A sermon preached at Journey United Church of Christ on Sunday, August 21, 2011
Genesis 45:1-15
1 Since Joseph could no longer control his feelings in front of his servants, he sent them out of the room. When he was alone with his brothers, he told them, "I am Joseph."
2 Then he cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him and told about it in the king's palace.
3 Joseph asked his brothers if his father was still alive, but they were too frightened to answer.
4 Joseph told them to come closer to him, and when they did, he said: Yes, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt.
5 Don't worry or blame yourselves for what you did. God is the one who sent me ahead of you to save lives.
6 There has already been a famine for two years, and for five more years no one will plow fields or harvest grain.
7 But God sent me on ahead of you to keep your families alive and to save you in this wonderful way.
8 After all, you weren't really the ones who sent me here—it was God. He made me the highest official in the king's court and placed me over all Egypt.
9 Now hurry back and tell my father that his son Joseph says, "God has made me ruler of Egypt. Come here as quickly as you can.
10 You will live near me in the region of Goshen with your children and grandchildren, as well as with your sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else you own.
11 I will take care of you there during the next five years of famine. But if you don't come, you and your family and your animals will starve to death."
12 All of you, including my brother Benjamin, can tell by what I have said that I really am Joseph.
13 Tell my father about my great power here in Egypt and about everything you have seen. Hurry and bring him here.
14 Joseph and Benjamin hugged each other and started crying.
15 Joseph was still crying as he kissed each of his other brothers. After this, they started talking with Joseph.
2 Then he cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him and told about it in the king's palace.
3 Joseph asked his brothers if his father was still alive, but they were too frightened to answer.
4 Joseph told them to come closer to him, and when they did, he said: Yes, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt.
5 Don't worry or blame yourselves for what you did. God is the one who sent me ahead of you to save lives.
6 There has already been a famine for two years, and for five more years no one will plow fields or harvest grain.
7 But God sent me on ahead of you to keep your families alive and to save you in this wonderful way.
8 After all, you weren't really the ones who sent me here—it was God. He made me the highest official in the king's court and placed me over all Egypt.
9 Now hurry back and tell my father that his son Joseph says, "God has made me ruler of Egypt. Come here as quickly as you can.
10 You will live near me in the region of Goshen with your children and grandchildren, as well as with your sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else you own.
11 I will take care of you there during the next five years of famine. But if you don't come, you and your family and your animals will starve to death."
12 All of you, including my brother Benjamin, can tell by what I have said that I really am Joseph.
13 Tell my father about my great power here in Egypt and about everything you have seen. Hurry and bring him here.
14 Joseph and Benjamin hugged each other and started crying.
15 Joseph was still crying as he kissed each of his other brothers. After this, they started talking with Joseph.
Water for Elephants: Responding to Life’s Surprises
I’m probably going to date myself a little bit here, but back when I was a kid growing up in I remember when the circus came to town. It didn’t happen every year, but when it happened, it was amazing. It wasn’t just the circus performance itself, it was the whole week-long event, starting with the big set up … which happened in the big lot next to where my grandmother lived. I remember the year that my grandma invited all of us grandchildren to spend the night so we could be there to watch the unloading of the animals, the set up of the huge tent and all the side-shows. For a kid, it just doesn’t get any better.
“Water for Elephants” brings us behind the scenes glimpse into a second rate circus through the eyes of Jacob Jankowski who is looking back in the midst of his “nursing home life” …through his memories we get a picture of circus life … it’s not always a pretty picture …
As Jacob begins his ride, he’s just about to take his final college exams and earn a veterinary license like his dad before him. He’s all set to live our his dreams and live happily after, in spite of the depression that’s currently hitting the country in 1931. Then Jacob’s parents die in a car crash, and he quickly learns that the bank owns everything. He’s now penniless and homeless. So Jacob does what many other distraught young men did in that day and age: he hops a train to anywhere.
This particular train, however, belongs to the owners of the Benzini Brothers Circus. Fortunately, an old Polish circus-worker named Camel takes Jacob under his wing and saves him from being tossed back onto the tracks. He gets the drifter a job, saying, “Hold on, you’re in for the ride of your life. What a ride it is. From shovelling out the animal cars to pounding tent stakes and raising the gigantic big top to behind the scenes peep shows, this is a ride filled with surprises.
When Jacob looks back and reflects he wonders out loud … “I don’t know if I picked that train or the train picked me … “
His story shares some themes with the story of Joseph in Genesis. He too, finds himself on caravan ride to a new place and a brand new life. Unlike Jacob, it wasn’t his choice – his brothers sold him to a band of travelling merchants who take him on a ride to Egypt. There he will experience the ups and downs of life … he definitely didn’t “choose the train…”
This morning, I want us to look not so much at how Jacob … and Joseph … got on the train ride with it’s ups and downs … but how they lived life while on that train … how they responded to the ups and downs of life …
The book, “Water for Elephants” was written by Sara Gruens long before the current economic situation yet I was struck watching this how much the story speaks to today's setting. In the opening scenes of the movie, Jacob becomes painfully aware of the economic reality before him. Watch this scene as he discusses his option with the banker as he works on settling his parent’s estate….
Video Clip #1
Jacob Speaks with the Banker
1:07:00 – 1:09:00
"The only people who will be standing at the end of this Depression are those who TAKE what they need to survive."
There is a sense in which all the people in the film are struggling for survival, but the real contrast is the approaches taken by Jacob and August.
August plans to survive by the use of power and taking advantage of each situation to further his own interest. Marlena is not so much treated as his wife, but as the start of the show, he treats her more like property. When given the opportunity to acquire a new “star” – Rosie the elephant, he quietly admits that in order to pay for her, he’ll just not pay the other performers for a few weeks. He throws men off the train in the middle of the night so he doesn’t have to pay them. When the newly acquired elephant doesn’t “perform” on command, he takes the bull stick and beats Rosie
Video Clip #2
“The United State of Suckers”
Marlena’s response is to simply be “stuck on the ride”. She explains that she was born a passenger and things haven’t changed; as an infant, her mother abandoned her on a train where she was found and sent to live with strangers who used and abused her; later August would find her outside the sewing shop and in her words “I’m backing to being a passenger again.
Jacob seeks to survive through gentleness and helping others. He’s the one who intervenes to keep August from abusing his co-workers. He’s the one who figures out that Rosie wasn’t stupid, but only understood the commands if spoken in Polish. He rides the train of life with integreity.
How would you define integrity? Let’s go back to the root of the word, which is "integer." Do you remember from math class what an integer is? Well, don't feel bad; it didn't either. But let me tell: it's a whole number -- like 1, 2, 3, 4 -- as opposed to a fraction. Integrity means wholeness or completeness or entirety. Or look at another related word -- "integrated" -- integrity is when all aspects of your life are integrated or working together as a whole.
It's a biblical idea too… for you see, God wants us to functioning as whole people. In fact, if you look at the verse at the top of the outline on your program, you'll read the words Jesus said…nobody can serve two masters…that fragments their lives. A person who does one thing today and then a contrary thing tomorrow is fragmented; it's called duplicity or hypocrisy.
But a person with integrity has consistency -- what they believe is how they act; what they say is what they do. In terms of our faith, it means extending your faith to the whole of life …having congruence between what you believe and how you act.
In “Water for Elephants”, Jacob survives with integrity. In Genesis, Jacob also survives with integrity. Despite the fact they he is not treated fairly. Despite the fact that all he has is taken from him, not once, but over and over and over again. Despite the fact that circumstances are grim. He lives out his faith. He lives with integrity. And in doing so, he, like Jacob, provide us with examples perhaps of how we ride the train these days.
In a world where many are out of work or are losing their homes to banks, this film gives us something to consider. How are we to live in such a world? The banker may have been right that in troubled times we must take what they need to survive. But what do we need to survive?
Will we be like August and take those things that will give us more money or more power over others, or should we take our place within a community where we care for others and are cared for in return? How will we ride the train?
PRAYER OF REFLECTION
Loving God, you call us out of darkness and into your marvelous light. But we crouch in the shadows, ashamed of the wrong we have done, and of the good we have neglected to do. We have been timid disciples, afraid of putting our lives on the line for the good of your reign on earth. We conceal our true selves from one another, hiding behind the masks of our own power and competence. We allow divisions and discord to reign in our hearts, crowding you out altogether. Yet we know that discord is not your way. Reconciling God, call us back into relationship with you. Equip us for relationships of integrity – in our families, in our church community, and in the world you love. We pray in the name of Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and acknowledging our need for the love of God. Amen
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