Weeping & Rejoicing

Isn’t that incredible. Can we give Christian a hand for reading all those names? He’s one of our deacons here. And again, if your guest, when we say we’re going to read through every word and every name that was bearing witness of just that, and I always say that’s an exciting time for us as a church, especially for those of you that are pregnant. I mean, there’s some really cool names that were in that list, and we would love to baptize your child when it’s born. But man, I mean, there’s some names that are that are resurfacing and why not even go all the way back to Genesis to get some, we are at the tail end of, part five and even the book of Genesis, and yet there’s still so much in here. There’s so much richness as we continue through the life of Joseph in part five in particular, and just want to remind you again, you’re not going to want to miss April 6th, because we are going to have a Genesis finale party. Okay, I’m dead serious. Some of you are like, what are you going to do? You just have to be here to see. Because covering a book of the Bible for two and a half years is been quite an awesome opportunity for us as a church, and we just feel like that would be a great way to wrap it all up and, and prepare our hearts for Holy Week.

That kicks off the following week. so last Sunday, we left off with this, we left off with Joseph having his brothers at his house. his brothers still don’t know that he is the brother they sold into slavery, and he’s putting them through these tests. And so the way that we ended was with him giving his brother Benjamin, his only biological brother, his blood brother, with the same mom and dad, five times as much food as everyone else. So some of you might remember that if you were here last week and the brothers passed the test, when he looked at their responses, they weren’t jealous that the servants gave him five, five times the amount of food. In fact, the scriptures tell us that they feasted and they drank freely. And this really was a celebration. when you look at all that they have been through, I mean, it’s kind of overwhelming the things that Joseph has made them do. when they first actually came to Egypt and they came to Egypt to buy food because they were literally starving, it was the only way that they and all of those people that you just saw listed, we’re going to survive is if they were able to buy some of the grain and take it back home, and the first time that they came, he accused them of being spies.

And he kind of gotten verbal back and forth with them. that’s when he started asking them questions about their family to see if they were actually going to be truthful. You might remember he keeps Simeon behind in jail because he really wants to see his brother Benjamin. But his brother Benjamin actually didn’t come the first time they came to Egypt. And then he puts the silver that they bought to buy the grain back in their sacks. He doesn’t tell them he has the servants do this, and when they get home, they are actually surprised that they had the silver, that they had the money that they had used. And so they were kind of scratching their heads and trying to figure this out, but they ended up bringing it back because that was yet another test. And just as we saw, he gives Benjamin five times the amount of food at the feast. And now just this Ash Wednesday, which, by the way, incredible job. Church. We’re not even really sure what happened just a few days ago, but we are attendance for Ash Wednesday skyrocketed, so I don’t know if that was just. You guys all just felt like coming to Ash Wednesday this year, or you just brought a ton of people with you, but that was absolutely incredible. what happened just a few days ago?

This was toward the end here where he takes and he puts the silver cup into Benjamin’s sack, sends them all the way back to Egypt, and then he sends his servant to to actually back to Canaan, and he sends his servant halfway to stop them, only only to realize that there’s a silver cup in his bag and then accuse them of taking the silver cup. And so there’s kind of a kind of an interesting trap that Joseph had set for them. And wouldn’t you know, his one brother steps up and says, wait a second, I’ll take the punishment for that silver cup being in Benjamin’s bag. When at the end of the day, what Joseph really wanted was Benjamin. He wanted to be in relationship with Benjamin. And so that’s, where Ben left us off on Wednesday because Judah was the one that set up and said, you know what? You can take me instead of Benjamin. You can throw me in jail for the rest of my life, or I can be your servant for the rest of my life. But please let Benjamin and the rest of my brothers go back to their home. So after going through all of this and all of these things that he’s kind of these hoops that he’s made them jump through, finally, finally, he gets to the point in chapter 45 where it says Joseph could no longer control himself before all of his attendants.

He cried out, have everyone leave my presence. So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to the brothers. And it says, he wept so loudly. So think of the emotional response he’s having that the Egyptians heard him, and because the Egyptians heard them, heard him, somebody went and then told Pharaoh, man, this guy is a hot mess. Like this guy is being shaken to his core because we finally see in this chapter that he reveals to the fact that he says to them, I am Joseph. Hey guys, you’ve passed all the tasks you’ve been through, all of the things all the long since you first came here. I’ve known who you are, but you didn’t know who I was. I’m actually your brother and you wants to know is dad still alive? Am I still going to have the opportunity to see dad before he passes? And what’s the brother’s response to this? To this revelation? They’re terrified. Why are they terrified? Wouldn’t you be terrified if you. If your brother just put you through all of those tests? I mean, back and forth and all of the things that you’re that you’re doing in even, you know, trying to figure this out. And they know that he’s in this powerful position and you can snap his fingers and you can throw all of them into jail, which he’s already done before, because you made all of them go to jail for three days.

And here they are. And they finally get this revelation, revelation that he is, in fact, their brother. He’s bawling his eyes out like a baby, and they’re all completely frozen. And I wonder, have you ever had a traumatic event that has brought you to a complete standstill? You ever have those moments in life where it’s just beyond your human comprehension? Like what just happened and why is this happening to me? And there was no fault of your own, or maybe there was something that you did do that led to it, and your response was you didn’t know what to think or how to feel. You just were completely frozen. I remember this happening to me when I was a little kid, and my mom was in a terrible, awful car accident and a spring from a truck while she was on the freeway, came through the windshield and struck her head and split her skull in half. Thankfully, if you can be thankful, in that moment, she was in the passenger seat and the person in the driver’s seat was able to get off the freeway. And when you know that there just happened to be an ambulance at the gas station that was right off the freeway, that immediately took her to the hospital, and she went in for one of the most insane surgeries.

And we didn’t think she was going to live. And I remember being a kid and being completely frozen in that moment. I remember another moment in my life when I was coming back from college and I was driving my friend’s vehicle. He was in the passenger seat, and my little sister was in the backseat, when all of a sudden the vehicle began to slide on I-94 on the west side, which is always crazy. During the winter. The road is so dangerous until we hit a snowbank and I flipped the vehicle three times, and then I was screaming out to my sister, and my sister wasn’t responding to me. And in that moment, I thought that I had killed my sister. You tell you all those moments where you just you’re just overcome. You’re just overcome because you don’t know what to do. Like, sometimes that’s what happens. And isn’t it interesting that usually that’s when we break, especially if we’re in this habit of just pushing things down and pushing things down and pushing things down, and then maybe somebody passes away or a circumstance that comes into our lives and it completely resets everything that we used to know.

Well, what does Joseph do after he’s he reveals himself finally to his brothers, and they’re sitting there just stunned, like, what are we supposed to do? He wants them to come closer to him, come a little bit closer. And he says it again. I’m your brother, Joseph. Here’s how you can verify it. Hey, I know that you sold me into slavery. I know that little secret that you’ve been keeping for these 20 plus years. And then Joseph does something absolute incredible. He doesn’t chastise them. He doesn’t give them another test. Instead, he offers them mercy and grace. He tells them, don’t be distressed, which, when you’re frozen in a moment, isn’t that like the worst thing you can say to somebody? Stop stressing out. Snap out of it. Don’t be distressed. Do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. Wait. What? What? Now’s your chance to pounce, Joseph. Now’s your chance to tell him just how awful and sinful they are. And, man, why don’t you remind them that they were actually plotting to kill you? That was actually the plan A. They were so jealous of you and your coat of many colors.

And then it was one brother who was, I guess, maybe the treasurer of the family that said, no, let’s not kill them. We’re not going to make any money. Why don’t we sell them so at least we can profit from getting them, getting rid of them and getting them out of our family. And here he is in this moment, after going all through all of these things, and somehow he is able to not only forgive them, he’s able to say, by the way, God use what you meant for evil, for my good and for the good of thousands of people. Wow. I mean, just think about that for a moment in your own life. Like who? If you could name someone has hurt you the most. What is someone said or done to you? Someone that you might still have bitterness and animosity and anger toward? What would it take to forgive them? Or flip it the other way? Who have you hurt the most? Is there something that you have said or that you have done? And you wonder, is it ever going to be possible for that person to ever talk to you again, or to even look at you, or even be willing to enter into a conversation so that you can reconcile or even say these words? I’m sorry to them, and I’m always amazed at the way that God works.

I love reading these biblical accounts, and I love seeing the ways in which real human beings have to interact with their time on the earth. And what you always see as well, is the way that God weaves his perfect plan for our lives. If you didn’t know this, if you’re not a follower of Jesus, God doesn’t really necessarily make it easy on his followers. Did you know that Jesus told the disciples over and over again, in this world and this world that you’re in right now, you will have trouble. You’re going to have hardships, you’re going to face challenges. But then he also says, take heart. Remember this I have already overcome the world. I’m Jesus and I’m here, and I’m also going to a cross and I’m going to die in the sins of the world are going to be placed on my shoulders, and I’m going to do what you can’t do. I’m going to be the sacrifice I’m going to be what bridges the gap between you and God and restores the relationship that was lost when sin entered the world in the garden. I mean, just think for a moment the way in which God works. God use slave traders to get Joseph. From Cana into Potiphar’s house. He didn’t know at the time what was going to happen.

But the whole point in the whole journey of going to Potiphar’s house was so that he could actually be introduced to Potiphar’s wife. She could have affection for him, and in sinning in that way, is what led to him being thrown into prison. And because he was in prison, that’s when he got introduced to Pharaoh’s cup. The cupbearer and the cupbearer is the one that actually told Pharaoh that Joseph even existed and had the ability to interpret dreams. Isn’t that fascinating? When you look at it from that perspective, how many of us have ever looked back at our lives and we see the circumstances and maybe some of the milestones in our lives, and we think, man, this was a difficult time and this was a difficult time, and this was a difficult time, and this was a difficult time. And yet somehow God was able to use those difficult circumstances to get us to exactly where he wanted us to be all along. I mean, it’s absolutely crazy if you go all the way back to the beginning that God used the brothers sin to save thousands of lives, who would have ever thought a young boy, at 17 years old, thrown into a pit and sold as a slave?

There’s no way anyone would have ever thought that God would use him and use him to a level in the way that he did. So ask yourself, is it possible that even in your darkest moments of life, God is at work? When you’re struggling, when you’re going through something that seems too overwhelming, is it possible for God to still turn it into something good? You’re quiet this morning. Now I know it’s daylight savings, and I know we all lost an hour. And I’m really proud of all of you that are here in person. And I’m proud of you. Of those that are streaming in online as well. Because I know you’re probably rubbing your eyes. You got that? You know, this is really, honestly, the hardest Sunday of the year. Did you know that? And isn’t it amazing that we chose to not do one chapter today, but two chapters on the hardest Sunday of the year? For two years now, they’re in this famine. They have five more years to go. And what does he do? He reminds them of again. God sent me ahead of you, Joseph, having the ability to see that Almighty God, even what those meant for evil for him, God somehow meant it for good.

And now he wants to see dad. So he tells them to hurry back to their hometown, and then he gives them permission to tell them that he is alive and that God has made him a ruler in Egypt. Go and tell dad, because he’s going to want to see me. He’s going to want to know that I’m still living. Don’t delay. And by the way, pack all of your stuff up and move here. You’re going to live in one of the most incredible areas. You’re going to live in the best zip code of Egypt, and it’s going to be near me and all the things that I have, because I want my wife and my kids to grow up with your wives and your kids, and I want us to be one big, happy family. Doesn’t that sound great? For those of you that have kids, isn’t that what you ultimately want for everyone to live on the same street? So you can just go door to door and be all one big happy family? Isn’t it frustrating for you? Like my parents were? You know, three out of their four kids live in different states, and they have to spend all their time on airplane tickets and hotels and all that other stuff.

I mean, just think about what’s happening in this moment. Not only does he forgive them, not only does he tell them they don’t have to worry about anything, he’s now going to move them to be where he is at. All of them. And so what is? Just so broken in these moments, he’s weeping and he’s embracing them. He even kisses all of his brothers. But you’re wondering, like when he’s coming in for a kiss, are you kind of like, wait a second, I’m still processing this moment. I’m still trying to understand that you’re actually Joseph, but you’re moving in for a kiss and you’re a sobbing mess. What does make a great movie? I mean, I feel like they could totally do this. This would be so much better than any hallmark movie you’ve ever seen. I mean, this is incredible entering into this moment in this passage. Then it says this, this is really key. After his brothers talk to him, after everybody kind of settle down and, and just realize what was happening into this moment. And then he does something odd again, because to each of the brothers, he gives them a gift, gives them new clothing. But to Benjamin, he gives 300 shekels of silver, and he gives them not one but five sets of clothes. Why is he do this if they’ve already passed all the test? Why does he do this if he knows that?

If he could give them five, you know, times the amount of food, they’re not going to be jealous. And he’s already revealed who he is. Why does he still need to go to these lengths? And really, the answer is it’s because he loves Benjamin. He loves Benjamin. And he was so excited to finally see him. And when you’re wealthy, you can do what you want with your money. Did you know that? Here’s the interesting part. Sometimes when we see the way that God hands out blessings. Sometimes we get jealous of it. Sometimes we don’t always like when we see other people being blessed or being blessed more than maybe we think we should be blessed. And it seems like sometimes God has favorites. And there’s these parables that Jesus told in the New Testament about workers that that went out into the field and there was workers that came to work at certain times of the day. And when they all came back to work, he paid them all the same. And the workers that actually had started early in the morning and worked all day got really upset because they said, Jesus, I don’t know if you know this or if you got someone keeping track of all of our time cards, but these guys over here, these guys only worked a half a day.

These guys only worked a quarter a day. Some of these guys barely worked at all. Why are you paying them the same thing that you’re paying us? And what does Jesus say? It’s none of your business what God decides to do and who he decides to bless, and how he decides to bless people. All we know is that maybe there’s times we’re going through a hardship and we get our eyes fixed on somebody else, or somebody else’s blessing, but we don’t realize that maybe God is doing a Joseph thing to us. Maybe there’s these things that we’re struggling with financially or relationally, but yet God has a bigger plan and a bigger blessing. It just may be a week or a month or a year down the road. So what do they do? They come out of Egypt. They go to Jacob in the land, and they tell him, dad, you’re not going to believe this. Your son that you love the most, he’s alive and he’s the ruler of Egypt. And what response does he have?bThe same exact response. He’s completely stunned. These are his sons telling him this. And his first response is not to believe them. But afterwards, after they had told him everything that had transpired. Dad, just think about it for a moment. Now we know why he was so intrigued with our family. Now we know why he answered, why he was asking us so many questions about you and Benjamin, and why he was trying to figure out what was going on in our own family dynamics.

Now we know why he even was able to put us in the correct order when we feasted at his house like it’s all starting to make sense. And it says that when he saw the cart Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father, Jacob was revived. All of a sudden, now he’s like, oh, man, wait a second. Yeah, where would you have gotten all of these things from? And in that moment now he’s convinced my son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die. So it was the physical things that were before him that somehow led him to having faith to believe what his sons were telling him. Now, this is another interesting thing that happens in these two chapters, because God actually comes to Jacob, whose name is also Israel, and it’s in a vision at night. And this isn’t the first time that God has spoken to him. And he says, Jacob, Jacob. Jacob hears this and says, here and here I am. God. And God proceeds to said, I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation. There I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again.

And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes. Isn’t this interesting that all of a sudden, God that’s been kind of silent in his life reappears after he already has, has confirmed that he believes that Joseph is alive and is making plans to go to Egypt to see him. Why didn’t God come to him earlier? Why didn’t God come to him the first time he sent his sons to Egypt and say, hey, just, you know, I’m still going to work. My promise through you and your sons are going to be fine, and I’m going to make sure that I continue to provide for your family, and I will fulfill my promise. Or how about the second time when he had a load them all up, and the second time he sent them, he had to include Benjamin with them. So now all of his sons have left. Why didn’t God show up to him then? What is it that he does in building Jacob’s faith? And then what is it that he does with us as he builds our faith, as he gets us in this rhythm of trying to figure out how we are to do these things in life? I know some of you might be saying, man, wouldn’t it be awesome if you went to bed tonight and you heard God say your name not once, but twice? Who would sign up for that? Once you like God just to confirm the next season of your life, or the next direction or purpose that he has for you. When has God called you by name?

Do you know?bAnd when is God called your children and your grandchildren by name? I want you to think about this for a moment. Every time you see a baptism, what is the first thing that’s spoken? The person’s name, the child’s name. And in that baptism, as you are seeing that take place, that is God that is at work. That’s not the pastor that is at work. It’s not the parents that are at work. That’s not the child or the teen or the adult, whoever it may be that’s getting baptized. God Almighty is calling that person to faith. God Almighty is at work in that moment. That’s why we call it a miracle. That’s why we can see physically God at work in our lives. Do you know that we’ve all been called by name, by Almighty God, that God knows our stories? He knows the struggles that we go through. He’s the one that continues to carry us through all of the days that he gives us on this earth, and why he chooses to do the things that he does. We don’t always know, and we may never know this side of heaven, man. There are times when I have asked God. When I begged God when I pleaded with God, God, can you just make this thing that I have to do or this decision that I have to make? Can you just make it abundantly clear? Why does sometimes it have to be a struggle?

Why is it sometimes it seems that there has to be these tasks and these trials and these circumstances. And again, we don’t always know. But yet when we look back, we can see.
The grace and the mercy of God. So finally, isn’t this interesting? They get to be on the road again, back and forth, back and forth. Now the brothers get to carry their father, which is kind of nice, right? Dad didn’t have to walk. He got to ride in one of the luxury Egyptian carts that were provided to him. They bring their wives and children. They’re even putting all of their livestock and goods, whatever it was that they could carry. 70 people are part of this transfer from Cana into Egypt. I mean, that’s a big family. That’s a lot of people to be responsible for. And it says when they arrived, Joseph has had his chariot ready and he goes down to meet his father, and as soon as he appeared before them. What’s his response? Throws his arms around his dad and it says he’s up for a long time. Can I ask you this morning what is a long time? What do you think?

I have no idea. I just says it was a long time. This embrace, just that moment in the significance of that moment. You know, the moment that we’re waiting for, that we’re all waiting for, is when our time here on earth comes to an end. When we breathe our last breath in. Isn’t it incredible that Scripture tells us that when we close our eyes in this life, and we open them in the next, that immediately we will see Jesus and he will be waiting for us with his arms stretched out to give us the biggest hug and the biggest welcome to be in his presence for all eternity. How many of you are excited about that? How many you hope that come sooner than later? Look at this final verse this morning 4630 dad says to Joseph, okay, I got to hug you for a long time. I got to weep with you. Now I’m really ready to die. Now remember he said this when he first found out that he thought Joseph was dead over 20 years ago? He said this after he found out that Joseph wanted Benjamin to come back with them. Like this is his repeated pattern of man. I don’t want to live anymore. I don’t want to live anymore. I don’t want to live anymore. And now that he’s had this opportunity to know that his son is in fact alive and be reunited with him once again, he’s just like, I’ve seen it all.

God has blessed me more than I deserve, and I know that God is going to fulfill the promise that he has given me, because he just confirmed it over again, and yet another dream that he has blessed me with. What about for us? How is it that we approach life? I can tell you this I probably have an unhealthy obsession with death. Just, you know, my wife gets on me because she thinks I talk about death way too much. I’m usually always planning my funeral, or I’m always reminding her, if something happens to me, you’re going to be fine. It’s going to be great. You’re beautiful. Just like, wait a week before you move on, you know, to dating. She stops. That’s why you always talk about. I was like, I don’t know, I just want to live in the moment. I just want to live every single day serving God. And ultimately, the more I read Scripture, the more I dig into this stuff. The more you can just see the sovereignty of God over all of our lives, all of our days, if you didn’t know, have already been determined by God.

He knew when we were going to be born, and he knows our last day here on this earth. The question is, what are we going to do? Not knowing? And then what are we going to do with the time that he does give us? So I want to end with this scripture from Corinthians says this. The sting of death is sin because we know it’s the law, our fallen sinful state. We’re all going to die. We’re all dying each and every day. But here’s the good news for us. Thanks be to God. We already have the victory through Jesus Christ who went to the cross, who rose from the dead. Which means every time we gather here, every single Sunday is actually Easter Sunday. And so here’s our instructions before leaving Earth. You ready for this, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. What does that mean? Stand firm on the promises of God. Stand firm on the promises that he gives us in his word. Stand firm on the truth that is ours to hold. Let nothing move you. Isn’t that some good advice in a wonky world? In a world that’s constantly doing this, and new stations and all the different things that we have going on, I really don’t want to you that fear focus.

Don’t let any of that be your obsession. But in fact, wake up every day and figure out how you can be on a mission trip every single day. That’s why I love these t shirts. By the way. That’s why I love what we’re about to do as a church this week. Did you know that that so many of our people are going to come here and they’re going to make meals, and so many people are going to be going down to Warren and giving up their most valuable resource, their time to love some of the most underprivileged, under-resourced people right here in our community. That’s why it says always give fully to the work of the Lord. Because what you’re doing, whatever it is that you’re doing, you aren’t doing it in vain. There is a purpose attached to it. No matter if you’re in a pit or a prison cell or a palace, whatever the case may be, make the best use of your time in the days that God is giving you. Amen. Even if they take an hour from us, Amen, Amen. Will you, by your heads, you close your eyes with me this morning. Heavenly father, thank you so much for my friends that are here, those that are watching online. God, we thank you once again for reminding us of who you are. That God, you never leave us or abandoned us, that you’re always with us.

You’re the one praying for us each and every day. Oh God, you’re the one that’s done it all for us through your son, Jesus Christ and God. Now, with the time that you’ve given us our earthly days, may each and every day God count, may each and every day we be focused on what it is that you want to do in and through us. God, we love you. We thank you for the ways that you have provided for us in the past, in the ways that you will continue to provide for us each and every day as we head into the future. And so I pray if anyone is in here and they’re struggling, maybe they are in a valley. Maybe they’re going through a difficult season. God, I pray that this church is able to wrap our arms around them, to love them, to support them, to walk that path and that struggle with them, knowing that in some way and somehow, God, you are going to work that out for your good, that you are going to claim it for your self and for a greater purpose than we could ever hope, dream or imagine.

Because it’s your power that’s at work in all of our lives. So, God, we love you. We thank you. We now respond to you in our praise and worship and adoration to you. We love you. We thank you. In your name we pray. Amen.