Author: lakewooducc

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your bothers, ‘Do this: load your animals and go back to the land of Canaan. Take your father and your households and come to me, so that I may give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you may enjoy the fat of the land.’ You are further changed to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Give no thought to your possessions, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’” Genesis 45: 17-19, NRSV

In the story of Joseph, we see the Pharaoh listening to Joseph and following Joseph’s counsel. Joseph is a foreigner. He is an outsider. He is an alien. And he begins his time in Egypt as a slave. He is from the bottom of a rigidly tiered society. And yet Pharaoh takes Joseph’s advice and recommendations seriously, he respects Joseph, and does what Joseph suggests.

How often would a national leader in the US take the counsel of a low class, foreigner who has spent time in jail? We would probably just be trying to deport the person!

In the recent session of the Florida State legislature, there was a bill presented to allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry their guns openly. There was also a proposed bill to allow people to carry concealed weapons on state college and university campuses. It is hard to see how these bills could do anything but open the door to more shootings and violence. Thankfully, both of these bills failed to be passed and will not become law though they had substantial support in some quarters. But it is hard to conceive that these bills were even seriously considered and yet they were. We can see how the world gets the impression that America loves guns.

Recently, an international $1 million dollar prize was awarded to Hanan al-Hroub for excellence in teaching. She is a teacher in al-Bireh just outside of Ramallah in the West Bank. Al-Hroub is a Palestinian, an Arab, and a woman. And yet she won this prestigious award. She is committed to teaching peace. Her mantra is ‘no to violence’ and she stresses the need for dialogue. She is absolutely committed to creating peace through non violence and this is the focus of her educational efforts. Chances are she probably wouldn’t win a teaching award in the state of Florida. [See Tampa Bay Times, 3/14/16, “Palestinian wins $1M Global Teacher Prize”]

Maybe we should wise up like Pharaoh and listen to this foreigner, this person of low status, this outsider, this woman. Maybe we should be taking her seriously and listening to what she says, and implementing her vision. She is showing us the way to being a free, safe, democratic society.

In the UCC we say that God Is Still Speaking. We don’t limit where this speaking comes from because we do not limit God.

Prayer
May we listen to what we need to hear, even when it is difficult, or comes from an unlikely source. Everyone can be a voice for Divine Love and healing. Amen.

“And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.” Genesis 45:2, NRSV

When Joseph is finally revealing his identity to his brothers, he weeps uncontrollably. We can imagine tears for the years lost, for being brought together, for the unreconciled wrong between them, for the grief and pain about what has transpired and for the raw, ragged emotion of the whole situation. Maybe he did not even know that he had such tears to come forth. He wept upon his brother, Benjamin, and he kissed and wept upon all of his brothers.

It’s interesting that we are never told that the brothers weep. They are dismayed. Finally they speak. But we are not told of weeping or kissing on their part. We are really not even given a good apology scene. The story marches ahead with plans for Jacob’s family to relocate to Egypt. We don’t see tears and wailing on the part of the brothers. Does their guilt hold them back? Are they so wracked with regret that they have become expert at keeping their feelings down?

This makes me wonder about crying. When do we cry? How much do we cry? When has there been sobbing and wailing? Uncontrollable grief? The way Joseph’s crying is portrayed, we see that this reconnection and reconciliation is momentous and made even more poignant by the complete surprise involved. Surely Joseph never expected to see his brothers again. And the feelings are overwhelming. I am wondering when we let ourselves be overwhelmed by our feelings. When we just let it out.

The brothers, the guilty ones, seem more reserved, more hesitant, more stoic. Does guilt stifle feelings of grief and tears? Does regret lead to stuffing feelings for self preservation? Maybe there are things we need to let surface this Lenten season.

Prayer
Tears are a gift that help us to know our hearts. We are told that even Jesus wept. Crying is not weak, it is human. May we not be afraid of the tears that are evidence of our full humanity. Amen.

“When Pharaoh calls you, and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our ancestors’ – in order that you may settle in the land of Goshen, because all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians.” Genesis 46:33-34

As Joseph plans for his brothers and family to settle in Egypt, they have to work around a problem. The Egyptians don’t like sheep and shepherds, and Joseph’s family are shepherds with extensive flocks. So the family settles in Goshen, outside the capital, in an outlying area, where they won’t be disturbed by the prejudice of the Egyptians. So, even back in those days, new ethnic groups settled in ghettos, off by themselves, for protection and solidarity.

We are also told that the Egyptians would not eat with Joseph’s family for that was abhorrent to them. The Egyptians let the Hebrews come and stay in Egypt, but they are clearly not fully accepted or welcomed. Later, under a different Pharaoh, the Hebrews are forced to work as slaves.

In today’s world, we know intellectually that there are no justifiable reasons for this kind of division and bigotry. And we know that separate means unequal. Thousands of years have gone by since the time of the story of Joseph in Egypt and yet the same issues face humanity. We wonder when we will choose to move beyond these divisions and prejudices. When will we truly accept that in God’s eyes, there is but one race, the human race. And its diversity is vast and amazing. Something to embrace and be enriched by, not something to fear.

If anything, in America at this time the problems of ethnocentrism and classism seem to be increasing not decreasing. People publicly demonstrate against a homeless shelter in their area, or a half way house of some kind, before you even get to a different ethnic group, skin color, or a community of legal refugees.

Our Christian faith teaches us that everyone is our neighbor and we are to love our neighbor. That means we are to work for the well being of our neighbor. Today, with the migration of populations which will continue to increase, we are needed to speak up and welcome all. Lent would be a good time to befriend someone who is different from you in some way.

Prayer
God is beyond our knowing and beyond our imagining. A hint of the amazing creativity of God can be seen in the vast diversity of the human population. May we see this diversity as a divine gift and appreciate it. Amen.

“Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, ‘Send everyone away from me.’ So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.” Genesis 45:1

After Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt, he sends them home, with grain, and without one brother. Unbeknownst to them, he also sends their money home with them that they brought to pay for the grain. Later they go back to Egypt bringing the youngest brother and the money from the first go round as well as more money and gifts. And Joseph sends them back with grain, with their money, and with a goblet planted in the pack of the youngest brother. Then a guard goes after them and confronts them about the cup. They all return to Joseph and Judah offers to remain in place of his younger brother. Finally, Joseph reveals his identity and everything is exposed.

All these machinations. The return of the money. The insistence on seeing the younger brother. The planting of the cup. Somehow Joseph seems to be ensuring that the brothers are beholden to him. That they are in his debt. That he has intimidated them so that he has the upper hand. Why would he bother with all of this. Why did he not just reveal his identity to his brothers when they first came to Egypt? One reason I think is that he wanted some time to think things over. But I think that he goes through all the other machinations to get them in his debt and under his power because he is afraid that they still hate him and that they will not receive him and reconcile with him unless he has some leverage over them. So he gains that leverage. Later we learn that they have the same fear: That he only reconciled with them because of the father, but once the father is gone, he will no longer have any sympathy for them. And they are all wrong. The brothers and Joseph are all sincerely repentant and desirous of undoing the wrong that has been done.

I think we, too, let fear bind us when we are having difficulty in a relationship. We think we need to protect ourselves from the hostility of the other; hostility which may not even exist. We presume this for self protection. We know how to put up a screen of defensiveness, of protection, keeping another at bay trying to prevent ourselves from being hurt. But that attitude may also prevent the healing of the relationship. The wall we put up for protection may also become a wall of division, a rift, an ending of contact.

Lent is a time to think about how we are assuming the hostility and animosity of others which may not even be there. We can also reflect on how others may be defending themselves against perceived hostility from us.

Prayer
We are called to be honest and wholehearted. This also makes us vulnerable. Vulnerability can lead to intimacy and beautiful friendships and connections. It can also lead to hurt and pain. May we take the risk to be truly honest with ourselves and others. Amen.