Genesis 45:3-11,
15 Psalm 37:1-11, 40-41 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 Luke 6:27-38
The church in the
Gambela region of Ethiopia is growing by leaps and bounds. It is such a
blessing to see how the believers there are simply unable to keep their faith
to themselves…they just have to share the Good News about Jesus with anyone who
is willing to listen…and even with those who are not so willing to listen.
But oh, it is so
sad to see the church divided along ethnic lines! While a few (like our
Anglican Church) are willing to work together and to seek common ground, many
want to fight over the limited resources and the land. Even church leaders have
been known to egg their people on to commit unspeakable atrocities against
their fellow believers from a different ethnic group.
This is nothing
new of course…division and strife are as old as sin. When Adam was caught out
in his sin, he turned against his wife and blamed her. She turned against her
new friend, the serpent. Cain killed Abel. And Joseph’s brother turned against
him as they sold him into slavery…a fate worse than death. Or at least, that’s
what we would think…
The Old Testament
lesson reveals a classic theme in Holy Scripture. What we would think of being
upside down, God uses to turn right side up. What Joseph’s brothers meant for
evil, God meant for good. His slavery led to the preservation of the whole
family.
It is this Divine
tendency to bring good out of evil that caused David to write in our Psalm for
today, “Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. For like
grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither. Trust in the
Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take
delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desire. Commit
everything to the Lord. Trust Him and He will help you. He will make your
innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like
the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him
to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked
schemes.”
We’ve all been
wrongfully accused at some point in life. Our natural inclination is to defend
ourselves or to seek revenge on whoever it was who sought to harm us. But
Joseph shows us a different way. Many in his position would – quite justifiably
– want to get their own back…what we call pay back time. But Joseph looked
beyond himself and his own hurt…he saw the bigger picture as it were. He saw
the sovereign hand of God behind the evil actions of his brothers…if they had
not sold him into slavery…if he had not been bought by Potiphar and wrongfully
accused of trying to seduce his wife…he would not have met the butler and would
not have interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh and would not have been in the
position to save his very own family from starvation. What was upside down, God
turned right side up.
The same is true
for one greater than Joseph…our Lord Jesus Himself. The Seed of the woman who
invaded our world to crush the head of the serpent, had to die first in order
to rise from the dead in a new, eternal, resurrected body. He had to die in
order to be a life-giving Spirit. What seemed to be the end of the road for the
disciples was, in fact, the beginning. The crucifixion, humanly speaking, was a
disaster…but God raised Jesus from the dead and inaugurated the New Creation…in
His death, Jesus defeated death. Through His death, God turned the upside down
world the right side up.
And Jesus taught
us to turn an upside down world the right way up by living lives that seem
foolish…by loving our enemies, doing good to those who hate us, blessing those
who curse us, praying for those who hurt us, forgiving those who sin against us.
Like Joseph being sold into slavery…like David being persecuted by Saul…like
Jesus being put to death…these things only make sense when we see them from
God’s perspective. Joseph became a ruler in Egypt, 2nd only to
Pharaoh. David became king. Jesus became the King of kings. God has promised to
work all things – all things – good and bad – all things together for the good
of those who love Him, who are the called according to His purpose. We may not
understand how He will weave tragedies into triumphs, but He promises that He
will and we, like the Psalmist, must trust Him and continue to do good…we must
become still in His presence and wait patiently for Him to act in His own good
time.
Corrie Ten Boom
once said that life was like a tapestry. From our perspective we only see messy
tangles of the various threads as we see it from the back. But when God turns
it around, we see the tapestry from the right side and we are then enabled to
see beauty instead of chaos. When we look at life in this world, we see hatred,
bitterness, sadness, sorrow, sickness, and death, and we may not always
understand. But God turns all these things around for good…and ultimately, for
those who die in Jesus, He turns the mortal into the immortal.
What always helps
me regain an eternal perspective is the Eucharist. Here I am a witness to the
Divine tendency to turn the wrong into right…to bring good out of evil. Jesus’
death is my life and your life. What seems foolish…what seems tragic…what seems
upside down, it actually wise, triumphant, and the right side up. Here in this
very simple sacrament we see things differently…we look beyond our own limited
resources and behold the great plan of the Almighty.
So come…come to
His Table…come into His throne room, asking Him to turn your upside down view
of life the right side up. Come and see things from His perspective…come and be
still in His presence and commit everything to Him.
© Johannes W H van
der Bijl 2019-02-22
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