Risks of Redemption

Intro

There is a saying about sin that should be headed by all, whether you are in Junior High, or a Senior Citizen, and it goes like this

Sin will take you further than you want to go

Keep you longer than you want to stay

Cost you more than you want to pay

Do you know who I found that quote most attributed to?

A man named Ravi Zaccharias

If you don’t know that name, Ravi was a world renown apologist who dealt with defending the faith and answering philosophical objections to Christianity

In May of 2020, he died from cancer, and within months, we found out that Ravi did not follow his own advice

It was found that he groomed many women to have sexting relations with him, and then used vulnerable women in the US and across SE Asia for his bidding

One woman was given financial aide, housing, schooling, etc, but Zaccharias required repayment via an adulterous affair

How does a world renown man with a large 300 person, worldwide organization end up in this place of blackmailing the weak and vulnerable for his wicked desires?

The issue is that we have poor risk aversion to our sinful habits

We think that sin is not really that big of a deal

We think that oh, one more time won’t hurt

We think, oh this is a small sin that won’t hurt anyone

If we give sin one main definition in our modern day and age, I think it is best confided in the word: selfishness

Most of the time we know what we should do, and what we should not do, yet we do the thing we do not do- why?

There are a myriad of reasons, but much of the struggle in our society is based on immediate gratification, you get what you want as soon as you want it with little cost to you

You don’t need to leave your house to get dinner, you get it door-dashed

You don’t need to wait a week for your favorite TV show to come on again, entire seasons are dropped at midnight to your binging delights

You don’t need to wait for your report card to come home, it’s posted online as soon as your school work is graded, etc

Sin often times comes to a promise that God gives us, and Satan says I can give that to you now

When Jesus is tempted in the wilderness, he offers Jesus this world (and according to Jesus in John 12:31, Satan is the ruler of this world)

In this scenario, Satan is offering Jesus the ability to side step the road of suffering, or the via dolorosa as you might be singing in your head

I know that for many, the road to porn starts in the same way

Sure God doesn’t want you to have sex until you are married, but what can harmless lust at a phone or computer screen do?

I recently went to my Dad’s house when we were finishing the cross up here on the stage, and our neighbor came out as my dad and I were talking in the driveway

Our neighbor Tom is a good, honest guy, but he’s crude, and worldly and is not a Christian

It came up in that conversation, that Tom who is in his mid-50’s, and has been married to his wife since college, had a one night stand in high school and found our he has another daughter and grand kid!

While certainly a blessing on one hand, it certainly throws other things for a loop with his wife and kids, and now they all have a half-sister!

Or perhaps you think of the old song, “The Devil went down to Georgia” in which he is looking for a soul to steal, and the idea of getting musical prowess and popularity, but you lose your soul?

I have acquaintances that have seen as such happen in the music business

In our rush to feed our immediate gratification, it becomes a foothold that can be used for the enemies plans

What ends up happening is that we end up in a fight in our hearts, minds, and souls over the goodness of God or the goodness of Satan’s offerings

We choose Satan’s offerings because we don’t really think the risk are there, or are that dangerous, we have terrible risk aversion measuring when it comes to our souls!

Now I don’t want you to incorrectly assume that it is clearly one side of risk and one side no risks, that is not true

In fact you cannot avoid risks if you want to live, let alone deciding the beliefs and people that will shape your lives

Joseph’s brothers have been learning that first hand

When we last saw them, we saw that the risks they chose was to follow Satan in attempting to kill their brother over their jealousy of Jacob’s favoritism to Joseph

They seemed to pay nothing, they got away with selling their brother and covering it up as a murder by a wild animal to their dad

Yet, the cost was there, the cost was being paid and it would be paid whether they would have it or not

The initial cost was breaking an already broken family, any hope that their dad would pick a new favorite from them was soon squashed

We would see these men continue to be rowdy, and unruly, until a famine forces them to Egypt, and they are thrown into prison, verbally assaulted with charges of espionage

Joseph sees them start to break, and they admit the evil they have done, that it is now catching up to them, yet it will still cost them another brother forced to stay in Egypt

So we open to this chapter, in which we will see the unfolding of a great restoration, but it will come at a great cost, and great risk

Risk to Family (v.1-10)

The first risk that is to be borne by these brothers is that of family

Jacob’s family had used up every single last grain from Egypt, and the famine showed no signs of slowing

Jacob is many things, but stupid is not one of them, and so he starts with telling his sons they needed to return to Egypt, the only place with grain in the land

So far, so good, there’s no real risk right?

Except there is, they were branded as spies last time, and only with Benjamin could they regain access to the life giving grain

So we see an unexpected son step up to take ownership: Judah

Judah is known for his infamous story in Genesis 38 , in which he loses two sons, and tries to disenfranchise his daughter-in-law from remarriage to his 3rd child

Judah’s first son was evil, and God put him to death

Judah’s second son refused to sleep with Tamar, and provide an heir as was his duty (and is clearly stated as so by his father Judah). So God also killed him for his wickedness

Then Judah utters an empty promise, to marry her to his youngest, but he is plotting behind her back, and when Judah’s wife dies, he goes out with a friend

Tamar hears about this and goes and acts like a temple prostitute, and Judah is charmed by her, and then sleeps with her

The text clearly says Judah’s youngest was grown and could of been given to Tamar, but he did not

Then when Tamar gets pregnant, Judah is in a hurry to kill her and get rid of his problem, only to find out that she is pregnant by his actions, with twins!

Also, just in case you were wondering this is after he had told the brothers to not kill Joseph, but to sell him instead, so he just went downhill it seems

This is the Judah we know mostly, but we’ve seen some movement in the brother’s hearts

How they responded in prison and their trip home showed some working of God in their hearts

So when Judah reminds his father of this, his father starts to get angry about the fact that he had been so lose lipped about his family

To which the he replies, how could i know he would use it in such a way against us!

The man which would not give his youngest to Tamar now willingly puts the well being of his own son up as collateral for Benjamin

What causes this change in him?

He has been forced to hit this point

His life is forfeit either by Joseph in Egypt or the Famine in Canaan

His family will die a terrible death by starvation, or there might be a sliver of hope in Egypt of survival

So Judah reached a point, would he risk his own life, and his own children for a possibility of survival?

Would Judah entertain the risk of having his son’s life be forfeit?

Well, his choices from long ago have been brought up to this point, and he says, I will risk it all

I will risk my family, and potentially our lives, because we have one bit of hope

Judah realized that the path he had walked for decades was leading him to death, and so something had changed

Perhaps it was him starting to realize his encounter with God in that jail cell

Perhaps it was the wrestling with how their money was put back into their grain sacks

Yet, there was no where else to go, would they risk known starvation, or would they risk taking Benjamin to Egypt for the possibility of hope!

Risk to Fortune (v.11-15)

With these garuntees for Benjamin, Jacob changes his mind

But don’t gloss over a very important change, it is not Jacob, but Israel

That was the covenant name given to Jacob when he wrestled with God before he met his brother Esau

It’s been remarked that when Jacob is behaving immaturely, and worldly they use Jacob, but then when he rises up as the patriarch and grandson of Abraham, Scripture uses his name Israel

Here Israel reaches a conclusion, no more whining about how things are, or how they should of gone, but acceptance

Israel says, let us spare no expense for this hope of grain and life found in Egypt

They might not of had grain to eat, but they had money, and they many exotic things to give to those in Egypt

They would repay the money that was returned, plus the cost of this next amount of grain

As Israel gets ready to release his sons, and particularly Benjamin, it is the greatest risk Israel has taken

It is so great that he invokes the name of God, El Shaddai, the Almighty God

Israel is willing to risk anything material, but it is Benjamin that had occupied his heart

It was Benjamin that he would not dare risk to give up

It was Joseph that was sold because of the folly of his Father’s Favoritism, yet here, the folly of favoritism was supplanted by the formidable famine

Israel has a deeper faith than his sons, which has recently started

Israel appeals to God’s name, for the might God to act on their behalf

Israel appeals to God to be the one to intervene, in his way, however shallow and immature, Israel is putting his hope in God

And so when it comes down to it, he knows that El Shaddai will do what El Shaddai will do, and he has to live with that

Risk to Lies (v.16-22)

In this next section, the brothers take a risk, but it is an unknown risk

Sun Tzu has famously said, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

You see, they are at a very risk for everything since they are living a lie, a lie of not knowing that Joseph is in front of them

This lie that they have not fully dealt with yet, is a great unknown risk to them

Again, sin causes a great amount of unknown and unseen risk, in fact almost all of the risk they are now facing can be traced back to sins in their lives, if not directly to Joseph!

Risk to Lives (v.16-22)

Yet, what they think they are really struggling with is the risk of their lives

They are suddenly brought to the most powerful man’s house in all of Egypt, last time they talked he threw them in prison, what would transpire now?

You see it, they are worried this is about the silver, it’s been found out, and they will be made into slaves, their donkey’s sold, and their family will die, never seeing them again

Restoration (v. 23-34)

However, with the risk, there is hope, the steward steps in and says

Look we got your silver, I don’t know what you are talking about!

It must be the work of your God!

And it was, not supernaturally through silver cloning and teleportation, but rather supernaturally in placing Joseph in his position to bless them

This is where the tables start to turn, this is where we start to see this whole 25 year journey of Joseph and his family start to come into clear focus

When we opened we talked about sin, and how it takes us places we would never dare to go on our own, and keeps us hostage

You know what is interesting, is that there is no easy way in living

Redemption is defined scripturally as “receiving back more than what was lost, so the final state is greater than the original”

This idea is throughout Scripture, but nearly always accompanied with suffering, or talking about refining through the fire of trials and tribulations

Think about the story of Job, Peter, Paul, Jesus,

And in our story of Joseph

We have considered the risk that Joseph’s brothers have taken, it is admirable, particularly considering how spiritually dense they are!

Yet Joseph has his own risks

Joseph had trusted God throughout these terrible times in Egypt!

Remember he was a slave and in prison for more than a decade!

He then was promoted and got married and and had kids and called them ‘Forgot” as in the hard times he went through and “Fruitful’ in the time of his most difficult times!

So now Joseph has to consider the risk of redemption

What risks does Joseph have?

It’s the same risks for different reasons!

The risk of family

Joseph has to considering opening himself up to his family that is pretty poisonous!

Will he open up his wife and his kids to his brothers that tried to kill him and settled by?

Yet, there was something there he is yearning for, the first thing that Joseph asks over lunch?

Is my dad still alive?

Joseph is seeing the potential for a family reunion, but he knows it will be a risk because he knows his family is, well not great

Which is a bit of a precurser to the next chapter in this story

Risk of Fortune

Joseph shows lavish hospitality to his brothers, but if he is to go to Pharoah and say his family is here he will have a lot more people to talk to,

and that means his family will be less well off as the resources have to go farther

Risk of Lies

The risk of lies is quite different, the risk for Joseph is that his brothers have no idea who he is

For Joseph this is a crossroads, to reunite or to never reveal the truth, or to wait to tell them?

Will Joseph let go of his facade in order to experience redemption

Risk of Lives

Perhaps most importantly, if Joseph decides to not risk these things, he will be basically responsible for wiping out the clan of Abraham apart from himself

He knows the famine is terrible and his family will not survive without the grain in which he possesses

So what will Joseph do?

His actions are clearer than the noon sun, when he sees Benjamin, all of the things he thought he felt about his brothers, all the things he thought his life in Egypt replaced, were shown to be not forgotten

He sees his brother and leaves the room to weep, weep for joy at seeing his baby brother, who is his full brother and not a 1/2 brother who sold him to slavery!

Application

So when we look at this, we have to realize that our sin has cost, but so does following Jesus!

There are two levels, when we first start to follow Jesus, and as we continue to follow Jesus

In Luke 14:25-33

Luke 14:25–33 CSB

25 Now great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31 “Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.

Jesus calls us to cost the count of following him

To use the verbiage of what we have been talking about today, we need to figure out how risk adverse we are in following Jesus!

We need to count the cost, so we don’t come up short!

Yet, I don’t want you to think that cost is somehow neutral, it is not

Romans 6:16–23 CSB

16 Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over, 18 and having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 I am using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you offered the parts of yourselves as slaves to impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness. 21 So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? The outcome of those things is death. 22 But now, since you have been set free from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification—and the outcome is eternal life! 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So when we are faced with a choice, it comes down to this question to us

Do you trust the goodness of God or do you desire the fleeting pleasure of sin more?

One will lead to restoration, redemption, reconciliation

One will lead to destruction, abandonment, estrangement

So how risk adverse are you, and can you really know the full consequences of your sin?

This is not a one time thing, but a lifelong process

Joseph and his brothers had to shoulder very similar risks, but for different reasons

Joseph had to ask if he would keep trusting God after God had shown himself faithful for near 30 years in his life, could he trust God’s goodness?

Joseph’s brothers had to ask we have nothing to lose, can we trust in this God we have only recently encountered when we went to Egypt, but our dad says is our god? They were asking is this God even worth trusting?

So where are you on that journey?

Are you wrestling with trusting God for years of faithfulness?

Or are you wrestling with the idea of going through suffering in order to worship God and passing up immediate gratification?