Character Sermon based on Genesis 39:1-23; Sept 23, 2018

Rev. George Miller
Sept 23, 2018
Genesis 39:1-23

I’ve been a servant in Potiphar’s household for the past 4 years, sold to him as an indentured slave, with 3 years left to go before my debts are forgiven, and I am set free.

Because of my gifts of communication and flair, I get to work in the home while many others are out in the fields.

Though I’m educated, able bodied and able to feel compassion, I and the other servants are treated as things; objects; and less-than human.

It’s not an easy life, but it’s also not the hardest, as long as I keep to myself, don’t rock the boat, or complain too much.

The biggest issue is Potiphar’s wife. She has a way of being…overly friendly. Oh, it’s not much- just a pat on the butt here, a pinch on the cheek there, a random comment about my appearance, a tussling of my hair.

All very minor, really. Innocent seeming. Yet, it doesn’t feel right. It’s not like I want her to touch me, or invite her to do so.

But I also don’t speak up or say anything at all. I don’t want to upset my master with only 3 years left to go.

Besides, even if I was to complain, I have no rights or legal recourses. I am just a possession to do as they please.

So I just do my best, do my job, and try to stay out of her way.

So, I was sort of glad when this Joseph fellow joined the household staff. He was a Hebrew sold into slavery.

Potiphar’s wife took an instant shine to him, and what wasn’t there to like? He was tall, handsome, exotic, smart, and successful.

Still, I felt bad for him when she started diverting her attention to him, complimenting him on his muscles, on his smile, his skill. Soon it became clear that she was thirsty for him and had set her sights on sleeping with him.

Yet, Joseph kept telling her “no” and turning her down, saying it was not right.

Then one day, while I and the others were outside having our lunch, we heard this horrible scream.

It was Potiphar’s wife. She was holding Joseph’s coat, saying that he tried to rape her. Later that night she reported the news to her husband and Joseph was sent straight to jail.

It shook us all to the core.

But to be honest with you, I don’t know what to believe.

I’m a big believer that is someone reports they have been violated, mistreated, or abused, we should believe them.

On the other hand, to see a potentially innocent person punished, possibly even castrated or put to death, is real difficult for me.

So, I just bite my tongue, bide my time.

Though we may never know what happened between those 2, here is what I would like to share with you-

how Joseph thrives, even in the worst of situations.

When he first came here after being sold into slavery by his brothers, Joseph seemed to have an aura about him. Like, no matter what had happened, he was going to push through.

We all saw it. How though he had been beat down, he walked with a sense of purpose and pride. The things he touched seemed to grow and prosper.

It seemed as if he was truly favored and the gods were watching over him.

Even when he was cast into jail and spent two years locked away, his spirit did not seem to break. He became a shepherd to the other inmates, earned their trust, and shared with them words of hope.

From time to time I would visit Joseph, to check on him, to see how he was doing, and through it all he seemed as if things were well with his soul.

One day I asked him “Joseph, how can this be? You were sold into slavery by your brothers, accused by your master’s wife, and locked up in jail. Yet you seem to prosper and grow.”

To which Joseph responded “It is all because of my faith in the LORD, my God.”

Then Joseph told me the faith story of his family.

He told me about his great-grandparents Abraham and Sarah who were very much in love and very very old when they had their first child, his grandfather Isaac.

Joseph told me of how Abraham and Sarah had no children when God called them to get up and go, leave their kin-folk and country so they could journey to a new place in which they would have family, land and be a blessing to all the families of the world.

He said their story of trust, patience and God’s actions in their life was enough to keep him focused and to look beyond his current situation to see how God was using him to bless others.

He then told me this story about his great-great ancestor Noah, from 23 generations back who had built a giant ark and survived a giant flood that wiped the world away.

He told me how his ancestor Noah spent nearly a year inside that ark as it rained and the tides subsided before stepping on dry ground.

Joseph shared that even though it seemed the world had ended, God looked upon Noah and remembered him.

Joseph claimed that if the Lord, his God could look down upon Noah in the ark and remember him, then that means God could look down upon Joseph in the jail cell and remember him too.

That gave Joseph a sense of peace.

He said that if God could call a barren couple in their old age, give them a child 25 years later, he knew that he too could trust God, find a way to be patient, even if things seemed to be at a dead end, hopeless, and it was time to hit the panic button.

Joseph had such a way to share his family’s story, and to share his faith.

It wasn’t fake faith, or a sit-idly-by-faith.

Though he had been unfairly victimized, he did not play the victim, but a victor.

He worked really hard, constantly discovering ways God could act through his current situations.

Because of his ancestors Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Joseph was able to
have patience, faith, and grow even in the midst of obstacles, allowing his journey to be a blessing to others.

His faith and his testimony about the Lord his God has become contagious, inspiring those he is in jail with and those of us left working at Potiphar’s house.

In closing, I still don’t know who or what to believe. But I believe this to be true:

The Lord is with Joseph.

The Lord is working through Joseph’s predicaments.

And if the Lord remembers, knows, and loves Joseph and his family, then the Lord must also remember, know and love me and mine as well.

That simple truth is enough for me to make it through another day.

Amen and amen.