Reunited

Genesis 45:1-15

So to make a long story not quite as long…we last left off with Joseph still in prison and the assertion of the narrator that the chief cupbearer, tasked with mentioning Joseph’s plight to the Pharaoh in hopes of procuring his release, has forgotten Joseph. The narrative skips forward “two whole years” and tells us that Pharaoh is now having dreams. He is disturbed by these dreams, upset by them and unable to get anyone in his kingdom to interpret for him what they mean. All the sudden, two years after the fact, the chief cupbearer does remember Joseph. “Oh hey, um, there was this Hebrew guy in the prison with me who interpreted dreams. And what he said dreams meant is exactly what came to be.”

So not on our timeline, or Joseph’s timeline, perhaps, but Joseph is remembered and called upon by the Pharaoh to listen to and interpret his dreams. “Ah,” Joseph responds, “God has revealed to Pharaoh that a really bad famine is coming in seven years. The famine will last for seven years, and unless we take advantage of the next seven years of plenty, we’re not going to survive.” Pharaoh was impressed, both by Joseph and by the “spirit of God” he possessed, and by the insight it gave him; so Pharaoh appointed Joseph as his second-in-command, even taking the signet ring off of his own finger and giving it to Joseph as a symbol of the immense power he now possessed.

Joseph was in charge of famine-prep and stockpiled food stores—which Scripture says were “beyond measure.” Then the famine came, and when the people of Egypt cried to Pharaoh for bread, he turned them to Joseph, saying “Go to Joseph: what he says to you, do.” It wasn’t just Egypt impacted by the famine, but “all the world.” All the world…including the land of Canaan where a man named Jacob lived with his remaining 11 sons. “I’ve heard,” Jacob tells his sons, “that there’s food in Egypt. Go and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” He sends his older 10 sons, keeping with him the youngest, Benjamin (who was also born of Rachel, Joseph’s mother).

And here’s where the plot thickens. Joseph’s brothers come before Joseph, who was in control of food distribution, and not recognizing him as their younger brother, they bow before him. They might not have recognized him, but Joseph recognized them and decides to treat them like strangers and spoke harshly to them, calling them Israelite spies, bent on exploiting the vulnerability of Egypt. In a dramatic and unexpected turning of the tables, Joseph has his brothers thrown in prison, then came to them and told them he would send them back to return with their youngest brother, Benjamin.

The brothers bemoan their fate, “Surely this is because of what we did to Joseph so many years ago. We saw his anguish and fear when he pleaded with us, but we didn’t listen.” They did not know that Joseph could understand what they were saying in Hebrew, since prior to that he’d only been speaking to them through an interpreter, and overhearing their conversation, their remembrance, and their remorse, Joseph was moved to tears. He chose Simeon to remain imprisoned in Egypt while he sent the others back to their father and to return with Benjamin. He sent them back with provisions, but had his men return them with the money they had brought to buy the food.

Jacob is hesitant, his past, present, and future are marred by grief. He still carries the grief for the presumed-long-ago-loss of Joseph, he laments that he has now lost Simeon, and he fears that he will lose Benjamin, as well. But ultimately hunger returns, Jacob folds, and the brothers…all the remaining brothers, return.

Joseph saw them returning from a ways off and had the steward of his house prepare an extravagant meal, “Those men,” he told the steward, “are to dine with me at noon.” The brother’s approached Joseph’s table with fear and hesitation, certain that they were in trouble for having not paid for their food the last time they visited. At the door of Joseph’s house they confess this, but he replies, “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.” Reminds me of Isaiah’s words from a few weeks back, “Come, even if you don’t have money. Buy and eat.”

Then Simeon was released from prison and returned to his brothers so they all could be brought to dine with Joseph. And the brothers are reunited at the table…well, all of the brothers except for Joseph, because Scripture says that he ate at a separate table because it was abhorrent for Egyptians and Hebrews to eat at the same table, together. Not a perfect reunion, and, of course, Joseph is the only one aware of this and we read that he is overwhelmed and leaves the room to weep in private. He washes his face and returns and is able to contain himself enough to start the meal.

Again, the brothers were sent home with more food, and another trick of Josephs. This time, it isn’t the money for food that is hidden back in their sacks, but instead the silver cup of Joseph’s that is placed in Benjamin’s bag. He sent his brothers back home, but then had his men follow them, to overtake them and accuse them of stealing Joseph’s silver cup. The brothers are shocked at the accusation that one of them had stolen from Joseph. “Okay,” said Joseph’s steward, “let me search your bags for the cup, and whomever of you has stolen it will become my lord’s slave.” The steward searched their sacks, and when the cup in question tumbled from Benjamin’s sack, the other brothers tore their clothes, a sign of lament and grief.

The brothers returned to Joseph and Judah pleaded with him. “We told you we had a father, he is an old man, and this boy whom you accuse of stealing your cup is the only one left of his mother’s children. He had an older brother,” (referring, of course, to Joseph), “but he is dead; and now if this boy, whom he loves, does not return back to our father, our father will surely die of grief. Please, let me remain as a slave in the place of the boy. I fear to see the suffering that would come upon my father if I were to return without Benjamin.”

And that brings us to today’s text:

45 1Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. 10 You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11 I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.’ 12 And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. 13 You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” 14 Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

Joseph reveals that God’s dream has come true, and in this moment of revelation he no longer leaves their presence to weep, he no longer allows the customs of the empire that separate him from his brothers to prevail, he no longer allows the truth to be hidden. The revelation of God’s dream destroys the things that keep us apart, that keep us ashamed, that keep us afraid. There is weeping, there is embracing, there is reconciliation.

The Lord’s Table is an enactment of God’s dream come true. Here we are drawn together beyond the worldly, cultural, social, political things that keep us apart. This table continues to grow and expand and reach wider, because the grace of God cannot be shrunk, or confined, or imprisoned. This is the lesson that the Joseph story ultimately teaches us (a lesson which the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ punctuates with an exclamation point!): God’s dream, God’s grace, God’s love cannot be killed, cannot be thrown away, cannot be oppressed, cannot be imprisoned, cannot be stopped, no matter how hard we try. God’s dream will always come true, and when we embrace that dream, when it comes true in our lives, the boundaries of our heart, the burdens we bear, the stresses of our suffering, the weight of our woes, pain of our past will be shattered. For all of those things are only temporary. But God is eternal, and God is love, and God is here. Friends, come, be reunited. Amen.