“He replied, ‘Rest assured, do not be afraid; your God and the God of your father must have put treasure in your sacks for you; I received your money.’ Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24 When the steward had brought the men into Joseph’s house, and given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder, 25 they made the present ready for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they had heard that they would dine there. 26 When Joseph came home, they brought him the present that they had carried into the house, and bowed to the ground before him. 27 He inquired about their welfare, and said, ‘Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?’ 28 They said, ‘Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.’” Genesis 43:23-28

School Shooting Number 12:

“In the Dearborn case, it involved a drive-by shooting in the Dearborn High School parking lot during a basketball game. David Mustonen, director of communications for Dearborn Public Schools, said that while the Dearborn shooting on Jan. 26 was unfortunate, it’s important not to lump together incidents like the one in Dearborn, where no one was injured. “We’re talking about children who died,” Mustonen said. “And we hope that we’re not trying to sensationalize this epidemic even more by lumping in things such as what happened at Dearborn High, where you had a random, isolated incident that doesn’t fit the same motive or criteria as these other school shootings.” (Dearborn school shooting statistic called misleading, Detroit Free Press, Hasan Dudar)

When is there no “there”, there? How is that for an opening sentence? In other words, when is there nothing to report – but we do our best to make it noteworthy? Just the other night, a spokesperson for the National Rifle Association accused the media of doing just that. She said the media loves to make up stories where a story of substance never existed in the first place. I guess she was saying that if the media didn’t cover school shootings and other tragedies like they do – you know, twenty-four hours seven days a week — then people might not rally en masse, like they have in Parkland, Florida, seeking more gun control or other changes in our efforts to find some sanity in an increasingly crazy world.

This passage from the first book of the Bible details the beautiful reunion of Joseph with his estranged family. In large part, this account is why Joseph is lifted up before us as a model of biblical forgiveness. The tension of their eventual reunification would have been immense – and yet the brothers and their father never had anything to worry about. But they did not know that. Joseph was making more out of the circumstances than what it needed to be – but he was making a point. In spite of the (beyond) ill treatment Joseph received at the hands of his brothers, not to mention the cascading disasters that followed, Joseph was able to arrive not only at a place of status and wealth and power, but he also reached a place of forgiveness and reconciliation.

We may not be able to agree on matters of faith, or personal rights, or even the number of actual school shootings that have occurred in 2018, but maybe that is not the point. Maybe the point we need to discuss is why people choose violence to resolve their personal issues with others – and why we are more captivated with watching television twenty-four hours a day instead of sitting down and talking to one another. That is the “there” that is there – and if we, as Christians do not find a way to bring love and forgiveness and Grace back into the public square, then there will only be more and more violence.

Pastor Dave

“Now the famine was severe in the land. And when they had eaten up the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little more food.” But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food; but if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and let us be on our way, so that we may live and not die—you and we and also our little ones. I myself will be surety for him; you can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.” Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry them down as a present to the man—a little balm and a little honey, gum, resin, pistachio nuts, and almonds. Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the top of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight.” Genesis 43:1-12

School Shooting Number 11:

“No one was injured today when shots were fired at Mobile‘s Murphy High School, according to Mobile police. 16-year-old student Jonah Neal is in custody in connection with the incident. Neal is currently being held at Strickland Youth Center, where he is facing several charges. According to officials, Neal was involved in an altercation with another 16-year-old male. At approximately 11:20 a.m., Neal pointed the gun at the other student and administrators before running outside and firing the rounds of bullets into the air, police officials say. Within four minutes the student had been apprehended by police, according to authorities.

The school went into lockdown for several minutes while the student was being arrested.” (Student who fired gun at Murphy High School will be charged as an adult, http://www.al.com)

Many Christians operate on the principle of famine, not feast. They look around their world and they believe they do not have as much as others – they covet what others have instead of thanking G-d for the blessings they do have – and so they spend their lives trying to gather more and more stuff. The same is true with their relationships. Many people think they have multiple, strong relationships, but they spend more time keeping others at arms length rather than getting to know people intimately. If we never allow people into our hearts, and into our minds, and into our personal space, then our friends will be kept in darkness about who we really are.

It is true that a biblical notion of sin is darkness and hidden-ness. Righteousness, on the other hand, loves light and truth. Good communication is a must in all relationships—especially in our relationship with G-d. As such, we must learn to share our joys and our concerns with close friends – and we must learn to do the same with G-d. And trust is the key. I have to believe that one of the reasons people choose to solve their problems through acts of violence is because it is easier to act out in violence and a show of force than it is to sit and demonstrate a willingness to talk and share their concerns. Or, they have no one in their lives who will spend the time listening. We certainly live in a society where people are losing the ability to talk to one another face to face.

In this passage we have above, Jacob does eventually trust G-d, but only after all other avenues had been explored. G-d had been and would continue to be active in his family’s life, in times of trouble and famine, and in times of reconciliation. Likewise, G-d is active at all times in our lives – in the famines – and in the feasts. Is there a famine in your life today? Are you seeking G-d for direction? Are you trusting G-d with all your life? Or, are you experiencing a famine in your life?

During this Lenten season, perhaps we need to examine our closest relationships and see how we can turn any difficulty we might have with a brother or sister, mother or father, son or daughter, into a more nourishing relationship. With hope and expectation, we can perhaps allow G-d to make all things new by turning jealousy and hatred into forgiveness and redemption.

Pastor Dave