July 13-15, 2019 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Genesis 39:6B-12, 16-23 (NIV 1984) “THAT’S NOT FAIR!”

PENTECOST

July 13-15, 2019

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Genesis 39:6B-12, 16-23 (NIV 1984)

“THAT’S NOT FAIR!”

1.     That’s life in the sin-filled world.

2.     That’s OK. The LORD is with you!

Genesis 39:6B-12, 16-23 (NIV 1984) “Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. 11One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. 16She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” 19When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. 20Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21the Lord was with him; He showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.”

For us to get the most from the Word of God before us today it will be helpful to know a little more of the history of this man named Joseph. Joseph was one of 12 brothers, the sons of Jacob. Jacob made the parental mistaking of having favorites among his children and Joseph was his favorite. Now you can just imagine how the other brothers felt and what they were thinking or saying and if you know it, say it with me. That’s not fair! Jacob’s favoritism showed. For instance he gave only Joseph a special multicolored coat while the others got regular coats. Do you know how the others felt? Say it. That’s not fair! One time Jacob sent the other brothers out to watch the sheep and let Joseph stay at home. Again. That’s not fair. Then Jacob sent Joseph out to check up on his brothers. When  they saw him coming what did they think? That’s not fair! So they made a plot to kill him. One brother, Rueben,  had a little bit of conscience and hoped to rescue Joseph and convinced the other brothers to throw Joseph into  a pit. When they did that you know what Joseph must have thought? Say it. That’s not fair! Before Rueben could rescue Joseph though, the other brothers sold Joseph to some slave traders. What must have been going through Joseph’s mind? That’s not fair! The slave traders sold Joseph to a man named Potiphar, the captain of the guard for the Pharaoh in Egypt. That’s not fair. Joseph did his best to serve. Potiphar noticed and put Joseph in charge of his house. And that’s where our reading picked up.

If Joseph were alive today they would try recruiting him for one of those smutty shows like the Bachelor or Bachelorette. Mrs. Potiphar noticed. Joseph was her slave. She wanted him. She ordered him to commit adultery. Joseph said No. Not only did he say No but did you catch the reason why? “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” There’s no, “What if we get caught?” No, “Potiphar will kill me!” Instead Joseph is living his life very conscious of God. What Mrs. Potiphar wanted was wicked. A sin against God! Can you do any better than that? Seriously, is there any better way to resist temptation than to refuse because you don’t want to dishonor, disappoint God?

Here is where we expect, “And God saw Joseph’s faithfulness. He was pleased with Joseph and an angel of the Lord came and rescued Joseph returning him safely to his father, Jacob.” But that’s not what happened. Mrs. Potiphar persisted. When Joseph continued to refuse she falsely accused him. “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” 19When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. 20Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison.” There are words for women like her. You know what? Say it with me. That’s not fair.

Now what does this word of God teach us? First, that’s life in the sin filled world is not fair. It is not perfect. It falls short of the glory of God and so will not be fair and it was God’s decision to leave it that way. You have sinners dealing with sinners and God dealing with sinners so it’s always going to be a mess. The heart attack hits the in shape athlete and the lifelong smoker. Cancer doesn’t check your skin color, your bank account or your diet before striking. God hating blatant evildoers can have and enjoy nice things. Hard working lifelong Christians can constantly struggle and have little. To each and every one of those examples and so many more we can rightly say, “That’s not fair!”

And we need to get over it. We need to give up these unrealistic expectations of fairness by our standards. We need to because most often holding on to those thoughts leads to bitterness and sinning on our part. It led Joseph’s brothers to hatred and selling him as a slave. It leads you to envy, anger bitterness and maybe retribution against others. This is a true store about me. I kid you not. One time as growing up in a home with 8 children and not a lot of money we badgered my poor mom so much on a perceived unfair distribution of the evening treat that she actually pulled out a postage scale to show us how fair she was being. Isn’t that awful? She should not have given us anything. Kids, don’t do that. You make your parent’s life miserable. That is sin. It’s bad enough when you do it to parents who love you and make sacrifices for you. It’s worse when we start getting angry with God and accuse Him of unfair treatment of us. And now let’s be honest. Most of the time our cries for fairness are revealed to be a part of our own selfishness because the cries of “That’s not fair!” really only come if we feel we got shorted. When is the last time you cried “Not fair!” to God because people in third world countries have so much less than you do? Been a while if ever? That’s not fair!

Brothers and sisters, here is why that unrealistic expectation of our brand of fairness need not rob us of joy and contentment. It’s OK. The Lord is with us. He was with Joseph. “But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21the Lord was with him; He showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” No, God did not end right away the unfair imprisonment. Joseph endured 13 years of slavery and imprisonment. But God stayed with Joseph. He carried him through. Joseph grew spiritually. Then when the time was right God used Joseph to spare the physical lives of many people and to further the plan of salvation so that later when Joseph’s brothers apologized Joseph was able to answer from the heart, “You intended to harm me but God intended it for good.” The unfairness was OK because God was with him and God had a plan for good.

Brothers and sisters, it’s OK. It’s OK when life is unfair because the Lord is with you. What has He promised? “I will never leave you nor forsake you. I am with you always even to the end of the age.” And when God is with you all things work for the good. So it’s OK. Wait for God to make it right in His time and His way. And instead of getting angry, bitter and resentful, get curious. I wonder how God is going to use this for good?

You know if present trends continue and America becomes less and less Christian, those who hold to Bible teaching can expect some unfair treatment. It might come through the courts. It may happen in your workplace. Churches might get the financial squeeze put on us. When those things happen you know what we’ll want to say? That’s not fair. May God give us strength instead to say with a smile, “That’s OK. The LORD is with us.” And maybe God’s plan in that is to use our calm witness to draw others to Jesus so that we can say to those who mistreat us, “You intended it for harm but God intended it for good, to save many lives.” And in so doing we will join the ranks of believers like Joseph and Moses and many others who follow Jesus in dealing with unfair treatment. Think of Jesus, who when he the holy perfect Son of God was treated as the world’s one and only sinner did not cry out, “That’s not fair!” but “It is finished!” so we would know to say with words and lives, not “That’s not fair!” but “Thank you, Jesus.” Amen.