Sunday 8th July AM

Genesis 39:1-20 New International Version (NIV) Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife 39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did,4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” 8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. 11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. 13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” 16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” 19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. We have all had someone slander us, say something that was untrue about us or make up stories about something we have said and done. School, work, families – Ladies seem to be more gifted at the gossip and rumour. It hurts, when we feel like people betray us, intentionally go about causing us harm To some degree we all make up stories about ourselves. What we post online about ourselves We give an image or a mask on who we are not letting people in. Why is it that we struggle to be honest about ourselves and lift people up instead of pulling them down? Somehow we can think that being a Christian we can circumvent this, be protected from its effects that if we are good and nice then people will only have good and nice things to say about us. This is not what we see in scripture. Gen 39:1-20 We continue Joseph’s story, we can clearly see that although he has been sold off into slavery that it is clear that God is still with him. That his circumstances does not determine God’s blessings. Rejected by his brothers, now a slave his circumstance would say he is abandoned by God, that God is not his friend, but here we see that God blesses him in his circumstances. Joseph found favour and God gave him success, He got put in charge over everything, in field and in house. Potiphar concerned himself with nothing knowing that Joseph was looking after everything. Here we see that his blessing was blessing everyone, the whole household. Never look at your circumstances and make your determination from that, look at how you can be a blessing in your circumstances. In your job, look at how you can bless that whole company, in your school look at how you can be a blessing to your school, in your homes how can your favour shine through. But in that don’t think that it will not come at a cost. For Joseph it was slander, a false accusation of his righteousness, he tried to do the right thing but it didn’t work, lies where told, anger arose, and he was thrown into prison for trying to do what is right, for what was just. There are lots of reasons why people slander others, particularly when you are trying to do the right things. Sometimes it exposes their fear and guilt, you not entering into their sin makes them feel ashamed Sometimes they are jealous about your blessing. Sometimes they are wanting to lift themselves up by putting you down seeking some kind of advantage and seeking power. Sometimes it’s the pain of their own story, what has been done to them shapes what they do to you. So what do you do when you are slandered? Search your heart and see if there is any truth – own the truth for truth brings freedom – no spin. Don’t defend yourself unnecessarily – Jesus didn’t, Joseph didn’t. Find the hidden story if you can. Pray for your enemy. Stand in the truth – let go of the hurt. Gospel call us to love like God loves us.