Our Faithful God

Genesis 45:1–15 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, ‘Make everyone leave my presence!’ So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. 3 Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph! Is my father still living?’ But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. 4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come close to me.’ When they had done so, he said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no ploughing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 ‘So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. 9 Now hurry back to my father and say to him, “This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. 10 You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. 11 I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.” 12 ‘You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. 13 Tell my father about all the honour accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.’ 14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterwards his brothers talked with him.

Well good morning. My name’s Dan and I’m the Vicar of St Mark’s Haydock, and it’s an honour to be with you this morning.

And I’m excited to join you as you’re walking through the story of God and His people.

Two weeks ago you looked at Abraham, the Father of many nations, particularly the Israelite nation. Then last week you explored how God tested Abraham, seeing if he would be prepared to sacrifice everything for Him, even his only son.

Of course God sent a ram instead, and Isaac lived. He had two sons, Esau and Jacob and that is quite the story to.

But today, we’re delving in at the end of a substantial story in Genesis. It’s the famous story of Joseph.

Did anyone visit St Helens Royal Theatre to see it recently?

We did a summer teaching series on Josepeh in 2021 and over the lockdown, my wife and I got into a new hobby. Every ‘all age’ service we would plan, perform and produce a short video to bring a smile to people’s faces. Here’s a little medley snippet of 3 of the videos we produced.

role video

For those of you thinking, let me leave the room now, I promise, no more puppets in my sermon. But I hope it made you smile.

Andrew Llyod Webber saw so much in this story that he knew it would work well as a musical.

I mean, it’s got everything.

A younger brother who’s too big for his boots, and thinks he is better than the others. He evens recieves a dream about wheat and then and another about the nights sky which he shares with his brothers as proof that one day they will bow before him. Out of jelousy and annoyance, they throw him down a well and sold him into slavery.

Joseph’s a hard working inteligent lad, and finds favour with an influential official.

While he’s hard working, he’s also good looking and the officals wife tries to seduce him. He does the honourable thing and removes himself from the house, but she lies and he ends up in Jail.

In Jail two other inmates tell him their dreams and he interprets them. The cup bearer will be restored to his position, while the baker will be executed.

After the Pharaoh has two particularly horrible dreams he calls for his wise-men to interpret, and they can’t. The cup bearer remembers that Joseph can interpret dreams. Of course we know it’s God revealing these dreams to Jospeh. And Jospeh has the oppertunity to share with Pharaoh both the meaning of the dreams, that there will be famine, and the plan to save them from famine, by storing up the harvest in the plentiful years.

This chain of events sets him up to become the prime minister of all Egypt, and in the soverign plan of God he even rescues both his brothers and his father, and through forgiveness they are saved from death and destruction.

Here’s another way of summing it all up through the bible project

rolelvideo

Whenever I read the Bible, I’m looking to get to know Jesus better, to get to know the God we worship deeper.

And this story is brimming over with truths about God.

God is faithful - Even in the well, running from Potipher’s wifes bedroom, facing false accusation and when he felt forgotten by everyone else in prison, God remained faithful to Joseph. He never let him down. Even though Jospeh will have asked God ‘Why have you let this happen to me’ God remained faithful to him

God keeps his promises - God gave Joseph the dreams of the bowing wheat and stars and promised that he would raise Joseph to a position of authority. Joseph had no idea in what way God would do this, and Joseph was immature and unwise in the way he shared that with his parents and his brothers. But as Joseph continued following God, as he was faithful and trusting God, he saw God’s promises fulfilled in his life.

God loves - God showed his love to Joseph and his brothers. Even after they had all messed up, God had a plan which would save them all. God doesn’t inflict or cause pain. He hands us over to the consequences of our sin when we decide to do life without Him, but is always ready to welcome us back, and to redeem our situation.

God forgives - God didn’t write off Joseph’s brothers even after they had sold him into slavery and lied to his parents. God didn’t set Joseph’s brothers up to sin, to do wrong. But he knew that they would do it, and his plan was to redeem the evil, to bring life out of death. To restore a relationship that they had broken. And when we follow Jesus, when we see him at work, we do what he does. Jesus expects us to do the things he does. So as he forgives, we must forgive, and we see Joseph forgiving his brothers in response to seeing God’s faithfulness to him.

God provides - In a time of famine, God provided a way to feed the people. By sending Joseph ahead of his brothers, we see God rescue Jacob and his family. We know that this family of perhaps 70 people grew to millions 400 years later. When we are desperate for provision, God provides.

God cares - God comes alongside us both when times are hard and when times are well. We never need to fear, because the God of creation is with us. At every turn, God is with Joseph. Joseph continued to trust in God throughout his trials. And when we receive Jesus into our lives, when we turn to Him as Lord, we will never be alone again. We will experience Him at our side every day.

God gives authority - Here we see Joseph elevated to the position of prime minster of all of Egypt, and Joseph even says “God made me a father to Pharaoh” (v8). God is the one who raises leaders, and if we are faithful to Him, He leads us to the circle of influence which He has in mind for us. Your circle of influence is your friends, your family, your work place, your voluntary roles and responsibilities. We mustn't seek power and authority, but allow God to lead us where he wants us. Joseph starts out pretty arrogant in this story, but by the end, Joseph has learned to trust God and to be humble. If we come humbly before God and trust in Him, he will give us the power and responsibility He wants for us.

God speaks - Do you believe that God speaks? Joseph certainly does. To Joseph, God speaks particularly through dreams, but also in the interpretation of dreams. However, Joseph also senses God’s direction in his life. For us, in the stillness or prayer, in reading our Bibles, in listening to God while listening to a friend share something deep, we can also sense God’s voice. We come humbly before Him, expecting to hear from Him. And as we grow in faith, we learn to discern His voice over the voice of ourselves and the devil. For a Christian, that God speaks is a fact.

God reveals - An God doesn’t just speak, he reveals. The hidden mysteries of the world are revealed to us in Christ Jesus. While this is roughly 1700 years before Jesus, God speaks to His faithful people. This is nearly 4000 years before us, and we see from the earliest texts in the Bible that God reveals. He opens our minds up to His realities, and mysteries He wants us to know, he reveals. God is the God who reveals.

After quite the journey going from a uni student in Derby, to student worker and chaplain, to Ordinand in Cambridge, to Curate in Glossop, applying for the role at St Mark’s was quite the leap in Church leadership for me. With the furniture project, the many ministries and the multiple congregations it was potentially to0 big a responsibility for someone just out of training.

At interview I was clear, I don’t yet have the experience to lead St Mark’s, but if you think I’m the right person then I trust God will help me grow into it. And I can honestly say that every day has needed me to ask ‘Lord, what are we doing today?’ The diary is full, there’s plenty of people and tasks which need my opinion, and some days are impossible to get everything done. But my faith has grown faster than at any other point in my life, when as I’ve seen God provide again and again. I’ll sense Him call me to head over to the furniture project, or our cafe and I’ll bump into exactly the person He wants me to speak to. Or perhaps I’ll sense it’s time to walk down the street and I happen to meet someone who’s in need and who we can help through the projects.

Even in how to structure and lead the church, God has lined me up with the right people at the right time to discern what it looks like.

I wonder how you have seen God’s faithfulness in your life?

When you’re at work, do you sense God leading you here or there. To the kitchen when you happen to find a colleague who’s in need of support, or trusting He will guide you through that really difficulty conversation you need to have. What about that family member who you’re desperately praying for? As we trust God, it’s amazing how and where we see His faithfulness.

But remember that even Joseph had significant periods of feeling like He wasn’t hearing from God, of feeling abandoned by the world, and perhaps even God. What we see is that Joseph didn’t lose hope. God had not abandoned Him, Joseph just didn’t always feel God close. This narrative spans decades of Joseph’s life.

What we see is that when we remain faithful to Jesus, when we put our trust in Him, when we turn from the wrong of our lives and ask Him for direction, we see amazing things happen, in fact we see God things happen.

God does speak today, He reveals His truth and direction to us in his timing. He calls us to trust Him, as we experience His Love, Care, guidance, and as He releases us into the circles of influence He has laid in front of us.

This week, how will you be faithful to Jesus?

Will you commit yourselves to following Him and doing what He calls you to do?

Let’s spend a moment of quiet listening to His still small voice as we pray “Come Holy Spirit”

And so should His people!