The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Saturday,23 July 2016 - “May I return…”
Daily Scripture: Genesis 50:12 His sons did to him as he had ordered them to do — 13 they carried him into the land of Kena‘an and buried him in the cave in the field of Makhpelah, which Avraham had bought, along with the field, as a burial-place belonging to him, from ‘Efron the Hitti, by Mamre.
14 Then, after burying his father, Yosef returned to Egypt, he, his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.
15 Realizing that their father was dead, Yosef’s brothers said, “Yosef may hate us now and pay us back in full for all the suffering we caused him.” 16 So they sent a message to Yosef which said, “Your father gave this order before he died: 17 ‘Say to Yosef, “I beg you now, please forgive your brothers’ crime and wickedness in doing you harm.”’ So now, we beg of you, forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Yosef wept when they spoke to him; 18 and his brothers too came, prostrated themselves before him and said, “Here, we are your slaves.” 19 But Yosef said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Am I in the place of God? 20 You meant to do me harm, but God meant it for good — so that it would come about as it is today, with many people’s lives being saved. (vii) 21 So don’t be afraid — I will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he comforted them, speaking kindly to them.
22 Yosef continued living in Egypt, he and his father’s household. Yosef lived 110 years. (Maftir) 23 Yosef lived to see Efrayim’s great-grandchildren, and the children of M’nasheh’s son Makhir were born on Yosef’s knees.
24 Yosef said to his brothers, “I am dying. But God will surely remember you and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov.” 25 Then Yosef took an oath from the sons of Isra’el: “God will surely remember you, and you are to carry my bones up from here.” 26 So Yosef died at the age of 110, and they embalmed him and put him in a coffin in Egypt.
Reflection Questions:
Joseph saved his family (and all Egypt) from starvation. But after Jacob’s death, the brothers still feared Joseph might use his powerful position to take revenge for what they’d done. Their fear led them to weep—their distrust made Joseph weep. He repeated that he’d chosen to forgive them. And, as the end of his life approached, he expressed his confidence that Israel’s future did not lie in Egypt, and made them promise that he’d be part of the Exodus to come.
- Forgiveness doesn’t change the past. Pastor Hamilton wrote, “Some have defined forgiveness as ‘giving up the hope of a different past.’ I would add to this that it’s taking on the hope of a joyful future.”1 In what ways did Joseph’s willingness to forgive his brothers change their futures? Joseph went through a lifelong process of growth. Pastor Hamilton also wrote of life’s big hurts, ‘This kind of wound does not disappear after a day. I picture the boulder being chipped away, a little at a time.”2 What large hurts have you suffered? How can you and God begin or continue, each day, to chip away at those boulders? When has forgiveness brought greater freedom and joy to you or someone you know well?
Lord Jesus, thank you for forgiving me, many times. Let your forgiveness “go viral” in my life, shaping all of my relationships and attitudes. Amen.
Family Activity:
Joseph had eleven brothers who were very mean to him. To make him look bad, they even accused him of doing things he didn’t do. Eventually, Joseph forgave them and showed them love and care. As a family, talk about times people have hurt you or caused you to look bad. How did you feel? How did you respond? What did you think about the person who was hurtful? Did you respond in ways that fit your faith? How do you wish you had responded differently? Pray and ask God to help you forgive, love and care for the person(s) who hurt you. If possible and with help, talk with the person who was hurtful and let them know you have forgiven them as Jesus has forgiven you.
1 Adam Hamilton; Rob Simbeck, ed. Forgiveness: Finding Peace Through Letting Go. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2012, p. 122.
2 Ibid., p. 95. See also pp. 115-119 to read how therapy, naming the hurt, journaling, prayer and using our painful experiences to help others can help chip away the boulder of hurt.
-------Insight From Michelle Kirby
Due to a schedule mixup, we received no blog from Denise Mersmann.
However, Michelle Kirbywrote a worthwhile reflection on the end of Joseph’s story in August, 2013, and we share that with you today.
Have you ever had your feelings really hurt? I think that’s something we’ve all experienced at some point in our lives. I remember one such experience when I was a teenager. I had auditioned for the high school play as extra credit for an “Intro to Drama” class I had been taking.
Everyone was looking at the Cast Posting to see who had gotten parts in the play and much to my amazement I had gotten the female lead. One of the guys checking the list exclaimed, “Who IS this chick? She hasn’t been in any of the plays—she probably just sucked up to the teacher.” Some laughed but no one recognized that I was standing there. When the guy realized this, he said, “Well, I hope you don’t screw things up.”
I was crushed. While this isn’t the worst thing in the world a person could experience—for me, being a 16 year old girl, it was huge. I could have been the bigger person, congratulating him on making the play, blessing him—taking the high road and doing the right thing. But I didn’t.
My first thoughts weren’t, “Congratulations” or “How can I be a blessing to this guy”. Instead I spent the next few days fantasizing about all of the ways I could make him pay for this grave injustice (little did he know how dramatic I actually could be!) I mean how could I possibly survive spending the next few months rehearsing with this guy? But I did. And as it turns out, we grew to be good friends.
As adults we’re supposed to be better, more mature, at navigating this sort of thing—though sadly many of us aren’t. Sometimes we even get worse. We too quickly go to an internal default setting of wanting to get even.
Looking at today’s passage we see an opportunity for Joseph to get even. His father has died and now his brothers who schemed against him are sweating it out to see what Joseph is going to do.
I’ve always been inspired by Joseph. As I was rereading this familiar passage, these verses in particular stood out to me. They’re so revealing of Joseph’s character.
But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for goodto accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. (Genesis 50:19-21)
These brothers had planned to KILL him, not just hurt his feelings because of some high school play. They had sold him into slavery, left him for dead! And yet it says “…he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” Wow! How tender. How loving. Joseph held all of the power but knew the most powerful thing he could do was to choose love, extend grace and be a blessing. May we all have the power and strength of Joseph.
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Have you ever had your feelings really hurt? I think that’s something we’ve all experienced at some point in our lives. I remember one such experience when I was a teenager. I had auditioned for the high school play as extra credit for an “Intro to Drama” class I had been taking.
Everyone was looking at the Cast Posting to see who had gotten parts in the play and much to my amazement I had gotten the female lead. One of the guys checking the list exclaimed, “Who IS this chick? She hasn’t been in any of the plays—she probably just sucked up to the teacher.” Some laughed but no one recognized that I was standing there. When the guy realized this, he said, “Well, I hope you don’t screw things up.”
I was crushed. While this isn’t the worst thing in the world a person could experience—for me, being a 16 year old girl, it was huge. I could have been the bigger person, congratulating him on making the play, blessing him—taking the high road and doing the right thing. But I didn’t.
My first thoughts weren’t, “Congratulations” or “How can I be a blessing to this guy”. Instead I spent the next few days fantasizing about all of the ways I could make him pay for this grave injustice (little did he know how dramatic I actually could be!) I mean how could I possibly survive spending the next few months rehearsing with this guy? But I did. And as it turns out, we grew to be good friends.
As adults we’re supposed to be better, more mature, at navigating this sort of thing—though sadly many of us aren’t. Sometimes we even get worse. We too quickly go to an internal default setting of wanting to get even.
Looking at today’s passage we see an opportunity for Joseph to get even. His father has died and now his brothers who schemed against him are sweating it out to see what Joseph is going to do.
I’ve always been inspired by Joseph. As I was rereading this familiar passage, these verses in particular stood out to me. They’re so revealing of Joseph’s character.
But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for goodto accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. (Genesis 50:19-21)
These brothers had planned to KILL him, not just hurt his feelings because of some high school play. They had sold him into slavery, left him for dead! And yet it says “…he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” Wow! How tender. How loving. Joseph held all of the power but knew the most powerful thing he could do was to choose love, extend grace and be a blessing. May we all have the power and strength of Joseph.
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
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