& my good friends / with their eyes on what it takes

i could kiss them / but the bravest make mistakes

A sermon on the 3rd act of Joseph's 7 act drama:

If you listen carefully, you’ll notice two stories taking place in today’s single passage of Scripture. On the one hand, there’s a tawdry passage fit for the steamiest moments of daytime television. And on the other hand, there’s the passage that soars with the wondrous work of God. 

These two stories, though, of course, are one and the same.

Let me tell you one of them. And as I do, chart the rise and fall of the protagonist. In this telling, Joseph has the hand of God on him. 

It begins with good ol’ Joe landing a new job. And from the word go, he’s got that golden touch. Everything he puts his hand to succeeds. As such, he’s quickly promoted. 

What’s more, all that success starts attracting attention. Eventually, Joseph gains the eye of his boss’ spouse. And she’s so taken with him that she puts in a word for Joseph. 

This word does the trick, too. It lands Jospeh a new placement. And there, just as steady as ever, the Lord is with Joe, showing him favor. In fact, it isn’t long before his new supervisor notices Joseph’s golden touch. So once again, Joseph is promoted.

…In this story, Joseph’s trajectory goes in one direction. Doesn’t it? Up and up.

Needless to say, we know that’s not how it goes for good ol’ Joe. Don’t we? We know that the poor guy just tumbles from one setback to another. 

We know Joseph got his job with Potiphar not because he was looking for gainful employment. No, Joseph started working for Potiphar because he had to! His brother’s sold him out. Literally! They were jealous of that special attention Joe always seemed to attract.

And we know it didn’t take long for the esteem Joseph enjoyed to turn on him, too. Don’t we? We know that catching the eye of his boss’ spouse was not a godsend. On the contrary, we know that it brought Joseph unwelcome attention—that it landed him in that new position, prison. 

Now that’s where our passage cuts off. And it’s something of a cliffhanger. Isn’t it? A discerning reader won’t be able to help but wonder if God’s favor will continue to invite MORE trouble for Joseph.

Well, as it turns out, it does. Sort of. While Joseph’s in prison, he comes into contact with a couple of the king’s men, people of standing. And while they’re deposed with Joseph, each one of them has a dream. The following morning, they mention it to Joseph. And Joseph, with that favor of the Lord on him, interprets their dreams. 

Lo and behold, everything comes to pass exactly as Joseph said it would! But instead of remembering Joseph and returning his kindness, neither of these guys gives Joseph a second thought! They get on with their lives while Joseph languishes in prison. 

At this point, Joseph is about as low as you can get. But then, after a couple long years, at least for Joseph, something happens. The Pharaoh has a dream. An upsetting one. A dream no one can sort out. 

This reminds one of those folks about that prisoner they met all those years ago! The one who could interpret dreams. And in an attempt to gain favor with the Pharaoh, they tell him about Joseph.

In short order, Joseph is brought before the king and given the details of the dream. Without missing a beat, Joseph explains its significance! And, for good measure, he suggests some shrewd legislation to make the most of the dream’s meaning, too! 

It’s only at this point that the favor of the Lord finally seems to be paying off for Joseph. It isn’t until the Pharaoh, like Potiphar and the chief jailer before him, promotes Joseph that Joseph becomes untouchable. At last, Joseph is elevated to such a rank that NOTHING can threaten his standing. 

It’s right there, though, at the peak of his powers, that Joseph crosses paths with his treacherous brothers!

Now, if these were a revenge FLICK, this would be the point where Joseph let his brothers have it. But this isn’t Hollywood. No, this is that strange story of the work of God that never works the way it appears.

Instead of showing his brothers just how far he’s come, Joseph is undone by this chance encounter! Now that he’s finally holding all the cards, Joseph can’t seem to bring himself to play any! In one last, unexpected twist, God’s favor seems to bring Joseph to his lowest at the precise moment he finally stands to enjoy all his GOOD fortune! 

Or does it? Or does it? Does it?!?

Looking at his brothers after all those years, seeing all the twists and turns, highs and lows, ins and outs, Joseph sees something. Something he had never seen before. He sees that he can’t see a dang thing!

Gobsmacked, Joseph grabs his brothers. And instead of throttling them, he embraces them! Through tears, he chokes out, “Even though! Even though YOU intended EVIL for me, GOD intended it for good!”

Looking back over it all, Joseph sees something he could never see in the moment! He sees that what looked like lows were really highs! And what looked like highs were really lows!

When it comes to faith, it’s always a matter of hindsight! God has determined to keep the future OPAQUE. Through the eyes of FAITH, though, God has chosen to reveal the past! And what we see there is that we couldn’t see a thing! 

Our eyes are terrible tools for discerning the work of God! Our eyes always think we can spot a blessing when we see one. But what the hindsight of faith reveals, though, is that what looked like a blessing was really a blight! And what looked like a tribulation was really a treasure!

When it comes to faith, you must put your eyes in your ears. It’s only when your eyes are closed and your ears are opened that the two storylines of your life meld into one! Only when you close your eyes to all those measurements of life will you finally be opened to all the promises of God that can’t be measured!

When THAT happens, that story of your life will soar with the workings of God! The workings of God that works through opposites. In faith, the world’s blessings will hold nothing for you anymore! In faith, the afflictions of life will now burst with all the consolation of Christ!

In faith, you can walk from here into the rest of your life, trusting that you, too, will look back on it all. And when you do, you, like Jacob, will be dumbfounded! Unable to say anything. Nothing except the wonder of the wondrous work of God. 

The wondrous work of God bringing you low to lift you up! The wondrous work of God taking your valleys and making them into the mountains of faith! The wondrous work of God showing you FAVOR through it all!

And it’s right at THAT disorienting revelation that Joseph’s saga is finally resolved! And with it, all of Genesis, too! With Joseph’s faith-shocked words, the pandora box that was opened at that tree of knowledge of good and evil is finally put into perspective!

And what does Joseph see? Nothing! Nothing except the bare FACT that such matters are best left in God’s hands!

Freed of that burden of measuring good and evil for himself, Joseph can finally commend it all to God’s more than capable hands! And with that, all faults are forgiven, and the gloating gutted, too! The past is resolved. And the future is opened up wide!

Now, perhaps for the first time in his life, Joseph really has it all. He has his family. He has God’s favor. And he has peace with it all, too!

And so DO you. So do you.

Yes, perhaps you can’t see it today. More than likely, you can’t. But that in no way makes these words any less trustworthy or true. 

In fact, on that great Last Day, it will vindicate them! When you look back on it all, you will see this moment. You will hear these words. These words flooding OVER the rest of them!

On that great last gettin’ up day, you will look back and see THESE words for all their veracity! And when you see that, you will look back on it all with nothing but love and wonder! Why you will even give thanks for those low points! For you will finally see them for what they were all along, the places your Lord and Savior lifted you closest to him! 

And that’s not all, either! Because when God raises YOU up by that divine embrace, YOU, like Joseph, will find yourself clasping arms with everyone who ever wronged you. And everyone you’ve ever wronged too.

BUT there, in the arms of Christ, all wrongs will be forgiven, and wrongdoings made right! You will have no more grudges to hold. And you will finally ask for that forgiveness you’ve longed to beg for, too. And when you do, because you will, you will do so with the utmost certainty that mercy is all that awaits you! And that’s all you will have to speak to those who come to you pleading for forgiveness, too!

On that great day, with the trumpet sounding, you will behold what today’s Scripture speaks of but never shows, “The Lord was WITH Joseph…” And the Lord is with you, too. And the Lord is with me. And the Lord is with every last one of us! 

Yes, for now, it’s hard to see. But in the end, it’ll be impossible to miss! And  on that day, all we will be able to behold is that work of God! That work of God turning evil into good! 

So, with that assurance hanging in the air, let us take that word of faith upon our lips! And as we do, let us consider our lives in the enteral light of this divine promise! Arise, Your Light HAS Come! 

And that’s not a summons! It’s the name of our hymn! Let’s sing! “Arise, Your Light HAS Come,” ELW 314