Unable To Speak

​ 
His brothers were sick & tired of hearing him speak.    But it’s a long & winding story that begins with Isaac loving his son Esau more than Jacob.  Then “Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age.   One day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph – a beautiful robe.”  (Genesis 37:3 NLT) 
“…his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them…  One night Joseph had a dream, & when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever.  “Listen to this dream,” he said.  “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain.  Suddenly my bundle stood up, & your bundles all gathered around & bowed low before mine!”
His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you?  Do you actually think you will reign over us?”  And they hated him all the more because of his dreams & the way he talked about them…  Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem.  When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph:
“Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem.  Get ready, & I will send you to them.”  “I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied.  “Go & see how your brothers & the flocks are getting along,” Jacob said.  “Then come back & bring me a report.”   So Jacob sent him on his way, & Joseph traveled to Shechem from their home in the valley of Hebron. 
When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance.   As he approached, they made plans to kill him.  “Here comes the dreamer!” they said.  “Come on, let’s kill him & throw him into one of these cisterns.  We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’   Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”  (Genesis 37:4-8, 12-14, 18-20 NLT)    Some traders came along, so the brothers relented from killing Joseph & sold him instead.  As far as the brothers were concerned the dreams of Joseph were silenced for good.  He was no longer able to speak to them.  Nor was he able to report back to their father about them. 
Something like 22 years later, God had turned the tables on Joseph’s brothers.  Now it was their turn at being unable to speak: “And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph!  Is my father still alive?’  But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.”   They weren’t dead yet, but they might as well be. 
They were a few men from a foreign land begging for food in the most powerful nation on earth.   And now they realize that the brother they wanted to silence could, without speaking a word, have them all executed with a flick of his wrist.  We can’t blame them if they thought things could not have turned out any more wrong. 
As the people who called for Jesus’ crucifixion saw Him die, they thought they had silenced Him for good.  Little did they know that, even from death, without speaking a word, the Son of God could have executed them all. 
As followers of Jesus watched Him die on the cross, we can’t blame them if they thought things could not have turned out any more wrong.   You & I also know that feeling, the realization of which leaves us unable to speak.  We’ve endured the brokenness & tragedy of life in this cruel world – suffering upon suffering, betrayal upon betrayal, death upon death. 
We’ve seen the flooding in North Carolina, the wildfires in Los Angeles, the war in Ukraine, the hostages in Gaza, & the division between left & right across our nation.   In our own personal lives, each of us know people that need help beyond what we are able to provide.  In response to our helplessness, God inspired Moses to record the events of Joseph’s life.   They exemplify the truth that God does not promise to take away all possibility of pain & discomfort in our lives.   Rather, God does promise to be with us through it all, & He promises to send us ahead to help our neighbor, just as God sent people ahead to help you & me.  Yahweh promises to make great things happen, but He did not promise to make them come quickly   or easily. 
Joseph endured all manner of evil & injustice before he saw God’s promise come true.  His brothers lived with the guilt of selling their brother to silence him.    Their consciences weighed upon them as their sin rendered them unable to speak the truth to their father about what happened to his favorite son Joseph. 
There are times when God calls us to walk through fiery furnaces, or to bear a cross.   But, on the other side of the valley of the shadow of death we’re always presented with the reality that God had never left us.  And then, life is able to bloom, in the most beautiful & holiest of ways.  We see that as Joseph tells his brothers not to be afraid:
“…do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.  (Genesis 45:5 ESV)   You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, & you shall be near me, you & your children & your children’s children, & your flocks, your herds, & all that you have.  There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you & your household, & all that you have, do not come to poverty.”  (Genesis 45:10-11 ESV) 
 
We see that life is able to bloom, in the most beautiful & holiest of ways:
“As they were talking…, Jesus Himself stood among them, & said to them, ‘Peace to you!’  But they were startled & frightened & thought they saw a spirit.  And He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, & why do doubts arise in your hearts?  See my hands & my feet, that it is I myself.  Touch me, & see.  For a spirit does not have flesh & bones as you see that I have.’  …Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, & said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer & on the third day rise from the dead, & that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.’”  (Luke 24:36-39, 45-48 ESV) 
 
Jesus suffered, died   & rose from the dead, all within three days, yet, I doubt that His disciples would describe the fulfillment of those great promises as quick or easy.   Still, for those who believe, all things look different on the other side of God’s grace.   Sin renders all of us unable to speak as our Creator & Savior calls us to speak.  Then, the “[Holy Spirit] calls, gathers, enlightens & sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, & keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”  (Meaning of the 3rd article, LSB p. 323)   In so doing, God restores our ability to speak words of love & forgiveness to our neighbor & to our enemy. 
As God sent parents ahead of Joseph to raise him in the true faith, He then sent Joseph ahead, in Egypt, to save the lives of his family.   As God sent people ahead to share the grace & mercy of His kingdom with you, He sent you ahead to share that same grace & mercy with your children & with other people whom our Lord sent into your lives. 
Unlike us, Yahweh does not always look for the path of least resistance.  All of humanity is deeply flawed, yet through us all God fulfills His promises & continues providing for His creation.  By God’s grace, Joseph saw clearly the two aspects of his being sold into slavery.  On the one hand was the sin of his brothers.   On the other hand – the perfect will of God. 
The Holy Spirit empowered Joseph to fix his attention on the perfect will of God as the only one of consequence.  Jesus exemplified that in Gethsemane, as He prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”  (Matthew 26:39 ESV)   It is the Holy Spirit who enables you & me to speak those same words. 
In our lives we cannot avoid being accountable for actions which hurt & give pain to others.  However, it is the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit that empowers us to speak words of repentance.  Even apart from repentance, God’s Spirit can overcome our sin to bring new life & new possibilities from any situation. 
As children of God, as members & heirs of His kingdom, as ambassadors of His reconciliation, when evil confronts us, we should keep in mind that we are, like Joseph, also being sent by God.   No matter how much Satan means to accomplish evil, & he certainly does, still, the almighty God is always able to bring good out of that evil.  We see it in Joseph’s life, we see that in Jesus’ life & God is doing the same with your life as well.  God is so much in control that He can & He does use evil to accomplish His purposes.  For those who believe, all things look different on the other side of grace.   Until then, we are often unable to speak. 
What God wants to accomplish does not depend on human resolve, willingness, acceptance or understanding.  God does not intend that we should understand Him or what He’s doing, only that we should trust & praise Him.  Joseph’s example teaches that we are not being destroyed when we are afflicted by sin. 
Even through sin, God is saving us & doing good in this world of darkness.  We rarely see that by sight, yet by faith we see it almost everywhere.  It is wise not to follow our own thoughts in trying to understand the misfortune of life & our experiences.  Our judgment is false, our speech is erroneous,   our wisdom   is folly. 
When we try to be the master of our own fate, we have nothing but frustration & unhappiness awaiting us.  What Joseph’s brothers deserved was death, yet through Joseph, God gave them life.  Yahweh has also given life to us, life to live in joy & to His glory, for it is God who has sent us here to proclaim His grace & mercy to a world of darkness. 
As Joseph’s brothers sat in darkness for many years because of their sin, each of us also lives with some darkness in our own lives.  Christ came as the Light of the world to set us free.  There is rest waiting for you in that Light.  Amen. 
 
 
The people that in darkness sat a glorious light have seen; the light has shined on them who long in shades of death have been.     To us a Child of hope is born, to us a Son is given.   And on His shoulder ever rests   all power in earth & heaven.     Lord Jesus, reign in us, we pray, & make us Thine alone, Who with the Father ever art & Holy Spirit, one, & Holy Spirit one.  Amen.  LSB 412:1, 3, 6.