Genesis 39 & 40 (Joseph in Egypt)
Narrative Lectionary #3; October 23, 2011
“Being Unfaithful”
Joanna Harader
Some of you might remember the brief media frenzy back in June of 2009 when then-South Carolina governor Mark Sanford went missing for almost a week. His staff was concerned. His wife Jenny, at home with their four children, was concerned. Sanford was supposed to be hiking on the Appalachian Trail, but it turns out he had been in Argentina with his mistress.
In her memoir Staying True, Jenny Sanford recalls that as she and Mark were preparing for their wedding, he did not want their vows to include the promise to be faithful. . . . Maybe that should have been her first clue.
Mark Sanford, of course, is not the only husband to cheat on his wife in the past few years–possibly just the most notorious. It’s difficult to settle on an accurate statistic, seeing as how most people don’t want to admit to infidelity, but we know that many married people have affairs of various kinds. It’s really a wonder that so many people include the “remain faithful unto you” part of their marriage vows at all.
And we see a lack of faithfulness in other spheres of our society as well. In friendships, where people may abandon a friend when the going gets tough. I remember writing a horrible note when I was in 7th grade to my supposed best friend: “Dear Katrina, I have found a new best friend. So you’re not my friend anymore. Sorry.”
We see a lack of faithfulness in the workplace, where people may manipulate and hurt each other to get ahead–it happens in academia, in corporate America, and politics. And we see individuals and companies that lie to clients in order to make money. Think of the infidelities of the cigarette companies, of Bernie Madoff, of health insurance companies, . . . you get the idea.
Unfaithfulness is all around us in society today, which may be why the story of Joseph seems so familiar even though it happened thousands of years ago. Joseph’s brothers betray him dramatically–they intend to kill him, but in the end settle on merely selling him into slavery. And then there is the juicy story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife; Joseph is lied about by her, and then thrown in jail by Potiphar.
And in the next chapter, there is yet another unfaithful character–the cup-bearer to Pharaoh. The cup-bearer is in jail with Joseph, and Joseph interprets a rather strange dream for him. Joseph says that the dream means the cup-bearer will soon be restored to his privileged position. The cup-bearer is grateful for Joseph’s interpretation and promises to put in a good word for Joseph when he gets out of jail. Sure enough, the cup-bearer is released from jail, but we are told, “The chief cup-bearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.”
Throughout this story, the people who surround Joseph seem to be unfaithful at every turn. And the unfaithfulness of the people stands in stark contrast to the faithfulness of God. We are told repeatedly that “the Lord was with Joseph.” As people betray and abandon Joseph, God remains with him.
“But wait a minute,” you might be thinking. If God’s so faithful, if God is with Joseph, why is the poor guy enslaved, falsely accused, and imprisoned? What kind of faithfulness is that?”
Well, it’s God’s kind of faithfulness, and it’s not the kind of faithfulness we might expect–or even want. A recent Baylor Religion Survey shows that Americans who believe the most strongly that God has a plan for their lives are also most likely to hold to conservative economic ideologies–to believe that able-bodied people should never receive unemployment checks, that success is due to ability instead of luck.
God’s faithfulness to an individual and/or a nation, according to this traditional protestant work ethic, is evident in the material success of the individual, of the nation.
And we also see the inverse of this–that as God withdraws favor, withdraws faithfulness, people suffer. Just this week another pastor told me about a KU student whose twin brother–attending another university–had killed himself. A woman who lives across the street from the student’s parents went to those grieving parents and informed them that their son was rotting in hell because they did not believe in Jesus.
If things are going well, God is being faithful. If you are suffering, God is unfaithful. That’s what a lot of people seem to think. And I wonder how so many people still think this after they’ve read the story of Joseph. God was with Joseph. In the pit with Joseph. In chains with Joseph. In prison with Joseph.
God’s faithfulness does not guarantee material success. God’s faithfulness is not about everything going right for us all of the time. God’s faithfulness does not mean that we do not experience the consequences of our poor decisions. God’s faithfulness does not even mean that we do not experience the consequences of other people’s poor decisions.
God’s faithfulness means that God remains with us in the midst of the success, and in the midst of the suffering. God’s faithfulness means that God weaves us into a story that is broader, that is deeper than our own individual lives. God’s faithfulness is so broad and so deep that it may not even look or feel like faithfulness in the moment. It may feel like doubt, like confusion, like suffering, like abandonment.
Envision one of Monet’s waterlily paintings–when you stand too close, it’s all a blur. You have to back up to see the water and flowers and light.
We know that God was with Joseph in prison, but it may not have felt like it to Joseph. It may have felt like God had betrayed him just like all the people in his life had betrayed him. Joseph was supposed to be part of a blessed nation, but I imagine he didn’t feel very blessed shivering down in the pit or sitting in prison.
God is faithful to us–to each of us–and God’s faithfulness is so much bigger than any one of us. And because it is bigger, broader, deeper, it may not quite meet our initial expectations.
And here’s the other thing we have to remember about God’s faithfulness: God is faithful not merely to bless us, but so that we can be a blessing to others. God’s initial blessing to Abraham and his descendants is that they will be blessed so that all peoples on earth will be blessed through them.
We know that Joseph’s imprisonment leads, eventually, to Joseph interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh and thus establishing food reserves that save many people from starvation during a time of severe drought. God is faithful to Joseph not just for Joseph’s sake, but for the sake of all Egyptians–and other peoples as well.
God’s faithfulness may not always be revealed in expected ways, but we can rest assured that God is faithful. That God is with us. If we take a step back for a moment, we can see that this theme of God’s faithfulness is present not just in the story of Joseph, but in the entire narrative sweep of the scriptures. This is one advantage of working our way through the Narrative Lectionary–it gives us a chance to consider the big picture.
We have already seen that God is faithful in creation, and as we move through the story of Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God, we note that God remains lovingly present with them despite their unfaithfulness. The story we heard last week of Abraham and Sarah reveals God’s faithfulness to them–that Sarah was allowed to bear a son in her old age in order to fulfill God’s promise to the family–that they would become a great nation and be blessed in order that they might be a blessing to others.
As we move forward in the biblical narrative, we will continue to see people being unfaithful to God and to each other; and we will continue to see God’s faithfulness: as God leads the people out of slavery in Egypt; as God speaks for justice through the prophets. We will see God’s faithfulness in the coming of Christ and in the establishment of the church.
God is faithful. It’s there over and over and over again in the stories of the Bible. And it is a theme that continues beyond the stories of scripture and into the stories of the church throughout the centuries. It is a theme that is woven even into our own stories today–the stories of our lives. The stories of this congregation.
A few of you have been with this church through periods when there was doubt about whether the church would remain a church. And through those times of low attendance and budget crises, God remained faithful. We are still here. We are healthy. We are growing. And as we think about what the future might hold, we can be confident that whatever happens, God will be faithful. It’s the promise of scripture. It’s the witness of our own stories.
God is faithful to us. Always.
And through the power and grace of God, we can remain faithful to each other. I think of those of you who have remained with this little church throughout the tough times. I think of the care that Gwen and others give to Cindy. I think of the way we supported Christopher. I think of people cooking for and serving at LINK month after month. I think of all the parents who have walked with their children–and continue to walk with their children–through difficult times. I think of the prayers and cards and food that go out to people in this community who are grieving or sick or otherwise in need.
We can, and we often do, live into–and live out–the faithfulness we experience in God through Christ. I know that your daily acts of faithfulness to God and to others do not make for sensational headlines. Given a choice of headlines: “Governor Disappears for a Week-Long Tryst with Argentinian Mistress” or “Couple Works Through Differences and Decides to Stay Together”–we know what we’ll be reading about in the newspapers.
So please don’t let the news stories be the primary story for you. Read the biblical story of God’s faithfulness. Listen to stories of God’s faithfulness. Watch God’s faithfulness unfold in the little acts of love that fill so many of our difficult and wonderful days. Amen.
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