gather up the gold you found

you fool it's only moonlight



The best work a preacher can do is to simply get out of the way for Scripture, make room for the Bible to speak for itself. 
Our first lesson today is the conclusion to the Joseph story. It is also the conclusion to the book of Genesis. In these six short verses we get to hear some of the most profound, most faithful words humans ever speak. 
Not only that, but the seven beautiful words that tumble from the lips of Joseph, in the middle of these six verses, are so subtle, so concise and condensed they’re all too easy to miss; “Am I in the place of God.”

To help us really hear these words, to let the profundity of these words take our breath away, in an attempt to get out of the way for Scripture, the sermon today will simply be telling the Joseph story. I will set everything up, but Scripture will have the last Word. For today we will let Joseph be our preacher.

Before we start, think of Joseph as someone who knew for himself how capricious the winds of fortune blow. 

Joseph was his father’s favorite son, and he had the uncanny knack of dreaming these wild dreams then being able to decipher their meaning.
From the very beginning Joseph appears to be destined for greatness. Unlikely though it is, Joseph’s privileges are unable to deliver; in fact, they only serve to invite the ire of his brothers…

It wasn’t proper for Joseph’s father to favor him the way he did, his brothers protest. Joseph wasn’t the eldest! It wasn’t right that Joseph, this random middle child, to receive such attention. Not only that either, they were also tired of hearing about his dreams and their supposed meaning. 

So one day they devise a scheme to get rid of the dreamer. The brothers decide to twist fate back to how “it should be.”
In the moment it takes his brothers to hatch their plan, Joseph’s fate reverses…

The brothers go out into the field, and then send for Joseph. As Joseph is approaching, his brothers debate whether or not to murder him.
In the end, to keep from incurring guilt, they decide to throw Joseph in a pit. They’ll tell his father Joseph died out in the wilderness.

Having thrown their brother in the pit to die, his brothers sit down for lunch. You can see what kind of characters they were… 
As they munch on their PB&J, some traders approach… Why not? These brothers figure, they might as well make some money off their brother.
Joseph is sold into slavery.

Joseph ends up in Egypt, the slave of Potiphar. Potiphar works in Pharaoh’s court. He has some means.
Anyway, things go well enough for Joseph. Potiphar sees he chose well in purchasing Joseph. So Potiphar promotes him. Joseph is put in charge of Potiphar’s affairs. 

From such an ernest station, it seems that things may end up working out for old Joe.

In the moment it takes Potiphar’s wife to look upon Joseph with lust, though, his fate reverses yet again
Potiphar’s wife makes a move upon Joseph. Joseph, righteous man that he was, rejects her advances. 
That wasn’t how Potiphar’s wife imagined things going. She realizes that Joseph is a liability, so she devises a plot to twist fate back in her favor. Before Joseph can say anything to Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife tells the story in reverse.
Joseph made a move on her, she tells Potiphar.

Potiphar is enraged, of course, and Joseph is thrown into prison.
Diligence and honesty, it turns out, weren’t enough to deliver Joseph, either.
There in prison, Joseph sits with the fact that his father’s favor, the capacity for interpreting dreams, virtue, or hard work was not enough to get through this life. The best he had wasn’t enough. There in prison, Joseph sat empty-handed. He didn’t have anything left to try to twist fate with anymore.

Now, when two new prisoners show up, perturbed by their dreams, you’d think good old Joseph would keep his mouth shut. He can’t though. 
It turns out he is interpreting dreams for officials in Pharaoh’s court. 

So one day, when Pharaoh’s is bothered by a dream, this cupbearer of the Pharaoh, remember’s Joseph in prison; two years later
“You know, I just remembered something,” the cupbearer offers. “A couple of years back you tossed me in prison, and while I was there, this Joseph fella interpreted my dreams.” 
Well, Pharaoh figures it’s worth a shot, so he has Joseph brought before him. 
With no trouble at all Joseph is able to discern the meaning of Pharaoh’s dreams. Seven years of feast, followed by seven years of famine. 
Joseph even dares to go on, why doesn’t Pharaoh, armed with this insider trading tip, store up during the seven years of feast. That way he’ll have food during the seven years of famine.

That’s exactly what Pharaoh does. When the seven years of feast give way to the seven years of famine, Pharaoh is prepared. Not only prepared, Pharaoh is also more than pleased with Joseph; seeing as people from all over are coming to Pharaoh to buy food. 

In the moment it takes Pharaoh to see the worth of Joseph’s uncanny gift, Joseph’s fate reverses another time. Joseph is promoted to Pharaoh’s chief advisor. 

Finally, things, against all odds, are going well enough for Joseph. 
His brothers, on the other hand, not so much. Things haven’t gone well for them during the seven years of famine. 
The brothers need food, so they go to Pharaoh’s storehouses looking for sustenance. 

Suddenly, in the moment it takes Joseph to recognize his kin, they’re fate is reversed
Well, first Joseph tests them. However, he can’t keep the game up for all that long. In tears, he reveals himself to his brothers. They’re reunited and their fate is restored.

Now, you’d think that would be the end of it. 
This isn’t some made-for-TV-special, though. The weight of the brother’s past indiscretion haunts them. Once their father dies, the brothers wonder if Joseph might change his mind and decide to exact revenge.

Apparently these brothers, too, have learned for themselves how capricious the winds of fate can be. The brother’s aren’t about to place their trust in Joseph.
So they hatch another plan. They devise a lie, they’ll tell Joseph that before their father died, he begged that Joseph forgive them.

Now, even here, his brother’s can only imagine that the way to get through life is to do what one can to twist fate in our favor; even if that means putting words on a dead man’s lips, even if that means using a son’s love for his father, even if that means manipulating forgiveness; such is the state of humanity.

Joseph, who has known both the boon and the blight of life, though; can no longer place his trust in any of it.

Now, Joseph looks back over the span of his life, from herding sheep, to the pit, to slavery, to Pharaoh’s prison and then his court. Joseph knows that he cannot attribute his life to anything he has to offer; as often as his skill has brought blessing, it’s just as often brought curse. 
Surveying the apparently foolishness of it all, Joseph glimpses that his life has been under the hand of God the entire time. 

Yes, his brother’s may have meant for harm, but God intended good. Nothing, apparently, can thwart God’s good intention. 
No doubt Joseph preferred Pharaoh’s court to his prison. As he looked upon his brothers, though, offering themselves as his slaves; Joseph sees all too clearly that human’s attempts to twist fate is so much nonsense.

There, finally with a chance to seize true power, to forgive or not; Joseph can’t do it. In the end, as it was in the beginning, it’s God’s intention that count, that are trustworthy.
In seven simple words, “Am I in the place of God,” Joseph not only let’s God redeem his family’s broken history, he let’s God redeem humanity’s broken history.
“Am I in the place of God,” Joseph can’t help but ask. As these words tumble from his lips, the winds of chaos do indeed howl. Over it all, though, the echo of God’s voice is heard. God’s voice is heard, and God says a promise God made long ago at creation, “it is good.”

Yes, although his brothers may have intended harm, God intended good all along. 
Now, at the end, Joseph can only place his trust, not in his gift of interpreting dreams, not in his work ethic, certainly not in his family, not even in his righteousness. 
No, in the end, the only place Joseph can put his trust is in God; and so when his brother’s want him to play that role; Joseph can’t do it.

“Am I in the place of God?”

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