Genesis 44; Luke 19:28-42
April 10, 2022
- How we stand in for each other out of love
Between September and December 1665, 42 persons died in the village of Eyam in Derbyshire, England. They were victims of the bubonic plague which was sweeping the nation and the world. Soon, there was enough panic in the village where many residents wanted to flee the unknown disease, but to do so would have only made matters worse as people would have spread the disease to nearby towns. The village rector, William Mompesson, knew how dangerous that would be to other places and worked hard to convince the villagers to stay and self-quarantine to guard the lives of the neighboring towns. He was successful; they stayed. In the end, 260 villagers gave their lives to the disease to save so many more lives the same fate.
I find that a remarkable story on many levels, but the one that stands out to me today is how the village found themselves in an impossible place, powerless to change their situation. The disease was there, and they could not stop the disease with their medicine or understanding. No one understood it at the time. They were at the mercy of that period of history, but then, they did something truly radical. They stopped being powerless and made a decision to give their lives for others. They chose to save other lives with the gift of their own lives. The ones who were powerless became so powerful that more than 350 years later, we still know their story.
Some of the most important and meaningful ways we conduct society are about standing in for someone else. Our very system of governance is a Republic in which we elect people to stand in for us and make decisions for us. We really do not live in a democracy in America, and I am not trying to stoke conspiracy theories. At best, it is a Democratic Republic. We do personally elect other people to stand in for us and make the decisions we need for our public good. Now, I will refrain from making a judgment as to their success at this….
Here in the church, it is the same. We elect Elders to make most of the decisions about our church life. I doubt you would all like to meet every time a decision needs to be made. We elect the Elders to stand in for us and give of their time and energy and talents to guide the church community through its daily life. This is a gift to have people who will do for us in this serving way.
In the family, parents really function in this way for their children, being responsible for them and standing in for them when there is need. Later in life, children may turn around and do the same thing for aging parents. This says something about the true value of life when we take up the value of someone else, especially at the cost or risk of ourselves. When we stand in for someone else and give of ourselves in truly sacrificial ways, we really do show the power of life and love.
You need to see in this chapter of the Joseph story how this one idea is beautifully expressed right before us. The brothers of Joseph are completely powerless:
- They are shepherds in the midst of a famine. Let’s just say they are short of food so much so that they have to travel to another COUNTRY to find some. That is powerlessness.
- Every decision they make is really their father’s. He is telling them what they can and cannot do. When Simeon is locked up in prison in Egypt, they are not even allowed to go back to get him until Jacob gives them permission.
- Even God is not given a voice or a presence in this story other than perhaps the one who is now supposedly holding the brothers accountable for their betrayal of Joseph. They are on their own here.
- Joseph shows them again and again how powerless they are with his tricks and challenges. Their lives are literally in his hands just as his was in theirs at the beginning of this story. You should see this complete reversal. The one who was powerless then has become the most powerful, and the ones who seemed powerful over Joseph then have become nothing in his sight.
The brothers have nothing. They are empty and completely powerless, but that is when something different happens. The difference between their first encounter in the wilderness and this one is their willingness to sacrifice for each other. There is a huge and dramatic change between when the brothers sold Joseph into slavery and when Joseph now threatens to enslave one of them. What breaks the cycle of powerlessness is Judah’s desire to be enslaved instead of Benjamin. This is foreshadowing of Judah’s place as the main tribe, the tribe of Jesus and David. Benjamin is also a favored tribe, the tribe of Saul. Together, they were eventually the Southern Kingdom – also often just called Judah.
Judah’s choice to be in Benjamin’s place changes the story completely. It shows the brothers’ regard for each other and even the other favored son. Judah was the one who pushed Joseph into slavery originally, and now he is selling himself. This is what we call poetic justice. This is also what we call love and the value of life. By being willing to stand in for Benjamin, Judah shows Jospeh and all of us what it means to reach for a love that is itself the very expression of power. When it looks like you are powerless, there is always a decision that can be made to show the value of life, even if it means standing in for someone else to make that value.
It is no accident that today we find this text in our journey through Genesis. When Jesus was riding into Jerusalem 2000 years ago on what we call Palm Sunday, he was literally giving his life for ours. This was also lamb selection for the Passover Meal that would be shared later that week, the same meal Jesus and his friends shared one last time. Jesus was not riding in as the King of Jerusalem but the King of Love who was giving us himself as the lamb to be slaughtered. You may remember that in the very first Passover in Egypt, the last plague unleashed on the Egyptians before the Hebrews were freed, the people had to find a lamb and paint its blood around their doors as a sign for the angel of death to pass over their home. That lamb is the crucial piece of this story as someone who gave its life for others to live. That lamb stood in the way death so that the people might live. Jesus, in riding into Jerusalem, was doing the very same thing. It seems like he becomes powerless in so many ways once Jesus takes these steps: he never fights back or even really answers those who accuse him; he never curses Judas or resists the forces of evil; he goes along with the whole twisted plan to give him the worst death imaginable. What to the world looked like the most pathetic display of humanity for someone who was supposed to be so special is actually the most powerful display of love the world has ever seen.
There are still powerless people all around us today, maybe some are in this room or watching from home. At the beach this week, we were struck by the number of homeless people walking the streets. There are sisters and brothers out there who see no options, no choices, no hope, no way forward. We can only imagine Joseph felt helpless sitting at the bottom of that well as he was being hauled off in chains or as he was sold into slavery to Potiphar or as he was wrongfully accused and imprisoned for years. Those years and years of being powerless gave him a keen insight into how people can become powerful in the Spirit of God. He knew love when he finally saw it from his brothers.
Those who are struggling in this day need some love, too. When we give of ourselves and stand in for each other, something beautiful can happen. When we are powerless but choose to bless someone else, we regain that ability to choose. We all want to have a say, a choice, some ability, some kind of expression of power, and the one way any of us can do this is through love.
Giving ourselves in love or ministry changes the choices and provides options. It empowers people. When we are willing to stand in for someone else in their need, they are freed to make a new choice. When we are feeling weak or unable, there is always a way that we can love others. Jesus is the one who stands in for us and invites us to stand in for others. Everyone has a choice to love in power, to love in purpose, to love because we mean to love. To God be the glory. Amen.