Era

Message Transcription

Well, if you have your Bible, I invite you to turn over to Genesis chapter 50. We're going to be there today as we finish up our series on Joseph, a series we call Let Them Cook. So we've been thinking together about God's work in and through the life of Joseph. I hope, as you have encountered this story over these last many weeks, that you found yourself not only just inspired or challenged by Joseph's story, but that you began to find yourself in God's story. That this story is what calls us what. It's what beckons us into the kingdom of God to live as his people, his children, his sons, and his daughters. And I hope that you will like maybe not in the same way, but as Jordan and Brandi have said, we hear this story. We hear the call. We want to go be a part of that, that we too would do that as we stay here in Lubbock, as we live in our communities and go to school in our schools and work in our businesses, that we would find ourselves once again in this incredible place where Joseph found himself looking for longing for God's work, his hand to move in his life. Let me just review for us real quick just a few words each week. We've been taking a different Gen Z word as we think about Joseph as a Gen Z young man growing up into the story of God. We looked at week one with the word drip, right? Our outfit, the trendy fashion, the cool sense of style that Joseph certainly felt like he had when he got that coat of many colors from his family.

But not only that, the promise that God said one day in the dream family is going to bow down to you. All are going to bow down to you, right? Joseph interpreted that, and the only way that he knew how, as a 17 year old, that it's all about my benefit. And so we challenged ourselves to think about how do we interpret the dreams that God has been giving to us, right. Those promises that he's made to us, that that one day the kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven? How do we interpret that dream? Do we interpret it in light of our own benefit? Do we power up on people, or do we help lift up other people, especially those who can't quite seem to catch the dream yet? Right? Week two we use the word clapback. Right? Right? That Joseph's interpretation of the dream went south. His family didn't see his interpretation as a good thing, that them bowing down to him would not work out well. And so there were some clapbacks and pushback. Right? This idea of of responding to criticism. And so we see Joseph's brothers clap back, but also Potiphar's wife claps back. And so Joseph finds himself in these circumstances, in prison, in jail.

But we looked at how we're told that even though he was in jail, God loved him with his head. Right? That that loving kindness, that loyal, faithful love, that even though the circumstances of Joseph's life weren't working out the way that he had hoped that God was with him, and because of that, he knew he could live differently, right? But he kept searching and longing for God. Could your hesed get me out of prison? Could you somehow see your way of getting me out of these circumstances? And sometimes the answer is no. And so we thought together about how do we respond in the hard seasons of our life? If God's great desire for us is to live into his kingdom, to to be his representative, his children, to look more like his Son Jesus, that we're going to have some weeks in our life that look a lot like the last week of Jesus life. But if we hold on to that hesed, that God's loving kindness, how might we begin to live differently? In week three, we looked at the word mid average a ups and downs. If Joseph had been asked, as that young man sitting in prison, even though he had experienced all kinds of ups and downs, he might have said, yeah, life is kind of mid right now. It's not really going how I hoped it would be. In fact, he gets forgotten while he's in jail. He interprets those dreams for the cupbearer, remember.

And then he's forgotten for two years. So we wrestled some together about the significance of remembering of how God is at work in our lives, but sometimes we can't see it, and how important it is to have brothers and sisters who help remember us. They remember what we're going through, and they remind us of God's faithfulness. And so we want to be the kind of people who remember, because sometimes when we forget, we see not only damages our relationship with that person, but sometimes it can damage their relationship with God. Right? If if you forget me, well, maybe God has forgotten me too. And so we want to be people who remember. Last week we looked at the phrase rent free. Who are those people that are living rent free in our minds? Those that we obsess over, we think about and we we looked a lot at how forgiveness is messy. And it's hard. It's difficult, it's challenging. It's not a linear thing. It's not one decision that we make one day and then it's all fixed. Instead, it's this lifestyle of remembering and choosing each day to live in the light of God's grace. And we say, it's not my job to tell you what shape God's grace is going to look like in your life, what that forgiveness is going to become. But just that reminder of the only thing harder than learning to live as a person who can forgive is living as a person who can't.

And so we wrestled some last week with, okay, how do we learn to to live in light of God's forgiveness of us, to receive his grace, to receive his mercy? We're going to look at that. It's going to come up again in our story today. In fact, if you have your Bible again, I invite you to turn over to Genesis 45. We're going to catch up, actually, start where we left off last time that Joseph has been honored among Pharaoh's leaders, and he's in charge, and the brothers show up in this incredible story kind of plays out and and back and forth they go. And and finally, Joseph reveals himself and his brothers are so freaked out when they realize this is the brother that they had done all those horrible things to. Joseph reminds us, hey, it's okay. It's all right. God is doing an amazing thing. He sent me here ahead of you guys so that I could I could play my role in helping people survive. But again, his brothers were freaked out. We go to our Gen Z translation here to catch us up a little bit. So basically, like when word reached the palace that Joseph's brothers had come to Egypt, Pharaoh and his peeps were amped. He said to Joseph, for real, tell your brothers to load up their rides, head back up to Canaan, pack up your pops, grab all your gear, and then cruise on back down here.

I'll hook everybody up with the best swag in all of Egypt. They'll be chilling in the bougie land of Goshen. So Joseph told his bros to do as Pharaoh said. He gave them new rides from Pharaoh's collection, as well as mad provisions for their journey. Joseph then leveled up their drip. But to Benjamin he gave 300 shekels of silver and five sick outfits. Joseph responds with this incredible, loving kindness. This incredible has said that he shows his brothers and he sends them back to Canaan. And they return home and they tell Jacob, dad, you're never going to believe who we found. And Jacob says, you're right. I don't believe that's who you found. And they say, no, no, no, listen, this is what he told us to tell you. And look at all the gifts. And finally, Jacob is convinced. And so he returns back to Egypt. He returns with all of his family, and this incredible story begins to unfold. They live in Egypt. Joseph is alive and Jacob has been restored to him. So they're in Goshen now for 17 years. And as chapter 47 comes to a close, it's nearing the time of Jacob's death. And so he calls Joseph to him. And here's what he says. If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh. Now, that's a way of making a promise. Back in the ancient world. That's not just some random touch me in a strange place, right? We don't normally say, hey, how you doing? How's that thigh? You know, he says no, put your hand under my thigh.

Right. The symbol of a promise. And here's what I want you to promise. That you'll show me his ID. Joseph, will you show me hesed? Kindness, faithfulness. Don't bury me in Egypt. But when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they're buried. And Joseph tells his dad, I'll do it, I will. Swear to me, he said. And then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. Chapters 48 and 49 now are filled with blessings, but first for Joseph's sons as Jacob blesses them and he does this little switcheroo. If you haven't read that story, I invite you to go and check it out again. But he blesses the younger as if he's the older and the older, as if he's the younger. And Joseph says, no, no, no, that's not the way it's supposed to be. And I love Jacob's response is, I know, I know, but this is the way it's going to be. And so he blesses them. In chapter 49, he calls all of his sons in, and he speaks a word of blessing over all of them, and then he dies. And we're told, as chapter 50 opens up, that, that Joseph weeps over his father and they embalm him in Egypt.

Then they take him back to Canaan, where they bury him in the place where his forefathers had been buried. And they mourn for him 70 days. That's where we find ourselves in our text today that Hannah read for us just a moment ago. And it's an important time because Joseph and his brothers are going to have to make some decisions. They're going to have to look at one another and decide, where do we go from here? If you've ever been through a hard circumstance in your life, you recognize there are those moments when when things the dust begins to settle a little bit and we say, okay, now what? Now what do we do? Now where do we go? What's going to happen? In fact, it brings us to our Gen Z word for this week, the final word. And that's era, which is a person's current interest or priorities. I've been working out. I'm in my fitness era right now. Some of you may have heard of this up and coming artist. She launched a world tour this last year. By the end of the year, she'd already made $1 billion. They project by the end of her tour, called the Eras Tour, she'll make $2.1 billion. Now, just to put that into context, number two, second place is 939 million. So if you haven't heard of her, you've been in the wilderness or in jail somewhere with Joseph, but Taylor Swift has has set the world on fire with her Eras tour.

Now, what was interesting about this tour is it's kind of this, this throwback to the catalog of all of her music. The last 17 years, different albums, ten or so have come out. And so she challenged each of her fans, hey, come dressed up in your favorite era. Maybe it's the era that's meant the most to you. Maybe it's the one you find yourself living in now. But my music has kind of represented in some way, shape or form. And so Cayley and Halley, in about 4.35 million of their fellow Swifties went to see this concert, right? A 3.5 hour long show where she sings music from her different eras. Cayley dressed in her era of midnights. I think we have a picture of that. Halley was dressed in her Speak Now era Purple. You see that top left hand corner? They made bracelets, right? And that was kind of a thing they handed out to each other to signify that we're in this together kind of deal. Those are some friends on our bottom, right, some friends of ours that that also went. They were asked to think about what era are you in right now and dress appropriately. So to Joseph and his brothers were facing this question what era are you going to live in now? Looking down the road, looking forward, what era are you going to live in? What's going to matter to you? What's going to be priority in your life? It doesn't take very long for us to hear what era the brothers are living in, right? They come dressed in clothes of grief.

After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt together with his brothers and all of those who had gone with him. And when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and he pays us back for all the wrong we did to him? Right. They immediately returned to sabotage era right there, living in their sabotage era, right where all the decisions that they make are are in response to this crazy dream that my brother is trying to cram down our throats, and he's interpreting it as one day you're going to bow down to me. And isn't that going to be a great day? And they interpret it as, that's a horrible dream. Why would God give you that dream? You really think we're going to bow down to you? No way. Not going to happen. Right? And they make decisions in light of that era that that purpose, those priorities. Now they find themselves going, have the chickens come home to roost. But the only thing that had kept them in check before was dad. But eventually, not even dad could keep him in check. And now dad's gone. What are they going to do? How will they respond? Will Joseph choose to live in the same era? Will he respond to their actions the way that they might have responded to him? Remember we talked a couple of weeks ago about the side effect of of not living with forgiveness is it warps your view of God's grace in your life.

Right? You have a hard time receiving good things. Instead, you're always receiving them as a blessing. And one of the ways Joseph tried to bless his brothers when they came looking for grain was to give all their money back. And when they discover it, they say, oh, look what God has done to us. He's cursed us. Because they're so intent on holding on to that pain. Those blessings now are curses, and they're right back there again. As soon as they see their father is gone, they're right back in the sabotage era. Will Joseph join them? Will he live that same way? Even though Joseph has given them every gift he could give. And not only that, because of the favor that Joseph had with Egypt and with Pharaoh, Pharaoh gave them every gift that he could give. He gave them carts out of his own, his own, uh, herd of animals and his own chariots. He gives it all to him. In fact, he says, and we didn't have time to read this. But. But Pharaoh says, tell your brothers. Just leave their stuff. They don't need it. We're going to give them the best of everything that we have. Still, they don't receive that as a blessing.

They receive it as a curse. They can only think now Joseph is about to get us back. Here's how Joseph responds. They send word to Joseph saying, your father left these instructions before he died, and we don't have an account of these instructions being given to their son. And maybe it maybe it's true. But knowing these brothers, they're they're twisting the story a little bit. Hey, remember when dad told us for you not to be mad at us anymore? Yeah. We're just just wanted to remind you in case you'd forgotten. Would you please forgive the sins and the wrong they committed and treating you so badly? And one message came to Joseph. It says he wept. And the most powerful man in the world is undone by his own brother, saying. Would you not hold it against me? As his brothers then came, threw themselves down before we're your slaves, write all this language. For those of us who've followed this story, it's it's resonating in our minds, isn't it? This picture of of this dream that Joseph was given as a 37 year or, excuse me, as a 17 year old man, one day your family is going to bow down to you. What happens? They do it. They bow down. This whole family bows down. It's been 30 years since that promise was revealed. Since he had those dreams, and his brothers still aren't able to see the fulfillment of them as a blessing.

They're still seeing it as a curse. So they do what they did back in chapter 44, when they think Benjamin is about to be ripped out of their arms and held onto and it's going to bring their father down to his grave, they throw themselves. Verse 14, chapter 44, they throw themselves on the ground before Joseph, and they begged, Lord, we're your slaves. Same picture is brought up here again. And Joseph's heart's broken, and I can't help but wonder if he's immediately taken back. His life begins to flash before his eyes. Some of you may be familiar with the play Hamilton that came out a few years ago. Lin-manuel Miranda writes about the story of Alexander Hamilton. Right. And in the play, at the very end, as he and Burr are about to face off in a duel, they do their ten steps and as they're about to turn and and fire their guns, right, Alexander has this moment of flashback where he starts going back through his life in these moments of time that he remembers and how they've all led to this moment. How will he live in light of those moments? Right. We see. I can't help but wonder if Joseph kind of had that moment. He sees his brothers face down on the ground, crying out for mercy, begging, just let us be your slaves. All of a sudden, these moments flashed back at the moments when when his brothers grabbed him and they tore his coat and they threw him in a pit and he was crying out.

We learned later on for mercy, have mercy. And they had none. And he sold into slavery only to find himself bought as a slave. But then he ascends to this rank, only to be undone now by Potiphar's wife, who falsely accuses him. And he's thrown back into jail, and he's there for a couple of years. And then the cupbearer and the bread maker find their way in jail, too. And they have dreams. He interprets them and and Joseph says, remember me, show Hesset right that faithful love would you show it to me? And the cupbearer cupbearers like no problem. I got you, bro. And only two years later, does he remember when. When everything else is at stake in his life? Oh, yeah. There's a guy, right? All these. All these memories come flooding back to Joseph. He's weeping, trying to make sense. Who? What? How is he going to live in light of this, not only does he see all of these events like Hamilton, he also sees the best moments. Those moments when when God's grace, his presence was strong, even in the midst of hard and challenging circumstances, when he didn't know where things were going or how they would end, he knew God was with him. And he sees how this moment led to that moment, and how God used it to to open up a new door.

And he goes through that door and then meets more trouble and more challenge. And yet still God continues to find him, and in his story continues to weave it into this garment. Right. These different colors of these different moments of his life, the joy and the success and the sorrow and the pain and the betrayal. And they're woven into this garment almost like a coat of many colors. He puts back on and as he looks at his brothers and besides, I've seen the Son of God at work in my story. That those times when I felt alone and I wasn't really alone, those moments when I thought things couldn't get worse and they just kept getting worse. Or finally, things have changed. It's always going to be this way. And then it's not that those years of pain that he thought were just lost just disappeared. He finds out, no, they weren't wasted. Those years in jail waiting weren't wasted years. They were preparing him for some other moments. Maybe even this very moment. And so Joseph's response tells us he's going to live in a different era. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? And we can imagine 17 year old Joseph in that moment was like, I you're bowing down to me. I must be God. Here's a 47 year old man. He's saying, I'm not God. I'm not. You don't have to be afraid of me. I know you intended harm.

And there was a lot of harm done. Maybe both ways, but God intended to accomplish his purpose at what's now being done, the saving of many lives. So don't be afraid. I'm going to take care of you. I'm going to provide for you. And he reassured them, and he spoke kindly to them. You had a plan, Joseph said. A plan to harm me. And I had a plan. I had a plan. I wanted to harm you back. But God had a plan. He first showed it to me back when I was 17, and the only tools I had in my toolbox were to interpret those. And in a way that a 17 year old would. I've got some new tools now. I begin to see God's. God's plan is not going to be undone by scheming of men and imperial powers, that God has an intent and God intends it. That same language there it it harkens back to the story of Jeremiah. Some of you may be familiar with his story. Maybe one of the most famous passages that's often quoted from Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 11. And you can say it with me if you know it, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Right. We love those words, and we write them down on a piece of paper, and we stick them up on our wall and we go, yes, that's it.

That's my dream. And what we fail to do is look at verse ten, right? Jeremiah is in Babylon. He's been carried off into captivity. And verse ten reminds us, this is what the Lord says when 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. Because I have a plan for you. A plan to prosper you, not to harm you. But, Jeremiah. Settle in. It's going to be 70 years. You see, God's plan is not going to be undone. But it's also not going to happen in the way that we want it. Remember, we talked some about gods has said to Joseph and how they were sure there were times in his life where he'd say, I want your faithful, loving kindness to look to me a certain way. But God gets to choose how his loving kindness is expressed. And so he tells Jeremiah, don't, don't lose heart. Don't forget I have a plan. God has a plan. And Joseph now sees his life in light of the story, the plan that God is unfolding in his life, what he couldn't see at 17, he sees very clearly at 47. Now who of us haven't been there, who've been there? And we see things very differently. I see them very differently now as a 49 year old than I did as a 19 year old.

And as I look back upon my life, I can see different things that happened to me. And as we said with Joseph's story, it's not that God desired that for us. No, God desired that I would look more like Jesus each day. And he promises, hey, Jesus said, take heart. Right. But first he says, in the world you're going to have some trouble. But take heart. I have overcome the world. Right. The promise is there. It's going to. It's going to be a little bit. I have a plan. You know, Paul picked up on this same sentiment in a letter to the Roman church who themselves were struggling with. What do we do? How do we live in light of this truth, that the kingdom of God has come, that Jesus is the Messiah? And again, we love Romans 828, and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, right? Don't forget God has a plan. What we do forget is Romans 826 that says, the spirit intercedes. He helps us in our weakness as we struggle. Amen. See, Paul's been reminding the church that the world has been groaning, right? Like a woman in childbirth. Just just groaning, longing for this season to be over, for that child to come, for that joy to be made real and manifest in a physical way in my life. So too do we hope. You see Joseph learned to live in a different era, to say, I'm no longer going to going to measure my life based on how many good things outweigh the bad things.

No, no, no. Instead, I'm going to learn to live in this era that God has a plan and his plan is unfolding. And sometimes things happen in life, and I don't believe God orchestrated those things. Now he allowed those things. And so sometimes that's the question. We have to wrestle with God. Why would you allow that? And it's important that we have friends and family and brothers and sisters in Christ who can come around us and say, I know it's hard. I don't understand it either. But you know what? I'm not going to leave you alone because God never does. And I want you to know that no matter where this road goes, I'm with you. You see, showing up to church every Sunday, it's not about getting the gold star right. That's important. But it's not about getting the gold star. It's this literal reminder with you and you with me. So in those moments, as God's plan is unfolding, we're not sure why it's taking a turn here. We're trusting and believing that somehow God is working for the good. And we may not see it this side of heaven, but one day we will, because we know death is not the end of the story. So Joseph says these beautiful words of promise, I'm going to take care of you.

And he does all the way to his dying day. Isn't it interesting that dying day didn't happen when everybody was back in Canaan and Israel was restored and everything was great, happy, wonderful. I don't know, they're still in Egypt. In fact, after Joseph's death, some pretty dark days are going to come for Israel. And maybe that's why they kept holding on to this story of reminding. I don't know. God is with us. So, church, the question I want to leave you with this morning is what era are you living in? Father, would you help us? Would you meet us right where we are in this moment? Because some of us are facing some really dark days. We're facing some things that we would never wish on our enemies. And yet they've happened to us. And we're living in light of a broken world. And we feel the weight of it. And so, God would you do for us what we can't do for ourselves? Would you help us in ways that we can't help ourselves? Would you remind us that you are with us? Would you show us loving kindness? Would you manifest your hesed to us today? God, maybe it's just through a trusted friend that we're sitting next to. Maybe it's a phone call that we are going to receive or that we're going to make. God, whatever it is, would you be with us? Would you teach us through the story of Joseph, that you are a God who dreams and invites his people to live into those dreams? And God, would you help us to find our place in that story, that we wouldn't measure our lives in the ways that the culture around us measures our lives by how much money we make, or what kind of clothes we can wear, or where we live, or what degrees or job titles or whatever the case may be.

The farther we measure ourselves, knowing that you are with us and nothing can ever separate us from that. That's a gift that can never, never tarnish, never spoil or fade away. Oh, God, would you help us to live in light of that gospel truth? Thank you Jesus, for that amazing gift. Would you help us to live in the era of grace in the era of forgiveness that God, right now our world is trying to tell us this next election is going to be the most important one we've ever had in our life. Oh, God, would you help us to live in light of your plan? That you have a plan? You have a purpose that doesn't exempt us from living our lives and trying to find our place in your story and living that out. But, God, it helps to reorient us to remember that you are always with us, and that one day your kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven. Oh God, would you start with us? May it be today we pray in Jesus name, Amen.