What should we do? Part V March 26, 2009
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Last week at Quest, we continued our walk through the book of James while looking at the question of what we should be doing if we are really going to be followers of Jesus. As we have discussed in the past, we have noticed that there are two different aspects to the answer. There is an internal response that affects our relationship with God and the building of our character, and there is an external response that will affect our relationship with others and the actions we take in our life. This week, within that context, we looked at James chapter 4. Here is some of what we talked about:
• James addresses the idea of friendship with the world, and tells us that being a friend with the world is being an enemy with God. We talked about how we, as followers of Jesus, tend the use the word “world” in two different contexts. Sometimes we use it to mean the environment and culture that we live in. Other times we mean the people who live in the world who don’t have a relationship with Jesus. James seems to be using the first meaning of “world.” If you are friends with someone (or something) it means that you have things in common and are supportive of each other. The environment and culture of the world around us emphasizes ideas like selfishness and pride and tells us that sinful or unethical behavior is okay. These ideas are opposed to the ideas of God. If we are becoming friends with ideas and values that the world emphasizes, then we are going to be moving farther away from God. This is why being a friend of the world is being an enemy to God.
• This idea that being friends with the world means being an enemy to God doesn’t seem to fit when we talk about being friends with people in the world who don’t have a relationship with Jesus. We need to be able to build relationships with people who aren’t Christians. It is when we become friends with someone that we have the best chance to demonstrate the love of Jesus and to talk to them about Christ. The adage “people don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care” is true. A friend is much more likely to listen to what I have to say about Jesus than someone that I don’t have a relationship. Building friendships with people who don’t have a relationship with Jesus is critical to spreading Jesus’ message.
• At the same time, when followers of Christ are friends with non-believers, there still needs to be a level of separateness. We need to build relationships with people who don’t know Jesus, but when we do so, we need to let them see that we are different. We can be friends and develop relationships without participating in things that are wrong, or that show that we are friends with the world. When our non-believing friends get to know us, they should also realize that there is something different about it. If they don’t recognize that there is something different, then we should ask ourselves whether we are really being true to our relationship with God.
• There is a lot in James 4 dealing with pride. In the first part of the chapter, James talks about how God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. In the middle of the chapter he tells us that we should not judge others. When we do that, we are raising ourselves to the position of judge, which is a position that really belongs to God. So when we judge others, we are elevating our own status, which is a form of pride. At the end of the chapter, James talks about how we should not make plans to go someplace and prosper (v. 13). Again, this focuses attention on our own plans and our own abilities to accomplish things. This is another form of pride. Instead of being proud, we should be humble. Remember, being humble is not about saying that we don’t have talents or abilities. It really is about putting the interests of others, and especially the interests of God, before our own interests. When we put the interests of God first, we can receive his grace. When we put the interests of God and others first, we won’t judge others because we will understand that it isn’t our job to do that. When we put God and others first, we won’t be trying to do things for our own benefit, but will be concerned about doing the will of God.
• When we think about sin, we often think about some kind of list of things that we shouldn’t do. Sins are typically defined bad things, and we sin if we do them. This seems particularly true for those of us who come from evangelical or Pentecostal backgrounds. James tells us that this isn’t the only definition of sin. He reminds us that if we know the good that we should do, and don’t do it, it is sin. When we know that there is something good that we should do, we need to do it. If we don’t, it is sin, just the same as if we did something bad. There is no difference to God between sins of omission and sins of commission.
That should give you a feel for what we talked about in our discussion of James chapter 4. Next week we will conclude our look at this short book by focusing on James chapter 5.
It starts small October 26, 2008
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Last week at Quest, we continued our discussion of the Kingdom of God, especially the parables from Matthew 13 that Jesus begins with the phrase “the Kingdom of Heaven is like…” This time we looked at two similar parables that Jesus told together. He compares the Kingdom of Heave to a mustard seed (Matt. 13:31-32) and to yeast (Matt. 13:33). These are similar parables, but the differences between the two help us to see some slightly different aspects of the Kingdom. Here is some of what we discussed about these parables:
- Both a mustard seed and yeast are very small. Mustard seeds were the smallest plant seeds known to First Century farmers. Similarly, you only need a few grains of yeast in order to make a large loaf of bread rise. So both of these start small but create something or have an impact this is much, much larger.
- The impact of the Kingdom of Heaven should be visible to others. While a mustard seed is the smallest garden seed, it creates a plant that can grow to be 10 feet tall. If you think of a garden being planted behind a house, you would be able to see the tops of the mustard plant from in front of the house. There would be no hiding that it was being grown. The Kingdom of Heaven should have that kind of impact in our lives. If we have a relationship with Jesus, the effects of the Kingdom should be apparent in our lives. Even if we wanted to try to hide it in the “back yard” of our lives, it should be visible to everyone.
- The Kingdom of Heaven should be useful and beneficial to others. Jesus tells us that once the mustard plant has grown, the birds of the air come and perch in its branches. (Matt. 13:32). Outsiders, who have no direct connection with the Kingdom of Heaven, can receive a benefit from it. And this impact should extend beyond simply other people who are themselves connected to the Kingdom of Heaven. It is interesting to note that Ezekiel uses the phrase “birds of the air” to refer to Gentiles, who would be people who did not know God. Therefore, when the Kingdom of Heaven is working is us, and when we are operating within it, it should have a positive impact on people who do not yet know God.
- Once the Kingdom of Heaven starts its work, you can’t stop it. Once you plant the seed, it is going to grow. Short of cutting the plant down, there is nothing that the gardener can do to keep the plant from growing, or to make sure that it only grows 3 feet high. This idea is even more evident in the Parable of the Yeast. Once a person starts mixing yeast into dough, the process can’t be stopped. That person can’t remove the yeast. They can’t contain it to only one part of the bread. The yeast works its way into the entire loaf. Similarly, the Kingdom of Heaven should work its way into all parts of our lives.
That should give you a feel for our discussion of the Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast. next week, we will continue to move through Matthew 13 by looking at the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl.
Parable of the Sower October 24, 2008
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Recently at Quest, we started looking at the idea of the kingdom of God and discussing what that encompasses and what it means for the way we live our lives. Over the next several weeks, we are going to look at Matthew 13, because in that chapter Jesus tells six different stories that begin with the phrase “The kingdom of heaven is like.” Before we turned to those stories, however, we took at look at the Parable of the Sower that begins the chapter. Since Jesus uses this story to introduce his parables about the kingdom of heaven, we felt like this was a good place to start. Here is some of what we discussed:
· This is one of the few parables where Jesus gives an explanation. After telling the story to the crowd, Jesus turns to his disciples and provides an explanation. He compares the four types of soils to the different ways that people respond when they encounter the message about the kingdom of God. Some people don’t get it. Some people initially like it, but when things get tough, or people give them a hard time, they give it up. Some people initially receive it, but then the distractions of the world choke it out and take its place. Others receive it and create a harvest that is greater than the seed they received. Part of the reason why Jesus puts this parable here, before his stories about the kingdom of heaven, is because these are the four ways in which people are going to respond to parables he is about to tell.
· There is one major element in this story that Jesus does not explain – the farmer. Clearly Jesus is the farmer in that chapter. He is going to be telling people about the kingdom of heaven, so he is the one who is about to be scattering the seed. However, Jesus is not the only person who is the farmer. Any time that we are spreading the kingdom of heaven, whether by words or by actions, we become the farmer. When we live out the kingdom, or when we tell people about the difference that Jesus has made in our lives, we start spreading seeds. In that case, we are the farmer and the people who hear us or see us are the different kinds of soils.
· One thing that is not directly discussed in the story, but is probably assumed by Jesus’ audience, is that the farmer would have done some work to prepare the field. A farmer doesn’t just scatter seed in random places. Instead, there is a lot of work that is done before the planting begins. Similarly, there is likely work for us to do to prepare the fields where we scatter seeds.
· The farmer’s job is to scatter the seed, not to make the seeds grow. The farmer doesn’t know exactly where each seed is going to land or exactly what kind of ground it is going to find. Once the farmer releases the seed, it becomes God’s job to make the seed grow. When we are the farmer, it is important that we don’t prejudge what kind of soil a person is. It is our job to scatter the seed by living out what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, both in words and in actions. Once we do that, it is God who makes that seed grow in someone else’s life.
· When Jesus tells the parable of the farmer, he is speaking to a large crowd of people. The image is that they are sitting on a hill side (1st Century stadium seating!) while Jesus is sitting on a boat with his disciples. He tells the parable to the crowd, using his public speaking voice. However, the explanation is given only to the disciples, who were probably in the boat with him, or else would have been right on shore. So this explanation was given in his conversation voice. I think one of the reasons why Jesus speaks in parables is to encourage people to get closer to him. The closer someone is to the boat, the more likely they will hear the explanation. When we don’t fully understand something, like many people must have felt listening to Jesus’ parables, we can have one of two reactions. Either we can walk away, or else we can go talk to the person and ask questions so we understand better. Jesus doesn’t just want to give people information. If that’s what he wanted to do, he wouldn’t speak in parables. Instead, he wants them to initiate a relationship with him. By speaking in parables, he encourages people to come to him and ask questions and find out more about him.
Those are the highlights of our discussion of the Parable of the Sower. Next week we will turn to the parables describing the kingdom of heaven that Jesus begins to tell later in Matthew 11. I hope everyone is well. As always, if there is anything I can do for you, don’t hesitate to let me know.
The Kingdome of Heaven is Near October 22, 2008
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Recently at Quest, we started to explore a new topic. We had been looking at the idea of forgiveness and discussing the importance of forgiveness between ourselves and God and between ourselves and others. The last aspect of that topic we discussed was the idea of repentance. Both John the Baptist and Jesus preached the message “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” (Matthew 3:2 and 4:17) Over the next several weeks, we are going to be discussing what all this idea of the “kingdom of heaven” or the “kingdom of God” encompasses. Here is some of what we talked about as we introduced this idea:
· The word “near” is interesting because it has a couple of different meanings. It can refer to either location or time. Both of those are relevant when thinking about the “kingdom of God.” We can really think in terms of there being two aspects to the “kingdom.” There is the part that is coming in the future when the followers of Jesus will be together with him for eternity. There also is the aspect of living out the message of Jesus in the world around us. The future that we will spend with Jesus is heaven is “near” in the sense of time. It is coming, and (at least in comparison to eternity) it is coming soon. And the way we represent Jesus and live out his message here on earth is “near” in terms of location because it is all around us.
· It is important to remember and to balance these two different meanings of “near.” We need to both be prepared for the future kingdom and to live out the message of Jesus here on earth. Focusing primarily (or exclusively) on one or the other can lead to real problems. If our primary emphasis is on the future kingdom, we run the risk of not really living out the message of Jesus here on earth. It can become easy to ignore issues of injustice that were obviously important to Jesus when he was alive. At the same time, if we put too much emphasis on the kingdom in this world, we run the risk of creating a very legalistic form of Christianity that looks only at whether or not a person is doing the right things, and checking the right boxes, and doesn’t look at the heart. We need a balanced view of the kingdom of God that recognizes the kingdom both in this world and in the next.
· When going back to the Greek expressions that are translated as “kingdom of God” and “kingdom of Heaven” imply that there are a couple of different aspects to the definition. In one sense, the kingdom of God is made up of everywhere that God is sovereign, which means that it is everywhere. At the same time, there are people who are in rebellion against God. So the “kingdom of God” can also be used to refer to those places where the sovereignty of God is recognized; that is, in the lives of those who follow God. To illustrate this distinction, I used the example of the Civil War. According to the Union, it was not possible for a state to leave the U.S.A., so the Confederacy was still part of the United States. However, because of the rebellion, the authority of the United States was only recognized in the North. Similarly, while God is sovereign everywhere, we will really only see his kingdom operating among the people who want to follow him.
· The ideas of repentance and the kingdom of God go together. In fact, both Jesus and John give the nearness of the kingdom of God as the reason to repent. As we talked about last week, repenting involves turning away from the old life and going in a new direction. This goes hand in hand with the kingdom of God because the kingdom of God operates on different principles and has different priorities than the rest of the world. When we choose to become a part of the kingdom of God, we need to realign our principles and priorities with those of the kingdom. In order to do this, we need to turn away from, or repent from, our old way of looking at the world. It is only when we do this that we can become an effective part of the kingdom of God.
Over the next several weeks, we will begin to explore these principles and priorities of the kingdom of God, and we will see how Jesus intends for this kingdom to operate.
Forgiveness and Repentance October 21, 2008
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Recently at Quest, we continued our discussion about forgiveness. This time we look at the story of John the Baptist from Matthew 3:1-12 and Luke 3:1-18. This is the story where John is baptizing people before Jesus begins his ministry. He is telling people to repent and be baptized. While this is going on, many of the Pharisees come out to see him from Jerusalem, and John doesn’t have very kind words to say to them. In this story, we see the idea of repentance added to the forgiveness picture. Here is some of what we talked about along those lines:
· We started with a discussion about what repentance means. Repent and repentance are words that used to be commonly used, but now basically only are used within the context of church. The words mean to turn away from. They have a meaning similar to retreat, but where retreat implies (particularly in a military sense) that someone had to or was forced to go back, repenting is voluntary. The idea is one of intentionally turning your back on something and going the other way.
· If we repent from a sin or something we do wrong, the idea is that we realize that it is wrong and we don’t want to do it again. We turn the other way. This idea goes hand in hand with forgiveness, particularly when we are asking for forgiveness. If we ask for forgiveness, we should be wanting to turn away from what we did wrong and not do it again. If we can’t do that, we have to ask whether or not we are really sorry for what we have done.
· When we come to God, repentance is more than just turning away from our specific sins. It involves changing our very way of living life. We can see this in the Luke version of the story, where the tax collectors and soldiers (among other) ask John how they should live now that they have changed their lives. John gives them ideas on how to change things. For example, he tells tax collectors to not collect any money they don’t have to, and he tells soldiers to not extort money or give false testimony. So developing a relationship with God, and the repentance that comes with that, leads us to live our lives differently than we did before.
· The Pharisees who came out from Jerusalem appear to have no interest in repentance or changing their lives. They don’t come across as being willing to do anything different, and John calls them out on it. This is important because the Pharisees would have been seen in society as the people who had their act together spiritually. However, what John is saying that that, no matter what their background and no matter how much they appear to be religious, everyone should respond to God and his message by displaying repentance in their lives.
We also used this story to wrap up our discussions about forgiveness and to bridge to the next topic. John tells his listeners to repent because the kingdom of God is near. Over the next several weeks we are going to take a look at what the kingdom of God is and what that idea means for our lives.
Forgiving like God September 8, 2008
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At Quest recently, we’ve been discussing forgiveness. One of the stories that we’ve looked it is the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:21-35). In this story, Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive a brother who sins against him. Up to seven times? Jesus responds by saying “not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:22). Jesus then tells the story of a servant who has his own huge debt cancelled, but won’t cancel the smaller debt a fellow servant owed him. In this story, we can see forgiveness working in several different directions. Here is some of what we talked about:
· Peter thinks he is being generous when he offers to forgive someone 7 times. If you think about it, from a human perspective this does seem generous. If the same person does the same thing to you 7 times, and you forgive them each time, then most people are going to think that you have gone far beyond the call of duty. Jesus responds by say that when you reach that point, you’ve only begun. We need to continue to forgive. This is hard to do. But this can also be encouraging because it also means that no matter how many times we sin against God, if we repent he is willing to continue to forgive us.
· We can see two sets of relationships in this story. First, there is the relationship between the servant and his king. This is similar to the relationship between us and God. There is also the relationship between the servant and his fellow servant. That is similar to the relationship between us and other people. So in this story, we can see how forgiveness works both vertically (between us and God) and horizontally (between us and other people).
· The debt we owe God is far beyond our ability to every repay. The servant owed the king millions of dollars. Yet the average worker only made a few dollars per day. There is no possible way that the servant could have made enough money to repay the king. Similarly, the damage caused in the relationship between us and God that is caused by our sin is beyond our ability to repair. We can’t possibly repay that debt.
· The servant asked for a payment plan. He went to the king and asked for time to pay the debt back. The king responded by erasing the debt altogether. Often, what we are looking for with God is to develop a way to repay the debt we owe him. But God doesn’t work that we. He doesn’t need us to repay the debt or to earn forgiveness. He gives it to us for free. Sometimes this can cause us problems because we don’t feel like we deserve forgiveness. It is human nature to want to do something to “earn” God’s forgiveness. But the truth is, we can’t. The debt is so big, there is nothing we can do to earn it. The only way for it to happen is for it to be something God just does.
· The servant was owed 100 denarii by a fellow servant. At that time, a denarii was a day’s wages. Compared to what the servant owed the king, this was a very small amount of money. On the other hand, it would be between 3 and 4 month’s salary. This is still a significant amount of money, although it is an amount that a person could conceivably pay back. It is clearly something that a person would miss, and not being paid back would hurt. The lesson here is that we need to forgive others when they hurt us, even when there is real hurt. Even if, from a human standpoint, the person doesn’t deserve our forgiveness, we should respond by being forgiving because God has forgiven us so much.
· God’s forgiveness of us is conditional. What is interesting is that it isn’t conditional on us not doing things in the future that need forgiveness. It isn’t conditional on us being good. It isn’t conditional on anything involved in our relationship with God. It is conditional on us forgiving others. Because we have received forgiveness, our natural response should be to offer forgiveness to others.
This story is both encouraging and challenging. The story is encouraging because it shows us how forgiving God is toward us. He is willing to forgive our debts that are far beyond our ability to ever repay, and he offers this forgiveness without requiring us to do anything to earn it. And it is encouraging because he is willing to forgive us repeatedly. However, it is challenging because he asks us to live up to the same standards. It is challenging because it sets a very high standard for us when it comes to forgiving others. It can be hard to continue to forgive people who sin against us. It can be hard to forgive people who hurt us badly. But we have the responsibility to forgive in those circumstances.
Not a means to an end August 4, 2008
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Lessons from a burning bush April 27, 2008
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At Quest, we are continuing our series about the relationship between God and people, and what God intends for that relationship to look like. Last week we talked about Moses and the story of the Burning Bush.
In order to really understand what is going on with the Burning Bush, you have to go back to the beginning of Moses’s story, which is told in Exodus 2. Moses was born during a time that Pharaoh had ordered all Hebrew boys to be thrown into the Nile to be killed, but the girl babies were allowed to live. When Moses was born, his mother hid him for three moths. When he got too big for that, she made a basket for him, and placed him in the Nile. His sister watched him to see what would happen. What happened was that Pharaoh’s daughter came down, saw the basket, and decided to keep him. Moses’s sister then came up and offered to find a woman to nurse him. So it was Moses’s mother who nursed him and cared for him, but he was raised as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. When Moses was grown, he went to his own people and saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. So he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting, and he tried to get them to stop. The Hebrew asked “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” (Exodus 2:14). Pharaoh heard about it and tried to kill Moses, so Moses fled to Midian. There he found a wife and became the shepherd taking care of his father-in-law’s flocks. He did that for a long time before. One day, he was with the flock “on the far side of the desert” when he saw a bush that was on fire but didn’t burn up. (Exodus 3). He walked over to check it out, and talked with God there. The meeting at the burning bush set in motion the chain of events that would lead to the Ten Plagues on Egypt, the Israelites leaving Egypt and going into the wilderness, and finally the Israelites entering the land that God had promised Abraham. Here is some of what we talked about in our discussion of Moses and the Burning Bush.
- God can handle our questions and doubts. God tells Moses that he wants Moses to go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt. When God does this, Moses has lots of questions and concerns. God patiently addresses each of these. Moses asks “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh?” (Exodus 3:12). He asks, when he tells them that God has sent him “and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”(Exodus 3:13). He asks “”What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” (Exodus 4:1). He then points out that he is has never been eloquent and that he is slow of speech and tongue. (Exodus 4:10). God has an answer to each of these, and the answers are designed to be reassuring to Moses. He answers the first question by telling Moses that he will be with him. He answers the second question by giving Moses his name “I Am Who I Am” and telling him what to say to the elders of Israel. He answers the third question by giving him some miraculous sings that he can show to the people and to Pharaoh. And he answers the fourth question by sending Moses’s brother Aaron, who is eloquent and a good speaker, to him to be his voice. Moses’s questions and concerns are legitimate. God responds to these issues by giving Moses answers to the questions and concerns so that Moses can be reassured and know that God is really with him in this.
- While God will answer our legitimate concerns, there does come a point when he does get angry. After God has answered each of Moses’s questions, Moses still says “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” (Exodus 4:13). It is then, and only then, that God becomes angry. But even when he gets angry, he shows what righteous anger without sin looks like. He doesn’t lash out. He doesn’t say “Fine then. If you’re going to be that way I will send someone else.” He is angry with Moses, but still sends Moses to accomplish the mission and still gives Moses the tools he needs to accomplish it. This is encouraging, because it is easy to think that if God is mad at us that he doesn’t care about us anymore, or that he can’t use us to do anything. This story tells us that nothing is farther from the truth.
- God wants a relationship with and uses flawed people. This is one of the most encouraging things about this story. It is easy to get into the mindset that in order for God to want a relationship, I need to be perfect. And as soon as I’m not perfect, then he’s going to stop coming around. Again, we see that this isn’t true. Moses was clearly a flawed person. He was a murderer. He tried to convince God to use someone else to save the Israelites from Egypt. Later in the story, he will continue to do some things that are not God’s plan. Yet God continues to have a face-to-face relationship with Moses and continues to use him to lead Israel. If God can do that with Moses, he can do it with me. Now, this doesn’t mean that we have a license to do wrong things. God wants and expects us to do the right thing, and doing the wrong thing has consequences. However, doing the wrong thing doesn’t disqualify us from a relationship with God.
- God’s timing is perfect. God sent Pharaoh’s daughter at just the right time to find the baby Moses. He met Moses at the burning bush at just the right time to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. He sent Aaron to meet Moses at just right time so that Moses would have someone who was more eloquent to act as his spokesman. There are times that we want things done right away. But God is able to see more than we can. And his timing for things is always perfect.
- We see Moses learn the lesson of humility. Before Moses goes to Midian, he was raised in Pharaoh’s house. He was used to power, and probably thought that he could save the Israelites on his own. In fact, the word “judge” used the by the Hebrew in Exodus 2:14 could also mean deliverer or ruler, and is the same word used to refer to the leaders of Israel in the book of Judges. This implies that Moses is setting himself up to lead the Hebrews. When he runs away, he learns humility. In fact, he reaches the point that he is referred to as the most humble man on earth. (Numbers 12:3). In fact, he learns this lesson so well that he doesn’t even want God to make him the leader. Once again, as in the story of Joseph, we see the importance of humility. It is when we are humble that God can most effectively use us, because we no longer are acting for our glory, and we can put the interests of God and others above our own.
Those are the highlights of our discussion about Joseph Next week we will continue with the life of Moses.
Forgiveness and Reconsiliation April 20, 2008
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At Quest, we are continuing our series about the relationship between God and people, and what God intends for that relationship to look like. Last week we began the story of Joseph, starting with his being sold into slavery and going as far as his interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh and becoming the second most powerful person in Egypt. This week we looked at the second half of story of Joseph, especially at his interactions with his brothers in Egypt.
This is another extended story. It is told in Genesis chapters 42-47. To summarize the story, Jacob’s family is living in Palestine and is running out of food. Jacob had heard that there was food in Egypt, so he sent all of his sons except Benjamin down to Egypt to buy food. They went to see Joseph to buy the food. Joseph recognized them, but they didn’t know who he was. He questioned them about their family then accused them of being spies. He told them that he wouldn’t believe they were telling the truth unless they brought their remaining brother back to Egypt with them. He had Simeon put into prison to guaranty that they would come back with Benjamin, then he sent them on their way. He also had their gold put back in their sacks. The brothers told Jacob what happened, but he wouldn’t let Benjamin go to Egypt, because he was Jacob’s only other son by Rachel. Finally, when the family was out of grain again, the brothers convinced Jacob to let them take Benjamin back to Egypt so that they could buy more food. Jacob holds a dinner for them, and returns Simeon to them. He gives Benjamin special treatment at the dinner. Again he sells them grain and sends them on their way. Again, he secretly returns their money to them. He also puts his silver chalice in Benjamin’s back. After the brothers are on their way back to Jacob, Joseph sends his servants after them, accusing them of stealing from him. The brothers deny it and say that he kill anyone found to have taken anything and take the rest of them as slaves. The open up the bags and find the chalice in Benjamin’s bag. The rest of the brothers then beg for Benjamin’s life. Finally, Joseph can take it no longer, and he reveals himself to them. He explains everything that has happened, and tells them how God used the circumstances for good. Joseph then has Jacob’s entire family move to Egypt and he settles them in the region of Goshen. There is a lot going on in this story. Here is some of what we talked about:
· Like we talked about last week, Jesus says that the two most important commands are loving God and loving others. We clearly see the love of others in this story. While it is true that Joseph gives his brothers a hard time and makes some things difficult on them, it is also clear that he loves them. Joseph has every reason in the world to be angry with his brothers and to hold a grudge. He could have sent them away without food. He could have charged them whatever he wanted, and essentially impoverished the family. He could just have killed them. But he didn’t. He took care of them while they were in Egypt. He returned their money to them, essentially giving them the grain for free. Once he told them who he was, he moved the entire family to some of the best land in Egypt. He could have taken advantage of them, but he didn’t. He could have gotten even with them, but he didn’t.
· We see God working to protect the people who follow him. Many of Jacob’s descendants are imperfect followers of God. We see them make many mistakes. That said, there is at least some attempt by this family to follow God. God knows that the famine is coming, and he begins to work through circumstances long before that famine starts to make sure that the people he has a relationship with will be protected during the famine. In fact, they are not just protected during the famine, they thrive during it.
· We see true forgiveness in this story. Joseph’s brothers are afraid that once Jacob dies, Joseph will really get even with them. In fact, once Jacob dies, they go so far as to throw themselves before Joseph and say “we are your slaves.” (Genesis 50:15-21) Joseph again reassures them that what they intended to harm him, God intended for good. He tells them that it is God’s job to judge them, not his. And Joseph promises to continue to take care of them and their families. Joseph had every right to be angry, yet what we see here is true forgiveness.
· One of the lessons that Joseph had to learn in life was humility. When he was sold into slavery, the story seems to indicate that he was at least a little arrogant and full of himself. He was the favorite son and let everyone know it. But by the time he becomes the second most important person in Egypt he is very humble. He clearly recognizes that God put him in the position and that it is God who is at work. He doesn’t think that he is something special. Everything is attributed to God. We can see the same thing in the life of Moses. Moses starts out as an arrogant person. He thinks that he can solve the situation of the Israelites by himself, but he ends up having to flee. By the time he has his experience with the Burning Bush, God is able to call him the most humble man in the world. Both Joseph and Moses start off arrogant, but their experiences teach them humility. Once they learn the lesson of humility, God is able to use them to accomplish great things.
Those are the highlights of our discussion about Joseph Next week we will turn to the live of Moses.
Faithfulness in circumstances we don’t understand April 13, 2008
Posted by questcollegeministry in Bible, christianity, following God, Quest, spirituality.Tags: christianity, following God, religion, spirituality
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At Quest, we are continuing our series about the relationship between God and people, and what God intends for that relationship to look like. This week we explored the story of Joseph. It’s a long story, and to really get a feel for what we can learn from it, we looked at 4 chapters – Genesis 37 and 39-41.
This is a story that covers at least years and probably decades. Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers. He works his way to being in charge of Potiphar’s household. But then Potiphar’s wife falsely accuses him of trying to rape her, and he is thrown into prison. Joseph then works his way to being made responsible for everything in the prison. While he is there, Pharaoh throws his cupbearer and baker into prison. They have dreams that Joseph, by the power of God, is able to interpret. These interpretations come true, but cupbearer doesn’t remember Joseph, so he remains in jail. After two more years, Pharaoh has dreams, and the cupbearer finally remembers Joseph. Joseph, again through the power of God, is able to interpret Pharoah’s dreams as a warning that there are going to be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of extreme famine. Because God made the meanings of the dreams known through Joseph, Pharoah puts Joseph in charge of the land of Egypt, making Joseph the second most powerful person in the country. There is a lot going on in this story. Here is some of what we talked about:
· Joseph’s faithfulness is incredible. His brothers throw him in a cistern and talk about killing him before deciding to only sell him into slavery. He responds by working so hard for his new master that the man puts him in charge of the entire household. His master’s wife falsely accuses him of rape and has him thrown into jail. Joseph responds by working so hard with the prison warden that he was made responsible over everything that happened in the jail. He interprets the dreams of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker, only to be forgotten for two years. Yet after all of this, he still has enough of a relationship with God to seek and receive God’s interpretations of Pharaoh’s dreams. It would have been very easy for Joseph to give up on God and even give up on life. Joseph spent his life doing the right things, only to be punished for them. Many people would ask what kind of God would let him continue to suffer that way. In spite of all of that, Joseph continued to do what was right and continued to have a relationship with God.
· In Mark 12:28, Jesus is asked what the most important commandment is. Jesus answers by saying to love God with all heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. We see Joseph live out these commands, particularly in his interactions with Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39:8-20). When Joseph is approached by Potiphar’s wife, he turns her down by saying that Potiphar has withheld nothing from him except her. He asks how he could do such a wicked thing and sin against God. This response demonstrates both of Jesus’ most important commandments. Clearly Joseph recognizes that it would be a sin to sleep with Potiphar’s wife. He refuses to commit the sin, showing his love for God. But the fact that it would be a sin against God isn’t the only reason he doesn’t do it. His explanation also shows that Joseph cares about Potiphar. To take advantage of Potiphar in that way would be wicked and would permanently damage his relationship with Potiphar. Joseph isn’t going to do that. He puts his concern for Potiphar ahead of his concern for his own wellbeing. This is a great demonstration of loving your neighbor as yourself.
· Sometimes it takes a very long time to understand why God allows things to happen the way that they do. Romans 8:28 tells us that “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purposes.” There are lots of times in life that we face circumstances that are not good, and that we can’t see how they could possibly work for good. Joseph was sold into slavery, then falsely accused and thrown into prison. He faced years of trials and troubles when he didn’t really do anything wrong. God clearly had a plan, and needed Joseph to be in that position so that he could be used to help Pharaoh and be in a position to provide for Jacob’s family. By the end of the story we can see how God was working through the whole thing. But I bet it didn’t feel that way to Joseph while he was living it. He must have spent years wondering why these things were happening to him. We can see the same thing operating in our lives. Sometimes it takes a very long time to see how God is going to use struggles and troubles in our lives to “work for the good of those who love him.” Like Joseph, it is important for us to remember to continue to be faithful, because God will be faithful. We may not see how, but God will work. Just like Joseph never guessed that God would his situation to make him the second most powerful person in Egypt, we have no idea how God is going to use the situations that we live through.
Those are the highlights of our discussion about Joseph from the time he was sold into slavery until he became the second most important person in Egypt. Next week we will talk about his encounters with his brothers and the rest of his family.
Quest 