Clapback

Message Transcription

Well, we're in the midst of a series. I've called Let Him Cook, and we began last week by thinking about some terminology from the Gen Z world. And I did some translation work and it was met with mixed reviews, you know, um, here, in fact, we're a couple of those reviews. The first one was from my niece Lily, who said, uh, cringey Uncle Carl. Just cringey, right? Uh, my brother who was also here, my younger brother. Let me clarify. He said that sure felt like an older brother kind of interpretation of that passage. I felt like Josef kind of came off wrong. Then, uh, my buddy, my pal, my friend Katie B said, that was lit, fam. It's like, that's all I needed to hear. That's all I needed to hear. Uh, we wanted to spend some time thinking together about the story of Josef and and about how God is at work in his life. And we're going to see it again today. But. But how? It's often in ways we wouldn't expect, and maybe not even ways that we would choose for ourselves. That God is powerful and yet he creates this space, right? We encountered Joseph last week as a 17 year old who receives these dreams and some special treatment from his father, and so he interprets those in a way that a 17 year old probably would. And I know I would have as as I've got some special favor, right? We talked about his trip, right? His swag, how he looked like he was evidenced by what he was even wearing.

Everyone knew he was Jacob's favorite. Like literally everyone knew that. And how he interpreted that. Then he receives a couple of dreams and and we believe I believe they're from God, even though the writer doesn't say they're from God, but they come true, only they're going to come true in ways that he could not have expected at the time, maybe even understood. And so the only way that he can interpret them is through this lens of special treatment. And I've got the swag. Everybody likes me. Or at least that's the story in his mind. Now again, we give them a little break. Right? He was 17. What were you thinking at 17? Maybe. Think about it this way. If you had a sibling, what would it take for you to believe that God had given them a dream, that one day you would bow down to them and you'd go, make sense? Right. We don't know exactly all the ins and outs of Joseph's relationships with his family. All we know is how they interpreted his interpretation of those dreams. Right. And we see it in some pretty powerful ways. In fact, we we saw it just in the reading that Nick read for us a moment ago. The word today for us is clapback. Right now, if you're familiar with the lingo of the day, that's simply just a response a sharp, often pointed response to a perceived offense.

And so we're going to see Joseph gets a little clap back a couple of clap backs this week in our story. We see it in the way that that the brothers respond to him. Now keeping with our Gen Z translation, I put these on the screen for you. When they see Joseph coming, look who's coming. Playing like a main character, it's that dreamer. Time to clap back on baby bro. Serve him up the El he deserves. Joseph's dreams were about to become a nightmare. His brothers hatched a plot to kill him, throw him in a pit and tell pops it was an animal. But when Reuben, the oldest bro, heard this plan, he said, Bros chill. No need for all that dome in the pit, but let's keep thinking on this. He was secretly hoping to rescue Joseph, but when Joseph walked up, they grabbed him and tore off his coat. Take a seat, little bro. And they threw him into the pit. All their scheming made him hungry and as they were chowing down, some traders came rolling up. I got it, Judas said. I know how to deal with the dreamer. Let's sell him to these traders. No mess, no guilt. And best of all, no more dreams. Slay, bro. It's a great idea. That's their hope. The brothers Clapback is overwhelming and sure, their interpretation of Joseph's dreams that the way that they experienced him and encountered him in real life was not. Oh, that's awesome man.

I can't wait for that to happen. Instead, it's like I'll die before I let that happen. Or rather, you'll die before I let that happen. Right. We don't know all the ins and the outs of the story. All we know is their response, right? Even Joseph's own parents were like, bruh. You really think we're going to bow down to you? And again, the experience of his family was no, no, no. That blessing was not received by them as a blessing. It was more of a curse. So the chapter kind of limps to this conclusion that his brothers make a really hard choice, hard for Joseph, right? They sell him and then they take his robe, the symbol of his, uh. Of his love. A symbol of his his blessing. And they tear it. They dip it in the blood and they take it back to his father. And a joke. And in one moment, Jacob's life is completely and utterly devastated. In fact, he tells his family, who tried to console him over and over again. This will. I will never be over this. This will never not be meaningful to me. In fact, I'm taking this one to the grave. All right. Some of us know that kind of pain. We've been through an experience like that where we know this will be us for the rest of our days. Meanwhile, an end of 37, we get this little verse that that Joseph has now been sold to Potiphar.

So the the story takes a little hiatus here. Chapter 38. It's a totally different story then chapter 39 we encounter Joseph again. Again continuing with my Gen Z translation. Joseph's new Addy was in Egypt, where Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's CEOs, had purchased him. The Lord was with Joseph, helping him kill it as his new role. And Potiphar took notice of Joseph's hustle and grind and how God kept blessing him left and right. So he put him in charge of everything. No cat. Joseph's wrist was off the charts, yo. And Potiphar didn't sweat nothing except his food. Hashtag plot twist though, fam. Potiphar's wife started simping sliding into Joseph's DMs trying to get him to Netflix and chill. But Joseph was all about that loyalty. He swerved every time she rolled up, telling her, Since I've been slain it here. God's been blessing me. How could I betray him like that? I'm in my top dog era. But she kept glazing. Joseph kept dipping until one day when nobody else home. She tried to shoot her shot, but Joseph ghosted her, leaving his jacket behind that she'd snatched up off him. Not about to take the El, Potiphar's wife, low key flipped the script, accusing Joseph of trying to Netflix and chill with her. She screamed, Joseph bounced, and the other servants came running. Now she kept hold of that jacket until Potiphar got home, and then she put Joseph on blast. She told Potiphar her made up story and he went ballistic for real.

He threw Joseph in the slammer. The king used for his enemies. But the Lord didn't forget Joseph. He kept it 100, giving him all kinds of W's. Joseph stayed true to his grind, so much so that the chief jailer made Joseph his number one, just like Potiphar had. Everything Joseph did in prison was straight fire. No gas. So his boss didn't stress about a thing. I know it's a bit disconcerting to hear this story in a different kind of lingo and vernacular, but I but I think the gist of it comes through. Right. And Joseph is hired out, or rather, is sold to Potiphar, who puts him in charge of everything. And we see him over and over again. God is helping him rise in the ranks, grow in his responsibilities. I wonder, though, what it must have been like for Joseph going through this experience since his brothers had sold him into slavery. What that must have been like for him. Each time he ends up somewhere God's blessing him. His hand is there, guiding and leading him. And Joseph is rising through the ranks, only to be betrayed once again by folks who should have known better, folks that he trusted, folks who thought they were for him. Wind up throwing him in prison. Now it's interesting. The phrase used to describe God's presence with Joseph in prison isn't quite captured in the Gen Z translation. I'll have a talk with him this week.

Uh, he translated it, but the Lord didn't forget Joseph. He kept it 100. Given him all kinds of W's. Better translation. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love. Maybe your translation says loyalty. I think about this for a minute. The Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love. Do you think it was hard for Joseph to see that steadfast love while he's in prison? I mean, he could see the blessings that God was producing in his life, right? He kept rising in the ranks. He could see that he kept being put in charge of more and more. I wonder if there were times when we don't have his prayers recorded where he just prayed. God, thank you that I'm killing it here in my new job. But could you get me out of prison? Like, I know you're blessing me in here, but could it be possible that you could get me out of here? You see, the Hebrew word that's used here, that's kind of lost some in our translation is the word hesed. That's the word for God's steadfast love, his loyalty, his loving kindness. In fact, it's used to describe some human situations, some human relationships in the Old Testament, a few places. One in particular is Abraham. When he's going to sacrifice Isaac and the angel stops him. And take your son, the son who you said. Right. But most places we find this in Scripture to actually it's talking about God.

In fact, the majority of places it's describing God's engagement with his people. It's this unconditional love, this just because kind of love. It's not a response to what someone else has done. I'm attracted to them. They're beautiful or they're nice. To me, it's the kind of love that actually imbues worth and value in another. It's a kind of love that says, I'm going to love you, and there's nothing you can do about it. It's translated various places in Scripture. In fact, you look at all these different verses, you'll see the the interpreters kind of translators use different words loyalty, steadfast love, faithfulness. None of them really capture the entirety of this idea of being caught up in God's hesed. There are all kind of partially true, like they capture that piece and maybe in that moment they help us see it, but they don't quite get all that it means. To be caught up in God's hessett. To be loved by God. It's an amazing thing. And that's the word that the writer in Genesis 39 uses to say, And Joseph's in prison, but God was with him, and he loved him. He loved him loyally. He loved him steadfastly. Now, if I'm honest, it's a bit surprising that that's the word that's used. When describing God's love of Joseph loyally, steadfastly loving him for him no matter what, while he still in prison. You see, in Genesis 39, hesed does not equate everything going great for Joseph Wright God loving him and being for him and being loyal to him and steadfast on his side does not equal everything always works out for him.

I mean, we can see Joseph certainly could see that God was blessing him, giving him some WS right elevated to running the master's entire household. Now think about that for a minute. In a short period of time, he went from nobody to other than what Potiphar ate each day at the table. Joseph made every other decision in that household. And then the jailer. He went from being inmate number 00054, blah blah blah blah to the guy who made every decision without the jailer having to even worry about it. Now here's the kicker. But Joseph's described as a slave in that household or as a prisoner in that prison. So what does that tell us? What is this thing called? Hesed? What does it mean to be loved by God? See if you're like me when it comes to God's love manifesting in my life. I prefer that it means circumstances always go right. Right when I'm pulling up to that light and I'm having to slow down and there's a few cars in front, like I want that to like to go green. Keep on going. And I don't want trouble. I don't want conflict. I don't want chaos or disorder. I don't want to have to go out of my way. I kind of have my plan and my idea of God's love and my life is that my plan works.

It goes well. It helps me to avoid suffering. My friends, that's not the hesid that's described in Scripture. That's not the hesid that. The story of Joseph describes to us. And that's hard to hear. If I'm honest. That's hard to hear. And sometimes it's hard for us to hear it and we and it comes out in some interesting ways, right? When we meet with or talk to, or try to come alongside someone who's really struggling or suffering or going through hard things. We say stuff that tries to communicate this hesed, but we can't quite capture it. Right. We say things like, well, God is in control. Right? Yeah, that sounds right. That sounds like a good thing. I mean, we can see in Joseph's story that that God was in control, kind of helping some things happen. But we also see the flip side of that where God is in control, but he doesn't do anything. All right. Was there ever this moment in Joseph's life where he said, hey, God, could you teach me these lessons without having to send me into slavery? Could you show me this truth without sticking me into prison? See no image or or picture can fully capture this idea of God's hesed love for his people. And any partial partial truth at some point becomes a little misleading because they can't quite carry the full weight. Again, we look at Joseph's story and God had the power. To change a lot of things, but he doesn't change some things.

He doesn't control everything. In fact, a lot of what happens in Joseph's life are the result of choices that other people made. Sometimes they were choices that he made. Right? And we heard that earlier in Genesis 37. But sometimes it's choices other people made. People who knew him. Right. They knew him. You don't pick somebody to be in charge of everything in your life, except for the food that goes in your mouth without knowing him or her. And yet one story. Can change everything. I mean, I imagine what what narrative was running through Joseph's mind as he's listening to Potiphar and seeing him explode with anger and him going, dude, you know me, man. What are we talking about? And yet. He's now in prison and it's not his fault. And it's not fair. And he's in prison. It doesn't say God put Joseph in prison. God made Joseph a slave. That's not what the Scripture says. Instead, we see the story of Joseph as living the consequences. Of people making bad decisions. And we feel that, don't we? I. Sometimes it's just life happens, right? And we have that friend that comes to us and says, hey, God is in control here. God is in control. And we know what we know what they mean by that. But at the same time, it it can't help but say the flip side, well, then, if God's in control, why didn't I get to avoid this? Like, why did he let this happen? See the answer is because God's steadfast loyalty, his headset is his.

It's his. And he gets to choose how that takes shape in our lives. He gets to decide what form it will take. You see, most of us. I'd like to interpret his hessett in my life. I'd like for to to give him some instructions on how that form or that shape should take place. Maybe you can identify with that. You know, God, if you really loved me, you wouldn't let certain things happen to me. You wouldn't let me have to deal with this stuff. In those moments, maybe you, like me, start to wonder, What's God? What's your plan? I can't help but wonder if Joseph sat in that prison crying out, God, what are you doing? What is the plan? I think the plan is God wants us to be more like him. He wants us to be more like his son. And he knows there can be some things that happen in your life, and I'm going to allow them to happen. Because through them, it's going to help you become more like our son. My son. And I don't know why that is. And we have to learn how to wrestle with the disappointment that comes with that, because we all have hopes and dreams and desires of how we want things to go, and they don't always go that way. And we've got to be the kind of place.

And in church, we're trying to be that kind of church for one another, to say we can wrestle with some hard things like, why is this happening? And why is God allowing this to happen when it doesn't always make sense? Let's see the story that Joseph tells. It's the story of even in that place, God is still with him. And he's still loving him. He's still loyal to him. So if we get to the point where we have to be the ones to define how God's blessed, his love takes shape in our lives. And if it has to look like this smooth road where there's no bumps and no potholes. Then we're setting ourselves up for this crisis of faith. And my friend Jared says it this way. He says we will accuse God of not keeping promises he never made to us. See, we don't get to choose the way God's blessed takes place, how it looks. But it's always there. I. Time and time again, Scripture tells us God is with us. He was with Joseph and he loved him with loyalty. Even though Joseph is in a place that Joseph would have never chosen for himself, even if it's at the result of some of the decisions that he made. Or maybe it's the decisions that other people made. God was still with him. God still loved him. He's working in situations in the midst of suffering. He knows how the writer keeps pointing out how God was at work here.

My God. Still at work. He's still moving. He's still shaping. He's still forming. You see. But in order for those dreams that Joseph had that he thought were a testament to his greatness, rather for them to come true, and they will. He knew Joseph's going to have to go through some things. He's going to have to change. He's going to have to discover and encounter a different story. Those situations are going to be hard, and they're going to change him and they're going to break his heart. But one of the resulting factors is now Joseph has a heart that breaks and empathizes with those who have broken hearts. And we'll see. By the time the dreams come true, Joseph is in a place where he can respond with hesed. A friend, Jared, who preached this series a couple of years ago. This was a point where he started messing with me, right? Moved from preaching to meddling. But he said, if if God's great desire for us is that we become more like His son, and therefore he responds by loving us in a way that allows us to become more like His Son. That means hesed is going to be this mixture of blessing and suffering, and there's no way around it. In fact, we look at the story of Jesus. It's the same story that for Jesus to become who he was and who he is, he had to go through suffering.

You see if God's Hassett is is intended to help us become like Christ, then there are going to be some weeks in our life that feel like the last week of Jesus life. But God is with us. God is for us. He loves us. The Hebrew preacher wrote it like this. If it was, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer. Jesus the pioneer of their salvation perfect through. Suffering. He just like it was for Joseph. So it will be for us that God's blessed his presence with us is this mixture of success. And suffering. Right. You know, we talked last week about Joseph had this dream, and he interpreted it in such a way that that the way others saw him and heard him share that dream and it caused them to turn away, or even worse, to say for us that we read all through Scripture these incredible promises that God makes about the future that is coming and nothing can stop it. God's kingdom is breaking through, and one day it will be fully here as it is on heaven. And he's given each one of us a place and a time in relationships and opportunities and says, I want you to be an ambassador for me, living that out. And we wrestle with, how are you telling that story? Is it all? Sunshine and roses. Does knowing that truth that that dream is going to come true? Does it cause us to power up and say, I may not be in control now, but just you wait.

Just you wait. November 6th, baby. Mark it down. Then you'll see what it's like for God's kingdom to come on earth. As it art in heaven, right? Is that is that really the story we're buying into? See if we lose sight of this idea of hesed, of God being at work, shaping and forming us, that we'll experience success and opportunity, but at the same time, hard things struggle. And things we wouldn't choose for ourselves. We wouldn't wish it on anyone else. And yet it happens. The Apostle Paul said it like this who shall separate us from the love of Christ? That's a good question, Paul. Who is it? Notice what he says after it. Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword. And you're like, no, I don't want any of those things. Why is that? Even in the conversation, Paul? Why did you bring that up, Paul saying, Because God's dream is coming true, and for us to manifest, to live into that, to be a part of it fully, we're going to have to do some changing. And so some things in our life are going to have to happen for us to learn and grow and become. To look more like his son. See, I believe that God doesn't cause all the pain in our life. I'd just like in Joseph's life, God didn't cause all that pain.

But God doesn't waste any of that pain either. See he's able to take the broken pieces of a dream that Joseph once had, and begin to put it back together again, that it might become actually something really beautiful and really meaningful and really important in his kingdom. But in order for that to take place, we've got to be willing partners. You know, when we're in the dark, we have to be willing to cry out, God, where are you? I don't sense you. I don't feel your presence, I don't understand. I'm wrestling with struggles and doubt and fear. Right? And sometimes God meets us right in that moment. And some of us have some of those stories. And other times he meets us through a trusted friend. Right? Church. When we're at our best, that's who we are for each other. We come alongside and say, remember, God is with you and he loves you and I love you. And we say, God. Send me someone who can remind me of it. Send someone who can remind me of the good things. Because all I can see right now are the negative and the bad. See, sometimes God gives us that direct demonstration, but sometimes it comes through the loving kindness and tenderness of a friend who's been shaped by it, right, who's been formed more into the image. Some of my great faith heroes were not the people that life worked out.

Everything great. So the people who've been broken and shattered. And yet God was still with them and put the pieces back together again. Right. So that they come and they minister to me and they remind me of God's hesed. And they demonstrate to me God's presence. It's powerful. See, these moments that were intended to be clap backs into Joseph's life actually became opportunities for God to demonstrate his love and his presence. My prayer church is that for us this week? We'll live a little more into that dream. We'll have a little bit less harder time leaning into that uncomfortable conversation, or that moment where we know we've got to stand up and say this thing in love. I may may God's blessed flow through us and remind us he is with us and he loves us. God. I pray that you would make that real for us this week. Thank you for the men and women who have been broken by decisions, their own or others, by circumstances in life that they never would have chosen for themselves. Got to know many, myself included, who've been shattered by a diagnosis or by a failed relationship, or by a dream that they hoped so desperately would come true. And it didn't. Who got there in the midst of that darkness. I've been struggling with believing the promises that you are there, that you are with us. You are for us. And our temptation is to want to settle for simple platitudes.

But God, they don't work. Not in prison. Not in slavery. Oh, God, would you do your. Your head should work again in us today. For those who are here. God, who are struggling with doubt and fear and feeling overwhelmed by other circumstances in their life. God, would you meet them? In a tangible way. Yeah. Would you send someone into their life? Who can be your tangible presence, a visible witness. Of your heads down on display. I got for those of us where things are are working well, would you remind us of how it's not because we're so great? That's because you're so good. How would you help us to have eyes to see this week? The people that we encounter, that you bring in into relationship with us, that we that we run into. Yeah. Would you help us to remember that you are always with us? And that you are for us and that you love us. How may the story of Joseph remind us that even in the hardest things in life, we're not alone? We're not alone. God, would you help us to be that witness to one another? May we be stronger. God shaped us more into the kind of community where your kingdom breaks through. It pushes against the lie out in the world that says just do what feels right, whatever. But instead God chose your kingdom. Come on earth as it is in heaven. Oh God, may we live into that dream. I pray this week. In Jesus name, Amen.