Too Good to be True

John McMann

This is Us • Sermon • Submitted 6 months ago • Presented 6 months ago

Genesis 43:15–34

Family Life and Relations

Theodicy

Family of Jacob

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Notes

Transcript

Introduction and Scripture

Genesis 43:15–34 NIV

15 So the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare a meal; they are to eat with me at noon.” 17 The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph’s house. 18 Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, “We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys.” 19 So they went up to Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 20 “We beg your pardon, our lord,” they said, “we came down here the first time to buy food. 21 But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver—the exact weight—in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us. 22 We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.” 23 “It’s all right,” he said. “Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24 The steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys. 25 They prepared their gifts for Joseph’s arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there. 26 When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. 27 He asked them how they were, and then he said, “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?” 28 They replied, “Your servant our father is still alive and well.” And they bowed down, prostrating themselves before him. 29 As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there. 31 After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, “Serve the food.” 32 They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians. 33 The men had been seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at each other in astonishment. 34 When portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone else’s. So they feasted and drank freely with him.

Pray.

Intro:

In 2023, everyone is a victim.

I have been so bothered by what I see on the internet the last couple of weeks. College students attacking each other over the crisis with Israel and Palestine. Palestinians removing posters of Israeli hostages. Anglo Americans supporting terrosists. All the while most of the general public missing the fact that Hamas has committed egregious crimes AND innocent Palestinians are suffering from a brutal response. Both can be true. This afternoon we gather for prayer to conclude our 21 days of prayer for this crisis. And this is important that we acknowledge this is a massive crisis that we need God to intervene in.

All of this reminds me of the last few years when we saw publically police brutality against persons of color. And rather than acknowledge the reality of a nuanced and complicated situation....we put ourselves in one of two camps.... All police are bad or back the police and we can cite violence and crime among persons of color.

This response is a response of victimhood. Everyone sees themselves as a victim. And if you think this is only other people that we see on TV....we are caught up in this.

We live in a time of this weird swiftly growing culture of victimhood. Everyone is a victim, it does not take much for me to offend someone and for others to hear about it….or for someone to offend me. We want things our way, and if we are not “treated fairly,” we tweet about it. AND IF YOU ARE THINKING, UGH THOSE KIDS AND THEIR TWITTER….NO, I HAVE SEEN YOUR FACEBOOK POSTS.

In “The Rise of Victimhood Culture,” I described the work of sociologists Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning,

“characterized by concern with status and sensitivity to slight combined with a heavy reliance on third parties. People are intolerant of insults, even if unintentional, and react by bringing them to the attention of authorities or to the public at large. Domination is the main form of deviance, and victimization a way of attracting sympathy, so rather than emphasize either their strength or inner worth, the aggrieved emphasize their oppression and social marginalization.

Victimhood cultures emerge in settings, like today’s college campuses, “that increasingly lack the intimacy and cultural homogeneity that once characterized towns and suburbs, but in which organized authority and public opinion remain as powerful sanctions,” they argue. “Under such conditions complaint to third parties has supplanted both toleration and negotiation. People increasingly demand help from others, and advertise their oppression as evidence that they deserve respect and assistance. Thus we might call this moral culture a culture of victimhood ... the moral status of the victim, at its nadir in honor cultures, has risen to new heights.”

In a world that revolves around me, then when things don’t go the way my false expectations or skewed hopes and dreams tell me they are to go then I am a victim.

· I am a victim to my neighbors who...

· I am a victim to my HOA

· I am a victim to the government

· President

· The server who messed up my food order

· The person who was not paying attention to me on the highway

· To the people at the DPS office, grumpy and understaffed, not ready to accommodate my schedule on whatever day I come in there and need things done in 5 mins.

· Let me get personal for a second…When the world revolves around me, I am a victim to my wife when she does not read my thoughts or she does not respond in a conflict to cater to my emotions….heaven forbid she acts in her own feelings or emotions.

Now, the problem with this, well there are a lot of problems, but for this morning…when we only define ourselves as victims and with our grievances then there is no room for God to move us in the direction he wants us.

We can’t repent because we believe everyone else are the jacked up ones.

Background:

The brothers are stuck in this place where their story is still haunting them. Their brother Simeon is in a literal prison and the rest of them are stuck in a spiritual prison. And I think we have danced around this idea for several weeks, about famine and “going to our Egypts,” but what we see in this section is their need to be set free. They are so closed off in protect mode and defense mode that they cannot find healing.

So the brothers head back to Egypt. Simeon has probably been stuck in prison for months if not a year because they don’t want to face their problems. Some people think Joseph is torturing the brothers but I think he is helping them to heal….I don’t recommend throwing someone in prison just to help them heal….but what we see Joseph do is lavish them in love. He gives them silver that they find in their packs. When they return he throws a massive feast. His stewards are told to take the best care of all the brothers. When they try to return the money they are told to keep it.

What is so obvious to me too is that they cannot enjoy it. They are hesitant to receive any of this grace because they feel like it may be a trap.

“A guilty conscience is always suspicious of grace.”

See the joy receptors are broken! And it makes sense. When there is something hanging over our heads, it is nearly impossible to enjoy life.

Too Good to be True

That’s why the psalmist writes: (32)

Psalm 32:3–4 NIV

3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

And even when they are able to relax a little…. “When portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone else’s. So they feasted and drank freely with him.”

Imagine if this were the end of it. If they had this dinner and when back home. It would have been nice and enjoyable. They may have found some replenishing and enjoyment out of it. But if Joseph never revealed himself, if they never found the opportunity to repent and they returned home then is would have been short-lived grace.

Friends how many come here every week or multiple times a week to enjoy a short-lived filling. Some temporary satisfaction. And then return home unchanged.

Repentance is about freedom, not shame. Repentance is about saying….my whole life I have been walking this way, yes I am sorry, but I want to turn and walk in your way…

Or repentance this morning is about stepping out of the center of the universe and inviting God to shape and form you.

Repentance is a practice we have to reclaim. Not as a way of beating ourselves up, but continually opening ourselves to more and more of him.

Listen friends, get this right in your head and your heart:

It is not REPENT  ok now I love you….or now I am not angry

It is REPENT  GOD says, let me help you.

Repentance is making room for God

Carolyn Moore defines it this way:

In its most spiritual sense (which is its deepest definition), to repent means to turn away from something that offends a good, holy, loving, wise God. We do this not because God will strike us dead if we don’t, but because offending a good and loving God is not life-giving. To repent means shifting gears, making a genuine choice to practice life so that we (our whole selves) become an offering pleasing to God. We become no longer our own, but His. That thing we did becomes no longer ours but His.

John Wesley makes a distinction about two different kinds or times of repentance:

In his sermon on “The Repentance of Believers”

There is repentance that leads to salvation. Acknowledgement that I am lost apart from God but there is also the necessary continual practice of repentance.

He continues....

But, notwithstanding this, there is also a repentance and a faith (taking the words in another sense, a sense not quite the same, nor yet entirely different) which are requisite after we have "believed the gospel;" yea, and in every subsequent stage of our Christian course, or we cannot "run the race which is set before us." And this repentance and faith are full as necessary, in order to our continuance and growth in grace, as the former faith and repentance were, in order to our entering into the kingdom of God.

When we are justified, we called righteous. Sin no longer reigns, BUT sin still remains.

Repentance of believers:

This about yielding more and more of yourself each day. Repentance is the primary joining and yielding to this gift of sanctifying grace. It is a stance of humility and self-awareness that paves the ways for the person to embrace the gradual work of love born into the believer. Finally, repentance is about the removal of the obstacles of grace.

Wesley importantly identifies some places of repentance in the life of the believer:

pride

self-will

desires of the flesh

the pride of life:

the honour that comes with men

fear of dispraise

evil shame

fear of man

Other tempers

Jealousies

groundless or unreasonable suspicions

resentment

are we ever excited for revenge

Coveteousness (love of money)

Sins of ommission

on and on.

Obstacles. Barriers.

Joseph is a representative of God’s grace

Joseph in the story is clearly represented as the protagonist. He is the hero of the story. Even here he is modeling what forgiveness and grace looks like. You read this story and you have to think....how? After every thing they did to you?! Friends, we have written off family and friends in our life for much less than this. How could you forgive them?

Joseph bares all their pain. All their sin. All the betrayal. And he sets the table and feasts with them. Joseph even takes on all the corporate brokenness that leads to famine and all the power dynamics.

Joseph is a precursor. An archetype. A foreshadow of another. One who does not condemn you. But one that did not play victim and was. One that sets a table of Grace.

Is it too good to be true? Do you repel against that good news? Perhaps repentance is needed today. Not because you are in trouble....but because in repentance you find healing and wholeness.

Seems Too Good to be true....but it is. It is the good news.

Psalm 32:3–5 NIV

3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

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