SERMON 38 - SUNDAY 19 JANUARY 2014

Sermon at Winterslow Baptist Church – Sunday 19 January 2014

This sermon can also be heard shortly at http://winterslowbaptist.org.uk/

Genesis 39:20 – Genesis 40:23

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable to you, O God.  Amen

“The Chief Cupbearer, however, didn’t remember Joseph; he forgot him”?

I don’t know about you, but whenever I am in a hurry to have a meal in a restaurant, the service is always so slow!  Just a few weeks ago I was with the family in Marrakech and on our last day, before finally going to the airport to catch our flight back, we decided, well it was my decision actually, that instead of paying for an expensive meal at the airport or having a cardboard meal on the plane, we would go along to our little restaurant along from the hotel and have a final meal.  We had about an hour to do this and so thought that we would have plenty of time.  We arrived at the restaurant, sat down, our order was taken quickly and bread and olives brought out to us.  Great, we thought, we’ll get a decent meal and then be on our way.  Half an hour passed, and no meal arrived; after another fifteen minutes or so and after prompting we were finally served and bolted down our meal in order to rush back to the hotel, pick up our bags and jump in a taxi to the airport.  During that time I was feeling anxious and kept wondering whether they had transmitted our order to the kitchen, or had they simply forgotten it or forgotten us!  All was well in the end but those moments were indeed anxious ones.

In our reading today, Joseph has to wait another two years, after receiving the hope that the cupbearer will remember him, before he is eventually released from prison.  What frustration that must have been for him, especially as he never stopped believing that God was there for him and wouldn’t forget him.

When David and Bob asked me to come along and preach to you today they let me have a completely free hand in the choice of topic.  In the Anglican Church, where I normally preach, we use a very strict rota of scripture readings from the Common Lectionary and many other churches use a series of theme readings.  The freedom to choose was, therefore, quite a challenging one for me.  There are 66 books in the bible upon which to base a scripture talk – 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New - and so often I find that sermons are based on either one of the gospels or one of Paul’s letters.  Seldom, do I find that a sermon is based on an Old Testament reading.  Yet the Old Testament is so rich in lessons which we can apply to today’s modern world and the scriptures which Jesus used in his teaching had to be based on the Old Testament, after all, he was constructing the New Testament himself in the ministry he was then doing on Earth.  The Old Testament is full of prophesies and stories which would have been ingrained in the minds of the Jews at Jesus’s time and, in particular, the Torah, or the first five books of the Hebrew bible, which is read completely every year just as with the Common Lectionary, the Anglican Church reads through one complete gospel every year.  Therefore, the story of Joseph would have been well known to them and its lessons studied.

I have heard many Christians say “I don’t do the Old Testament”  or “I can’t see the relevance of the Old Testament in today’s modern world” – but I think those are sad statements – I believe more than ever that many of the failures and bad things which appear to happen in the bible only go to show the depth of God’s grace to us all as flawed human beings and the story of Joseph is a remarkable story of perseverance and faithfulness.

I recently attended a bible study class at one of the larger churches in Salisbury and the story of Joseph came up.  A few people expressed how fanciful it was – and something which could never happen today – that Joseph, wrongly accused and thrown into prison could be released and soar to the heights of prime minister of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh in so short a time.  My response to that was just two words – “Nelson Mandela”!  Indeed, Mandela became not second in importance in the land like Joseph - but President of a new multi-racial South Africa within four years of his release.  So stories like Joseph can indeed have modern parallels.

But let’s look more closely at today’s reading and what we can learn from it for ourselves.

First of all, we learn that Joseph has been thrown into prison by his master.  Even before that he has had something of a roller-coaster experience.  Joseph was the favourite son of Jacob, son of Isaac, who had swindled his brother Esau out of his inheritance for a pot of stew and who, himself, had been deceived by his father-in-law.  Jacob favoured Joseph above all his other sons because he was born to him in his old age by his second wife, the beautiful Rachel.   Jacob gave him the famous “technicolour dreamcoat” and made no secret to his other children of his favouritism.  As if that wasn’t enough to invoke sibling rivalry and anger, Joseph, who had the gift of interpreting dreams, interpreted a dream he had himself and told this to his brothers. Not content with telling them the dream about eleven sheaves of corn bowing down to his sheaf he has to emphasise his superiority over his brothers by then telling them about a second dream in which eleven moons bow down to his son.  No wonder they hated him so much – not only the favoured one but also the conceited boastful one.

I am sure you all know the story well.  His brothers instead of killing him outright threw him into a well and then later changed their mind and sold him to the Ishmaelites – that wandering tribe descended from Abraham’s liaison with Hagar.   They in their turn sold him into slavery in Egypt to serve in the house of Potiphar, a senior official at Pharaoh’s court.

Joseph was seventeen at the time of his arrival at Potiphar’s house and it seems that he spent several years there becoming no mere slave but put in charge of everything Potiphar possessed, except his wife, who had her own ideas about that.  The next stage in Joseph’s life resembles that film “Disclosure” starring Michael Douglas and Demi Moore – a modern day story which is as old as the Old Testament – yet another example of the Old Testament pointing to the “here and now”.   Having avoided temptation, he is falsely accused of having tried to have a sexual relationship, or as we once tried to explain to the Junior Church, a “special cuddle” with Potiphar’s wife.  Note how Potiphar’s wife shifts the blame on to Potiphar himself when she exclaims “Look what YOUR servant has done”! 

Such a crime would normally have led to Joseph’s immediate execution but it appears that Potiphar either didn’t entirely believe his wife’s story or that he saw something exceptionally special in Joseph, that he has him put in a special prison reserved for the Pharaoh’s  special prisoners.

Once again we can only marvel at God’s grace towards Joseph in that the warder of the prison grants joseph special favours enabling him to attend upon other prisoners – a sort of trusty – and in that position he meets up with the cupbearer and the baker.

I have often wondered what these two officials had done to warrant being put in prison and can only surmise that maybe Pharaoh had had, at some time, an upset stomach or symptoms of food poisoning and therefore had concluded that either the bread or the wine had been responsible.  Whatever the reason, these two were now incarcerated with Joseph.

The next bit of the scriptural text is, I think very revealing about the character of Joseph.  He notices that the two men look dejected – in his serving both in Potiphar’s house and again in the prison, he has learned the importance of discerning need and anxiety.  I think this is a good lesson for us all – in the New Testament, Jesus tells us that he came to serve, not to be served, and part of that ability to serve is to be able to listen and act pastorally.  Joseph himself had spent a life in servitude – first as a shepherd, then as a slave and now as a prisoner.  In each of those positions he had been given added responsibilities and I can only conclude that this was because he showed compassion and humility for those he served.  Jesus, in washing his disciples feet displays that self-same character which we should all try and emulate – although at times it can be quite hard. 

The two officials are clearly troubled by their dreams but are frustrated because there is nobody who can interpret them.

At this point Joseph, who clearly knows that God has given him the gift for interpretation, could so easily have made some sort of a deal with the officials to his own advantage – he could have accentuated his position as a bridge between God and these prisoners but he does not do so.  He simply says to them – “Don’t interpretations belong to God?”  In other words, only God can properly and accurately interpret dreams and when he asks them to “Tell me your dreams” he is putting himself as an agent of God and not trying to enhance his position.

We would all do well to remember this. Whenever we feel pulled to undertake God’s call, whatever that may be, and to use the gifts which he has given us – and he has indeed given each and every one of us one or more gifts – we are to remember that and to act with humility and love without thought for ourselves

Joseph did not “strike a deal” but went ahead with the interpretations which, the case of the cupbearer was easy but in the case of the baker must have been extremely difficult.  Joseph simply says, at the end of the interpretations, to the cupbearer; remember me when you are restored to your position.  And he doesn’t!

We can only guess that the cupbearer was so overjoyed to be put back into his important position that he simply forget all about the dream and Joseph.  Maybe he didn’t know what sort of reaction he might get from Pharaoh if he asked him any further furthers – after all the baker’s head had been parted from the rest of his body – Pharaoh was quite capable of changing his mind and ending the cupbearer’s freedom again – he had done it once already.  We don’t know but we can only guess at how Joseph must have felt – probably thinking every day that his reprieve was imminent.

Another two years was to pass.  God wasn’t ready yet to release him – the time wasn’t quite right as we shall see.

I’d like you to take a couple of minutes to chat to your neighbour and share with them a time when you have felt that God had abandoned you or wasn’t listening or didn’t answer your immediate prayer – and then having done that, perhaps share with your partner what the final outcome was…………………..

I’d like to share with you just one of many instances when that has happened to me.  I once applied for a judicial position which would have meant me having to give up my current employment.  Had I been successful it is unlikely that I would have met my wife and even more unlikely, I believe, that I would have been put in a place where I was able to fulfil a call to God’s ministry – but at the time I felt that an important door had been locked to me and that God was not answering my prayers.

I have no doubt that Joseph prayed constantly to God to be released.  It took Pharaoh having dreams and the cupbearer remembering the man who could interpret them to bring Joseph out of his cell.  The time was perfect for the dreams were such that Joseph could not only interpret them but could also provide this king with a solution to the forthcoming disaster.  Had the cupbearer remembered and called for Joseph’s release earlier it is probable that Pharaoh would have either ignored the plea or if he had released Joseph, Joseph would not have been of any importance and not in any position to save the country from famine.

The story of Joseph is one which can inspire us all and which can help us to keep our faith when times can seem grim.  The one main theme which runs through these chapters of Genesis is that of hope and perseverance.  These are admirable qualities in these days of fast consumerism when we are judged by our outward wealth and apparent contentment – but often keeping up with others, trying to climb the greasy pole of success and above all trying to plan and structure our lives and take control ourselves – can lead to burn out, frustration and unbelievable stress.

As Christians we can all take a leaf out of Joseph’s book.  Patience and prayer; faithfulness and friendship of Jesus; compassion and comprehension for others – trusting that God has a plan for all of us – in the words of Jeremiah 29 “not to harm us” and at those times when we most feel forgotten, as Joseph must have on several occasions – we can remember those wonderful words from Hebrews “Never will I leave you; Never will I forsake you”

We would all do well to remember those words whenever the going gets tough.

Amen

 

SERMON 37 - SUNDAY 12 JANUARY 2014

Sermon at St. Mary’s Parish Church, West Dean and St. John’s Parish Church West Grimstead – Morning Praise - Sunday 12 January 2014

Isaiah 42:1-9;  Acts 10:34-43; 2:10-18; Matthew 3:13-end

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable to you, O God.  Amen

It is one of those quirks of the Church’s calendar that Jesus’s baptism by John in the River Jordan is placed before Candlemas when, as a child, he is presented in the Temple.  One would have thought that it ought to be the other way round – certainly chronologically.  However, as with so many things, theological, the emphasis is placed this way round for a specific reason.

We can divide Jesus’s life up into five episodes – 1. His birth which we celebrate at Christmas with the accompanying period of the Epiphany with the adoration of the Magi,  - 2. His early life with his family in Nazareth, probably learning carpentry skills as well as how to run a successful business – his later parables clearly indicate some knowledge of business acumen – the parable of the talents, lost coins, house building etc. ,  - 3. His ministry with his disciples over a fairly short period of three years – 4. The Passion – crucifixion and resurrection – and 5. The post-resurrection period leading to his final ascension into heaven.

With the exception of Christmas, we tend to concentrate heavily on number 3 – and the lessons which he taught us and which we frequently study in our house groups to try and understand what it was like to be around in Jesus’s time and understand how his ministry continues to affect our lives today.

Jews and Muslims just see Jesus as a prophet and many non-Christians as perhaps simply a good man/teacher – but as Christians it is axiomatic to our belief and faith that the readings of today form their very root.

John’s baptism of Jesus can so easily be seen as a mere starting point of the story. As we know, the first written gospel, that of Mark, starts right at the beginning with John the Baptist’s ministry and Jesus’s baptism.  No angelic visitation for Mary, no fully occupied hotels in Bethlehem, no manger, no lowing cattle – not even a baby that doesn’t cry.  No wise men, no star in the east or anywhere else for that matter.  Mark jumps straight in with Jesus’s baptism.  The significance of which becomes very clear when we look into the prophesies of the Old Testament.

Quite often I hear from Christians, often the more evangelical ones, that they “don’t ‘do’ the Old Testament”.  The God of genocide and smiting doesn’t fit in easily with the love of God and the teachings of grace and forgiveness – as though there are two Gods – a nice one and a nasty one.  Mark, in his no nonsense narrative-way wants to get straight into Jesus’s ministry with an acknowledgement that the Holy Spirit was very much part of that.

These three readings all hang together well. 

When practising law I make a very clear statement to my clients, at the beginning of any case, that it must all work together like a stick of rock.  Some people like to use the analogy of a golden thread but having been brought up in and lived most of my life in seaside towns, I prefer the stick of rock idea. 

Our statements and evidence, as presented to the court - whether prosecuting or defending, must be consistent.  If at any time there are discrepancies or inconsistencies, there is a strong chance that the case will fall apart. If we buy a stick of rock from Bournemouth, we expect that when we bite into it the word “Bournemouth” will appear right down to the last bite – we don’t expect “Brighton” to suddenly appear in the middle!  In all our readings today we see “Bournemouth” – well actually probably “Bethlehem”.  The baptism is a continuation of the message written by the author of Isaiah and continued as a message from Peter to Cornelius so that message continues right up until today – 12^th January 2014.

The baptism is a strong message to the Jews which later translates for the Gentiles.  In a recent house group I attended in West Dean, we looked again and again at parallels between the stories of the Old Testament and Jesus’s ministry.  The stick of rock was strong and consistent wherever we bit into it – feeding the five thousand, walking on water and especially the baptism.  And that for us Christians, is re-assuring and comforting.

Isaiah is prophesying that the Messiah, the chosen one, will be revealed when the Holy Spirit lights upon him – “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight. I will put my Spirit on him”.  It could almost be another translation of today’s Gospel passage.

We have to remember that in Jesus’s time they did not have the scriptures which we Christians have and use today.  The New Testament was still being formed and that the stories we have in it are written many years after the events.  The baptism of Jesus is such an important event, theologically, that it appears, unlike every story, in all four gospels – and especially in John who wrote more from a theological point of view than a biographical one.

John the Baptist is reticent about baptising Jesus – “surely”, he says “you should be baptising me” but it was necessary for John to do this otherwise we would have “Brighton” and not “Bournemouth” in our stick of rock.

I have, in the past, found it strange that the Son of God should be baptised – after all, why should that be necessary when we have the Trinity – one for all and all for one!  Yet this was a public declaration of his status, as the true Messiah, as prophesied in Isaiah.  It was also necessary for John to do this as John, it was also prophesied, would be the one who was to come first – to proclaim the way of the Lord – again to fulfil the prophesy and which John, the apostle,  at the beginning of his gospel, is at great pains to point out.  – The reading which we hear every Christmas morning.

But it doesn’t stop there. In our reading from Acts, the message is taken further – into the world of the Gentiles.  Peter is speaking to Cornelius and his household, one of the very first, Gentiles to convert to Christianity.  Cornelius, a Roman centurion, had a vision that he and his family should convert to Christianity – well ahead of any other Romans – and it was probably quite a dangerous thing to do in those days. It is because Peter has been filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and had started his own ministry of healing that he is able to bestow that gift of the Holy Spirit through baptism to those whom, like Cornelius, had asked for it. 

Matthew clearly believed that Jesus’s baptism fulfilled the prophesy of Isaiah.  Peter in his act of baptising Cornelius and his household proclaims the truth about Jesus as the Messiah – bearing witness to the fact that Israel’s God has indeed “brought the people to this strange truth” – as Tom Wright puts it.

But doesn’t this also put out a challenge to us?  Those of us who have been baptised?  Matthew would expect us to go forward and teach and preach and bring others to that “strange truth” wouldn’t he?

As baptised members of the church it is our duty to profess our faith openly and enthusiastically.  To make others be like Cornelius, longing to be baptised to be filled with the Holy Spirit just as Jesus was on that day by the banks of the Jordan.

Before we re-affirm our faith in the words of the Creed, let’s take a moment’s silence to reflect upon the responsibilities and duties we, as baptised members of Christ’s Church, have and how we can each carry them out to God’s greater glory.

Amen