WHO IS TO SAY? Genesis 37:18-24 October 1, 2017 Dr. Howard Batson First Baptist Church Amarillo, Texas The very nature of luck would seem, to me, to indicate that it eludes scientific study. But apparently, this is not the case. Professor Richard Wiseman is in the psychology department at the University of Hertfordshire. After studying luck, he published his conclusions in a work entitled Luck Factor. After studying 1,000 people, the professor concluded that yes, indeed, it does turn out that some people are very unlucky. He told the story about one woman who reported having eight car accidents in one 150-mile journey. She was also unlucky in love. After joining a dating agency, he first date fell off his motorcycle and broke his leg. The second date walked into a glass door and broke his nose. Eventually she met her future husband, and the church they were going to get married in burned down the day before the wedding. But are the events in our lives always as they appear to be? There s an old story from the Chinese culture. A poor old farmer had a single horse on which he depended for everything. One day a bee stung the horse and in fright he ran off into the mountains. The old man set out to find him but could not. His neighbors came by and said, We are so sorry about your bad luck in losing your horse. The old farmer replied, Bad luck good luck, who is to say? A week later the horse returns to the farmer with twelve wild horses accompanying him. His neighbors came by and said, We are so happy to hear about your good luck with the twelve wild horses. The old farmer replied, Good luck bad luck, who is to say? His only son attempted to break-in the wild horses and in the process broke his own leg. The neighbors came by and said, We re sorry to hear about the bad luck of your son breaking his leg. Bad luck good luck, who is to say? the old farmer replied. The Chinese provinces go to war and every man under 50 was demanded into action. But the son because of his broken leg could not go. The other young men who were drafted from his village were in a fierce battle and killed. The old Chinese farmer was right. We don t know when things happen to us whether it is good luck or bad luck. Who really is to say? I. We re really in no position to make final judgments on the things that happen to us. What may appear to be tragic a horse running off or breaking a leg may turn out to be an unexpected good. This is one of the mysteries of life. Good luck bad luck, who is to say?
The old man showed uncanny wisdom. He refused to hand down an ultimate verdict on the circumstances of life until everything had run its course. We ve not created the universe and therefore, lack the capacity to make the final determination of what is good and evil in our own lives. It is a mystery that we must be willing to accept. Wasn t it Paul who said, We know in part and prophesy in part, that really we are seeing always through a glass darkly. We are in no ultimate position to know good or bad, who s to say? It reminds me of the story of the young man named Joseph. He was something of a teenage smart aleck. I can see him now strutting back and forth, chin cocked high, shoulders set and square, mouth always loaded with a braggadocios arsenal. Have you ever been around someone whose very posture says, Look at me! You re probably not around them very long if you can help it. His daddy played favorites. He loved his 17 year old bragging brat more than he loved any of his other sons and he had 12 of them. This lad was spoiled rotten. You could smell him coming he was so far gone. You know someone like him. Somewhere, someone told them that the whole world revolved around just him and he believed it. Can you imagine the jealousy? A father with 12 boys, he shops for 10 or 11 of the sons at the Dollar General store and buys generic tennis shoes, no name jeans and shirts that are on blue light special. But his favorite son, Joe, he takes to Foot Locker and buys Nikes and to Dillards to buy Levis jeans and a Polo shirt. The other brothers look down at their clothes and then look up at his and say, Hey, what s going on here. Joe smiles, brushes them away, Easy on the threads, man, easy on the threads! Jacob was not a very fair, nor a very good parent. But he had been raised by Isaac and Rebekah and they played favorites too. Isaac, of course, loved and adored Esau and Rebekah loved and adored Jacob. What was he thinking? Joseph s colorful coat was enough to bring out the worst envy and hatred from the other brothers. The way Joseph wore that coat, strutting like a peacock on display at the San Diego Zoo. To make matters worse, his mouth was unbearable, Hey, Judah, Reuben, Simeon, all of you come hear. I had a dream last night. Can you help me figure out what it means? We were working in the fields, binding sheaves, and lo and behold my sheaf all of a sudden stood to attention. Your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it. Oh yeah, Joseph, you re actually going to rule over us. Oh, really! The more he talked, the more they hated him. He didn t know when to let well enough alone. Hey, I had another dream. The sun, the moon and even the stars were bowing down to me. His father became angry, What? Shall I, your brothers, and your mother actually bow ourselves down to you?
Jacob sent Joseph s brothers to pasture the flock at Shechem. Jacob sent Joseph to check on them. He was daddy s little tattletale. No one had to tell them who he was. Even at a great distance you could see the prancing peacock, Joseph in his coat of colors coming to give his brothers the inspection for father. Here comes the dreamer. Let s kill him and say a beast devoured him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams. They ripped off his coat and threw him into the dry well as they ate, enjoying hearing Joseph beg and weep. Judah suggested that instead of killing Joseph, they ought to sell him to the Ishmaelites who were passing by on their way to peddle the balm and myrrh in Egypt. His brothers sopped his coat in the blood of a goat. Father, we found this. They thrust the blood covered coat with satisfaction. Now the bright colors were dulled by the deeply colored blood. Please tell us, (as if they didn t have the answer) is this your son s coat? It is Joseph s. A wild beast has torn my boy to pieces. I will go to the grave mourning for my son. Good luck bad luck, being thrown into the pit by your brothers, being sold into slavery, could anything be worse? Good luck bad luck, who really is to say? II. We are not able to determine whether or not the obstacles in our life are good luck or bad luck. Sometimes we see God is at work for good in the midst of our obstacles. You see, what seemed to be tragedy of tragedies, being separated from your father whom you loved so much and being sold into slavery, into a foreign land, turned out to be triumph. For back in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to the house of one of Pharaoh s officers, Potiphar. Joseph began to excel in Egypt, so much so that Potiphar placed Joseph in charge of everything in his household. Joseph came into command of everything that Potiphar owned. Things are going well for him. It looked indeed, again in his life, like God was good. What had seemed to be tragedy, being separated from your father and your brothers sold you into slavery, turned out to be a triumph. Now he is the master of Potiphar s house. Good luck bad luck? Joseph was in no position to say. Then we have another episode in the life of Joseph. You remember Joseph is very nice looking. He is handsome. Potiphar s wife wondered if she could still attract someone like him. Besides Potiphar, her husband, hardly even notices her any more. Joseph, I m available. I m not interested.
Joseph, I m available. But your husband has entrusted me with his whole household. Joseph! He runs. She grabs. He flees. She screams. He goes to the pit again. Good luck bad luck, who s to say? This time it is not a pit; this time it is a prison in Egypt and he is an innocent man. God has allowed Joseph to lose his coat a second time. First, to the pit and then to the prison. Don t you know Joseph sitting in prison, accused of doing something he never did, what does he think about his dreams now? He s in Egypt so many miles away, away from the father he loved. Did he think his brothers would still one day bow down to him? I think he must have had his doubts. God uses the shadows in Joseph s life just as he uses the shadows in our life to shape the character of our spirit. Joseph begins to excel in prison. Once again he finds himself the manager of the whole jail. In 39:23 we read, Whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper. Pharaoh became furious with his cupbearer and his baker. They went to Joseph s jail. Both the cupbearer and the baker had dreams. Joseph noticed that they had very troubled faces. He inquired. They explained. We both had a dream last night and there was no one who could tell us what they mean. God will interpret through me, Joseph says. Well, says the cupbearer, I dreamed that there was a vine in front of me and on the vine were three branches. It budded its blossoms and produced ripe grapes. I squeezed the grapes into Pharaoh s cup and placed the cup into Pharaoh s hand. Joseph said, In three days Pharaoh will be over his anger and restore you to your position. Only, please remember me when things go well with you and do me the kindness of telling Pharaoh that I am innocent. When the baker saw that Joseph had very favorably interpreted the cupbearer s dream, he said, Tell me about my dream. In my dream there are three baskets of white bread on my head; and in the top basket there are some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head. Joseph frowned and said, This is the interpretation: the three baskets are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree; and the birds will come and eat your flesh. Three days passed and it was Pharaoh s birthday. He gives a big feast for all his servants, and he indeed restores the cupbearer to his position of prominence but he did hang the chief baker just as Joseph had interpreted.
But the cupbearer didn t remember Joseph. He forgot about the one who had helped him. Being forgotten despite his promise to do otherwise. Two years pass in the life of Joseph. He is still in the dungeon but Pharaoh has a dream. He is standing by the Nile. At the Nile there came up seven cows that are sleek and fat and they grazed in the marsh grass around the Nile. And then seven other ugly and gaunt cows come up and stand beside the other cows in the Nile. The ugly and gaunt cows gobble down the seven sleek and fat cows and Pharaoh awoke very troubled. After he calmed again, he reminded himself it was only a dream. He fell asleep. And the second time he saw seven ears of grain come from the single stalk, plump and good. Then behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them. And the thin ears swallowed up the plump ears and Pharaoh awoke and knew he had an awful dream. He just couldn t get it out of his mind. In the morning his spirit was troubled and vexed. So he called all the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men and none of them could tell Pharaoh what his dreams meant. The chief cupbearer had the ah ha experience. Wow, ooh, I forget, oops, Joseph back in prison. He can interpret dreams. Pharaoh called for Joseph. I had a dream, Joseph, and no one can tell me what it means. I have heard that you can interpret what it means. The power is not within me, says Joseph. The power is with God. Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams. Joseph didn t hesitate a moment. Well your dreams are one and the same, Pharaoh. God is telling Pharaoh what He is about to do. The seven good cows and the seven good ears are the seven good years. The seven lean and the ugly cows that come after them and the seven ears scorched by the east wind are seven years of famine. I have told Pharaoh what God is going to do. There is going to be seven years of abundance in all the land of Egypt and after that seven years of famine with no harvest. The land will be ravaged. Now Pharaoh go find yourself a wise and discerning man and put him over the land of Egypt and let Pharaoh appoint overseers in charge of the land, and let them collect a fifth of the produce during each of the seven good years of abundance and then when there is no harvest, there will be food for the people to eat. I have already found my man, Pharaoh replied. It is you. Only I in all the land of Egypt will be more powerful than you. Losing his coat twice, years in prison, yelling in the pit for help. Good luck bad luck, who was to say? It was good luck when it appeared to be bad luck. It was a triumphant that appeared to be a tragedy.
Right then and there Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, the equivalent of his signature and put it on the hand of Joseph, a prisoner, and then clothed him, removed his jailbird s stripes, put on his back fine linen, a gold necklace around his neck, and let him rise to the second greatest chair in all the land. They proclaimed before his chariot, Bow the knee! And he set him over all the land of Egypt. Bad luck good luck, who s to say? Yes, we re not in position to make ultimate judgments about life s tragedies. We realize that God is indeed at work. Good luck bad luck, who s to say? Some of you in your life right now there is negativity at your job, there is negativity in your life, there s bad news in your position. God is at work for good. III. Knowing and not knowing is the essence of faith. We can have confidence in God who is working all things ultimately for good, while at the same time not knowing how things are going to work out. We must stop making premature judgments about what is good and what is evil. Joseph began storing the grain as he had advised Pharaoh. Meanwhile back in Israel, Jacob s family is going hungry. He looks at Reuben; he looks at Simeon and he looks at Levi. Why are you just standing there? I hear there is food down in Egypt. Let s go down and buy some. Go and bring it back. Ten of them went. Benjamin stayed home. Jacob had already lost Benjamin s brother, Joseph. He wasn t going to let them take Benjamin as well. Joseph s brothers came before him. He is dressed as the ruler of all the land, and they act just like his dream at the age of 17. They bowed down their faces to the ground and paid homage to him. Joseph recognized them but they did not recognize him. He remembered those dreams that he had long forgotten. Being thrown into the pit good luck, bad luck, who s to say? You remember the rest of the story. Joseph could control himself no longer. (Chapter 45, verse 1) Before all those who stood by him, and he cried, Have everyone go out from me. So there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard of it. He said to his brothers, I am Joseph! Is my father still alive? But his brothers are speechless. They are dismayed in his presence. Look in verse 5. Notice what it says in chapter 45. And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. Look in verse 8. It is not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Man intended it for evil; God made it for good.
I don t know what your difficulty is today. A woman works hard to earn a graduate degree but finds no job in her chosen field after graduation. A father gives himself to a son and then has to give up that son to an untimely death. A wife looks forward to a lifetime of marriage and then wonders how she ends up in divorce court. What is left to enjoy after having lost so much that was so dear? I m certainly not saying there is not any loss in life. Joseph lost a lifetime with his father, only united with his father in his old age. He lost a lifetime with his brother, Benjamin. He spent years in the dungeon of the prison. I m not saying that God makes things easy, that God makes things painless, that there is no real sickness, death and divorce. But I am saying God uses all these things to shape who we are. As Gerald Sittser has said, who himself lost his mother and his wife and his four year old daughter in a single car accident, leaving him the challenges of raising his other children. Losing three generations that he loved in one day he writes: To our shock and bewilderment we discover there is a Being in our universe, who despite our brokenness and sin, loves us furiously. In coming to the end of ourselves we have come to the beginning of our true and deepest selves. We have found the one whose love gives shape to our being. We learn simply to be, whether we are divorced or unemployed, or widowed, abused, sick or even dying. We can allow ourselves to be loved as creatures being made in God s image. Whether our bodies are broken, our thoughts are confused, our emotions troubled, we start to become hopeful that life can still be good although never in a way that it was before. (Grace Disguised, Gerald Sittser) There is nothing we can do to protect ourselves from the losses. They are as inevitable as old age, wrinkled skin and aching bones and the fading memory. There is much we can do, however, to determine how we respond to them. If we do not have the freedom to choose the roles we must play in life, we do have the freedom to choose how we are going to play the roles we have been given. Faith is trusting even in the midst of suffering. Good luck bad luck, who s to say.