When Life Is The Pits!
Sermon
LIVING ON ONE DAY'S RATIONS
First Lesson Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost
Joseph got thrown in a big hole by his brothers, and he quickly discovered what life is like down in the pits. He was the favorite of his father Jacob, and this just didn't sit too well with the other boys. It certainly didn't help much that Joseph had such a big mouth and had actually told his brothers all about his glorious dream in which Joseph was the big honcho out in the wheat fields at harvest time. In this dream Joseph had a big, beautiful bundle of wheat before which his brothers' sheaves of wheat were humiliated and forced to bow down. Even Jacob didn't like one of the dreams Joseph had when Joseph bragged how the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down to him We really can't help but second--guess Jacob for being so foolish as to put his young son up on a pedestal wearing a fancy, razzle--dazzle, long--sleeved coat that certainly outdazzled any ordinary work clothes for tending herds that Joseph's older brothers had to wear. Anyway, Joseph's life is suddenly changed from life at the top of the heap to life down in the pits, and he ends up being sold as a slave to a traveling caravan on its way to Egypt.
Indeed, life can be the pits where you end up way down at the bottom, if somebody doesn't like you one bit and if somebody is extremely jealous of your personal advantages and your place in the sun. Unfortunately, this can happen to you, regardless of whether or not you have had sense enough to keep your mouth shut and not crow like a rooster to advertise how great you are. Some painful and horrible examples of this are the terrorist bombings of the American embassies that took place in Kenya and Tanzania. If you are an American traveling overseas or if you are an American embassy staff person or an American military man or woman stationed in certain parts of the world, you had better be aware that there are those who just plain don't like Americans and who are just waiting for the chance, through kidnapping or terrorist attacks, to make life for Americans the absolute, dreadful pits. If a college football team is rated number one in the country, you can expect every opponent to be fired up to try to beat this team. The quarterback can expect the opponent's defense to do everything possible to sack the quarterback and inflict as much physical punishment as the rules permit. Life for a star quarterback in the National Football League can be the pits when you are getting blitzed and hammered to the ground again and again by your opponent who is out to get you. Certainly the story of Joseph's trials and troubles might provide a very handy excuse for every underachiever whose motto in life is, "Keep your mouth shut and don't ever make waves and you won't get hurt."
Perhaps a defense lawyer for Joseph could try to win sympathy from a tough--minded, modern day jury who might feel that, yes, life in the pits is truly awful, but Joseph was a big--mouthed brat who got exactly what he deserved. Joseph's attorney could point out that the world today has plenty of cocky, conceited kids who simply are not mature enough to handle all the enormous attention which they get just because some eager beaver parents are determined to push these immature kids into the very center of the stage with a high beam spotlight directly overhead. The loud--mouthed child on the Little League team often has a loud--mouthed parent who drives everyone absolutely nuts by bragging non--stop about what a hot shot super star little Junior certainly is. So in Joseph's defense, his attorney could argue to the jury that little Joseph never asked to be his proud papa's favorite son; that was Jacob's not--so--bright idea! Also, in Joseph's defense, we need to realize that the story of young Joseph's dreams of future greatness was intended in the Old Testament to serve as an early prediction of Joseph's God--given destiny to become someone very different from the other boys, someone who in later years would make all the difference between life or death for Jacob and Joseph's brothers. So although Joseph certainly would have done well to avoid bragging and boasting, a shrewd defense attorney could argue that it wasn't at all Joseph's fault that he had powerful dreams of future greatness. Indeed, these dreams were authentic signs of God's great plan for Joseph's life in years to come. Certainly such powerful dreams were an awful lot to expect a young lad to handle in a tactful manner without crowing like a proud rooster. Regardless of a defense attorney's arguments to win sympathy for Joseph, a jury still might find it extremely hard to overlook the fact that Joseph definitely has to accept his share of responsibility for his sorry predicament that he ended up down in a big pit and was sold into slavery. Although God definitely has great plans for Joseph, God also intends for Joseph to go through some very intense growing pains, so that Joseph will be ready for the role God wants him to play in the history of his people.
God's justice affects not only Joseph but also Jacob and Joseph's brothers. Jacob's grief over the favorite son he presumes to be dead is understood in the Old Testament as one more way in which Jacob is being punished for his crafty misdeeds years ago when he was the favorite son of his mother Rebekah, and when he took unfair advantage of Esau, his brother. Joseph's brothers in later years will experience much God--given grief when a famine in their homeland forces them to go to Egypt where they are forced to face up to the painful truth of how they had mistreated Joseph. For the time being, the brothers of Joseph are able to use the blood--stained clothes of Joseph in order to prevent Jacob from knowing the terrible truth of what happened to Joseph. But Joseph's growing pains, Jacob's grief, and Joseph's brothers' desperate, emergency survival trip to Egypt are all part of God's plan to see that justice is done and that a painful lesson is learned by all concerned.
Perhaps Joseph's brothers could hire a defense lawyer to try to appease a jury which is totally horrified or furious that young Joseph would receive such harsh treatment from his older siblings. The defense could try to win sympathy by pointing out that at least one of the brothers stepped in to stop Joseph from being put to death. The only problem with that approach is that the Old Testament story can't seem to agree as to which brother should be credited with preventing bloodshed. On one hand, the story says that it was Reuben who stepped in to suggest that Joseph be thrown into the pit alive, because Reuben intended later on to get Joseph out of the pit and take him back to Jacob. But then the story says that it was Judah, another brother, who prevented bloodshed by suggesting that instead of killing Joseph, the brothers should sell him to a traveling caravan of Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt. The story becomes confusing in that we really don't know whether to give credit to Reuben or to Judah that Joseph's life was spared. We also don't know whether it was a caravan of Ishmaelites or a caravan of Midianites that took Joseph to Egypt. So a skeptical modern day jury might say to the brothers' defense lawyer, "Hey, how come you can't get all your facts straight in trying to show grounds for mercy toward these brothers, since first you say it was Reuben and then you say it was Judah who was the merciful brother, and then you change your story completely regarding whose caravan was involved in taking Joseph to Egypt?" Fortunately the fate of Jacob and Joseph and Joseph's brothers was in the hands of God and not in the hands of a modern--day jury!
To get a deeper appreciation of Jacob's trials and tribulations as a father who believes his favorite son has been killed, let us try to picture a complicated situation where life at its worst is really the pits, a really terrible predicament. To make matters worse, if we were to try to discover the whole truth of the situation, we would find that nobody can provide a reliable story we can count upon to be true, a story with no contradictions and no inconsistencies regarding what has actually happened. For example, let's suppose you are a modern day Jacob. You're told that your son, little Joe, has been killed in an auto accident, as evidenced by bloody clothes found by the side of the road. But there are witnesses to the accident who, for one reason or another, fail to tell you that your son is still alive and an ambulance took the youngster to a hospital. However, if you ever got a report from these witnesses, you really might wonder if this is a likely story. Nobody agrees as to who actually took action to save the day or which emergency squad actually showed up to take little Joe to some unknown destination.
This might sound like a far--fetched nightmare with no resemblance to reality, but think of a situation where a family gets separated during a flood or a fire. In trying to locate a missing child, a parent receives clothing that seems like evidence of the child's death but then gets conflicting rumors of how the child's life was spared and what was the final outcome. How often did African--American slaves have to live with the torment of conflicting, inconsistent evidence whether or not a family member had died or was still alive or had been sold to another slaveholder? This torment would be even more unbearable if the family first believed their loved one was dead, but then they began receiving conflicting, unconfirmed stories of how a family member's life had been spared or how someone had actually transported this person to an unknown slave owner.
Nobody told the truth to Jacob about what had happened to Joseph out in the fields. Jacob's grief over Joseph was never relieved until many years later after his sons came back from Egypt to tell him that Joseph was alive. In many ways life was indeed the pits for Jacob who never got over the terrible news that his son was dead. There was no way Jacob's agony would be relieved in a relatively short time like the typical triumphant conclusion of a one--night television drama just prior to the eleven o'clock news. What makes life in the pits really the pits is that there is usually no quick and simple solution that makes everything suddenly turn out okay. Joseph didn't spend forever down in the deep hole, but the long caravan ride to Egypt must have seemed like forever and ever to him. The boy Joseph probably had extreme fear and dread and uncertainty as to what being a slave in Egypt would be like, similar to the fear and terror of the African captives crammed into tight quarters below the top deck of a slave ship headed across the sea for a distant destination strange and unfamiliar. When life is really the pits and what lies ahead is uncertain, unknown, and truly terrifying, it's not easy to hang in there and believe that God is doing everything possible.
And yet the story of Joseph's rescue from a deep hole is a story telling how God can be trusted to come through for us when life is truly the pits. Think of all the people gathered here in this congregation today, and you are bound to think of someone you know here today who can tell you from firsthand experience that when life was just plain awful God was right there with comfort and strength. Whenever the people of the church reach out to show loving concern and lend a helping hand to people for whom life is truly the pits, this can be the most convincing evidence to people who are down in the depths of deepest despair that there indeed is a God who never abandons us. But there are times when it is not easy for you and me to stand alongside those who are really down in the pits, such as someone in constant pain which no medicine can eliminate, or someone whose child has been missing for days or weeks after being kidnapped by a stranger. Indeed, it can be downright scary and overwhelming for us to hang tough, hang on, and hang in there, giving love and encouragement.
But God is always ready and able to give us, somehow, the strength and the courage it takes for us to provide loving care and steady support to people who are down in the pits, whether it is someone whose marriage has suddenly and unexpectedly disintegrated or someone whose medical examination and x--rays have produced unexpected and discouraging news. God is never absent or far away even in those times when worse comes to worst with no escape possible from a terminal illness or an airplane crash or a car bomb set off by terrorists. The death and resurrection of Jesus give us strong reassurance that God will never, never abandon his faithful people even when eternal life is God's only remaining alternative for those who are trapped down in a terrible dead end pit with absolutely no way out. Yes, there are times when Murphy's Law may seem stronger than God's law and life is really the pits. But we can give thanks and praise to the great God who raised up Joseph from a deep hole, who lifted Jesus up from the grave, and who will rescue us again and again from the depths of death and despair both now and at the end of our earthly journey, the God who will never, never abandon us to life forever down in the pits.
Indeed, life can be the pits where you end up way down at the bottom, if somebody doesn't like you one bit and if somebody is extremely jealous of your personal advantages and your place in the sun. Unfortunately, this can happen to you, regardless of whether or not you have had sense enough to keep your mouth shut and not crow like a rooster to advertise how great you are. Some painful and horrible examples of this are the terrorist bombings of the American embassies that took place in Kenya and Tanzania. If you are an American traveling overseas or if you are an American embassy staff person or an American military man or woman stationed in certain parts of the world, you had better be aware that there are those who just plain don't like Americans and who are just waiting for the chance, through kidnapping or terrorist attacks, to make life for Americans the absolute, dreadful pits. If a college football team is rated number one in the country, you can expect every opponent to be fired up to try to beat this team. The quarterback can expect the opponent's defense to do everything possible to sack the quarterback and inflict as much physical punishment as the rules permit. Life for a star quarterback in the National Football League can be the pits when you are getting blitzed and hammered to the ground again and again by your opponent who is out to get you. Certainly the story of Joseph's trials and troubles might provide a very handy excuse for every underachiever whose motto in life is, "Keep your mouth shut and don't ever make waves and you won't get hurt."
Perhaps a defense lawyer for Joseph could try to win sympathy from a tough--minded, modern day jury who might feel that, yes, life in the pits is truly awful, but Joseph was a big--mouthed brat who got exactly what he deserved. Joseph's attorney could point out that the world today has plenty of cocky, conceited kids who simply are not mature enough to handle all the enormous attention which they get just because some eager beaver parents are determined to push these immature kids into the very center of the stage with a high beam spotlight directly overhead. The loud--mouthed child on the Little League team often has a loud--mouthed parent who drives everyone absolutely nuts by bragging non--stop about what a hot shot super star little Junior certainly is. So in Joseph's defense, his attorney could argue to the jury that little Joseph never asked to be his proud papa's favorite son; that was Jacob's not--so--bright idea! Also, in Joseph's defense, we need to realize that the story of young Joseph's dreams of future greatness was intended in the Old Testament to serve as an early prediction of Joseph's God--given destiny to become someone very different from the other boys, someone who in later years would make all the difference between life or death for Jacob and Joseph's brothers. So although Joseph certainly would have done well to avoid bragging and boasting, a shrewd defense attorney could argue that it wasn't at all Joseph's fault that he had powerful dreams of future greatness. Indeed, these dreams were authentic signs of God's great plan for Joseph's life in years to come. Certainly such powerful dreams were an awful lot to expect a young lad to handle in a tactful manner without crowing like a proud rooster. Regardless of a defense attorney's arguments to win sympathy for Joseph, a jury still might find it extremely hard to overlook the fact that Joseph definitely has to accept his share of responsibility for his sorry predicament that he ended up down in a big pit and was sold into slavery. Although God definitely has great plans for Joseph, God also intends for Joseph to go through some very intense growing pains, so that Joseph will be ready for the role God wants him to play in the history of his people.
God's justice affects not only Joseph but also Jacob and Joseph's brothers. Jacob's grief over the favorite son he presumes to be dead is understood in the Old Testament as one more way in which Jacob is being punished for his crafty misdeeds years ago when he was the favorite son of his mother Rebekah, and when he took unfair advantage of Esau, his brother. Joseph's brothers in later years will experience much God--given grief when a famine in their homeland forces them to go to Egypt where they are forced to face up to the painful truth of how they had mistreated Joseph. For the time being, the brothers of Joseph are able to use the blood--stained clothes of Joseph in order to prevent Jacob from knowing the terrible truth of what happened to Joseph. But Joseph's growing pains, Jacob's grief, and Joseph's brothers' desperate, emergency survival trip to Egypt are all part of God's plan to see that justice is done and that a painful lesson is learned by all concerned.
Perhaps Joseph's brothers could hire a defense lawyer to try to appease a jury which is totally horrified or furious that young Joseph would receive such harsh treatment from his older siblings. The defense could try to win sympathy by pointing out that at least one of the brothers stepped in to stop Joseph from being put to death. The only problem with that approach is that the Old Testament story can't seem to agree as to which brother should be credited with preventing bloodshed. On one hand, the story says that it was Reuben who stepped in to suggest that Joseph be thrown into the pit alive, because Reuben intended later on to get Joseph out of the pit and take him back to Jacob. But then the story says that it was Judah, another brother, who prevented bloodshed by suggesting that instead of killing Joseph, the brothers should sell him to a traveling caravan of Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt. The story becomes confusing in that we really don't know whether to give credit to Reuben or to Judah that Joseph's life was spared. We also don't know whether it was a caravan of Ishmaelites or a caravan of Midianites that took Joseph to Egypt. So a skeptical modern day jury might say to the brothers' defense lawyer, "Hey, how come you can't get all your facts straight in trying to show grounds for mercy toward these brothers, since first you say it was Reuben and then you say it was Judah who was the merciful brother, and then you change your story completely regarding whose caravan was involved in taking Joseph to Egypt?" Fortunately the fate of Jacob and Joseph and Joseph's brothers was in the hands of God and not in the hands of a modern--day jury!
To get a deeper appreciation of Jacob's trials and tribulations as a father who believes his favorite son has been killed, let us try to picture a complicated situation where life at its worst is really the pits, a really terrible predicament. To make matters worse, if we were to try to discover the whole truth of the situation, we would find that nobody can provide a reliable story we can count upon to be true, a story with no contradictions and no inconsistencies regarding what has actually happened. For example, let's suppose you are a modern day Jacob. You're told that your son, little Joe, has been killed in an auto accident, as evidenced by bloody clothes found by the side of the road. But there are witnesses to the accident who, for one reason or another, fail to tell you that your son is still alive and an ambulance took the youngster to a hospital. However, if you ever got a report from these witnesses, you really might wonder if this is a likely story. Nobody agrees as to who actually took action to save the day or which emergency squad actually showed up to take little Joe to some unknown destination.
This might sound like a far--fetched nightmare with no resemblance to reality, but think of a situation where a family gets separated during a flood or a fire. In trying to locate a missing child, a parent receives clothing that seems like evidence of the child's death but then gets conflicting rumors of how the child's life was spared and what was the final outcome. How often did African--American slaves have to live with the torment of conflicting, inconsistent evidence whether or not a family member had died or was still alive or had been sold to another slaveholder? This torment would be even more unbearable if the family first believed their loved one was dead, but then they began receiving conflicting, unconfirmed stories of how a family member's life had been spared or how someone had actually transported this person to an unknown slave owner.
Nobody told the truth to Jacob about what had happened to Joseph out in the fields. Jacob's grief over Joseph was never relieved until many years later after his sons came back from Egypt to tell him that Joseph was alive. In many ways life was indeed the pits for Jacob who never got over the terrible news that his son was dead. There was no way Jacob's agony would be relieved in a relatively short time like the typical triumphant conclusion of a one--night television drama just prior to the eleven o'clock news. What makes life in the pits really the pits is that there is usually no quick and simple solution that makes everything suddenly turn out okay. Joseph didn't spend forever down in the deep hole, but the long caravan ride to Egypt must have seemed like forever and ever to him. The boy Joseph probably had extreme fear and dread and uncertainty as to what being a slave in Egypt would be like, similar to the fear and terror of the African captives crammed into tight quarters below the top deck of a slave ship headed across the sea for a distant destination strange and unfamiliar. When life is really the pits and what lies ahead is uncertain, unknown, and truly terrifying, it's not easy to hang in there and believe that God is doing everything possible.
And yet the story of Joseph's rescue from a deep hole is a story telling how God can be trusted to come through for us when life is truly the pits. Think of all the people gathered here in this congregation today, and you are bound to think of someone you know here today who can tell you from firsthand experience that when life was just plain awful God was right there with comfort and strength. Whenever the people of the church reach out to show loving concern and lend a helping hand to people for whom life is truly the pits, this can be the most convincing evidence to people who are down in the depths of deepest despair that there indeed is a God who never abandons us. But there are times when it is not easy for you and me to stand alongside those who are really down in the pits, such as someone in constant pain which no medicine can eliminate, or someone whose child has been missing for days or weeks after being kidnapped by a stranger. Indeed, it can be downright scary and overwhelming for us to hang tough, hang on, and hang in there, giving love and encouragement.
But God is always ready and able to give us, somehow, the strength and the courage it takes for us to provide loving care and steady support to people who are down in the pits, whether it is someone whose marriage has suddenly and unexpectedly disintegrated or someone whose medical examination and x--rays have produced unexpected and discouraging news. God is never absent or far away even in those times when worse comes to worst with no escape possible from a terminal illness or an airplane crash or a car bomb set off by terrorists. The death and resurrection of Jesus give us strong reassurance that God will never, never abandon his faithful people even when eternal life is God's only remaining alternative for those who are trapped down in a terrible dead end pit with absolutely no way out. Yes, there are times when Murphy's Law may seem stronger than God's law and life is really the pits. But we can give thanks and praise to the great God who raised up Joseph from a deep hole, who lifted Jesus up from the grave, and who will rescue us again and again from the depths of death and despair both now and at the end of our earthly journey, the God who will never, never abandon us to life forever down in the pits.
