Sermon Nuggets Mon Dec 10 Handling Guilt
Gen 42:1-5 When Jacob learned that there was
grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each
other?” 2 He continued, “I have heard that there is
grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and
not die.”
3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went
down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did
not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was
afraid that harm might come to him. 5 So Israel’s
sons were among those who went to buy grain, for the famine was in the
land of Canaan also.
Handling Guilt
Have you
ever gone to a twenty year reunion in school or a twenty five year? There are
some people who you don’t recognize, or whose names you don’t remember. Joseph
is about to have a surprise 20 year reunion with his family.
The problem that caused the
separation for this length of time was that fact that his brothers took him and
put him in a well only to be sold to slave traders. They had committed sin
against Joseph, against Jacob and against God. As we had looked before the plan
was to tear up his multicolored coat and take blood from an animal and lie to
dad that they found it this way and believe a lion must have attacked and
killed him and eaten him.
This action was prompted by
jealousy. He and Benjamin were their half brothers. Rachel had died and so they
were all more loved by their father, Jacob. Favoritism does cause jealous when
each of us desires either preferred or at least equal treatment. Yet most kids
will look at other siblings and often feel as if they are in competition for
love or special treatment.
Now they also got some money for
the sale of Joseph. That was probably quickly gone divided 10 days.
But what remained for those 20 days
was the cover up of sin, lying, and pretense.
I heard recently of an owner of the
company telling his staff that it was always better to tell the trust, even if
you think you are going to get in more trouble, because sooner or later truth
will come out. It is always better to be honest for sooner or later dishonesty
will be revealed.
It is easier to remember the truth
than it is to remember lies and the details that surround them. After awhile
you forget what you say to other people.
20 years of covering up their sin
allowed for them to often think about it and continue the cover up and lies as
Jacob continued to mourn the loss of his beloved son. Every time the name of
Joseph was raise their conscious would prick them of their sin.
You will remember from last week
that just as God had told Joseph there was 7 years of bounty and now they face
7 years of famine. As I looked at the 42nd chapter of Genesis and
the story of Joseph’s brothers coming to Egypt to seek food, I noticed some
interesting parallels with the truths God has for us as believers in
typological form; Joseph is serving as the savior of the Jewish nation,
represented in his family. The story of redemption and salvation finds itself woven
throughout many of the Old Testament stories.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues Dec 11
Gen 42:6-13 6 Now Joseph was the
governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So
when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the
ground. 7 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he
recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to
them. “Where do you come from?” he asked.
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.”
8 Although Joseph recognized his
brothers, they did not recognize him. 9 Then he
remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are
spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”
10 “No, my lord,” they answered.
“Your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all
the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”
12 “No!” he said to them. “You have
come to see where our land is unprotected.”
13 But they replied, “Your
servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land
of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”
Recognizing Need.
The word began to spread among some
of the other nations and people that food and grain was available in Egypt for
a price. Jacob with his 11 sons and their families thought it best, rather than
sit back and do nothing, go there and buy some grain so they could live. He did
not allow Benjamin, the youngest, to leave because of what had happened to
Joseph. They had a need. They couldn’t be self reliant.
There are circumstances and
situations in our lives that often bring us to recognize our needs. It is easy
to avoid God when we feel self-sufficient. It is easy to feel that you have no
need of God's touch when everything is running smoothly. These men were
comfortable in their denial and their deceptions. As long as the status quo
remained they would never change. So God provokes a crisis. This crisis would
either harden them further or wake them up.
When they got to Egypt they needed
to present their request to none other than Joseph. Who would have thought he
was now the second in command in the nation? Who would have thought these men
who sold him into slavery would now be bowing down before their brother in
honor and respect. Yet just like God revealed over 20 years ago this is exactly
what happened. They saw him dressed before in a multi colored robe, now he was
finely dressed in robes of rulership, speaking a different language, not
letting on he recognized them nor understood their vocabulary did everything he
could to find out all about his father and Benjamin his full brother.
Their need was to bring them to their knees in realization
they could do nothing about it. When Jesus came to the world he taught it is
the sick that need a doctor, not those who are well. This was an important
lesson that when you think you don’t have any need for a doctor there is no
reason to go and get help. When you realize you are sick and need help you go
and seek the help you need. There are lots of needs in our lives and many people
will never admit it. It isn’t until we face our needs that we learn lessons
of humbleness. We are needy people,
mostly in need of God.
The need of
hunger brought these brothers to the feet of Joseph. I think again the type is
the forerunner of the father of the savior of the people just like Joseph was
the savior of the people in a physical way and preserving the nation. For a
time the people went Egypt and there was the prophecy of Jesus needing to go to
Egypt when Herod’s forces went around killing the babies. God provided a way of
escape.
What needs do you come with this morning? For some it may be
physical, for others emotional. For some the need might be in relationships, or
some spiritual need, a beguiling sin or out of fellowship with the Lord, or
need for salvation. We humble ourselves before God and surrender our wills to
him. We must recognize our need for God’s help and lay ourselves before him and
ask for his filling.
Are you going through tough times?
Is life a struggle right now? Could it be that God is trying to get your
attention? Is it possible that God is trying to move you from a profession of faith to a possession of faith? We come each week
as needy people.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Weds Dec 12
Gen 42: 14 Joseph
said to them, “It is just as I told you: You are spies! 15 And
this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives,you will not leave
this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send
one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in
prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the
truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are
spies!” 17 And he put them all in custody for
three days.
18 On the third day, Joseph said to
them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 If
you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in
prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving
households. 20 But you must bring your youngest
brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not
die.” This they proceeded to do.
21 They said to one another, “Surely
we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was
when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this
distress has come upon us.”
22 Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you
not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an
accounting for his blood.” 23 They did not
realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.
24 He turned away from them and began
to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken
from them and bound before their eyes.
Recognizing Sin
Joseph’s
brothers had more of a need than just for food. Joseph put them into a place
where they could do some thinking and confronting with their own consciences.
Joseph proposes a test. They were accused of being spies and brought into
prison for 3 days. One of the men is to be selected to go home and return with
Benjamin before the others will be set free! So, Joseph throws them all in
prison for three days. What is going on?
I found Alistair Begg writings on Joseph is helpful. “Do you
recall what three things had annoyed the brothers about Joseph? There were his
special coat and his dream, but he had also brought a bad report about the men
to their father. In other words, the brothers had seen Joseph as Jacob's spy,
sent to get information and then run back to Daddy with it. . .
So Joseph
decided to accuse his brothers of the very thing they had held against him. Now
the brothers were protesting their innocence, and Joseph responded with harsh
words and imprisonment and enslaved in Egypt. He kept them in prison as long as
he was in the pit for 3 days. Jesus was kept in the tomb for three days and
Jonah in the belly of a whale for 3 days. This all relates to the way God
designs stories to ultimately point to the greatest story of salvation of them
all.
I wonder if the main reason for
doing this is in the hope that his brothers will wake up to their actions. He
is hoping this treatment will make them "come clean."
We do not understand the affect our sin has on God and
destroys others unless we experience some consequences ourselves. You can't
treat a disease until you know what disease you are dealing with. A person
can't be saved until he realizes he is lost. The brothers needed to see, to
feel, to understand their own wickedness
Joseph gave his testimony as one
who also feared God. He said he would let them go if one would stay as hostage
and they come back with their youngest brother. Joseph wanted to see his family
and his full brother whom he loved and hadn’t seen.
But this also triggered the sin in
their lives that they tried to forget and cover up. God used this to bring to
their minds the consequences of what they did which was wrong because of their
jealousy and hard feelings.
God will bring us into situations
where our thoughts also ask, what have I done to deserve this? Most tragedies
bring us to that point because we want to somehow make sense out of tragedies.
We want to have purpose of suffering and if we can find out why we can correct
the situation or set up to judge God who we might think is unfair.
Well, you know that there may not
have been anything we have done to deserve this. Job did nothing wrong to
deserve his treatment, Jesus did nothing wrong to deserve his crucifixion and
mocking. The man born blind was not caused by a sin of he or his parents and
Jesus told his disciples so, it is that the glory of God might be seen.
But as a chaplain I have also
discovered that this is an opportunity to look at our lives and do some re
evaluation. A time set apart sometimes forced and some times planned is a way
to do some spiritual housecleaning. It is a time to be confronted with sin and
giving an opportunity to confess it and ask God for forgives and seek his
pardon and our freedom from the bondage Satan lays upon us. If we say we do not
sin we are a liar and Gods’ truth is not in us. He is saying this in John to
Christians not to none Christians. Yes, we have been forgiven when we have
accepted Jesus as our savior, but we need to turn from sinful ways and make
things right which is one of the tasks of spiritually coming at communion.
Joseph wanted to see if the
brothers were willing to desert one of their own again. Will they abandon
Simeon as they did Joseph? The brothers had an interesting conversation in
front of Joseph not realizing he could understand them. They thought it was a
private conversation they didn't know that the Egyptian leader who sat before
them knew Hebrew and knew very well the situation they were talking about.
They had sinned. The Bible says
"...all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Some
are in a state of denial, in which we think that our sins will never be
exposed. We think we can get away with it.
I was reminded this is the 10th
anniversary of when Jacob Wetterling was kidnapped and never heard from again.
How unbelievably frustrating that must be for the family and for friends and
law enforcement agencies that can’t solve that case. But whoever it was cannot
think time will erase this sin from the mind of God. Even if he is never caught
he will have to give an account to God. Time does not erase sin.
We can even pretend among good
Christian folks when God knows our heart may be lying to family and friends all
around us. I went to a seminar this past Friday of a Christian counselor and
seminary graduate who lived 11 years as a sex addict having both prostitutes as
well as affairs with at least 10 women he counseled before he was caught. Here
was an member of the CIA who was a master at cover up when he sold state
secrets to Russia. And if he never got caught he could never run from the Lord.
We should recognize from this
account that people will frequently say they are sorry for what they have done,
but only when they are faced with the consequences of their sin. The consequences,
not the sin, cause the tears to flow. Joseph's brothers were facing, they believed,
a tough Egyptian taskmaster who didn't believe their story. To convince them of
his seriousness he threw them in prison for three days--a softening process and
then demanded that they bring their youngest brother before him to prove their
words. Was this the reason they suddenly began to express their remorse for how
they had treated Joseph 20 years earlier? Had the consequences finally caught
up with them? If so, then theirs was not true repentance.
Maybe some of you are reminded of
how you had hurt others, taken advantage of family members, lied to bosses, or
spouses. Slowly sin eats away at our joy and our heart. Looking squarely at our
sin is painful, embarrassing, and at times, makes us sick. But without recognition
of sin there can be no forgiveness. Without seeing our need, we will never need
a Savior.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thurs Dec 13 Mercy
Gen 42:24 He turned away from them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.
25 Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them, 26 they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.
27 At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. 28 “My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack.”
Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”
Recognizing Mercy
Joseph has no interest in taking
revenge on his brothers for their past misdeeds. He longs instead, for evidence
of change in their lives. He was hoping for repentance and restoration, not
revenge. As he overheard their recriminations about their treatment of him, he
realizes that some of them, at least, are sorry for what they did to him. This
brings a gush of tears to his eyes.
We see in this story the mercy that
also points to the story of salvation and the mercy of the savior toward
sinners all. There was no reason why Joseph needed to release his brothers from
jail. They had made it clear they didn’t want anything to do with him and no
longer wanted to be his family.
At this point it seems there is no
need for further examination of the brothers' reason for coming to Egypt.
Joseph has overheard their conversation. We could well ask, therefore, why not
skip ahead to Genesis 45 and read about their joyful reunion, when Joseph at
last reveals his true identity to his brothers? Why does Joseph insist on a
further examination of their motives?
There is a very good reason for it, as we will
see. Repentance is more than mere words. It is changing our thinking, our way
of life. It shows in results in keeping with change. Joseph determines to test his brothers: to see
if they had indeed had a change of heart for their past actions.
Joseph sends his brothers away from
his presence except Simon who is held hostage. How would they respond when they
opened their grain sacks and found their money inside? What story would they
tell their father this time? That is what Joseph intended to discover when he
posed this dilemma for his brothers. Had they changed their minds?
While on their journey one opened
his sack of grain and found the money. Joseph hid it there on purpose He
doesn’t need it and doesn’t want it. It is a gift of grace to give them food
and more. When they got home to Jacob their father they told him the whole
story and as they opened up their bags of grain to their surprise found all
their money returned. They couldn’t buy the grain since it was a gift. They
didn’t know it was a gift at this point. They thought they would just get into
more trouble and be accused for stealing the grain.
Do you think that when you accept
the gift from God that you will be more in a prison than you are now? Many see Jesus as their enemy instead of
their friend.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Fri Dec 14 Faith
Gen 42: 27 At the place where they stopped for the night one
of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in
the mouth of his sack. 28 “My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers.
“Here it is in my sack.”
Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling
and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of
Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said, 30 “The man who
is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were
spying on the land. 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not
spies. 32 We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the
youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’
33 “Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This
is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here
with me, and take food for your starving households and go. 34 But bring your
youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men.
Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’”
35 As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man’s
sack was his pouch of silver! When they and their father saw the money pouches,
they were frightened. 36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me
of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to
take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”
37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my
sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I
will bring him back.”
38 But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you;
his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the
journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in
sorrow.”
The need for Faith
It is a curious thing to live by faith. The fact of the matter
is faith is trusting God when the future is uncertain, or even a risk. It is
not doing so much what we want as it is putting ourselves at his disposal and
regardless of the outcome believe that God will be in charge and work things
out for good or glory.
Challenges most certainly come into our lives. There are
things we think we can control and other things over which we know we have very
little control. Trust is not easy. It is sometimes believing when we are
expected to receive the worst. I think of the Hebrews who refused to bow down
to the idol of Nebuchadnezzar. They were willing to die. But trust God whether
he was going to deliver them or not. I
think of Daniel who continued is commitment to prayer even if it meant the Lion’s
den.
But where does faith come in for those who are not standing
strong on the Lord. There is no indication that these brothers were trusting
God as much as they were hoping against hope that Joseph’s demands of having
Benjamin come would result in good things. They needed to trust Joseph. They
felt they had no alternative. Jacob was unwilling to let his younger and now
favorite son go.
The sons of Jacob have still covered up their sin from their
father. They haven’t completely confessed, but mercy is granted to them anyway
out of love. God himself is acting sovereignty
in their lives to accomplish His will. That is what set Joseph free. It wasn't
his brothers acting upon him--they were only the secondary cause. It was God
who was working in his life to accomplish constructive, redemptive, purifying
things, to prepare for his own people, and to do something in his own life.
That principle is found throughout the Scriptures.
Joseph could have held on to his bitterness, but chose to
make it an act of mercy. Robert Moeller says that letting go of past hurts can
be difficult: "After the Civil War, a woman entertained the distinguished
Robert E. Lee in her home. She pointed out a once-beautiful oak tree that had
been burned and disfigured by invading armies. "`What should I do?' she
asked with bitterness in her voice. "`Cut it down and forget it,' the
general replied. "That same advice applies to letting go of past pain.
Don't allow yourself to live in the past. Surrender your painful memories and
experiences, and with a decisive act of your will, get on with your life."
Because
Joseph understood this principle, he was able to act in love toward those who
had wronged him.
As a pastor I have learned not
believe everything people tell me. When I first entered the ministry I believed
when people said to me, "I've quit drinking," or, "I've really
changed," I believed them. But I have learned through the years to wait
and see have they indeed changed; to see if they are truly expressing the
desires of their hearts when they say they want to change. I have seen too many
families suffer misery because of sinful behavior, and listened to their
tearful promises that things would change in the future, only to see the cycle
repeated again and again. Joseph likewise remained to be convinced of his
brothers' true repentance. That is why he acted as he did toward them. Time
would tell the tale.
We know how this ends, the family
is together as they go to Egypt. They had to put their faith that Joseph would
do what is right. They were tested. God
was teaching them a lesson to trust even when it might not turn out well for
them. That step of faith became for them the results of seeing the grace and
goodness of God.
Where might your struggle of faith
be this day? How hard is it to make a decision to trust when you are given that
opportunity? Do you believe God will work it out for your good ultimately and
for his glory always? It may not be the way we want it, but it results in
seeing Him do the work which in the end is better.
Pastor Dale
