brother and sisters, friends and family. These stories remind us while we frequently claim God as our champion, God refuses to take sides. Yet through a grace which is beyond our understanding, God eventually helps us find our way home. It doesn’t make sense. But then neither does most family squabbles.


To God be the Glory. Amen.