Adventure isn't easy

Scripture: Genesis 40; Pastor Valerie Vogt

What a week it has been. From political posturing between the US and North Korea to white supremacists gathering in Charlottesville, it has been a hard week. The news headlines proclaim that racism, sexism, and fear of the other are all alive.  As we begin today I want to remind us of our Baptismal Vows, the words that we claim and proclaim at each baptism. In the midst of reading the news headlines, in the midst of scrolling through our Facebook feed, in the midst of the noise, the anger, the pain, the heartache, we sit together in this place and remember who we are and whose we are. Whether it’s heartache from engaging protests and national problems or sitting with a beloved friend dealing with cancer, we need today. We sing, we pray, we shake the hands of friends and neighbors. We gather in this place because we believe that hope is real and that the story we know is worth remembering and sharing with the world.

Here are our Baptismal Vows-On behalf of the whole Church, I ask you:

Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness,
   reject the evil powers of this world,
   and repent of your sin?

I do.

Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you
   to resist evil, injustice, and oppression
   in whatever forms they present themselves?

I do.

Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior,
put your whole trust in his grace,
and promise to serve him as your Lord,

in union with the Church which Christ has opened
   to people of all ages, nations, and races?

 

That’s a story worth living, worth giving yourself to. Do you want to get baptized? If you or someone hasn’t been baptized before and you want to talk about it, I or Pastor Billie or Pastor Eric would love to talk with you about baptism. And we can all help each other remember and live our baptismal vows every day.

            Will you pray with me? God, we know that you are with us. We know that you were with Joseph. And yet we confess that we don’t feel so very good about what we hear and what we see in the world. The world isn’t safe for so many people. Help us to reject evil. Help us to hold onto your power. Help us to love others, including our enemies. Help us to be your kingdom here and now and throughout this week. Speak to us now, through your Word and through my words. May we hear what you have for each of us and for this community. Amen.

            Today is the second sermon in our 4 part sermon series on the story of Joseph. Last week we looked at how Joseph’s story began in Genesis. We heard about his dysfunctional family, how his father played favorites and gave him a special robe, and how his brothers sold him into slavery. Joseph didn’t do himself any favors when he shared the special dreams that God had given him with his brothers. Yes, God would do something special with and for Joseph, but a seventeen year old might not be the best judge of how to handle that information. We reflected on how Joseph was on the start of a hero’s journey, a journey that would change his life and the lives of others. Eric titled his sermon last week, “Dangerous Dreams.” The dream theme continues in this week’s sermon, too. This time they are distressing dreams. And while the baker and wine steward’s dreams are central to what we read today, it’s important to hear more of Joseph’s story. While we picked up the story with our reading of Genesis 40 with Joseph in jail, this is actually the second time that Joseph has been in jail. And the second, or are we up to the third, time he has been abandoned and forgotten.

            In Genesis 39 we learn what happened to Joseph after he was initially sold into slavery by his brothers. He was taken to Egypt and Potiphar, Pharaoh’s chief officer, the commander of the royal guard, purchased him from the Ishmaelites. God was with Joseph and everything he did went well. Potiphar soon discovered that Joseph was a successful leader and blessed so he put him in charge of everything. Things were looking up for Joseph. We could almost breathe a sigh of relief at this point in his story. But then Potiphar’s wife takes notice of Joseph and wants to sleep with him. Not only does Joseph refuse her once, we learn that day after day he refuses her advances. He says no to instant gratification, no to power that wasn’t his to claim, no to betraying the trust of his boss, and most importantly no to what isn’t God’s plan for him. But eventually when she cornered him and he fled she grabbed his garment. She realized that with his clothes she can falsely accuse him of attempting to rape her. He was then thrown in jail by Potiphar.

            In jail God continued to be with Joseph and he again found favor with those around him. The commander of the jail had the same arrangement with Joseph as Potiphar – Joseph was in charge of everything and the commander rested easy because God blessed everything that Joseph did. At this point in Joseph’s story we know two things – God is with Joseph and Joseph wants to be faithful to God. God was committed to Joseph and was present with him, even when it was hard. And the bratty seventeen year old who didn’t have a good relationship with his brothers has learned how to be faithful to God even when it is costly, especially when it is costly. Somehow in the midst of the twists and turns in his story, in the midst of the pain, Joseph clings to God and to hope. One of my favorite writers, Dan B. Allender said this about hope – “We think it pleasant to hope, but in fact, nothing is more difficult than to hope. Hope lifts us up and gives us a view of how much ground must still be traveled on our journey. It allows us to see the horizon, usually far beyond our reach.” Joseph had his dreams to cling to, and I’m sure he did. But we should never forget that even when you are doing the right thing, life won’t always be easy. Sometimes it is the very act of holding on to integrity, truth, and God’s best that we actually suffer the most. There is no “prosperity” Gospel of riches and fame. Following God means becoming a servant, means taking up a cross. And Joseph is learning the depths of what that means. Despite his initial dreams of greatness, Joseph isn’t spared from the pain of plot twists. Life in Potiphar’s home and in the jail show us that a hero can experience great pain and heartache, even when she or he chooses the right things. Life wasn’t looking good for Joseph. Joseph was righteous, but was punished for his good choices. Good guys still finish last sometimes – sometimes even on a cross – and yet too often we preach prosperity gospel, health and wealth, and its corollary that if bad stuff is happening to you it must be your fault.

            I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the hero’s journey and I’ve been watching a lot of movies. I could say it was all for sermon research, but really I love movies. What I’ve learned from watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rogue One and Moana (with my 2 and 5 year olds and then again without them!) is that adventure comes to us. If you’ve seen Wonder Woman you know that it can quite literally crash on the shores of the island where you live. Moana was just a little toddler when the sea chose her to live a great adventure story. Being an explorer, a wayfarer, is core to who she is and important to her village’s future and her role as a future village chief. And village chief she is, not a princess, as she reminds one of the other characters, Maui, in the Disney film. She wants to take on the adventure because she listens to her heart and wants to be who she truly is. But not all literary or film characters are interested in adventure and many of us want to hide in our homes and shut out the call to do and be more.

Life can feel overwhelming. Adventure can be hard. Joseph reminds us of that. And so does Bilbo from The Hobbit. I love this quote (slide) – “Good morning! We don’t want any adventures here, thank you! You might try over the hill or across the water.” Bilbo really wanted Gandalf to leave. And there are so many times when life’s plot twists come our way and we don’t want to say yes to what is in front of us. Or maybe we feel overwhelmed by the choices. I was blessed to have the ability to choose what seminary I went to, but saying yes to Duke Divinity School meant saying no to other schools, to other potential friendships, to staying close to family. Each step of our journey, when we have the power to choose, does take us down one path and not another. Sometimes, though, we don’t have the privilege to choose. Sometimes, like Joseph, others make choices that impact us – a boss fires us, a friend walks away, a loved one harms us, a politician votes in a way that hurts our family. When life is hard and we feel powerless there is something we can choose. We can choose our attitude, how we will respond. Victor Frankl, neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust Survivor, wrote Man’s Search for Meaning. In it he said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Life is hard in so many ways for so many. I don’t believe God sends terrible trials to help us prove our love for God. That seems quite the opposite of who I see God to be in Scripture. People are allowed to make choices, sometimes horrible ones that deeply impact others. Yet we can choose how we will respond. We can choose love, peace, and hope.

I believe we can choose hope and love because we know the end of the story. We know how the story ends. We have heard about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. We celebrate it in our baptism and we remember it every single time we come to the Communion Table. Watching The Force Awakens was a lot of fun because I knew that somehow the good guys would mostly be ok in the end and that the evil ones wouldn’t, ultimately, win. Just like in Jesus, we’ve seen the sequel.In this most recent telling of the Star Wars story there were costs and people lost in the movie but the right side was better than the Dark Side. We love adventure movies because they awaken in us the hope that Good will triumph. Movies can point us toward the truth that ultimately God will restore the world and set things right. We want something to believe in and we are a part of the best story that there is. We are a part of the great adventure story that God is telling. You matter because God loves you. And God wants to invite all to participate in the good things God is doing. And, as theologian John Goldingay wrote, “It does not always work out, but it can work out.” All may look dark, but dawn is coming. It may be Good Friday, but Easter Sunday is coming.We are waiting to see what will happen to Joseph. We are waiting to see what will happen in the world around us. Whatever comes we know that God was with Joseph and God is with us.

It is precisely because we know how the story ends and because we know that God is with us that we can stand up, speak out, and do something about injustice. We are not the saviors of the world, but we do follow the one who brings true hope and true life to others. And God wants to use our hands, our feet, our words to do so! So what can we do? What do we do when we turn on the news and we are horrified that white supremacist terrorists think it is ok to spew hateful rhetoric and incite violence? What do we do when one of the richest recording artists, Taylor Swift, alleges that even she has been the victim of sexual assault? What do we do when the President speaks in ways that seem to escalate hostility with another nation rather than bring peace? We show up. We march in protests. We take care of ourselves and others. We rest. When was the last time you celebrated the Sabbath? Truly took time to pause from the busyness of life, of work, of responsibilities to remember who created you and this world? To lean into Sabbath is not only to give our mind, bodies, and soul time to heal, but also an incredible opportunity to hear loving words of hope from God. How are you taking care of yourself? How are you serving others? I love that Anne Lamott said this week in a Facebook post that when she decided to get sober she was encouraged to serve others. She went from thinking she was a big shot to trying to serve others. And in doing so she has slowly learned how to stay sober. It is taking care of each other, in serving others, that we truly learn how to do love. We don’t just say we love, we don’t just use words or mushy feelings,we live it out. We live out the hope we cling to.

Finally, we need to remember that we’re not alone. We need each other. Who are your people? Who is your small group that helps you to grow in your faith? Who challenges you to rest when you need rest and to step out in faith and do something when that is what God is calling you to do? Who helps you to narrate the journey you are on? If you don’t have a small group we’d love to help you get into one. We’d love to help you connect, learn, and grow with others. We can renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness and reject the evil powers of this world in whatever ways injustice and oppression shows up because we have God’s power. God, the creator of the universe, is with us when we stand up against racism, sexism, nationalism, and all the other evils in this world. God is with us as we seek justice and mercy for those in our midst who need it this day and as we serve others. The words we say in our Baptismal Vows aren’t just words. They are the truth we cling to, the hope that fills us up this day, and the instructions we use to live out our lives as we go out from this place.

Let me close by praying this prayer from Thomas Merton: “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.” Thoughts in Solitude