This morning I am reading for my seminary class, “The Bible in Youth Ministry as Spiritual Guide for Adolescents” and I was doing it I was reading the story of Joseph and his brothers. I think we can all acknowledge one thing.
Joseph was kind of a punk.
Joseph the Dreamer has been having very interesting dreams and whenever he has a dream Joseph in all his wisdom and LOADS of humility shares his dreams with his brothers in which this is usually what happens:
Hey brothers! I just had another dream and in the dream I learned that one day I will be your master and you will all serve me.
Kind of a punk.
We all knew this bragging wasn’t going to end well, and in fact it doesn’t. Joseph’ brothers put him in a hole in the ground and at first just want to leave him there, but then they get a better idea. Hey! let’s sell Joseph into slavery. Let this dreamer be someone else’s problem. That is just what they did.
I think we all can relate to all the people in this story. We have all been that annoying 6th grader that lives to push every button that every has to get a rise out of them, and we all have been annoyed by said 6th graders. I think the story of Joseph teaches us a great lesson in humility.
Is it bad that Joseph has dreams and that God has chosen me, absolutely not! It’s amazing that God is using Joseph in the way He is. Let us remember that we are all human and there is nothing that we could ever do to earn God’s love and grace and there is nothing we didn’t do to earn it either. We are all in the same boat and yet God loves each of us just as we are. We must remember always to see the world and our neighbor as God sees them and additionally not raise ourselves above our neighbors but love them as Christ loves each of us.
The only being that ever existed that had great evidence to raise himself above everyone else, Jesus Christ humbled himself and died on the cross. So what does it say that Christ could have raised himself and yet chose humility?
Additionally what does say about ourselves that we do the opposite at times?
Let us always seek to model the example of Christ.
Amen.