Forget Me Not Blues

The Suffering Servant: Joseph

At the end of the last chapter we found Joseph, once again, stripped of his high status and thrown into the bottom of a pit, this time a prison cell. Yet, even in prison, Joseph continues to faithfully rely on the LORD. It would be very easy for Joseph, at this point in the story, to question God’s methods. Nevertheless, when two other prisoners approach Joseph with a dream, he does not hesitate to go to God in order to help these men.

Everyone knew, in Joseph’s day, that dreams like the ones these men recieved were from the gods. And if you get a dream from the gods, its probably something very important! And so these two other prisoners, the cupbearer and the baker, are distraught that the gods are trying to tell them something important, but they can’t interpret the dreams.

Joseph quickly sees the perfect opportunity to minister to these two men. There are no Egyptian magicians or dream interpreters in this prison cell, but Joseph knows that the LORD is. And so, despite all he’s been through, Joseph does not hesitate to go to God in prayer, and minister to his fellow prisoners. Joseph’s suffering, by God’s grace, becomes just another opportunity to do the ministry of God.

Joseph, imprisoned in Pharaoh’s dungeon, had every right to complain against God, to sit stubbornly in the corner and refuse to carry on with the LORD. It was by no fault of his own that he had ended up there, after all. Instead, Joseph did not complain, but leapt at any opportunity to use his horrible circumstances for God’s glory. We may be reminded here, of Isaiah’s prophecy about the suffering servant:

The New Revised Standard Version The Suffering Servant

13 See, my servant shall prosper;

he shall be exalted and lifted up,

and shall be very high.

14 Just as there were many who were astonished at him

—so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of mortals—

15 so he shall startle many nations;

kings shall shut their mouths because of him;

for that which had not been told them they shall see,

and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

The New Revised Standard Version Chapter 53

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away.

Who could have imagined his future?

For he was cut off from the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people.

9 They made his grave with the wicked

and his tomb with the rich,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.

When you make his life an offering for sin,

he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;

through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.

11 Out of his anguish he shall see light;

he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.

The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

The Suffering Servant: Christ

And this prophecy of Isaiah, of course, brings us to Jesus. If Joseph’s sufferings were bad, then Christ’s were unspeakably terrible. Like Joseph, Jesus was imprisoned for no good cause. And not only imprisoned, but crucified on account of the sins of other people. And yet, even on the cross, we see Jesus fulfilling his role as the suffering servant. The one who continues to work for God’s glory even in the midst of his own suffering and humiliation. Even as the Romans drove nails into his hands, Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they’re doing.”

In fact, Jesus very often spoke of his crucifixion as his enthronement. This was not just a moment of suffering that God could bring good out of, but it was a kind of serving in the midst of suffering through which God could do more good than he’d ever done before.

As we well know, the cross of Christ is something every christian is called to take up. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he spoke with Peter and said,

The New Revised Standard Version Jesus and Peter

Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Indeed, it may very well have been the love and compassion Christians displayed even in the face of death that caused so many to come to Christ in the days of the early Church. One early Christian remarked, “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church” (Tertullian).

So “take up your cross and follow me” should never become a quaint and simple phrase for the church. It is what defines us as followers of Jesus Christ. Our Church is not being persecuted in the way those early Christians were, sure. But we suffer nonetheless. We suffer as we see so many pass away. We look around at the empty pews and remember the smiling faces that used to fill them. We suffer emotionally, many of us suffer financially, and in so many other ways. Yet if, in our suffering, we continue to act as humble servants of the Lord, God is able to do so much good in the world. Through our suffering, God is able to bring about healing.

Forget Me Not: When the World Doesn’t Return the Favor

But that’s no easy task. Especially when it seems as if the world has forgotten us. Joseph, despite his poor condition, did all in his power to minister to the baker and the cupbearer. And he had only one simple request:

The New Revised Standard Version The Dreams of Two Prisoners

remember me when it is well with you; please do me the kindness to make mention of me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this place.

Remember me! Don’t forget me! I’ve healed you, now would you please return the favor?

I imagine that, after the cupbearer left, Joseph sat expectantly in the dungeons for a few days. As shadows would pass by the door, and the sound of footsteps echoed by, perhaps Joseph’s heart jumped, and he hoped beyond hope that the cupbearer had put in a good word for him. But, after many days, Joseph must have finally realized what Genesis already tells us:

The New Revised Standard Version The Dreams of Two Prisoners

23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

What do we do when we do take up the cross, when we do play the part of the suffering servant, and it seems, nevertheless, that the world has forgotten us all the same?

What happens when we serve the poor, feed the hungry, and care for the orphan like God has asked of us, but the poor, the hungry, and the orphan don’t remember us?

We live in a time where this happens to the church more and more. As followers of Jesus, we can go out and do wonderful things in the name of Christ. We can give more than we can really afford, we can minister to people on the streets even while we deal with our own aches and pains, and yet the pews remain empty, and the Church still seems to have a bad reputation in our culture. Everyone remembers when a church had a bad pastor that abused his power, but no one remembers that it was the Church who helped build our hospitals, our orphanages, and our education system. Everyone remembers Westboro Baptist, who protested at funerals even as parents and family grieved, but no one remembers the small church on the corner who cooks and feeds the homeless every week.

There’s only so much suffering we can take before it just becomes unbearable. We can only serve so much with no reward before we begin to wonder if there will ever be a reward for our work.

Abiding in the Vine

So how did Joseph do it? He remained in prison for two whole years before the cupbearer finally remembered him, and Pharaoh sent for him. For two years, Joseph continued to suffer and yet to serve the LORD, so that when he finally walked out of prison, he said as confidently and as boldly as ever, “It is not I, but the LORD who will answer Pharaoh.” Despite two years of fruitlessly serving and wrongfully suffering, Joseph emerged as faithful and strong as ever. How did he do it? How does someone keep going after so long without any hint of a reward?

There is only one thing in the world that will enable a person to be such a suffering servant. There is only one power in the universe that can endure so much with so little return: God.

Joseph could endure so much only because he knew how to abide in God.

Jesus tells us:

The New Revised Standard Version Jesus the True Vine

4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

“Abide in me as I abide in you… because apart from me you can do nothing.” We have no power apart from Christ. The simple truth is we cannot endure the path of the suffering servant apart from Jesus. Joseph, in his dark cell, learned to abide in God, to draw from God’s strength and not his own, because there simply was no other way.

This is something we, the Church, desperately need to learn. As we continue to look at empty pews, and we continue to see the Church decline in America, many are asking, “What can we do?” The short and simple answer is “You can do nothing… apart from Jesus.”

Part of what that means is that we must learn to change our outlook on suffering and serving. In our suffering, we must learn to remember that there is nothing we have suffered which God has not also suffered. In Jesus Christ, God has experienced the full gamut of human suffering. And in God’s suffering, we are healed. Through our sharing in Christ’s suffering, God is able also to bring that healing to the whole world.

In our serving, we must remember that we are not really serving the world, but Christ. We do not serve the world, but Jesus, and our reward is not of this world, but is in heaven. Jesus tells us in Matthew:

The New Revised Standard Version The Judgment of the Nations

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

Human wisdom would tell us that if something isn’t working, then we need a change of plans. If we continue to serve and yet continue to suffer, then we must be doing something wrong. If we continue to do the back-breaking work of sowing in the field and yet we never get to reap the reward, then we must be doing something wrong. But the gospel, as Paul says, is foolishness to human wisdom. When we share in Christ’s suffering, this in fact brings about healing to the nations. When we don’t receive an earthly reward, it is because we store up treasures for ourselves in heaven.

But Joseph knew another way,

And here is the good news Jesus Christ offers us: while the world may forget us, our God does not. Yes, Joseph sat in his cell for 2 years, a very long time. But at the right moment, God not only delivered him from prison, but sat him on the throne of Egypt right next to Pharaoh. And though it may seem, at times, that we sow in vain, at the right time, God will bring the harvest.

In the mean time, we must continue to suffer and serve, not of our own power, but strengthened by the power of Jesus, in connection with the true vine, so that we can bear much fruit.

B- Forget Me Not

(likewise)

B- The Suffering Servant: Christ

(but)

C- Forget Me Not: When the World Doesn’t Return the Favor

(therefore…)

D- Ministry in connection to the True Vine