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One of the outstanding personages of the modern era was Howard Hughes. Mr. Hughes was regularly featured in the news from the 1920s through the 1970s. He set world speed records in his day for air travel. He designed and produced new planes. He contributed much to the advancement of commercial air travel. He produced motion pictures in Hollywood and made considerable innovations in that industry. He managed and enhanced the oil drill tool industry he inherited from his father and became the second richest man in the country. All the while he built his fortune, he paid handsomely to keep his life secretive, because he believed people who are renowned should keep their lives as mysterious as possible. However, his personal life was a disaster. He courted and wooed countless Hollywood stars and starlets. He surrounded himself with a huge staff of aides. Yet all who knew him or met him consistently reported that he appeared to be a lonely man. His obsessive compulsive disorder patterns made him excessively fearful of contamination by germs, increasingly reclusive, and addicted to drugs originally prescribed for his recovery from accidents.

Toward the end of his life, an aide, George Francom, remarked to Hughes what an incredible life he had led. Hughes responded that if Francom had been able to trade places with him, he was sure Francom would be willing to swap back before the passage of the first week. Surrounded by a bevy of aides who were concerned more about what they could get from him than to care for him, Hughes literally starved to death in Mexico, forlorn and naked. Consequently, the many states in which he had operated businesses had to carry on a serious investigation into all his affairs in order to make distribution of his great wealth. When that was done, Peter Harry Browne and Pat Boeske were able to write a definitive biography of Hughes. Their account of this tortured life stands in rich contrast to the life of the handsome, rich young man Joseph, who in the First Reading for today models the fruit of forgiveness.

The Story

Most everyone knows the story of Joseph from their Bible history lessons in Sunday school. We can use bits and pieces of Joseph's bio as they match up with the Holy Gospel for today. Joseph, like Howard Hughes, did become known as one of the wisest and richest men of his day. Joseph, you may recall, was the firstborn son of Jacob by his beloved wife Rachel. Ten other sons had been born to Jacob by his wife Leah and his wives' maidservants. Joseph and Benjamin were born to Rachel and did enjoy special favor. Joseph, like Howard Hughes, was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Joseph was especially favored by his wealthy sheik father, because he was the firstborn by Rachel, who was Jacob's first love and favorite wife. Jacob did nothing to hide his preference for his son Joseph and blatantly displayed his favor by giving Joseph the famous coat of many colors. Joseph may have been unaware that this special treatment was odious to his brothers. Or it could be that he paraded his father's partiality for him with some abandon. The brothers accused Joseph of the latter attitude. They especially felt that way after Joseph foolishly related to them dreams in which he pictured them as paying homage to himself. That was even too much for Jacob, the father. Jacob did not think it was a bright idea for Joseph to share this kind of stuff with him and Joseph's brothers. He remonstrated with Joseph about that. At the same time, Jacob did keep the matter in his mind. The brothers could not forget the matter either.

The Rough Years

Joseph paid a price for the favored position he enjoyed in his father's household. On one occasion Jacob sent Joseph to visit his brothers to see how they were doing as they were grazing their herds. On the spot, the brothers hatched a plot to kill the young man, but thought better of it. They ended up selling him into slavery to some Ishmalites who carried him off to Egypt. In Egypt Joseph was sold to Potiphar, a steward of the Pharaoh. Joseph gained high favor in that household and rose to a trusted position. However, Potiphar's wife also had an eye on the handsome, bright young man and enticed him to become intimate with her. Joseph's story loses all similarity with Howard Hughes at this point. Young Joseph spurns the allurements of Mrs. Potiphar. Angered by the rejection from the handsome youth, she frames him with an accusation of his harassment of her. Potiphar has no choice but to send Joseph to prison.

Joseph does not languish in prison but busies himself in such a way as to gain the status of a trustee who tends to the needs of fellow prisoners. One has to remember that Joseph had been completely on his own during these years. The parental influence is not there. His brothers had despised him and had sent him not only into slavery but also to an alien culture. There was no support system of any kind for him. There was no chaplain to visit and comfort him. There was no teacher to come and advise him. No one sent him a Bible or some devotional literature to consult or study. All that Joseph had to fall back on was the tradition and spiritual guidance his parents had shared with him. What they had shared with Joseph enabled him to remain strong and confident in the face of hardship, temptation, and trial.

A Turning Point

As he made his assigned rounds in the prison on one occasion Joseph noted that two of his prisoners were especially downcast. One had been Pharaoh's cupbearer and the other his baker. Both had dreams which Joseph interpreted for them. The one was favorable for the cupbearer, who returned to his master's service. The other was fateful for the baker. Two years later Pharaoh had the famous dreams which his counselors and wise men could not interpret. Then the cupbearer remembered Joseph, who was sent for to interpret Pharaoh's dreams. Joseph was set free when he successfully interpreted the dreams for Pharaoh. The dreams foretold seven years of bounteous harvests followed by seven years of drought and famine. Joseph went on to suggest a drastic program of a government-managed economy. Joseph suggested that the government create a bureau of agriculture with overseers to buy up a good portion of the produce over the seven good years and store it for distribution during the seven bad years.

Pharaoh considered Joseph's proposal a stroke of genius. He named him his prime minister on the spot. He was to be regarded as second in command over the whole land. He was bestowed with the Pharaoh's signet ring and all the accouterments worthy only of a royal family. Pharaoh gave the young thirty-year-old prime minister an Egyptian name as a sign of his adoption into the royal household. In addition Pharaoh gave his daughter's hand in marriage to the bright young man, who now had all of Egypt at his feet. Apart from the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, the story of the rise of Joseph is unmatched in all of the Scripture. Normally, all the heroic figures in the history of Israel or companions of our Lord Jesus have feet of clay or stumble somewhere along the line. Not so Joseph. We may fault him for some strange behavior with his brothers in his early years. However, he is a marvelous example of rectitude as his integrity, faithfulness, and prudence moved him along from the role of trustee in prison to a seat of power and honor in high government.

Turnabout

If the story of Joseph at this point were to stand alone, it would be a precious story in itself. Joseph exemplifies the kind of life that demonstrates that honesty, integrity, and faithfulness do have their own rewards. In addition, the story can be comforting for God-fearing parents about the early training of their children in the tradition of their faith. They can feel confident that the love and trust level they have maintained with their children will be invaluable when the children are removed from the home for schooling or vocation. However, the story of Joseph does not end with his rise to power. The inevitable happens. The seven good years pass. Famine comes to plague Joseph's homeland, and his father feels compelled to send his sons to Egypt to buy grain from the Egyptian rulers. Joseph recognizes his brothers, but they fail to recognize their brother who is now approaching his forties. Joseph cleverly uses the occasion to force the brothers to return with their brother Benjamin, and ultimately he reveals himself to his brothers. It is this moment of reconciliation that is played out in the Reading for today.

Joseph had instructed his servants to place his silver cup in the grain sacks of Benjamin, and then he had the brothers arrested for the crime of stealing his cup. When Joseph confronted the brothers with this staged theft, Judah stepped forward to make a plea on behalf of his youngest brother as well as for the life of his father, who would die if a second son were lost to him. Judah offers himself to be enslaved in order to have Benjamin set free. At this point Joseph can no longer contain himself. He clears the court in order to be left alone with his brothers.

Reconciliation

Left alone, Joseph breaks into loud weeping and identifies himself as their brother and immediately asks about his father's welfare. The brothers are so startled at his presence, they are silent. Then Joseph draws them closer to himself and identifies himself once more as their brother and adds that he is the one they sold into slavery. He does not add to his identity to make them feel guilty but rather to assure them that he is truly their brother. They have the right one now in front of them. It was like showing his credentials in order to verify his relationship to them. However, he is quick to add that they should not berate themselves or be distressed by what has taken place. The manner in which Joseph had arrived to this high station in life was God's way of getting Joseph into position so that he could be of value in saving the lives of thousands of people. Joseph mentions three times that it was God who had his hand in this. God had sent him ahead to save the lives of people, to be a father to Pharaoh. Not least, of all, God had sent him also to be able to save the lives of his brothers as well as his father. They are to return home to bring their father as well as all their families into the land of Egypt to enjoy the privileges which Joseph would be able to extend to them. With all of that, he embraced all of his brothers in tears and kissed them. This was truly the kiss of peace.

The liturgical kiss of peace which we practice in our worship services is intended to have the same effect as it did that day in the court of Pharaoh. It is meant to be the expression of forgiveness and grace between Christians. On some days it should have special significance between members of the family who that very morning had found their relationship in jeopardy. The kiss of peace in the liturgical service was never intended to be an interlude, a greeting, or a welcome between worshipers. It was meant to be the occasion for speaking the peace of God as forgiveness and reconciliation between sinners, who understand the power and the effect of God's gracious acceptance of us as a means of accepting one another.

More Than A Kiss

However, this excellent story about Joseph and his brothers is retold to tell us much more than just about the kiss of peace or reconciliation. The account covers some fourteen chapters of the book of Genesis. That is almost a fourth of the book. Obviously, its major intent is to show how the people of Israel develop as a people in the land of Egypt. However, it is also a classic demonstration of how God works in the lives of people. Later on, at the death of their father, Joseph once more assures his brothers of his love for them and his forgiveness. He tells them in tears as they beg his forgiveness, "Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good." By his own faith Joseph simplifies the matter. One should not get the impression that God can magically turn the evil into good. God had to do it through Joseph.

In modesty Joseph does not say that he was the one who turned it all around for Pharaoh, for the population, for his father, and for his brothers. Yet it was through Joseph that God accomplished so much. God has to put up with, contend with, and deal with the disobedience, mischief, sin, and violence that people perpetrate on themselves, one another, and the society. However, the means by which God can get to people is through people who know God's grace and love. God's people are the ones who can bring love, forbearance, kindness, and love to the world. They are the people who have to forgive much in order to win and capture the hearts of others.

The Story Goes On

The story of Joseph should have a happy ending. It does. When Jacob died, Joseph fulfilled Jacob's wish to be buried in the family plot of his grandfather Abraham. Joseph attended to his embalmment in Egyptian style and arranged for a funeral procession back to Canaan in regal style. Joseph and his brothers and their families returned to Egypt to live in peace and prosperity. However, the next story begins with the note that a king arose who did not know Joseph. Eventually the family of Jacob was to be enslaved in Egypt for over four hundred years. Yet once more the God of History did not forget this people and the covenant he made with their forebears. God prepared them to be a people in whom God could say all the nations of the earth would be blessed. As God had saved the family of Jacob through Joseph, so God intended to save the nations through the people Israel.

In Christ we see how God accomplished the same goals of a history of salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. God works among people to make history in the same way. God relies upon the faithful as God worked through Joseph and through Jesus to effect change by reconciliation. Theologians traditionally have not regarded Joseph as a type of Christ, because the Scriptures themselves do not name him as such. The Scriptures do name others like Moses and David as types of the Christ. However, the Joseph story is a precious gift to us in helping us to see the manner in which God is dependent upon faithful people to achieve the divine purposes and goals for the world. Joseph's story is concluded with his death at the age of 110 years, an age regarded by antiquities as befitting a faithful ruler. Before his demise, Joseph assumed the role of a prophet in speaking to his brothers. He said, "I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." He also left word that when his people left Egypt they should carry his bones with them, a request they fulfilled 400 years later in the Exodus. He had served his God and his people well.