Loving God, you call us into your service in spite of our faults and seek to work through us by the power of your Spirit.  Help us to continue to learn from Jesus, growing in your love and mercy, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

          Jacob’s family may have been the “chosen people,” but that doesn’t mean that they were much different from any other family.  In fact, they are probably better than some families, but worse than others.  Jacob, the patriarch in this story, grew up as his mother’s favourite son, and managed to take both the birthright and the blessing away from his brother Esau.  Thus, it is perhaps not surprising that Jacob also has a favourite son, who in this case is Joseph.

         Joseph, at least as a teenager, was a bit of a spoiled brat.  He was a shepherd, just like his older brothers, but he also had gone to his father with a bad report about his brothers (Gen. 37:2).  On top of this, his father had given him a special robe that set him apart from the rest of his brothers.  It was a luxury item that older translations called a coat of many colours, but that is more likely “a long robe with sleeves” (Gen. 37:3).

         At the same time, Joseph had a special ability with dreams.  In fact, he made the mistake of telling his brothers about a couple of his dreams, in which it seemed as though his brothers and his father and mother were all bowing down before him.  Given that his brothers were already jealous of him, this really didn’t go over very well.

         As it turns out, however, Joseph actually has some pretty good leadership and management skills.  He also seems to come to a more mature faith in God.  In Egypt, he develops a reputation for integrity, for the interpretation of dreams, and for his wise stewardship of resources.  He is not totally blameless, however, as he lets his brothers sweat bullets before finally letting them know who he is.

         As for the other members of Jacob’s family, we hear more about some of them than others.  Reuben is Jacob’s eldest son and seems to be the responsible one in the family.  He is the one who tries to save Joseph’s life so that he can bring him home safely to his father.  He is also the one who seems to expect all the blame when Joseph does not come safely home (Gen. 37:30).

         We are also introduced to Judah in today’s reading, who is the ancestor of King David, and also of Jesus.  Judah, it seems, is a bit of an enterprising leader among his brothers. When Joseph is in the pit, it is Judah who suggests that, rather than killing Joseph, they should at least make a bit of a profit by selling him as a slave.  It is also Judah who steps up later on and insists that Benjamin needs to go with them to Egypt and that he will bear the blame if anything happens to him.

         Benjamin, who is the baby of the family, is now his father’s favourite, as Joseph and Benjamin were both children of Jacob’s favourite wife.  (Are you keeping track of all this?)  We never hear about Benjamin doing very much on his own, but we do hear a fair bit about his older brothers trying to protect him.  We also hear about Joseph paying special attention to Benjamin, for they are brothers from the same mother.

         So far, have you heard about any family members who are kind of like you?  Are you the responsible one in your family? – or maybe the baby in the family who is always being protected?  Are you a leader in your family? – or are you the favourite child?  Did your parents play favourites, or do you play favourites with your children?

         One of the things that soon becomes clear about Jacob’s family is that there are no perfect people in this story.  Judah, who has already been introduced, ends up fathering a child with his daughter-in-law.  The only daughter of Jacob who is named is Dinah – who was raped by a prince at Shechem and subsequently avenged by her brothers.  And then we have the human trafficking that takes place – selling Joseph as a slave and sending him off to Egypt.  Yet, God manages to be at work in and through these same people.

         Close to the end of today’s reading, we hear, “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people” (Gen. 50:20).  In spite of the heartache of being sold by his brothers – in spite of being wrongly imprisoned while in Egypt – Joseph ends up saving many lives by preparing for the seven-year famine that is to come.  In fact, Jacob’s entire family ends up being saved by going to Egypt, where there is grain, and where Joseph looks after them.

         You may have noticed today that there is a lot of weeping going on at the end of the story.  All of them, it seems, had their own heartache.  There were the brothers who craved their father’s love, and were afraid of losing it, and who hated their brother Joseph for taking it from them.  More than likely there was also some guilt at play over what they had done to Joseph.  There was Benjamin, who had gone all these years without his mother and who also thought that his brother Joseph was dead.  And Jacob, too, went all those years thinking that his beloved wife Rachel and her son Joseph were both dead.

         There was plenty of heartache to go around, and in the end, Joseph forgives his brothers rather than holding a grudge.  When there can be reconciliation like this, it is a marvelous gift.  In fact, it is the same gift that God gives to us through Jesus Christ.  Without Jesus, we are estranged from God and do not have the capacity truly to love God and to love one another.  However, when we put our faith in Jesus, we are reconciled with God and with one another – forgiven and given the Holy Spirit, who teaches us to love, and who leads us into eternal life.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Pentecost 17 (NL 3)            Genesis 37:3-8, 17b-22, 26-34; 50:15-21

September 27, 2020

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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