The world
commercializes just about everything: from fast food to clothes, jewelry to
fragrances, cars to phones, and even pork! These presentations are usually uninformative,
unoriginal, and unhelpful to the state of our lives.
Just listen
to these REAL company slogans. I’ve even categorized them. And
for funsies, I’m gonna try and say some of them them how they do… or how I
think they do.
1. Products
promising happiness comes from the physical realm
a diamond
is forever –DeBeers
every kiss
begins with Kay- Kay
Maybe she’s
born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline
2.
Products promising instant gratification is more important than hard work
Have it your way-BK
So easy a
caveman can do it-Geico
One call
could save you 15% or more on car insurance- Geico
Warning it
works every time – Colt 45
3.
McDonald’s – which conveniently offers you the voice of your dream spouse
We do it
all for you 1975- McD
We love to
see you smile- McD
You deserve
a break today-McD
And then
the fourth category, which is my favorite.
4.
Products involving plain nonsense and flat out lies
Between
love and madness lies Obsession – CK Fragrance
…because we want our love to constantly pour out a healthy dose of
madness and obsession…terrible.
With a name
like smuckers…it has to be good -
that’s historically bad.
And then
there’s the slogan for Camel cigarettes: I’d walk a mile for a Camel …There’s
something almost hyperbolic about exercising in order to do something that can
kill you. It’s like running a marathon that ends in a free fall cliff dive. I
don’t know understand how that sells…
So what’s
the point?
These
commercials are intentionally deceptive. They are filled with false realities,
false promises, and false information. The message, motive, and method behind
these commercials is plagued. They have no credibility in their presentation.
So what do
you think?
Is it possible to communicate a message without ‘marketing’ or ‘manipulating’?
What would
that look like? Is it possible to communicate the gospel in a qualitatively
different way than the world sells stuff?
And what
makes a message credible when it is competing with so much dishonest selling?
In
tonight’s passage, Paul has a few thoughts on the topic, and this is what our
DG’s are going to focus on.
Discussion
Groups
1. What is one really catchy commercial you have seen
recently?
2. What are the motivations behind the commercial? What tactics are they using?
3. What do you notice are common
characteristics of commercialism in our present day? Fill in some examples of
commercial practices that you find deceitful, honorable, or neutral in the
table below.
Common Characteristics of Commercialism
Deceitful
Honorable
Neutral
Examples
4. Read I Thessalonians 2:1-8.
5. What motivations does Paul accept
as legitimate and what motivations does he believe are illegitimate for
Christian service? In the table below, write your findings along with the
verse.
What Paul claimed he did
What Paul claimed he did not do
6. If Paul had tried to summarize
this passage in a catchy slogan, what might it be?
7. Look at v. 1, 2, and 5. What
short phrase is in each passage? (It’s also in 1:5, too) What do you think
Paul’s aim is with this phrase?
8. In v. 1 Paul says “our coming to
you was not in vain”: What, generally, do you think Paul did in his presentation
of Jesus build credibility with his listeners? (for help: see v. 8 and 2b,4)
9. In what ways can we share our
lives to those we want to share Jesus with? (v. 8)
10. In what ways can we speak the
truth to those we want to share Jesus with? (v. 2b,4)
11. Paul is convinced that we are to
‘share’ (v.8) and ‘speak’ (v.4) Are you more of a gospel speaker or a life
sharer? Which does the passage suggest
is more important?
12. In v. 4 and v. 5 Paul notes that
God tests hearts and is witness to the ministry effort of Paul and his team.
What are the implications of the phrase ‘who tests our hearts’ for our sharing of
the gospel?
Optional Questions:
1. Which of Paul’s positive
motivations for Christian service are you most prone to? (from #3)
2. Which of Paul’s illicit
motivations for Christian service are you most prone to? (from #3)
3. What do you think of Paul using
both fathering and mothering metaphors for his care for his friends in 1
Thessalonians 2:8, 11?
4. What is the difference between
encouragement and flattery?
Wrap Up:
So what were some Pauline slogans
you guys came up with tonight?
Mine is
probably not accurate, but something like “Come to bro” but really…“Come at me,
thessabronians” ..yeah mine’s terrible.
Okay, as
you were in your discussion groups, I hope you discovered the burning issue
within this passage.
How do
you become a credible source of God’s good news?
I’ve got
two big ideas from the passage on this, and here’s my first one.
1. Share
your life (commitment to
people)
Look with
me to verse 7-8 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care
of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to
share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you
had become so dear to us.
For Paul,
sharing our lives is often foundational to how we go about sharing the gospel.
Messages
are generally accepted based on authenticity and motivation of its presenter.
These elements
can only be made known to the audience through shared relationship. When we
truly love someone, our motivations become more positive, because our love for
them demands it. It demands that we do right by them.
Our path to
credibility is simple and yet not at all easy: we need to share our lives to
impact other’s lives.
Being in a
Western culture make this difficult because we see so much irrational behavior and
we tend to believe that words alone can make sense of the strange decisions
people make. That words alone can change their mind.
But the
truth is that what you’re saying makes no sense for them until they see Jesus
through you.
What you’re
saying makes no sense until they see Jesus through you.
This is why
v. 8 is our theme verse for next! Sharing our lives is crucial to our
presentation of the gospel!
Chances are
many of us became Christians because somebody walking in the Way of Jesus shared
their Jesus-centric life with us.
So how are
we going to do it?
How are
we going to become credible sources of God’s good news by sharing our lives?
What did your groups talk about?
Here’s my
take; we must embrace servanthood in all relationships. This is done
through valuing others above ourselves. And this involves us being willing to
learn from those we share our lives with. It has to be a mutual
relationship.
We have to
be open to being changed by those who we share Jesus to.
The key
word is relationship. It’s gotta be something real- a friendship- built
on time spent together, common interests, and genuine conversation.
Well that’s
my take.
Ok, so
how else do you become a credible source of God’s good news?
Here is my
second big idea.
2. Speak
the truth! (commitment to Word)
Look with
me to v. 2 “As you know we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel
of God in the midst of much conflict.”
And then in
v. 4 “we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we
speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts”
Sharing our
lives is what makes the Jesus-centric life compelling...But at some point
you actually have to open your mouth and speak.
Within the
relationships we have with our friends, family, co-workers, or classmates, we
will have the opportunity to speak and declare Jesus.
There is a
strong interdependence between ‘sharing’ and ‘speaking’. Paul was convinced
that neither is sufficient without the other. And I think we have enough data
in our own lives to agree with him.
The point
here is that we should be bold when we do speak. This is not to impose, rather
it’s to be clear and make the most of every opportunity.
We are
taught to avoid conflict at all costs.
But we need to learn to speak about Jesus in a kind and credible way -to
people we are sharing our lives with- even if it is going to invite conflict.
We can’t
just be silent and let our world of pluralism play itself out.
The demand
of our culture is to keep your ideas to yourself. But, to be a spokesman of
Christ we have to advocate real tolerance when we speak truth.
Real
tolerance is, as Nic Gibson says, the openness of mind that allows for
disagreement and nonconformity. It’s an act of humility that does not claim to
be right or change anyone’s mind.
Our role is
speaking the truth while avoiding being bullied emotionally and intellectually.
We must do this while kindly being tolerant of those who do not hold the Way of
the gospel within our pluralistic society.
So what do
you think?
How can
we properly speak the truth and allow ourselves to be credible sources of God’s
good news?
If we are
to speak the truth, we need to make sure it’s consistent with how we share our
lives.
Boldly and
gently. We share our lives boldly and gently. And we speak the truth boldly and
gently.
If we’re
missing out on these, then I would offer that there is something fundamentally
wrong with our motivation to declare the gospel, and we would need to reassess.
Remember,
in v. 4 Paul says it is God who tests our hearts.God tests the inner self (the heart,
the center of our being). He is making sure our message is true, our motives are
pure, and our methods are open.
Each of
these criteria strongly relies on boldness and gentleness within the construction
of the message.
What does
this mean for us?
It means we
need to do this in community. We need to share our lives and speak the truth
with our believing community aware of
our efforts. We have to not only do what’s right, but we have to do it for the
right reasons.
That way God can speak into our message, motive, and method. As Paul said again
and again … ‘you yourselves know’.
We should
make our efforts known through prayer and community and then we will be approved
by God and entrusted with his gospel – to speak boldly and gently.
So that is how we become credible
sources of God’s good news:
1. Share your life…
2. Speak the truth…
If we do
this, we can say like Paul in verse 1 “For you yourselves know, brothers, that
our coming to you was not in vain” ….
So let’s do
this. Let’s be a community who puts the right effort forward to faithfully make
the most out of every opportunity to share God’s good news.
As you may
have heard, we are studying 1 Thessalonians this summer.
And each
Summer Style Tuesday is going to look something like this:
We will enjoy
a dinner together… oh it’s gonna be tasty. By the way, let’s thank the Heringer
family for providing tonight’s meal!
After
supper, we’ll have our mixer which promises to be deeply competitive and
potentially violent – Just kidding-
Then, after
some announcements we’ll gather for a 5-10 minute introduction on the passage
of the night.
Following
the introduction we will break into single gender discussion groups for the
braiding of hair and eating of steel…
But really,
these discussion groups are the focus of each Tuesday night. Our hope is that
friendships would be made in these groups, that the Scriptures would bear light
on our lives, and that we would discover God together in community throughout this
summer.
After our
Discussion Groups finish, we will gather for a recap of the night’s text and
wrap up the night with our Summer worship leaders Jason Moon and Taylor Snow
leading us through a few songs of praise and prayer.
So that’s
our usual Tuesday night.
However,
tonight is different. Tonight, I’m going to give an introduction to I Thessalonians,
that will be around 15 minutes, and then we’ll break into Discussion Groups for
some group bonding.
So first…
why I Thessalonians? Why is I Thessalonians our choice of study of all the
possibilities for this 9 week summer?
Let me
explain it this way…
At age 16…
Lebron James was the most widely anticipated high school basketball player
ever. You may remember this.
He was
viewed so highly that people began calling him King James…before even being a
professional player, let alone a champion!
King James
was drafted as the first player overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers and played
there for 7 years. In six of those years he faced bitter defeat in the playoffs, and one of these losses took place in the NBA
Finals. And as you know… Great Kings are generally known for losing when it
matters…ha.
So… King
James took his talents to South
Beach to play for the
Miami Heat with All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh…and a bunch of scrubs.
The Heat
instantly became the favorite to win the NBA Championship. Ironically, though,
they started 9-8… which is unideal if you’re the pre-season favorite to win the
title. (If you ask me…it’s unideal to be a King who can’t really win.)
But
eventually, they got hot and they never looked back en route to crushing the
76ers, the rival Celtics and the Bulls in the playoffs.
In the
finals, the Heat kept going as they went up 2-1 in the best of 7 series against
the Dallas Mavericks.
But then… King James decided not to play basketball anymore. No one really
knows what he was playing as he chucked threes and 20 foot jump shots on a
regular basis. It was kind of odd.
If you
have heard just one thing about Lebron James, you’ve probably heard that he
“can’t finish”. You’ve probably heard that Lebron James doesn’t close out games. He doesn’t have
the killer instinct that great players have.
You know….
if you give Lebron James a dollar, he will give you 3 quarters back (throw
quarters)
If you cut
up his steak into tiny pieces, he’ll choke
on the last one. (cough)
… He
regularly goes to sleep just a quarter
after 3 each night.
Whatever you’ve heard, it pertains to Lebron James not finishing a game.
It’s about a King without a crown because he could not finish the battle.
But why am
I talking about Lebron James? Especially after he DID win a championship just a
few weeks ago!
Because when I read I Thessalonians I started to think of Lebron James.
Here’s why.
Lebron
James was dealing with a very similar problem to the church Paul ministered to
in Thessalonica.
They didn’t
know how to finish. They didn’t know how to carry on in the face of
persecution. In the church’s case, they didn’t know how to live a full life of
right faith, right hope and right love in Jesus.
One
thing I have experienced as a Christian is that there are days that I want to
take off. There are days that I conclude, either at the beginning of the day,
or the end of the day, that I don’t know how to carry on.
Do you
ever feel this way?
Look
around. In this community, in your greater church community. There are people
who have lived this faith out for 20, 30, 60 years.
I’m always
wondering: HOW do they do it?
I don’t
know if you’ve realized…but our existence on this planet is often quite
difficult! How can somebody carry on in the way of Jesus for decades? In the
face of persecution, suffering, loss, and eventual physical death. That’s
right, we are allllll gonna die!
In I
Thessalonians 3:2 Paul says they sent ministers to the church and he writes “to
establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these
afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4
For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to
suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.
Paul is
saying that we are destined for affliction. Destined. so Paul writes this letter to encourage
this community how to stay afloat. To live a life of love, faith and hope
especially in times of trouble.
So that is
why we want to study I Thessalonians this summer.
I
Thessalonians articulates for us in a very clear way, how we should finish this
race marked out for us. How we can continue striving to be loving servants,
a faithful, holy and pleasing church, and how we can rightly perceive the
future hope we have in resurrection with Christ.
So what
does this come down to? Real quickly.
1) We
should study I Thessalonians because it encourages us to live out of LOVE.
Paul writes
in 1 Thess 2:8, which is in your hand out…
So, being
affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the
gospel of God abut also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
In other
words, Paul had the right idea of how to love this church. He didn’t just want
to share the gospel. He wanted to join them in relationship. Paul wanted them
to impact him----just as much as he wanted to impact the church body
2) We
should study I Thessalonians because it encourages us to live out of FAITH.
1 Thess 4:1
Finally, then, brothers,1 we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you
received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are
doing, that you do so more and more.
What’s he
saying? Paul exhorts us to live a life that is pleasing to God. We should trust
that God’s way is the Way. And that when we live to please God we are also
living a fully human existence. We have to believe that.
3) We
should study I Thessalonians because it encourages us to live out of HOPE.
1 Thess 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed,
brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who
have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so,
through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
What’s this
mean?
Paul
assures us that when Jesus returns believers who have passed and who are still
alive will raise up with him. For more on what that means, you’ll have to wait
for Nathan Ely to cover this in a few more weeks!
But, I’ll
give you this: being raised up, as Paul says, probably does not mean meeting
Jesus in the sky literally.
So why
should we study I Thessalonians?
Because we need what this church
needed.
The church
in Thessalonica struggled with how to finish the race marked out for them. They
looked at their current circumstances and became burdened with confusion and
loss over what was happening.
Paul wrote
this letter to tend to their needs. They needed to be encouraged to have a
right love – a love that is self sacrificial and a love that shares oneself.
They needed
a right faith – a faith that aims to please God and trust in his Way over our
own.
And they
needed a right hope- an eternal hope that rests on a future with Jesus when he
comes back.
So this is
our purpose for I Thessalonians, and I certainly hope that you will join us in
studying these topics throughout this summer!
Now, let me
offer a few more introductory ideas about the text, and then we’ll break into
our Discussion Groups (Can I call them DG’s? It sounds way cooler.)
1. Genre
What kind
of writing is I Thessalonians? Look with me to 5:27 in the hand out.
1 Thess 5:27
I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the
brothers.
So, it’s a
letter. Paul is writing a letter to his friends in Thessalonica, whom he loves
deeply, to encourage their faith and trust in Jesus.
2. Author
and Date
Scholars
are unified in believing that Paul wrote this letter around AD 50 or 51.
It’s our
oldest preserved Christian writing, and it was written after Paul’s second
visit to Thessalonica.
At this
time, Paul was a missionary on his second big journey alongside his team of
trustees Timothy and Silas.
3. Occasion
What caused
Paul to write this document as it is? This is hugely important to our
understanding of the text.
Scholars
agree that at this time, Thessalonica was a city of diverse population, with
many Gentiles openly worshiping idols and false gods.
Paul came to preach “first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” and during his time
in Thessalonica he attracted God-fearing Jews and Gentiles, Gentiles being
non-Jews.
Paul’s
success led to persecution as he was forced to flee the city and settle in Corinth. Eventually Paul
sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to gather a report of how things were going.
Paul wrote I Thessalonians based on this report. He wrote this letter seeking
to encourage the church in Thessalonica to take up the challenge of spreading
faith in Jesus, while staying the course in its “destined affliction.”
In other
words, this church was struggling with how to live a life of right love, faith
and hope in the midst of suffering and even the death of loved ones.
So Paul
wrote a letter to offer counsel during this tough time.
4. Organization
How is I Thessalonians organized?
Simply put,
the letter has three sections, and each one concludes with prayer.
1. Greeting
and Thanksgiving –Paul thanks God for the work already done with this
church body.
2. Paul’s
Ministry Defense– Paul defends the conduct of his team- reiterating that
they came to serve and not deceive.
3. Ethical
Instruction- Paul exhorts the church to live a life pleasing to God until the
return of Jesus.
So, that’s
the structure of the letter.
Finally,
how can we as a community get the most out of I Thessalonians this summer?
Here are
three ideas:
1. Read the
entire book each week.
It’s short. It’s relatively straight
forward. And it will take 15 minutes.
2. Study I
Thessalonians against the backdrop of Paul’s other letters
Mainly Philippians, Galatians, I and II Corinthians, and
Romans. These are the letters most closely connected to the timeframe of when
Paul wrote I Thessalonians. Since they all
follow I Thessalonians, you’ll notice that they offer insight into some of
Paul’s firstborn ideas on Christian living.
3. Come to
Summer Style having read through and thought through the section of I
Thessalonians for that night.
You can
keep track by noting the schedule on your handout.
Lastly, if
you are seeking growth and challenge this summer, as well as a fulfilling time
in your DG’s, then I suggest taking the time to consider the text before hand.
I am confident that it will multiply
your study experience in your DG.
I
had this dream to finish school, come home, and watch TV!
And
let me tell you….this dream was very good at happening every weekday, at 3pm,
4pm central.
I would come home, turn on SportsCenter, and then watch whatever else was on
ESPN until 6. Then I enjoyed Simpsons reruns til 7, and Friends reruns til
8…followed by primetime television til 11.
Obviously
Thursday night was the best. Here’s why… you got your daily reruns til 8, then
a BRAND NEW Friends and Scrubs from 8 to 9. AND during those commercials, Survivor
was also on. Just an hour later you would unravel an always strange and often
crude Vegas murder with CSI at 9. Then at 10 you end the night by watching With
Out a trace, a show that always assured me that you can go missing in an
infinite number of ways.
Of
course there are those moments… those moments where things really come
together. Like this:
But
there’s something else. My dream was not just
to come home and watch TV….no! because sometimes reruns had boring parts…sometimes
sportscenter covers nascar… and all commercials are the worst! my attention
span would not have that!
So
I’d also play video games using the picture-in-picture setting on my 27 inch TV.
That’s
right. While I watched my shows… I also journeyed my way through the Marios,
Zeldas, and yes… Maddens! Because, the last Superbowl my 49ers won was when I
was 6…so I thought they could use my help!
And
that was my dream. And it happened. And as you can see, it was both awesome and
terrible. But mainly terrible, because it was trivial. It was too easy. It wasn’t hopeful enough. It wasn’t grand enough. Who wants a dream
that you can fulfill all on your own?
Well,
I was also raised with another dream. A dream of what it would be like to have
a father. And with that, a normal
supportive family. Shoot, I hoped I’d
even settle for a family like the Simpsons. Say what you want about Homer…but
at least he was present…Sort of.
You see, as I shared last quarter…when I was 4 months old my biological father
left my family. But, this was not the
end of the story. There was still hope, and there was still the dream of a
father.
Because
when I was two, my mother got remarried to another man who actually adopted my
brothers and myself as sons.
My
dream of us having a father was alive again! The dream to joke around with him,
to beat his face in at a game of Madden, and to be guided in life without
unnecessary suffering.
But
as always, this dream was put to the test. And it faced harsh resistance…
because my parents divorced when I was 7.
But
it was worse than that. This guy turned
out to be an abusive individual.
so
the dream of having a stable, loving family was shattered. The very guy I hoped
would protect me from unnecessary pain was the guy I needed protection from.
And
that is precisely what happens to Joseph in this passage. Joseph quickly found
that the very people who should have launched his dream and protected him from unnecessary
suffering, were the people who hurt him and ended the dream.
And
we are left wondering, how do you carry on when a big dream dies? How do you
react when you really want something, but it just doesn’t go your way?
Becausewe are all
dreamers. Some of us have dreamed to attend our first choice in colleges…or
grad school, but we don’t get in.
Some
of us have dreamed to play sports at the college level, but an injury takes us
out of the game
Some
of us have dreamed for love. We have dreamed that the person we care about
would look back at us just as fondly, but they don’t.
Some of us, like myself, have dreamed for family. People who love you, protect you,
and sustain you…. But instead they’re non-existent or abusive.
And
we are always left asking, how do you carry on when a big dream dies?
Well
this is what Genesis 37 is all about. Genesis 37 reminds us that we are
dreamers and that when a dream dies, it is terribly painful. But, it also
reminds us that there is hope to carry on when a big dream dies.
But
before looking into what good news Genesis 37 has about carrying on when a big
dream dies, I’d like to first recap our Genesis narrative to this point…and I’m
going to do that in poetry form…
In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,
And
God loved his good creation
But
then Adam and Eve disobeyed
And
so sin entered the world from temptation
Abraham
was chosen by the Lord
To
be a blessed nation
But
there were no descendents, of course
So
the covenant was on ‘probation’
Eventually
his son Isaac was born,
And
so began the celebration
After
that Jacob was born,
But
Esau was Isaac’s favorite procreation
So,
Jacob grabbed Esau’s heel,
To
take his birth certification
Then
Jacob married four women,
You’d
think he’d have some hesitation!
Jacob
picked his favorite wife, Rachel,
Because
of her beautification
Then
Jacob picked his favorite son Joseph,
Due
to generational sin propagation
So,
Genesis 37, starts the fourth generation of our narrative. Joseph is the youngest of Jacob’s sons…and,
frankly, his favorite. And Joseph’s
story starts with a dream…actually a couple of them.
In
Joseph’s first dream he was working with his brothers…tying up grain. Then it
gets interesting… Joseph’s grain stood upright in the middle…and his brother’s
grain gathered around it and bowed to Joseph’s grain
No…I’m
not making this up…
Think
about it…Joseph was the youngest by a long shot. He had a different mother and he was his
father’s favorite. And, as we’ll see, he
fits all the stereotypes of ‘annoying little brother.’
And
he longed to fit in with his family. He dreamed that he would be loved and
valued in his family even though he is just a teenager, and he’s the
youngest. His dreams of belonging are so
intense that they invaded his sleep…and then he thinks that it will help to
tell his brothers, thinking that it would help him fit in
But
instead it annoys them…
Actually
it was more than annoying. They hated
him. For being younger. For being the favorite. For his dreams.
So
what does Joseph do? Naturally, he shares another dream…
In
this dream, the the sun, moon, and eleven stars are bowing down to him.
Oh
and the planets...and some meteors…meteoroids…meteorites… all bowing down.
And
again… he’s telling his brothers “Look guys, I fit in, I belong. Not only that, but I matter.” But this dream is about to super nova.
These
dreams are part of a building conflict between a clueless and maybe arrogant
teenage Joseph and his 11 older, stronger, smarter brothers. You can just
picture it… the family is a football team…11 older brothers take the
field…against Joseph…who may has well be the football.
You
see, it’s not entirely Joseph’s fault that his brothers hated him. Joseph’s mom
was Jacob’s favorite…of 4. And he did
nothing to hide the fact that Joseph was his favorite kid. Remember the last Genesis story we talked
about: Jacob sent his family to meet Esau’s army. The problem was that Jacob
sent Rachel and her sons last, giving them a better chance of survival.
This
was their father…Jacob. who was supposed to care and protect them…who sent them
into danger…
And
how did Jacob continue show that Joseph was his favorite? …Out of a deep, arbitrary, and
embarrassing devotion, Jacob gave him a colorful robe. Just what every
boy wants…GIVE ME A ROBE…a colorful one! just the thing to make you fit in with
11 older brothers.
And
this arbitrary love creates hatred from the unloved brothers. And again, the one who should have protected
Joseph, made things worse…
There
is something terribly unusual going on here, and the brothers won’t have it.
Because the younger should always bow to the older. And they were probably
looking forward to that day, when they would finally rule over Rachel’s son.
They
got their chance when Jacob sent Joseph…away from home…far away…to find his
angry brothers… and come back and share how they’re doing.
So
up to this point, the story is kind of playful and intriguing. But what happens
next is generally misconstrued in our culture. You see, there’s this musical…and
it’s pretty strange. It’s called “Joseph and the Technicolor dreamcoat.”
And
it depicts what happens next in a very peculiar way. Check it out.
But
the thing about this passage is that it’s not funny. In Joseph’s heart, there
are years of wanting to fit in with the brothers. In the brother’s hearts,
there are years of wanting to get rid of the favorite son. The tension is deep.
Just listen to what the brothers say in verse 19 before Joseph arrives.
19 "Here comes this
dreamer. 20Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the
pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we
will see what will become of his dreams."
Do
you notice what is happening here? His brothers spot him in the distance and plan
to kill him. This is cold and calculated
Can you imagine that? Trusting someone
and being completely betrayed by them?Isn’t it puzzling how Joseph just shares a
dream, and suddenly his life is being toyed with as his brothers begin plotting
his murder?
Fortunately, Reuben, the wimpiest older
brother ever, decided to convince the brothers not to kill him just yet…so
the brothers threw Joseph in a water hole, that was actually void of water.
And then the brothers sat down to eat
what I can only assume were their lunchables.
It’s
your typical mafia hit. These are some
cold blooded dudes. You know, at any
time between the consumption of crackers and the oozing of cheese wiz, they can
choose to take it back. They can stop this hit on Joseph. But they don’t…
they must have hated the favorite son for a very long time.
But
you know… there is always that guy…you know the guy…the guy who looks at every
situation, good or terrible, and asks the question “how can I get paid”…”how
can I get some moulaaa”
Well
one of the older brothers, Judah, is that guy and he thought it would be a
great idea to sell Joseph and make a profit. Judah
is a pretty interesting character in his own right, as we will see when Stanford,
Peter, and Landon tell you the rest of Judah’s story in a couple weeks.
So,
the brothers sold Joseph, the dreamer, for 20 pieces of silver. And the passage
goes on to tell us that
31 they took Joseph’s robe
and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32And they
sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said,
"This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or
not." 33And he identified it and said, "It is my son’s
robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to
pieces."
And
you’ve gotta be wondering….. exactly how many robes of many colors like that are
out there? “Oh, was that Jacob’s robe..we had no idea.”
So
the brothers have gotten rid of Joseph and the dream. Order is preserved in
the family…and you think how
can God possibly bless the earth through a family that functions in this way? A
family that functions near constant self-destruction?
And how do we carry on when a big dream
dies?
For
my first big idea on how to carry on when a big dreams dies, look with me at
verse 34, which tells us about Jacob’s reaction to the loss of his son.
34Then Jacob tore his
garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35All
his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be
comforted and said, "No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son,
mourning." Thus his father wept for him.
You
see, Genesis 37 gives insight to the complicated topic of how we should mourn
the loss of a big dream. Are we supposed to just move on? Not talk about it?
Are we allowed to mourn? Or should we be comforted right away and healed of
this loss? Well, Jacob tore his clothes and mourned the loss of his greatest
prize, his favorite son, for many days…
Because
the feeling of loss hurts. Often, we think we need to move on. We need to be creatures of efficiency,
but the truth is that mourning takes time.
Jesus
recognizes this and calls us to do it together, to ‘mourn with those who
mourn.’
Jesus
is telling us that when your dream is stripped away, there is freedom to hurt.
Genesis
37 is not a life passage. It is a death passage. And it teaches us what to do
when the death of a dream comes our way. Because, a dream can disappear. It’s
fragile and precarious and it can be killed.
But
what we need to do in order to carry on is to…
1. Realize that the
death of a dream has no bearing God’s character.
We
don’t need to be comforted from our sorrow right away. In fact, true comfort
is the kind of comfort that is present, and with us, and not the comfort that
speeds up the healing process.
When
I was in high school, I was one of the many unwise people who decided to date.
Those of you who have done this in high school know that it is generally a
terrible idea, because it hardly ever ends well.
The
strange thing about this was that I actually had some success. I met a nice
girl who I ended up being with for four years. And because we had gotten so
close, she became a huge part of my life.
But,
like most high school relationships, it came to a terribly painful end. And I
was destroyed from this…probably more than I should have been. Even though psychologists
do say that students experience this loss with the same intensity as losing a
family member…which is absurd…but the point is the feelings are real
I
mourned for many weeks after. There was no sense to it. The relationship was
not the greatest. We were better off apart. But I mourned uncontrollably.
But
there was one thing that stood out to me during my mourning: how my friend,
Pat, treated me during this time.
My
friend, who was attending UC Berkeley came out to Davis twice to spend time with me. Once, he
came to play tennis.
Another time he came to take me
snowboarding…and you know what I did that time? I slept in. I ignored his
calls. I remember hearing his car door until 10 or 11am as he waited for me
wondering if I was ever going to join him in the snow that day…which I didn’t
But
his favor toward me persisted even into summer.
One
day he came over to my house. Fortunately the door was unlocked, because I
probably didn’t have the strength to get up. And the moment we saw each other,
we both knew that I was going to break down again. And without saying anything,
he came and sat next to me. He put his arm around me and patiently let me cry
next to him. He didn’t rush me. He didn’t hold it against me that I ignored him
for our snow trip. He didn’t tell me that I had been mourning for 6 weeks
already and I needed to get over it. He let his presence tell me he loved me
and that I was free to mourn. …
And
the thing here is that God does the same thing for us. If you think that God is
not a God of comfort during even our most painful moments, then you did not get
that information from scripture. God is not smaller if our big dreams don’t
come true.
God
knows that suffering by ourselves can ruin us. But suffering within the
absolute assurance of God’s love can change everything.
The
point of mourning is to turn grief into contentment instead of bitterness. Bitterness
comes from mourning alone. Contentment comes from Godly counsel. Count on this.
Know that God gives us the freedom to mourn the death of a dream because “The
Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit”
And
we cannot be people who bottle it up. We should not reject the Comforter. I
know, sometimes Christians are afraid of suffering because we think it
testifies against God’s goodness. This makes us bad at being comforted or
coming alongside others when they’re in need. But God is with us. His presence
is our great comfort. And we have freedom to mourn.
So,
how can we carry on when our big dreams are killed? We first have tomake room in our worldviewfor the fact that even
dreams from God and be destroyed.
With that we should realize the death of a dream has no bearing God’s character…he
is with us for the long haul…his favor persists through all seasons.
Now
what’s the other good news that Genesis 37 has about how to carry on when a big
dream dies?
Look
with me back to Joseph’s journey. Notice the coincidences and random happenings
in this story.
Joseph
was sent by Jacob to find his brothers working in Shechem…but they aren’t
there. Instead they’re in Dothan,
OF COURSE… a remote place that is many miles farther from home… away from Jacob,
only from protection. But Joseph only finds this out after talking with a
nameless man in the wilderness who happened to overhear the brothers SAY they
were going to Dothan, AND who happened tell this to Joseph.
Amazingly,
Joseph finds his brothers in Dothan!
But by then they had planned to kill
him, so they grab him. Although, before killing him, Reuben convinces them spare
Joseph’s life for the time being. So instead, the brothers throw him into one
of those pits that are filled with water. Except, it has no water in it.
Then
this caravan going to Egypt
shows up!…in Dothan…a
remote place. And Judah
decides to make some money from the incident, by selling Joseph- Oh and Reuben
is gone now so that he cannot stop the transaction happening. And now Joseph is
the property of Potiphar, who is a captain for the Pharaoh.
Suddenly,
Joseph is exactly where he needs to be. In Egypt. Connected to the Pharaoh.
And if all this didn’t happen exactly in the order that it happened, everybody
eventually dies from a famine. Because what no one knows at this time is that
there is a famine coming in a few years. And if people do not get to Egypt in time,
they are all going to die of starvation. And this leads to my second point… we
need to
2.
Look for God’s favor within the seams of
a dead dream
What
have you noticed as I have shared this passage? What word tends to show up in
the scriptures again and again, yet this passage has makes no mention
it….GOD…not even once. God is absent. There is no mention of God anywhere in
this passage. God is never referred to.
This
might resonate with some of you. You may
have wondered if God has taken seasons of your life off. Because you have gone through rough times,
like losing a big dream, without any defense from God, who is loving and
powerful. But God isn’t in this passage. And sometimes it seems like God isn’t
within our dead dreams.
In Genesis 37 Joseph was seized, stripped, and thrown into what was more or
less his tomb. He cries out and no one does anything for him. Why? Why does the
dream have to die in that way?
At
the core of Joseph’s selfish dream is the hope for restoration. A dream that things
will be how they are supposed to be. That there will be restoration for a
broken world…and things will be set right.
And
God gave this hope to Joseph.
But
the thing about Godly dreams, as we see in Joseph’s case, is that they are not
automatic. They often face resistance!
Terrible, gutless, heartless, pitiless resistance! And what’s worse? The
resistance can overcome the dream. It can seemingly kill it. In this world, on this side, restoration does
not always win…sometimes brokenness overwhelms restoration.
You
see, there are three results for our big dreams; and even dreams from God: 1) the
dream can be deferred. It can come to fruition later, and in a way we’d never
expect...perhaps even after we have already given up on it! 2) the dream can
transform. It can turn into a different dream, a dream that fits the person you
are becoming or want to be. Or 3) the dream can die. It can face a terrible
death and never come back.
Genesis
37 gives us hope no matter which category our big dreams are under.
And
here’s why… No matter what category our dream is in…deferred, transformed,
dead…we have to react the same. Why?
Because each situation feels like a
loss. Because each situation demonstrates that our hopes have NOT gone the way
we imagined.
And
so we ask…where is God? How can something from the Lord be overcome and face
defeat? What does this say of His goodness? What does this say of His love? His
control? What does this say of us, that we cannot save our own dreams? We
cannot keep them alive.
But there is hope in the face of
dreams, even good dreams, even dreams FROM
GOD that die…it is in the One who knows the way back from death.
Because, Jesus depicts that a dream can overcome death. Before leaving his
disciples to be crucified Jesus said:
“A little while, and you will see me
no longer…truly I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will
rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.” John
16:16,20
God
doesn’t choose to prevent evil. He chooses to outflank it.
God doesn’t create evil. He overrules it, and it destroys itself. God turns
deaths into resurrections. So if your
dream dies, or things don’t go as you had hoped…you can become bitter…you can,
that’s your prerogative, or you can
look for something beautiful to come of it. You can look for God’s favor.
That’s the story of Jesus. Sent to
the cross in what looked like cosmic defeat. Raised up on the third day in
celebration of victory over death!
The dreams we have from God can die…
and they often die! But, our God is a God of resurrections.
Our God raises dreams back to life. And
Jesus came back to life, bringing HIS dream of restoration to us. And for
Joseph… it’s not over yet
Yeah he’s been sold. Yeah he’s in Egypt.
But we know to stay tuned. Because we know how this one ends. The death of our
big dreams, is not the death of God’s big dream.
Because God does not abandon dreams
of restoration.
Tonight,
I’ve talked a lot about dreams of restoration. Dreams of relational or personal
restoration.
But some of you aren’t really thinking about that. You’re thinking… man…my
dream was to be a doctor, or an engineer, or an athlete. But after taking
ochem, or math 21, or getting injured… you’ve realized. This dream isn’t gonna
happen. And it hurts.
But
here’s the thing… For those of you who have these kinds of dreams…recognize
first that this dream could either be deferred to a later time, transformed
into a different dream, or it could simply be gone for whatever reason.
But
regardless, I encourage you to
1.
Realize that the death of a dream does not bear on God’s character…he mourns
with us…his love persists
2.
and always look for God’s favor…his love…his creative re-creation…within the
seams of a dead dream.
And
for whatever category your dream is in…ask your self: Am I going to let sorrow
turn to bitterness? Or am I going look closely...and find out what adventurous and creative
journey of restoration God is taking me on. Am I going to look for God to bring something
beautiful out of this?
And
recognize, not all dreams are even from God.
Some dreams NEED to die, because they are idols. They are too important
to us. They consume too much of our lives.
And
we need to be willing to let those go. These are the kinds of dreams that
overwhelm our every decision. They tell us to disregard all human affection,
patience, and humility in order to accomplish this dream. And they are
poisonous for our lives.
Because
the call is not to make dreams happen on our own. The call is to live out God’s
dream for us. To be bearers of restoration, as Christ has now brought on an age
of restoration. And sometimes, the most productive
path for restoration takes us through the wreckage of a shattered dream. So stay tuned for the rest of this story in
the coming weeks…because that is exactly what happens with Joseph.
If
you’re fearing the loss of a dream that is holding on by the thinnest thread,
or already morning the loss of a dream that you’ve had for years and may even
believe was from God…remember, dreams can be deferred, transformed, or even
truly dead. But, what matters…what matters is that God turns deaths into
resurrections. He turns the feeling of death, the feeling of loss, or an actual
death into resurrections. Our God turns sorrow into joy.
