A Dream Restored: Genesis 41 (ESV)

 

Think about a weird dream you’ve had.  Sometimes we try to make sense of them and wonder what they mean.  Today we’re looking at a couple dreams with Joseph and remember the dream Joseph had as a teen is still in the background.  We all have wild dreams sometimes like we’re driving a school bus on the beach and Beethoven in playing music on the piano and that’s all I remember.  It’s hard to understand our dreams.  Sometimes we ask if God is trying to tell us something.  For the Egyptians, dreams meant something.  They had a group of educated people who would interpret the meaning of dreams.

Our world faces challenges.

Pharaoh’s dream was a big thing he was concerned about.  There were healthy cows that were all eaten by ugly skinny cows.

                    ⁸So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

Last week we learned the Egyptians had this whole school of people to interpret dreams.  Egypt had advanced learning and were ahead of the rest of the world in this time period.  They were the number one culture in the world.  Remember in Exodus 7:10-12:

            ¹⁰So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. ¹¹Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. ¹²For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.

There was a group of magicians in Egypt that could do cool things.  I don’t’ know how they did it, but Pharoah wants to understand his dream.  These magicians cannot make sense of Pharaoh’s dream.  For Egyptians, this dream means the gods are trying to communicate with them.  For Pharoah this is a leadership thing.  He is troubled.  We resonate with this because our world is full of trouble.  Less than 48 hours ago Chief Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away. This has major implications for our country.  We know our world faces challenges.  What do we do with all this?  In this passage we’re in a culture where very few people are following Yahweh, God, yet Yahweh is still in control!  We’re sometimes in these situations too.  We at FBC are not at the forefront of what’s happening and sometimes we can get too soft and think we have no voice.  God has placed us in this moment.  We have a moral responsibility to speak into our world.  God places us where we are for a reason.  Remember Joseph is still in prison.  

We have unique gifts that our world needs.

The cupbearer has been out of prison for two years.  He forgot Joseph. 
                    ¹²A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. 

Joseph comes back to the cupbearer’s mind!  This is how we want our witness to be. We don’t want to be annoying, but we still want to be there in the back of people’s minds.  In that moment the cupbearer remembers.  We sometimes minimize our spiritual gifts too much.  I have been a believer for 38 years.  We sometimes forget other people don’t have the fruits of the Spirit.  We know lots of people who live by the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5.  That is not how the majority of people live.  We have unique gifts, gifts of service.  God gives us special gifts, skills that make us unique in our world.  We learn these as we walk with Christ.

It’s apple season.  What do you do when you walk into an apple orchard?  It’s so wonderful with all the succulent apples to choose from!  They’ve grown to be enjoyed.  It’s disturbing that we are hesitant to use our gifts but it’s because we have been marginalized.  We’ve turned Christianity into a doctrine we share.  We should be sharing the fruits of the Spirit. 

Our gifts come from God.

¹⁶Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

Pharoah was considered to be divine.  There’s a corrective here and it’s important for our hearts as well.  God gets the credit!  People see our gifts and abilities and if we aren’t careful we can get puffed up about it and then we miss the opportunity to share with people who God is.    Notice Joseph doesn’t go through a whole background with Pharaoh.  Joseph’s first words to him are t word used here is for the One True God.  He’s not rude about it.  Joseph is clear that truth comes from God.  Joseph is pointing Pharoah to God.  This is how we have peace in the world when everyone is going crazy.  Let’s not be like the rest of the world.  We are filled with the Spirit of God.  God will give Pharoah a favorable answer. 

In Galatians 2:20, “²⁰I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” It’s not I, but Christ.  It’s not that I am able, but Christ in me.  What you see in this moment is the power or Christ.  It’s not unique to me.  We have several moments in our lives like this.  How are you staying calm in all of this?  It’s not I, but Christ.  Joseph tells Pharoah what his dreams mean.  You can read chapter 41 to get the answer.  Joseph puts this answer together in a way that Pharoah knows this concern is settled.  This Hebrew slave gives Pharoah the answer he needs.  This did not come from education, but from God.

God provides solutions to challenges.

                    ³³Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. 

After Joseph tells Pharoah what the dream means he gives a clear and decisive plan for Egypt.  It’s one thing to point out what’s happening but it’s another to say, “Here’s a God given solution.”  Joseph is before the most powerful man on earth and it takes guts to speak this way to Pharoah.  For seven year they’re to store up enough to provide for their future.  This is a saving grace for Egypt.  Pharoah sees Joseph has a unique gift of interpreting dreams.  There’s a huge difference in the leader who just tells you what’s wrong and the leader who offers a solution.

My mom visited a few years ago and while we were eating in a restaurant she punctured the bottom of her Styrofoam cup.  It was coming out everywhere!  Nancy and I were concerned but my parents were laughing about it.  Someone said, “Your drink is leaking,” just stating the problem at hand.  The second kind of response was people started gathering napkins and someone got another cup to correct the problem.    

We can be restored as we serve.

Our world is facing tremendous problems.  As believers this is our moment to impact the world.  We are here.   God placed Joseph in that time for a reason.  What solutions can you bring to your circle?  You’re not exempt or immune from the craziness that’s happening right now.  How can we be different? 
                    ⁴⁶Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. 
For thirteen years Joseph’s been a slave and now he is FREE!  I’m just curious, how many of you have been in the presence of President Trump in the past few weeks?  None of us have.  Joseph is in the presence of Pharoah.  He has the ear of the leader of the free world.   As a teen Joseph knew God would do something great in his life.    It’s as abrupt of a change like God does when at the cross God sets us free.  We’ve experienced this.  If you’ve come to God you’ve gone from darkness into light.   When we come to God we know we are forgiven.  We may struggle with it at times.   This is what god does in our lives.  God restores dreams and God restores people.

Sermon Notes are taken, transcribed and posted by Jeni Martin Johnson.  Sermon by Dr. Scotty Carpenter.