RCL Epiphany 7C [i]
23 February 2025
Church of the Epiphany
Surrey BC
When I was a lot younger, there was a comedy team known as the Smothers Brothers – Dick and Tommy. One of the recurring themes of their act was the rivalry between brothers and sisters. At least once in every routine, Tommy, the older brother, would look at Dick, the younger brother, with a face filled with envy and disappointment and say, ‘Mom always liked you best!’
As the father of three children, all now in their thirties, I’ve heard my two older children make similar comments about their younger brother. They’ve always accused me of favouring my younger son, the ‘baby’ of the family. I will admit that I may be as guilty as charged. He was born the year I turned thirty-seven, so he has always been a reminder of the ending of one chapter in my life, my ‘younger’ years, and the beginning of another chapter, my ‘middle’ years.
Because of Owen, I have some sympathy for Jacob. Joseph is also the child of his older years. Joseph is spoiled and behaves arrogantly towards his older half-brothers. Jacob goes out of his way to favour Joseph, even to the point of giving him an expensive coat woven from many different colours of wool, a costly and time-consuming project. So, while I don’t think my older children would go so far as to sell their little brother into slavery, I do think that they have more sympathy for Joseph’s brothers than I do.
Today the story of Joseph and his brothers comes to its climax. Because of the adversity Joseph has suffered, he has actually matured into a generous and compassionate man whose God-given gifts and hard-won character have brought him to a position of great power and influence in Egypt. His brothers have aged and their duty towards their families and their guilt over their crime towards Joseph has weighed upon them for years.
Now, if Joseph were a vengeful man, then he now has his brothers right where he wants them. They’re hungry and desperate; they’re afraid that this powerful man will do to them what they did to Joseph. But this is not what happens.
What happens is forgiveness and reconciliation. Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and tells them that God has redeemed them from the past. Joseph has been redeemed from any desire for vengeance, his brothers from the consequences of their betrayal of their younger brother. Joseph and his brothers are reconciled, that is to say, God shows them the path towards a new future, a future that is different from what might have been had Joseph not been sold into slavery. Despite all that has happened, God ‘saves’ them by making them more whole and restoring broken relationships.
Even though the brothers had intended evil against Joseph, God has turned this into good. Joseph’s choice to use his God-given gifts for the good of others – even when he was in prison – transforms the tragic past into a more promising future – not just Joseph’s family but for the Egyptians as well. The good that Joseph chooses to do in the midst of bad times becomes the catalyst for God’s purpose to be achieved for Israelites and Egyptians alike.
Friends, these are not easy times for anyone. We are very aware of the political and economic movements which cause us to fret about the future. We know of family members, friends and neighbours who are unsure about their jobs and even their homes. I know young people who have told me that they cannot imagine bringing children into this world because they cannot see how they can afford to raise them. Many of us are the spiritual kin of Joseph’s brothers – struggling, burdened, fretting, worrying.
Over the past weeks we have witnessed an energetic attack on the values and principles that have shaped our North American political environment. It is fair to say that this attack has been motivated by narrow self-interest. Many good people have pondered how this has all come about and what can be done to renew a commitment to the common good. The current situation has, for example, turned a hockey rivalry into an assertion of national identity and pride.
Some people may think that we have come to the end of an era and that we should just find a safe place to hunker down. But this is not how the story of Joseph and his brothers end nor should it be the end of our story as disciples of Jesus. The future that God has in mind for us comes into being when good people, faced with adversity, use their God-given gifts of time, of talent and of treasure to the best of their ability.
If Joseph had simply given in to his imprisonment and turned inward, his family and all of Egypt would have starved. If we give in to the fears and falsehoods that fill our daily news, then we will fall short of the work God has called us to undertake in helping God renew and restore our lives.
Today’s Vestry meeting is more than simply our annual business meeting to complete necessary legal tasks as an incorporated society in the Province of British Columbia. The decisions we will make today at Vestry will be more fruitful if they are the product of our hope and trust in God’s power working in us and through us. Our decisions will not be risk-free; nothing in life is without some sort of risk. Our decisions will not be clear-cut; rarely can we see all the twists and turns of the path ahead of us.
But we can be confident that God is at work to do what God has done time and time again. Time and time again God heals broken relationships, shows a path through obstacles and promises a life-giving and life-renewing future. Just ask Joseph and his brothers.
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