Overcoming Opposition: Ourselves—Gen. 37: 1-17; Matt.19: 16-22
[SLIDE 1] Every self-help guidebook everywhere has a few similar quotes: [SLIDE 2] “You are your own worst enemy; Be yourself, but be your best self; Sometimes the best way is to get out of the way.” But most days it feels like the self-help quote we are living is this, “If you think everything is going really well, just wait.” Much of life is about overcoming obstacles, trials, and forging through when times are tough. [SLIDE 3] Life may not be a constant battle, but there are parts of life where we will have to fight: when we cause our own problems, when we are betrayed, temptation, feeling abandoned, hard times, and the creeping destruction of bitterness. For the next several weeks, we’re going to journey with Joseph in Genesis, looking at how he overcame struggles in his own life, with God’s help. Joseph’s first big problem was his own self. In our scripture for today we see three big internal struggles: overthinking, self-doubt, and desiring excess, greed, or gluttony, however you call it.
All of us become overthinkers at some point or another. We see it in Jacob. [SLIDE 4] When he hears of Joseph’s dream, he chides Joseph for such a silly thing, but he doesn’t just go on. He ponders what the dream meant. Jacob was a savvy man, who had a close relationship with God. Jacob, remember, is the one who wrestled with God and had visions himself. Jacob could have gone to God and asked for clarification. He could have talked more to Joseph. This wasn’t outside the norm for Jacob or his family, yet he chose to dwell on it instead of addressing it.
[SLIDE 5] Friends, one of the things that will challenge our faith the most is overthinking and “stewing” on things as the old saying goes. God has designed that we work through troubles with forgiveness and love, but also that we take our confusions and problems to the Lord in prayer. If you don’t address an irritation in under the skin, it soon becomes an open wound, painful and dangerous. By not addressing the dreams as a family, Jacob allowed the hatred of Joseph’s brothers to grow and foster until it was too late. One of the worst ways we damage ourselves is overthinking and allowing problems to go unaddressed. Take it to God in prayer, and have a gentle, open conversation.
[SLIDE 6] Another way we cause our own faith struggle is with self-doubt. Look to Joseph’s brothers. They allowed their father’s favoritism to foster a murderous hatred of Joseph. They allowed his dreams to consume their whole thought process until they desired to kill him. Joseph was a child when they sold him off into slavery…only 16-17 years old. There’s no denying Joseph was arrogant and obnoxious at this point in his life, but it wasn’t his fault. Jacob spoiled him. His parents fashioned him into the favorite with all the entitled behaviors. Joseph’s brothers doubted themselves, their station in the family, their father’s appreciation, and saw themselves as less than in the family. And they took it out on Joseph instead of their father who caused it.
Self-doubt can make us act in unfaithful ways. When God blesses someone else in ways that make us jealous, we grow in anger towards that person. God’s love is not a competitive sport. There is more than enough of God’s love, grace, and welcome to go around. Many of us struggle with this. Nowadays they call it “Imposter Syndrome.” Enough people struggle with self-doubt that they made a whole mental health disorder. The truth is that Joseph’s brothers didn’t need Jacob’s approval, competition with Joseph, or any other kind of dysfunction. God loved them, and they could have the same connection with God that anyone else did. Their life journey was not Josephs’s or Jacobs, or Rachel’s or anyone else’s. Faith is not a competitive sport.
[SLIDE 7] I saw a quote the other day that speaks to this, “You’re seeking validation from a world that crucified a perfect man.” We must focus on our walk with God, our relationship to God, through Christ, and how Jesus teaches us to live in relationship with one another. We can run the self-doubt list all day: how I did as a parent, am I good enough for my co-workers, what do my neighbors think, and so on. But the only thing that really matters is how we trust God and follow Christ.
[SLIDE 8] And lastly we see a struggle with excess. This comes in several different things: greed, gluttony, coveting…all mean the same thing…an obsession with excesses in life. Independence Day allowed us to celebrate freedom, blessings, constitutional rights, and the ability to shoot off fireworks until 11:59 PM. But I fear there is some corrosion in the framework. Consider the idea of the American Dream—to work hard enough to become wildly successful and wealthy in this nation that is the wealthiest in the history of the world. How does this collective sense of wealth and success jive with our Gospel lesson?
[SLIDE 9] The man came to Jesus asking how to have eternal life. He didn’t even seek to follow Jesus or become a disciple. He only wanted eternal life—the promised hope that Jesus taught about. He had followed the rules, he had obeyed the sabbath, he had done all the things legally required. But there was one sticking point—his wealth, or more aptly, his greed. Jesus told him to sell all he had, give it to the poor, and follow him. It was a bridge too far. There is no sinfulness in being a wealthy person. However, when we choose our riches over following Jesus, we have failed at our faith.
Nothing in here says this man was bad, evil, or cruel to others. By all accounts he was very good—rule oriented—and wise in his actions. He had strived in his life to live according to the Commandments that God had given. He was a good, moral, upstanding person, but he chose what he had in life over following Jesus. No one can serve two masters.
I spent Independence Day with my friend’s family. They are Mexican immigrants who have lived here for years. They aren’t rich by any means, and they live very simply having raised 5 kids on one job and a stay-at-home mom. There was food, fireworks, and cake. They decided my name was boring and translated poorly, so I was renamed “Tonio,” which I, too, find more interesting than Will. The whole gathering was different from any other 4th of July I have ever been to.
[SLIDE 10] One of the greatest ways to overcome ourselves, our blind spots, our sense of isolation and insulation is to spend quality time with people very different from ourselves. This was exactly what Jesus did. He met the Samaritans, the Gerasenes, impoverished beggars in the streets, and even with Nicodemus, a man rich and powerful in his day. Jesus calls us to turn our sights from what we have to whom we should follow.
Sometimes in life, the hardest thing to overcome is ourselves. Joseph’s dad, Jacob, was an overthinker. He had been all his life. He was known in his youth as a trickster and constantly bargained with God and acted in deceit to get what he wanted in life. Joseph’s brothers lived with self-doubt. They felt constantly unworthy to Joseph, knew their father favorited him, and grew in their hate and bitterness because of Joseph’s preferential treatment.
Joseph, though, presents as arrogant and entitled in these early chapters. He gladly wears his fancy coat. He proudly tells of his dreams where his more senior family is bowing to him. Though these dreams are prophetic, there’s an undercurrent of disrespect to his parents and family. When we become our own worst enemy, we must make a choice to give in to all the cluttering thoughts or make a solid choice.
[SLIDE 11] The young man of the gospel lesson was presented with a choice. As moral and good as he sought to be in this world, he still had an idol, yes, we’ll call it an idol, ahead of following Jesus. When anything comes before Jesus, we are choosing ourselves over God. May we, each and every day, choose to follow Jesus, our Redeemer and Sustainer, over anything that feeds our human self.
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