Weaving God's Severe Mercy into Your Story
Where Joseph: Where God's Story and Our Story Intersect • Sermon • Submitted
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A therapeutic view of God
only work 2 hours a day and make $250k
God wouldn’t make my life hard. It’s sin that makes my life hard or my own mistakes or others mistakes or politics or something else
wealth makes it easier. entertainment always available seems appropriate
if you have to work hard you’re dumb, if you have to suffer, you messed up somehow because God is trying to make your life easy and fun, healthy never challenging or overwhelming
“God helped me...” “God blessed me...” #blessings
Repeat things 2x
Big idea: God tests us so that His heart of compassion and reconciliation can be revealed in our lives.
Big idea: God tests us so that His heart of compassion and reconciliation can be revealed in our lives.
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Telling the story
Jacob sends sons down except Benjamin out of fear
Joseph recognizes his brothers and calls them spies
They defend themselves but are arrested anyway
Joseph holds Simeon until they return
They have their money in their bags and return to their father
Judah convinces his father to let them return with Benjamin
Joseph invites them to dinner and sets Simeon free and treats Benjamin with favoritism
Joseph sends his steward after them to accuse Benjamin
The brothers return and Judah pleads for his father’s life
Joseph reveals himself and God’s intentions
The brothers return for their father
We must see the severe mercy of God testing us to reveal and grow our love for Him and others.
We must see the severe mercy of God testing us to reveal and grow our love for Him and others.
Joseph knew more than his brothers. He also knew what God wanted. Joseph’s purpose in testing was not revenge-filled nor repentance-desiring nor trust-building but revelational- he wanted them to see God and themselves in a new light.
8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”
16 And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.”
34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”
4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
Testing is tailor made for us. Testing reveals our hearts.
A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken
“Only Love Himself with a severe mercy could breach the Shining Barrier and, by breaching it, save that guarded love for the eternity it longed for.”
We must see the heart of compassion God has for us in the midst of testing.
We must see the heart of compassion God has for us in the midst of testing.
Joseph weeping
24 Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
30 Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there.
1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.
mention of blessing from God - mercy, provision, grace
14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”
23 He replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.
29 And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!”
11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
God desires intimacy with us. This is why he test us - to prepare us for His revelation in our lives. This is why we pray to God.
We must see how Jesus’ love for His Father initiated our reconciliation.
We must see how Jesus’ love for His Father initiated our reconciliation.
30 “Now therefore, as soon as I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy’s life, 31 as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. 32 For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’ 33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. 34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”
31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Genesis: A Commentary Typology
Both Joseph and Judah prefigure Jesus Christ. With regard to Joseph, the father’s favorite son is sent to his brothers. They sell their guiltless brother for twenty pieces of silver, and he becomes their lord. The Joseph story also provides a remarkable parallel of Christ’s death—God decides beforehand that through wicked hands he will nail Christ to the cross and so save the world (see Acts 2:23; 4:28).
Judah, on the other hand, is the first person in Scripture who willingly offers his own life for another. His self-sacrificing love for his brother for the sake of his father prefigures the vicarious atonement of Christ, who by his voluntary sufferings heals the breach between God and human beings. Joseph gets the double portion, but Judah gets eternal kingship.
Big idea: God tests us so that His heart of compassion and reconciliation can be revealed in our lives.
Intimacy is the goal of knowledge but knowledge of God’s purposes in Christ in the midst of our guilt allows intimacy - He is the Rock of our Salvation
You do have secret knowledge like Joseph. You know God loves all of mankind. You know he sent Jesus because he desires everyone to be saved. You can reach out to people in love because this is true. You can be patient, kind, forgiving, wise, gracious and caring because this is true.
Telling your story means being self-aware enough to see what you want from God and how you are potentially messing it up. Telling your story means dealing with past history in hopes of God’s redemption. Tellling your story means having collaborators that are encouraging you to see yourself and God correctly.
My story of people leaving the church. We are a church where people come and then leave. I wish it wouldn’t happen. Some leave for good things; some leave and deconstruct their faith. I just wish everyone could stay and we could all love each other. But by people leaving I’m reminded I serve a bigger kingdom than just this life with greater dangers than just moving away. Eternal life and death are at stake.
How do I know if God is testing me? Are you being asked to trust God?
Are you being challenged to act righteously toward someone who has acted unrighteously toward you?
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
What promises has God kept? What promises would you like Him to keep?
What promises have you made? How are you trying to keep them?
How do you think God has set up your situation for you to see Him and see yourself better? What has it made you long for? What have you given up on?
Community Group questions:
Have you ever been in a situation where you recognized someone but they didn’t recognize you? What happened?
Can you recount an example of being tested and how it grew your love for God?
What helped you move from focusing on the test itself to seeing God and loving Him?
What verses do you use to remind you of God’s compassion in the midst of testing?
Have you accepted Jesus’ gift of reconciliation? When did that happen?
How does Judah’s love for his short-sighted father encourage you in your love for others?