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Genesis 37:1-28
August 13, 2017
Let us Slay Him and See What Becomes of His Dreams
“Let us Slay Him and See What Becomes of His Dreams.” The brothers of Joseph consumed by envy and seething with anger plot to kill him. Joseph still a tattletale at age seventeen, is inflated with self- worth because his father favors him over all his sons. This we know because he was gifted with what the King James Bible refers to as the “coat of many colors.” This perhaps,“elaborately embroidered” coat is thought now to have been a coat with sleeves, a garment of leisure, a sign of special love.
“Let us Slay Him and See What Becomes of His Dreams.” This summary of verse 20 from our reading is often used as a worship theme at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, The Rev Dr. Martin Luther King and his father served as Pastors in that church. In this way Ebenezer connects to King’s ministry and one of his greatest Speeches, “I Have A Dream.”
Joseph’s family is unlike any family we know today, so any musings on sibling rivalries from our younger days and any armchair poppsychology regarding birth order will probably not be helpful. Jacob has two wives, Leah and Rachel, and each wife has a woman servant. Jacob fathers sons by all four women. When opponents of same-sex marriage speak of the biblical definition of marriage, I’ll bet this is not what they have in mind.
Joseph, like his younger brother Benjamin was a son of Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife,and they were the youngest of the twelve sons. Just as Joseph’s father, Jacob the younger, stole the blessing from his brother Esau the older, the last become first - again. Jospeph who arrives very late in the family becomes the bearer of blessing and life for others later in Genesis. To complicate matters this favorite son of the favorite wife is a dreamer. As the tale is told in Genesis, like his father’s dreams before his, the dreams of Joseph, are dreams from God. Joseph is quick to point out to his brothers that in his dreams; they bow to him. Even Jacob is annoyed by the condescension of Joseph.
With these prideful dreams of sheaves and stars and moon bending to the cheeky sibling, the brother’s jealousy of Joseph grows deeper and deeper. Joseph taunts his brothers. He is young and does yet understand the power of the dream. When the opportunity arises to snuff out sibling superior, the brothers chant “let us slay him,” “let us slay him and we will see what becomes of his dreams.” There are always those who are threatened by the dream; they protest, riot and subvert. Only big brother Reuben’s intervention prevented death. At first thrown into a pit Joseph is sold off into slavery.
There are times when our world treats dreamers this way. Dr. King was assassinated by those who could not imagine living in King’s dream of black, brown and white children living together with social equity. The Chinese dissidentand Nobel Prize winner, Liu Xiaobo(shjawbow) died a few weeks ago from cancer. The Chinese government would not let him come to the West for medical treatment; in this way they killed him. Liu’s dream was for a multi-party democratic system in China. For this he was imprisoned for many years. Taylor Swiftdreams about young women being free from sexual harassment and groping. Until yesterday she was being sued for her dream.
We too can be guilty of killing dreamers. When we repeatedly say to a child, “don’t be ridiculous, you could never do that,” we kill the person they might have become. When we stand quietly by and watch injustices being committed around us, isn’t it a shame we mutter, we are conspiring to kill dreams. To be idle is to subvert the dream and a vote the status quo.
Just as the person of Jacob represents the self-understanding of Israel in the Genesis narrative, spunky striving wrestler, able to conquer adversity, quick witted and agile; the person of Joseph represents the dream of Israel that all the people of the earth will be blessed by God through the faith of Israel. Joseph is becoming the dream.
If Jacob is sneaky and Joseph is a spoiled brat of a tattletale, then we see an understanding in Israel that they as nation and a people of God have flaws. Nonetheless Jacob has evoked in Joseph’s life a sense of being bound for something more and something better and beyond the competence of his older brothers.[1] What I sense here is a faith in the dream of God, a faith that even though we are flawed, we can do better and better or at least do our part in making the dream of God for the world a reality. Now you know, our Kids are going to better than us, but for right now we strive to be a little more faithful than our parents. Joseph represents the people of Israel imperfect but becoming God’s dream. I think we might even be able to say that Joseph represents the church, the body of Christ in the world, imperfect but becoming the dream.
Desmund Tutu, Retired Episcopal Archbishop of South Africa says that God’s dream is that humanity will know that they are all members of one family, the human family. God’s family, My family….there are no outsiders. All are insiders, rich and poor gay and straight, Jew and Arab, Palestinian and Israeli, Catholic and Protestant, Serb and Albanian, Muslim and Christian, Buddhist and Hindu, Pakistani and Indian, all belong.[2]
As was thinking about the sermon this week I remembered that we use the word “dream” in our mission statement. "Ark & Dove is a community of disciples that embodies the life & spirit of Jesus Christ so that lives are transformed and God's dream is carried into the world." To this we aspire. A congregation imperfect, a people imperfect, but becoming God’s dream.
For years now, at Ark and Dove, we have been very pleased to be a congregation that is active in mission projects. Literally hundreds of Ark and Dove members support mission with hands-on acts of mission, mercy and justice. We see mission as an integral part of carrying God’s dream into the world. For years now, we have also asked ourselves how we can be more hands-on at addressing the root causes of poverty, oppression and systemic injustices. One thing that Pastor Jon and are exploring as an option is the Industrial Areas Foundation. An Anne Arundel Chapter of the IAF (for short) is forming and it might be a way we can work with other religious people to bring change to our county.
What is the Industrial Areas Foundation? It is an organization that helps religious people and groups organize, so they can advocate for God’s dream and for change in their communities.
Since November of last year, several people in Ark and Dove have been attending meetings to explore the possibility of being a part of an Anne Arundel IAF group. The methodology early on is for local religious leaders to get to know each other, so they can discern and help their congregations discern whether they should be a part of the Arundel IAF. Only when there is trust and relationship in the religious community can people of diverse backgrounds come together and use their combined and cooperative power to bring positive change. Perhaps you are interested?
In the face of the hateful violence that was on display yesterday in Charlottesville VA, You may be asking yourself what you can do to strengthen the family of God further God’s dream in the world. Pastor Jon and I would be happy to meet with you individually for 40 minutes in a one-on-one format to help you discern whether you might feel called to participate in this emerging movement.
Just as Joseph is becoming God’s Dream in the world, the Church strives to become this dream as well. Imperfect people we endeavor to better an imperfect world. Because there are those who would slay the dream and the dreamers, we bind ourselves together as congregation to hold each other up. We worship around this table because in worship and at this table we are nurtured in our love for God and God’s dream.
[1] Brueggemann page 300
[2] God has a Dream, Desmund Tutu, Doubleday 2004, pp19,20