Sermon for August 13, 2023 – The Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28, Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45c, Romans 10:5-15, Matthew 14:22-33

Over the summer we have been diving into our often overlooked appointed old testament reading. While our Genesis stories have been connected by family line, most of the readings have been episodic or stand alone stories. Today we take a turn into what is more like a novella that will take us two weeks to hear the complete story.

Sometimes referred to as the “Joseph cycle,” Genesis chapters 37-50 tells the dramatic tale of Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob; from his betrayal at the hands of his brothers, through his descent into slavery and then rise to power in Egypt, and to his ultimate reunion and reconciliation with his family.

The arc of the story stretches across all fourteen chapters, with a beginning, middle, and end, just like any complete narrative. When reading lectionary-sized excerpts from this portion of Genesis, it is best to think of them as scenes from a larger narrative rather than free-standing, complete units.

The opening scene of the Joseph cycle is set in Canaan, which is, of course, the Promised Land. Ever since the first utterance of the promise of land and descendants to Abraham in Genesis 12, the book has told tales of obstacle after obstacle threatening that promise: dangerous foreign kings, barren women, and famine, just to name a few.

The Joseph cycle will present another obstacle to the realization of that promise by taking the people of Israel out of Canaan, out of the land promised to Abraham, to live in Egypt, where they will eventually become enslaved. At this early point in the narrative, this looks like a family drama rather than a political one.

Today’s passage revisits the idea of favoritism and sibling rivalry. Especially striking in the Joseph story is the way that his father’s love for him inspires the opposite emotion, hatred, in his brothers. Although verses 5-11 are excluded from the appointed readings, they highlight the escalating tension between Joseph and his brothers.

Initially the brothers hate Joseph because of their father’s love for him. Then they hate Joseph “even more” because he has a dream in which he predicts his whole family will one day bow to him, and he tells them all about it in obnoxious delight. The verses missing from the lectionary reading highlights Joseph’s part in the growing divide in his relationship with his brothers. The dysfunction in Joseph’s family stems not from any one source, but rather from the brokenness of all parties.

Our appointed reading picks up with Joseph’s brothers plotting to kill him, one brother having a crisis of conscious, and another brother leads the charge to sell Joseph into slavery. The brothers are paid and Joseph is taken to Egypt.

We might as ourselves, how did these ten brothers end up stripping their youngest brother and selling him into a life of slavery? The answer is complex. Each of the ten had a different reaction to Joseph, a mix of family loyalty and sheer hate. They also had fear for their own futures. Their father’s devotion to Joseph caused pain, masked by jealousy. By the end of today’s reading, ten brothers have done what they deemed they had to in order to protect their privilege and sacrificed the life of their brother in the process.

And that is where we are left. There is no happy ending or even a sense of resolution in our appointed reading. As those who have heard this story before, we know the story of Joseph and his brothers will continue to take twists and turns until they are reunited. But for today let’s not jump ahead. Let’s stay here, just as we do on Good Friday. Let’s stay in this uncomfortable place and examine what this portion of Joseph’s story has to say to us?

A few things feel clear to me:

Family rifts can be so bad that they look like they will never be healed.

Parents shouldn’t let their children know who their favorite is.

Often, we cannot see God at work until we look in hindsight.

It can be hard to listen to and sit with a story that seems hopeless.

At the heart of this story is betrayal; that all too human action when there is a break or violation of a presumptive trust or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflicts within a relationship. These moral and psychological conflicts then produce deep anxiety and physical distress. Just as Judas betrayed Jesus to the religious authorities, the brothers betrayed Joseph by leveraging his trust and confidence to their own personal ends. Betrayal can be such a devastating act that sometimes there is no going back, there is no repair. In Dante’s vision of Hell in his classic poem Inferno, the deepest circle of is reserved for those how betrayed their loved ones, friends, best friends, and even family. To betray someone is never taken lightly because we never know just how it will all play out and with comes the heavy emotional burden of guilt.

Growing up as the middle of son of three boys, we were constantly at each other I have no doubt that I betrayed my older brother’s trust and confidence to my parents when I didn’t get my way or broke under pressure when I was sworn to secrecy. While nothing seriously dramatic comes to mind, I have no doubt that anytime I tattled on my brothers, our relationship suffered. Anytime I tried to save myself or get one up on them, our relationship suffered. While my older brother would never have told me or shown it, I am sure he was hurt by my actions. It never dawned on me that one day I might do something that might damage our relationship beyond repair. In the deep recesses of my mind, I do remember some long nights, racked with guilt, where I anxiously tossed and turned, wondering if I had finally gone too far. I wonder if that is what Joesph’s brothers’ felt later that night. I wonder if they too felt the crushing anxieties of how their story will play out?

Next week, we will hear the rest of Joseph’s cycle. We will get to hear the hardships and blessings he experiences in Egypt. We will see him reunite with his family but until then let’s hold on to this “end” of the story. When have you been like Joseph or like me; not thinking about how your words and actions affect those you love? When have you been like Joseph’s brothers and fallen to group think or turned a blind eye to protect your own privilege at the expense of another? These are not comfortable questions to turn on ourselves, but when we do, we may be able to see where God is inviting us to do the hard work of mending a relationship. Jesus says the world will know we are his disciples if we have love for one another. Today, we have an invitation to reflect and take stock of our lives, so that when we find ourselves in similar situations, we may have the courage to choose love, in serving others, rather than betrayal, when we serve ourselves. Amen.