God with us in Turbulent Times W/ Pastor Andrea

"God with us in Turbulent Times" sets us before the story of Joseph as a spiritual resource for the believing community for when life feels perplexing or uncertain. The journey of Joseph from favored son, to slave, to prisoner, to Egyptian leader, to the rescuer of a nation and the forgiver of his betrayers, reminds us that God's way of accomplishing His purpose is often slow and hidden. The repeated biblical phrase 'the Lord was with Joseph' becomes a centering reality for us even in the midst of difficult circumstances that try to convince us otherwise. And so, along with God's people across time and place, we return once again to anchor ourselves in God's sovereignty during turbulent times, believing in faith that "He's got the whole world is in His Hands."

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Welcome to the Madison Church Square Campus podcast. We want to invite believers, seekers, and doubters to encounter God's love through his living word. This season, we delve into a new series, Kingdom Living in Turbulent Times, Stories of Resistance and Resilience. When times feel uncertain and unsettled, God's promises remain a resource to anchor us as we navigate life's storms with a kingdom perspective. So settle in. Open your heart and journey along with us to discover how God calls us to trust in him and walk out our faith. My name is Pastor Andrea. If you are a visitor with us, I'm so glad that you're here. If you are a new member, I'm so glad that you're here. If you're a longtime member and you're just too tired to leave, I'm glad that you're still here. I'm just kidding. Where are my college students at? Anybody who just started college in the last week or two? All right, over here, over here. Pretty fun that first week or so, and then it gets pretty real. So we are praying for you once all the hoopla has died down and it's time to get to work. So we're praying for you. It's a grind. Well, we're beginning a new series today that's going to take us all the way from today to Christ the King Sunday on November 23rd. It's called Kingdom Living in Turbulent Times, Stories of Resistance and Resilience. And our days do feel turbulent, don't they? Perplexing, unsettling, whether that's just in your life personally or sort of culturally among us or spiritually or nationally or globally or politically. But this is nothing new. This is not new. The people of God have always walked out their faith in such environments. And I believe that God's word is a critical resource for us as we attempt to remain steadfast, that is to hold on to Christ and to be held by Christ in the midst of these disorienting times. Amen. And so we'll journey through Scripture a little bit together over the next 12 weeks or so. Six Old Testament texts. I know I'm getting a reputation for never leaving the Old Testament, and now I'm living into that. So we are going to be in the Old Testament for six weeks, and then we will also go into the New Testament with six New Testament texts that I hope we will all tuck deep into our spiritual satchels for the journey That we will tuck them away as resources to draw on when the instability around us is threatening to destabilize us as well. And rather than being terrorized by it or paralyzed by it or desensitized to it, My hope is that these stories, these resources, would help us to remain fixed and firm and anchored in the promises of God. And so today we are beginning in Genesis with the story of Joseph and also a foundational doctrine for times of trouble, the sovereignty of God. And I realized this week as I was prepping that I could probably do a 10-week series on the story of Joseph, and I could do a 10-week series on the sovereignty of God. And some of you are sitting there going, don't threaten me with a good time. And others of you, that would be quite the deterrent to say we're going to have a 10-week series on the sovereignty of God. But My goal is today, at least, to use the story of Joseph and to use the doctrine of the sovereignty of God as a way of anchoring us in who God is and how God works, even when our circumstances threaten to dislodge our faith in turbulent times. So that's the goal. That's the aim. We're going to open up two short texts. You know, obviously, it's a huge story and And it covers many, many chapters. And so what I'm going to do is purposely bookend it with a few verses from chapter 37 and then a few verses from Genesis chapter 50. And we'll be filling that in as we go. And so would you rise in body or in spirit for the reading of God's word? We'll begin in Genesis chapter 37 and we will read verses 12 through 19. Now his brothers, so Joseph is the favorite. He's gotten this beautiful coat. His brothers hate him. Now his brothers had gone to graze their father's flock near Shechem, and Israel said to Joseph, As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I'm going to send you to them. Very well, he replied. And then he sent him off from the valley of Hebron. When Joseph arrived at Shechem, a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, what are you looking for? And he replied, I'm looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks? They've moved on from here, the man answered. I heard them say, let's go to Dothan. So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan, but they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. Here comes the dreamer, they said to each other. Come now, let's kill And throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams. And then we'll flip over to Genesis chapter 50. A well-known passage, I'm sure, at the end of this story. We'll read verses 15 through 21. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him? So they sent word to Joseph, saying, Your father left these instructions before he died. This is what you are to say to Joseph. I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly. Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father. When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. We are your slaves, they said. But Joseph said to them, do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. This is the word of the Lord. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we do need the Holy Spirit's help to discern what you would have us take from this word. Would you soften our hearts for the seed of truth that you want to plant there, that it might bear good fruit in your kingdom? I pray that what we don't know you would teach us, and what we don't have you would give us, and what we are not you would make us. Amen. So some of you are more familiar with this story than others, but if you know the story at all, you know that Joseph is caught up in a hopeless family triangle. The doting father, the jealous brothers, and then himself, but probably alongside with Benjamin, the youngest, the favorites in the family. Maybe because Jacob loved their mother, Rachel, the most. And so I'm guessing they were spoiled in such a way that they could get away with things that the other 10 brothers could never get away with. If you know that story, you know that he gets this beautiful long coat from his dad, an act of favoritism toward him that pretty much seals his fate with his brothers. A coat like that was not just a nice gift like, I love you, son. Here's a coat. A coat like that was a bump in your status because a long coat would mean in that culture that you were management and not labor. So what Wearing that around put him above his older brothers, which in that culture you did not do. And to make matters even worse, Joseph was a dreamer, not a worker. And he starts telling his brothers, who already hate him. about his dreams, where they are bowing down to him. And so if it was even possible, they begin to hate him even more. So while they are off grazing flocks far from home, his father says to him, see to the welfare of your brothers, go and see to the shalom of your brothers and bring word back to me. And when they see him coming, they plot against him. If it weren't for Reuben, the more merciful brother, they would have killed him on the spot. But instead, they strip the coat off of him and they throw him into a dry cistern. And when Reuben is not paying attention, they sell him off to slave traders that are passing through. A few pieces of silver. Please take away this brother that we can't stand. And so they bloody up his coat and rip it up and they fake his death and they bring this sad report back to their grieving father. This will put a stop to that bowing down once and for all, they think. And if you know that story, he's sold to Potiphar in Egypt, a high official in Egypt, actually. And it doesn't take long, because the Lord is with him, that he is elevated in Potiphar's house. And now he's in charge of everything in the house. And Genesis 39 says four different times, the Lord was with Joseph and the Lord was with Joseph. And Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and the Lord was with him. And somehow, despite that fourfold assurance, everything still goes terribly wrong for him. Joseph is handsome, we're told, and Potiphar's wife is brazen. No casual conversation, no flirting. She cuts right to the chase. Lie with me. And she is in a position of power as Potiphar's wife. She expects to be obeyed, but Joseph doesn't. He stands up under that temptation. He stands up under her requests again and again. He says, no, it is not right for me to do that. until finally one day she tears at his garment when he is escaping her advance, and she brings that garment, his clothes keep getting him in trouble, she brings that garment to Potiphar and makes a false accusation against him of sexual violence, and it lands him in prison. But Joseph, there in prison, The text tells us once again, the Lord was with him. And at this point, if you read the story straight through, it is tempting to be like, was he now? Really? The Lord was with him? Look where that got him. You'd think that things would be going a little better for Joseph. The Lord was indeed with him. But... the Lord was with him. And while he's there, he gets favor with the guard and he gets put in charge of people that are also in prison. And then Pharaoh's cup bearer and Pharaoh's baker both end up in prison under his watch. I don't know what went wrong with the bread and the cup, but something has gone terribly wrong and they end up in prison and they're under Joseph's watch. And they have these unsettling dreams while they're in prison. And with the help of God, Joseph interprets their And he interprets them correctly. And before the cupbearer is brought back out of prison, before he is called back to Pharaoh's service, Joseph says to him, listen to me. Listen.

UNKNOWN: 14:27

Listen.

SPEAKER_01: 14:28

I was forcibly carried off from my homeland, and I have done nothing to deserve being in this dungeon. So when all goes well with you and you are restored, remember me. Remember me. It's a great scene. Remember me. And he does not. The cupbearer does not remember him. I'm sure that when he hears that the cupbearer was indeed restored to his position with Pharaoh, just like Joseph said he would be, Joseph is probably in prison counting down the hours until he is out of there at any moment. That guy is going to drop a good word on my name and I will be free. But those hours go by and night falls and then a day goes by and a few days and then a week and then a month and then a few months and then a year and then two years. The text reports what Joseph could not have known at that time, but which he was slowly finding out on his own. Chapter 40 of Genesis ends with this. The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph. He forgot him. And so I imagine him sitting there in prison over all this time. carving yet another set of lines into the wall. Now going into that second perplexing year after the cupbearer was free, contemplating this downward journey that his life has taken from being loved by his father in his father's house, in his own homeland, to being hated and betrayed and plotted against and enslaved and sold and falsely accused and imprisoned and used up and forgotten. And he must have sat there and wondered. I'm only guessing. The text doesn't tell us. But he must have sat there and wondered, where is God in all of this? Where is he? Where is God in all of this? And that question... Asked long enough or often enough will wear down a person. Some of you know that. Some of you have been there. Some of you have lived in or are living right now in the same tension that Joseph had to live in. When you are trying to hold on to the goodness of God, and you're trying to trust in the plan of God, and you're trying to maintain the belief that God is with you, but the realities... The circumstances, the turbulent times around you keep trying to knock that belief right out of your hands. Made me think of a video of a football practice I saw this week. where the running back has to run through a line of people on both sides and keep the ball in their hands. They're trying to hold on to it, but coaches and teammates are standing on both sides of that line with these huge padded mallets or whatever they are, and They are just pounding at this guy's hands to see if he will drop the ball. As the runner goes by them, they're trying to smash it out of his grip. And I saw that video and I was just thinking, like, there we are, trying to hold on to faith and hold on to the promises of God and hold on to the belief that God is good enough. And that God is sovereign and that God is in control. And this life over and over will seemingly put you right down that gauntlet and try to smash that belief right out of your hands. No wonder these things destabilize our faith in the meantime. You keep finding yourself in the midst of or on the receiving end of terrible circumstances. Terrible, terrible circumstances. Crushing losses. Devastating suffering, discouraging disappointments, perplexing difficulties, long delays of unanswered prayer, seemingly. God's timetable can be so slow and his way so hidden. There we are, trying to hold on to the ball. But it is in this very tension, it is in that incongruity that we have to practice our faith. That's it. That is the tension where we cling to the assurance that scripture gives us that nothing falls outside of God's control and that God is the ultimate authority over all things from the grand cosmos to the tiniest details of your life and that he is working out his purposes even when we can't see it, even when we can't feel it, even when we don't know it, even when we don't believe it, that he He's working and he's working and he's working out his purposes. Even when our circumstances keep trying to convince us of a much less hopeful arrangement. And I would love to tell you that there is an easier environment in which to trust and follow God. A simpler one with less tension. One that is more clearly laid out. One with way fewer problems. And I can't tell you that because that is not true. Because until Jesus comes back, this tension is the only landscape in which we follow Christ until our faith is made sight. And one day our faith will be made sight. But right now, we are looking as though through a glass darkly. We cannot see the way of God. Joseph is 17 when he's sold into slavery, and he doesn't get out of prison until he's 30. Had he been listening to his circumstances for all of his information, they would have told him, you've been forgotten. You've been forgotten. But he was not forgotten. Not by God. He was forgotten by the cupbearer for a time, but not forgotten by God. Even when he couldn't see it, even when he couldn't feel it, the way maker that we sang about today was working. The Lord was with him. That's what the text keeps telling us over and over and over. The Lord was with him. That is the decisive claim of this entire narrative. Not everything will work out in the end. That's actually not the claim that this narrative makes. Or not, the key actor will always be saved from trouble. He's not. Bad things keep happening to him. The decisive claim is that the Lord was with him and that the hidden and life-giving power of God is at work even when we can't discern it and even when we can't see it and even when there is evidence to the opposite of that for us. Joseph is brought out of prison to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh. And Pharaoh is so amazed, he puts him in charge of all the land and all the food, second in command, vice Pharaoh. And he gets a new name and a new wardrobe and a new status and a new wife and he has some kids and he gets busy stacking and storing away all the food in Egypt to prepare for the famine that he said is coming based on Pharaoh's dream. And when that famine hits, which it does, It hits hard. Nobody has any food left except for Egypt because Joseph has been squirreling it away in storage. And sure enough, famine hits Canaan. And his family in Canaan hears that there is food in Egypt. And so in order to survive, in order to live and not die, they go to Egypt, they make the trip, and they show up before Joseph, the brother that they had betrayed, the brother that they had gotten rid of and thought they were done with. And they stand before his throne and they beg for bread. Now, the narrative goes back and forth a little bit because Joseph recognizes them right away, but they don't recognize him at all. And so it does go back and forth a bit, but long story short, for today's sake, Joseph shows mercy to them. And he says, I am Joseph. He doesn't use his new name. He uses his family name. I am Joseph. And that dream from way back, that dream that God had given him from so long ago, finally comes true. And these brothers do indeed bow down low before Joseph. Forgive us, they say, we are your slaves. The purpose of God announced very early on in this story through Jacob's words to Joseph is finally fulfilled. See to the welfare of your brothers, he had said. Go and see about the shalom of your brothers. And here he is in God's plan, in God's timing, both because of and despite all that had happened and had happened against him and had happened around him. Here he is doing exactly that. seeing to the welfare of his brothers, but not just these brothers, but on an even grander scale, seeing to the welfare of a nation, seeing to the welfare of nations, preserving a remnant of God's people who would have been wiped out due to this famine, but for Joseph, but for God. And then that is where we arrive at just the highest peak of this story and maybe of any story in all of the Old Testament as his brothers do finally bow down low before him expecting retribution and punishment because of their sin. Joseph says to them, do not be afraid. You meant this for evil, but God planned it for good. You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. And we say, oh, amen. Hallelujah. I love that for you, Joseph. We love that for them, don't we? We love that for them, but... I would guess we all know that it is not as easy to apply that testimony to our own troubled lives. Think of the people the circumstances that have harmed you I'm not quite sure I'm ready to echo Joseph in this testimony, and I'm not actually asking you in any way to be more like Joseph and echo his testimony. And I would also, here's a pastoral care pro tip, I would not recommend telling someone else that God is going to use their suffering for good. What I'm asking you to consider as we sit before this story is the mystery on which this whole story holds together the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God is both the most comforting doctrine in the Christian faith and at the same time, it's the most difficult. How is that even possible? The most comforting doctrine, because it affirms that absolutely nothing is outside of God's control, that even in suffering, God is not absent, that his wisdom and goodness are not compromised as he works out his purposes, even in the midst of sin. So that's comforting, but it is a doozy. It is difficult because it is an equation that we cannot solve for. It's an equation we cannot solve for. If God is sovereign and he's in control and he's good, then what is going on? I'm really asking that. What is going on? But we can't solve for that equation, can we? What about suffering? What about injustice? Why do our prayers seemingly go unanswered? Why do tragedies strike without any explanation? Is God good but not in control? Or is he in control but he's not good? And I think the Joseph story actually invites us into the tension of this mystery without giving us flat answers. Where God's purposes are at work, but often they're hidden and slow and somewhat unclear even to the people that are a part of that and living that out. And I'm reading this story and I want God to intervene. I want some kind of abrupt action in here. Like someone pulled Joseph out of that cistern. Someone put that coat back on him. Someone exposed Potiphar's wife for her lie. How about a jailbreak from that prison? Just like we see in Acts 16. I want to be like, sing a hymn, Joseph. See if it works. I don't know. Maybe the bars will open up and you'll walk out free. It is a good thing that God is God and I am not. Because if I get my way, Joseph would have been in no position to save his people. God was at work in God's way and in God's timing to accomplish God's purposes. And that same God, this is all I have for you today, that same God is still working in this way among us. That same God is with us. He's with you in your struggle. He's with you in your grief. He's with you in your illness. He's with you in your prison cell, either literally or whatever form that incarceration may take in your life. He's with you in your disappointments and he's with you in your sufferings and your challenges. And I know it is tempting to push back against the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. It is so tempting to just let go of it all together because of that equation that we can't solve for. Is God good? Is he in control? If he's in control, is he not good? If he's good, is he not in control? Where is God in all this? It's tempting to simply push back. But I'm asking you, what is the alternative? What's the alternative to the sovereignty of God? Going through life thinking that just everything is random? That everything just happens by chance? Believing that even God's purposes are just derailed by human sin and by human action? Believing that any of it is all like up to us alone? or believing that he doesn't really have the whole world in his hands. That will not stabilize you or your faith in turbulent times. No, I don't really think God really has the whole world in his hands. That is not a resource to stabilize us in turbulent times. But to believe it, to believe that God has the whole world in his hands requires faith and trust and humility and surrender because we have to just simply admit that we can't always trace God's plan or understand his ways of working it out or see what his times is as opposed to our timeline. It takes the kind of faith that sings, great is your faithfulness. I'm still in your hands and this is my confidence. This is my confidence. that you are with me. My confidence is not in any human. It's not in any political movement or politician. It's not in my own ability or your ability. It's not in my health. It's not in my own hands. All of these things can be torn away from you. All of these things are on their way out. There's only one thing that stands, and that is the word of the Lord, which stands forever, forever. While going through stage four colon cancer, some of you know Kate Bowler from Duke Divinity, a professor at Duke Divinity. And she wrote a book called Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I've Loved. And she neither props up Romans 8.28 as the only way of thinking about everything, nor does she dismiss it. She wrestles with it. She wrestles with Romans 8.28, which I would imagine any of you in this room who've ever read Romans 8.28, you've wrestled with it too, because it goes like this. And we know that in all things, in all things, in all things, God works for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose. And I would love to make an edit. We know that in some things, we know that in most things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. And she wrestles with this verse throughout her book. And she writes, But the world loves a tight ending, a formula, a guarantee, a reason for all this. And she says, but I'm not so sure that that's what God offers us. God doesn't will the brokenness of our lives. What God offers is a promise to be with us in the midst of those broken lives until Jesus comes back and makes all things new. And so with all the terrible things that happened to Joseph, we come back to that affirmation that you hear throughout his story. And God was with him. The Lord was with Joseph. The Lord was with Joseph. The Lord was with Joseph. And the Lord is with us. Of course, Joseph points us to Jesus, who is with us, a new and better Joseph. You shall call him Jesus, the angel told Mary's fiancee, yet another Joseph. Don't get confused. Another Joseph. You shall call him Jesus, for he will be the savior of his people. because Jesus was also a beloved son by the Father. Sent by the Father to go and see about the welfare of his family, the shalom of his brothers and sisters, God's purpose now growing far beyond just one family or one nation, but to the whole world, the entire cosmos, the whole world is in God's hands. And the Father says to his son, go and see about the well-being of your brothers and sisters. Go and see to the shalom of the whole world. world. And like Joseph, when Jesus did that, he was rejected. He came to his own, and they did not receive him. He was plotted against, betrayed, sold for silver, falsely accused, punished, though he did not deserve it. And yet it is through what he suffered that he saved many. I can't figure out the equation, but it's what scripture tells us is true. It is through his suffering, through his affliction that we have been made whole and that we have been reconciled to God. In this way, God's purposes were fulfilled and I would not have chosen And to everyone who put him on that cross, Jesus could have said the same thing as Joseph. You intend this for evil. You intend it for evil, but God intends this for good, to accomplish what is now being done in this death and resurrection, the saving of many lives, including ours. Amen? And so Jesus is the word made flesh, the affirmation of Genesis 39 in human form. The Lord was with him and the Lord is with us. God with us, Emmanuel. And the ultimate hope to which we then cling in these turbulent times is exactly that, that God is with us. That is the anchor to which we must hold even when everything is going sideways and we can't understand what is happening to us And we don't know where God is in all this because it's a mystery. We anchor ourselves in the truth that in Jesus, God is with us, not maybe, but surely. And not just back then, but even now and into the future. Surely, Jesus said, I am with you always to the very end of the age. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we come before you in a word like this. And I know for me it stops me short because I can't solve for the equation. And yet, even though I can't see every angle of it perfectly, I give you thanks for your sovereignty over our lives and our world. I give you thanks that the whole world is indeed in your hands. So I pray that you would not only fill us with this meal to nourish and sustain us, but to fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit. Because we do not just sit back and let God God's sovereignty sort of run its course passively. We want to be workers in your vineyard. We want to be those who live in that tension, not in a place of despair, but in a place of vocation, that we would take up our priesthood of all believers, even then, that we would work for the shalom of our brothers and our sisters, that we would see to the shalom of our brothers and our sisters, just as Jesus did. And so we too follow him in that vocation. And I pray for the places where it simply does not seem to line up your promises and our circumstances. God, give us grace for the unknowing. Give us grace for the mystery. Jesus Christ, remain our anchor to whom we cling fast in turbulent times. In Jesus' name we pray.

SPEAKER_00: 40:45

Thank you for joining us on Madison's We hope today's message inspired you. Don't miss next week's episode as we continue exploring the series, Kingdom Living in Turbulent Times. Together, let's uncover how to live faithfully amidst life's challenges. Until then, stay grounded and be blessed.