Genesis 37:3-8, 17b-22, 26-34; 50:15-21
(sermon note: 09-22 sermon note)
Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.
Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, ‘Listen to this dream that I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.’ His brothers said to him, ‘Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?’ So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words. So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.’ But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, ‘Let us not take his life.’ Reuben said to them, ‘Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him’—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.’ And his brothers agreed. When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes. He returned to his brothers, and said, ‘The boy is gone; and I, where can I turn?’ Then they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. They had the long robe with sleeves taken to their father, and they said, ‘This we have found; see now whether it is your son’s robe or not.’ He recognized it, and said, ‘It is my son’s robe! A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.’ Then Jacob tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son for many days.
Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, ‘What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?’ So they approached Joseph, saying, ‘Your father gave this instruction before he died, “Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.” Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.’ Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, ‘We are here as your slaves.’ But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.’ In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.
Our reading for this morning reminds me of the one about two brothers who were arguing over which of the two donkeys was theirs one day. The first brother finally said, ”Okay, I’ve got an idea. I’ll cut an ear off of my donkey and the donkey with only one ear will be mine. You take the other one.” So they come to an agreement and the first brother cut off an ear of one of the donkeys. At night, the donkey with one ear looked at the other donkey with two ears in jealousy and he ended up biting the other donkey’s ear off. The next morning the brothers started arguing again since they again couldn’t tell which donkey was theirs. One of the brothers said, “Alright, I’ll cut off the donkey’s second ear and the donkey with no ears is mine and you take the other one.” So again they came to an agreement and the second ear was cut off. Unfortunately, that night the earless donkey got jealous again and bit the other donkey’s ear off. Morning came and the brothers were again mad and arguing. One of the brothers said, “This is what we’ll do. I am cutting off my donkey’s tail and the other one with a tail will be yours.” So they came to an agreement…off with the tail. That night the same thing happened: the donkey with no tail got jealous and bit the other donkey’s tail off. The morning came and both brothers were mad. One brother finally yelled out, “Alright fine! How about you take the black donkey, and I take the brown one?!”
What an absurd illustration of the power of jealousy! Brothers fighting over donkeys, donkeys fighting over each other’s body parts…complete madness! And it could have all been avoided by simply assigning each donkey to a brother according to color rather than by missing body parts. Sheesh! Poor donkeys had to do endure such awful mistreatment because of jealousy. Reminds me of that verse from the book of James, “for where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.” (3:16) Talk about disorder and wickedness between those brothers and their donkeys!
Well, not all that dissimilar to the disorder and wickedness in Joseph’s story for today. Poor Joseph got caught up in a lifelong struggle with jealousy. Not his own, of course, but the jealousy of those around him. Time and time again, Joseph found he had something that others wanted, and they did such wicked deeds trying to get it from Joseph. And it all began when Joseph’s dad, Jacob, gave him a flashy robe as we heard in our reading for this morning. Why Jacob chose to single out Joseph, the youngest of several brothers, with such a gift is anyone’s guess but the robe sure sparked jealousy in Joseph’s brothers. Perhaps because Joseph was a younger brother like Jacob was to his brother, Esau. Perhaps Jacob wanted to help Joseph hold his own in the fight with his brothers for attention. We don’t know why Jacob gave Joseph the robe but boy, did it cause a whole lot of problems with his brothers. And Joseph’s dream that they interpreted as Joseph reigning over them one day only compounded the jealousy! Some of the brothers wanted to kill Joseph, others wanted to profit from selling him into slavery. Eventually he was sold into slavery which set into motion Joseph’s rise to power. But like the brothers and their donkeys, the story of Joseph and his brothers does a fine job of illustrating the disorder and wickedness of James’ wisdom.
Indeed, jealousy is an all-too-common emotion. It’s hard not to want the gifts and blessings of others, especially when we feel like our gifts and blessings are pale in comparison. Yes, we’re all gifted by a good and generous God, yet some gifts seem better than others at times. I imagine Joseph’s brothers all had robes of their own but for some reason they coveted Joseph’s robe. I suppose it wasn’t the robe itself they coveted but rather the individualized attention from their father. Didn’t Joseph get enough attention from his older brothers? Why did he deserve more from their father? Well, arguably a bad parenting decision on Jacob’s behalf singling out Joseph like that but Jacob has his own history stealing the birthright from his brother, Esau. Scheming and conniving runs deep in that bloodline! But Joseph doesn’t seem caught up in all the scheming and conniving. He simply went about his life, receiving God’s gifts and blessings and diligently putting them to use, which is what we are all called to do with own gifts and blessings.
Jealousy is an all-too-common emotion, but it isn’t a required emotion to have a good life. In fact, the most effective emotion to have for a good life is contentment. When we’re content with our own gifts and blessings, we put them to use much better and they create long-lasting joy within us. God has his reasons for allotting his gifts and blessings. When we covet the gifts and blessings of others, we in effect reveal our distrust and dissatisfaction in God…something we should try to avoid at all costs. Our God is a good and generous God! He bestows gifts individually, much like Jacob bestowed Joseph with that robe. He has his reasons, and a good recipient isn’t concerned with the motives behind gifts but is simply grateful.
James noted the disorder and wickedness of envy and jealousy, but he also offered good advice. He writes, “You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.” (4:2-3) What powerful words of wisdom! Not only should we be content with our own gifts and blessings but when we want more, we should focus on rightly ASKING for me. We know and trust that our God is a good and generous God. He will provide if He feels we need it. Again, He has his reasons for providing. We ought not focus on the motives of his providing but rather on our gratitude. Friends, be grateful for the gifts and blessings we do have, not jealousy for the gifts and blessings we don’t have.
Joseph was always grateful for his gifts and blessings. Even in the end of his story, when his brothers came to him begging for mercy and forgiveness, Joseph graciously provided for them and their families as we heard in our reading. Proverbs tell us, “A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bone rot.” (14:30) Let us honor Joseph’s witness of peaceful mercy and forgiveness and seek to share likewise. There is great joy to be found in contentment! Let us give thanks for all God’s gifts and blessings. Thanks be to God!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
