Joseph and All God's Favourites

A Sermon on Genesis 37: 1-4; 12-28

JACOB AND THE PROBLEM OF FAVOURITISM

Way, way back, many centuries ago,

Not long after the Bible began

Jacob lived in the land of Canaan –

A fine example of a family man.

So begins ‘Jacob and Sons’, a song from the musical Jacob and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.  (I’m not going to sing it!)

The lyrics are ironic: Jacob is never going to win Dad of the Year.  He certainly won’t get a vote from eleven out of 12 sons, at any rate.  You see, Jacob has a track record of favouritism.

Stretch your mind back to some of the Bible stories we learned as children.  Do you remember how Jacob was his mother’s favourite son?  Rebekah conspired to trick Esau her eldest out of the family blessing, which Jacob got instead.  Brothers Jacob and Esau didn’t speak for decades after that.

And then Jacob had two wives, Leah and Rachel.  Rachel was the love of Jacob’s life.  And boy did Leah know it.  Leah gave Jacob ten sons, but she could never compete for Jacob’s affections.

When Rachel gave birth to Joseph, suddenly Jacob’s ten other sons were also-rans in the competition for Dad’s attention.  As the song goes:

Joseph’s mother, she was my favourite wife,

I never really loved another all my life.

And Joseph was my joy because he reminded me of her.

Through young Joseph, Jacob lived his youth again,

Loved him, praised him, gave him all he could, but then –

It made the rest feel second-best.

And even if they were brothers,

Being told we’re also-rans

Does not make us Joseph fans.

Some of you might know the damage it can do to a family when one child is singled out as the favourite.  The long-burning resentment, the festering wounds.

And sometimes, as in the story of Joseph, it gets violent.

HAS GOD A FAVOURITE TRIBE IN NORTHERN IRELAND?

Now, at this point, we have to grapple with a difficult question.  Does God have favourites?

God indeed works through Joseph especially during this period in Israel’s history.  It’s how the Hebrews end up in Egypt where they grow into a sizeable nation.

And the Bible says God has chosen Israel, of all the nations.

Throughout history, we humans have misunderstood God’s choosing.  God often had to remind Israel that he chose her to be a light to other nations, to share God’s blessing.  It doesn’t make chosen people superior.  When God chooses people, it is in order to bless others more widely.

Let us not be seduced with the notion that our church, our culture, our type of people, are God’s favourites and somehow superior.  In Israel’s history, all the tribes would be liberated from bondage in Egypt, all would receive their inheritance in the Promised Land.  God would expect them to work together as they settled, built new cities, cultivated the land. 

Nobody would be permitted to say, We are descendants of Joseph.  We are the favourite tribe.  Or, we refuse to work with others, because of what their ancestors did to ours many years ago.

No.  God would later expect the descendants of all the brothers – all twelve tribes – to get on with it and build a prosperous future.

Might there be a lesson there, in times where old nationalisms have resurfaced, rhetoric about manifest destiny, exceptionalism, our status as natural rulers and leaders in a world of many nations.

A lesson, too, for us in Northern Ireland, where two tribes still argue about who has the more legitimate claim to the land.  Where we are scared to work together in case past injustices are forgotten.  Where some people actually claim they are on God’s side and have been chosen and favoured over and against others.

THE RUBENS, THE JUDAHS, THE QUIET ONES

Back to Joseph.  The attempted murder in today’s story has been coming for a while. 

First, Joseph comes home to Jacob with bad reports of his brothers.  He tells tales.  The Bible says he was a ‘helper’ to them, but instead of helping, he’s telling tales on them.  The Bible doesn’t actually say that his brothers working in the fields were doing anything wrong.  Maybe they were, maybe they weren’t.  But talking badly of other people is just not helpful.  It gets us all into trouble.

Second, Jacob gives Joseph a coat of many colours: an amazing technicolour dreamcoat, if you like.  Walking around in his fancy coat, a coat you couldn’t ignore if you tried, it’s obvious to all that he gets Dad’s preferential treatment.  Now, in any society, if some people get more than others, if they’re treated better than others, you’re going to end up with trouble.

So, the Bible says, ‘they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.’  The relationship has broken down.

But it’s when Joseph tells his brothers about his dreams that they decide to kill him.

In one dream, all twelve brothers are down in the fields gathering sheaves.  Joseph’s sheaf stands up straight and rises above the others, and the others’ bow down to his.  Hardly subtle.  Or tactful.  And if we talk and act like we’re superior to others, guess what, it’ll lead to – you got it – trouble.

In the next dream, the sun, moon and eleven stars bow down to Joseph.  This time, even Jacob scolds Joseph for having notions above his station.  The Bible says that Jacob ‘kept the matter in mind’ – so maybe at last he realizes he has spoilt his son.

But it’s too late.  It wasn’t difficult to hatch the plot among themselves.  Joseph was at home with his father while the others worked in the fields.  They knew he’d be sent to report on them soon enough, and then they’d have their opportunity.

They say, ‘let’s kill him and bury the body in a pit’.  Perhaps only one actually said those words, but they collectively agreed to go along with it.  There’s no use in pointing the finger at one when they all colluded.

Reuben speaks up.  ‘Let’s not actually kill him.  We’ll throw him down a dry well and leave him.’  The others are persuaded – maybe thinking Joseph will die anyway, and technically they won’t have committed murder but manslaughter.  In a side note, the Biblical author tells us that Reuben intended to go back later and rescue Joseph, once he got the opportunity.

Judah sees a train of camels on the desert horizon, and hatches a new plan.  Why not cash in on Joseph’s demise?  ‘Let’s make some money out of this.  If he dies, we’re rid of him.  If we sell him, we’re rid of him, and we’re quids in.’  The others agree.  They sell Joseph as a slave for 20 pieces of silver.

Old jealousies easily become open conflicts.  It’s no wonder that stories like this one, about a Bronze Age clan in the early days of agricultural society, are still told today.  They speak powerfully of the human condition. 

We know Reubens today.  Anxious to temper the violence around us, but not quite brave enough to lift their heads above the parapet and oppose violence, perhaps in case he becomes a target himself.

We know Judahs, too.  People who think, since we’re in this situation anyway, we may as well make the most of it, exploit it for our own ends.

There are plenty of people in the anonymous ‘them’, the nameless brothers who simply go along with the crowd.  None can individually be blamed for what happens, they might think. 

Where’s the brother who stands up and says, ‘He’s our brother.  No matter what an idiot he’s been, no matter how we feel about him, we can’t do this.  We can’t murder him.  It’s wrong.’

There is no such brother in the story.  And so Joseph is sold into captivity in Egypt.  As we know as readers, of course, that action will have repercussions down the generations, and all the descendants of all the brothers will end up slaves in Egypt.  What we sow, we reap.

FLASH FORWARD TO RECONCILIATION

I’m going to spoil the story, now, by telling you how it ends.  Because we’ll have episodes from the Joseph story as Old Testament readings for several weeks more, but I’m not sure whether the Dean or Revd Olie will preach on them.

And also, because the direction the Joseph story takes links it to today’s Epistle reading.

The years will pass.  Jacob, believing his favourite son was killed by wild animals, will never get over the grief.  The brothers will continue working the fields and growing the family business.  Until there’s a famine, and they have to travel to Egypt to buy grain.  And who will sell it to them?  Joseph.

In the intervening decades, Joseph has risen from the status of a slave to that of governor under the Pharaoh.  Without Daddy’s special treatment, Joseph had learned tact and humility and service of others.  His brothers have come to regret their dark family secret.

The scene is set for reconciliation: there’s forgiveness, hugging, kissing, reuniting.  Read it for yourself – it’s a great story, no wonder it made for a huge hit as a West End musical.

THE TECNICOLOUR CHURCH IN ROME – AND FERMANAGH

The apostle Paul is writing in the Epistle reading to the Church in Rome, which is an amazing, technicolour church.  Slaves and free, rich and poor, men and women, dark skin and light skin, ethnic groups from all over the Empire and beyond lived cheek by jowl in the Capital.  And that was reflected in the church there.  Ripe for jealousy, for one group thinking they were God’s favourites, better than others, or more entitled somehow.

But one division was wider and more destructive than any other at the time: the split between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians.  Each interpreted the facts differently.  Jews were rightly proud of their history and special role in salvation history.  Gentiles felt they were the new favourites, chosen from other nations because the Jews had failed in their mission. 

And Paul writes to answer the question, Who is God’s favourite?

Paul answers: There is no distinction between Jew and Gentile; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.  For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

‘Who is God’s favourite?’  We are all God’s favourites.  He is generous to all who call on him.

The Roman Christians will just have to overcome their ancient disputes and listen to each other, and worship alongside each other, and live together as one – not just live parallel lives and tolerate the other, but love one another.  Because they are all God’s favourites.

Who are God’s favourites in Fermanagh?  Protestant and Catholic, black and white, gay and straight, Brexiteer and Remoaner, whatever it is that divides us - God loves us every one, and wants to reconcile us to himself and to one another.  The same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.