Hitting Bottom: Genesis 39.21-40.23

 

Nothing says fall like college football!  The leaves are now turning and there’s pumpkin spice everything.  A reminder it’s fall is the comic strip where Lucy holds the football for Charlie Brown.  We wonder if maybe this year he’ll finally kick the football.  Charlie Brown always ends up at the bottom on the ground. 

Joseph is at the bottom.  The rug is pulled out from under him again.  Even at the bottom there are some good things.  We get our hopes up and the football is pulled right out from under us. 

There is love at the bottom.

God is with the brokenhearted.

 To recap, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and he becomes Potiphar’s slave.  He’s accused by Potiphar’s wife and is thrown in prison.  Life keeps getting worse.  There’s a surprise here in verse 21:

            21But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

The Lord was with him.  The Lord shows Joseph steadfast love.  Even though Joseph was crushed he finds a love that never fails.  The term for steadfast love here is a unique word.  It describes a love that doesn’t end, a committed love.  It’s the same word that’s used in Ruth chapter 1 when Naomi and her two daughters in law have suffered a hard life.  Naomi’s husband and two sons are dead.  This meant economic collapse for them.  They were in dire poverty and they had to leave all they knew.  Naomi says her hope for her daughters in law is they will find the steadfast love of God.  Her first prayer isn’t for riches; it’s for the steadfast love of God.  There’s a lot we can live without but Joseph knows God was there, with him.  We too can know that if everyone walks away the love of God is so strong and powerful. 

Remember how Jonah got mad at God for asking him to preach God’s love to the rebellious people, the Ninevites?  Jonah didn’t like the Ninevites and he didn’t want to preach to them.  Jonah preaches to them and they turned back to God.   Joseph found this same steadfast love.   I hope you find it too.  If you are hitting bottom I pray you’ll find the steadfast love of God.  We are not alone when we’re at the bottom. 

There are people at the bottom.

                    ⁴The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody.

As Joseph is in prison he is given some responsibility, an elevated position.  Does the “captain of the guard” sound familiar to you?  These are the same words used for Potiphar.  Maybe Joseph is under Potiphar?  If not, he would have been under someone who was familiar with Potiphar. 

The Cup Bearer and the Baker work for Pharaoh and are powerful people who fell out of favor with the Pharaoh.  These are the two people placed with Joseph.  We see the providence of God here in how God brings the right people together. 

This past week I was driving on Church Street and I noticed two older women were having difficulty walking.  There were laughing about it together and soon after they linked arms together to help each other.  That’s a good picture of where we are.  We might be struggling, but we’re in this together.  God is placing people in Joseph’s life strategically.  I hope you’re seeing that in your life as well.  God places people around us.  Joseph is going to have an experience with unusual dreams. 

You are still you at the bottom.

Things may look different on the outside, but Joseph is still Joseph.  He knows something doesn’t look right, something has upset the cup bearer and the baker.

                    ⁸They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.” 

Both of them had difficult dreams on the same night.  The Egyptians believed that when you had dreams you entered the world of gods.  Egyptians had trained people to interpret dreams so they could understand how the gods communicated with them.  These men are so upset because in prison there was no one to help interpret their dreams.  They are distraught.  Joseph asks them, “Do not interpretations belong to God?  Joseph cannot stop being Joseph.  The word for 'god' used here is in the singular form.  We lose this in the English language as we read.    Joseph is expressing his theistic belief that God is One God, Yahweh.  They’re all upset, but there’s a God who can speak to us.   Joseph invites them to tell him their dreams and he interprets their dreams.  If you were Joseph, would you even want to hear about another dream for the rest of your life?  Everything went wrong in his life because of his dream!  Joseph cannot stop being Joseph.  Even when circumstances are bad who you are is a steady constant throughout your life.  You are still YOU. 

When I get a bag of potato chips I’m excited to open it and see the nice big chips at the top of the bag.  They’re full sized and yummy but at the bottom of the bag they’re all broken up in pieces.  How many of you throw away what’s at the bottom of the bag?  Or, do you turn the bag up and pour them into your mouth?  They’re still chips even if they’re all broken up!  Maybe you feel that way?  You may feel like God cannot use you?  Look where Joseph is.  He’s at the bottom.  Nothing is going right in his life.  He’s at the bottom and is ready to hear their dreams.  Sometimes it might seem like, yeah, that’s good for Joseph, but that’s not my life.

Paul was a jolly prisoner who sang in prison.  Joseph isn’t described that way.  Joseph is frustrated.

The bottom is not the end of the story.

                    ¹⁵For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”
 There are two injustices here:

1)         Joseph was stolen into the land of Egypt to live as a slave

 2)        He’s wrongly convicted and imprisoned.

Joseph isn’t upset that they do not have his favorite soap in prison!  There’s a careful distinction here.  There’s a difference in being inconvenienced and an injustice.  Joseph is upset over injustice.  There’s a place to be upset over injustice and we should be.  It’s never OK for human trafficking to take place.  It’s never OK for the sanctity of life to be stripped away.  How do we tell the difference?  We go into God’s presence.  Have you taken it to God?  God, in the power of the Holy Spirit can show us very quickly what’s a real injustice or if you’re being inconvenienced.  Are the things you’re upset about Kingdom things?  Kingdom things are the things that are the heart of God.  There’s a holy fervor that should move us as a people.  Joseph is saying this is wrong and he cried out for justice.  The cupbearer is restored to power.

                    ²³Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Joseph was forgotten.  The football is once again snatched out of the way!  No matter how low we think we are there’s always an even lower spot.  Joseph will spend two more years in prison.  He feels forgotten.  He is not alone.  The steadfast love of God is there with him.  Pain gets our attention.  Pain is God’s megaphone to the world.  As we feel pain and injustice may our hearts be turned to God.  If you feel forgotten, you are not alone.  God loves you and sent His son to the cross for you.

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