Old Testament Reading: First Reading: Genesis 45:3-11, 15

3Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.   4Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. 10You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.’ ” 15And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

First of all, Happy Valentine’s Day. May your day be filled with much love. Remember that you are loved by God!

On with the blog…

Joseph was an unlikely leader, but God used him, even when his brothers had NO use for him. He was a dreamer whose dreams made his brothers mad, so they sold off to traders as a slave. The brothers devised a plan to make their Dad think Joseph was dead.

Joseph wasn’t – he ended up as a bigwig in the Egyptian royal courts. His brothers came to him begging for food, not knowing it was their brother. After a few tricks up his sleeve to get back at his brothers, he welcomed them to his new adopted land, reconciled with them and cared for them.

It is a great story. It was captured wonderfully in the musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” It is one of my all time favorite musicals.

Joseph was able to use the gifts God gave him – to interpret dreams and give answers to questions that no one else could answer.

Do you have questions?

Here are some –

What does occasional furniture do the rest of the time? (think about it…..)

What happened to preparation A thru G?

Can you imagine a world without hypothetical questions? Just wondered…

Seriously –

Where do you go to seek answers to questions? Sometimes the answers don’t come as quickly as we wish (the past five months have taught us this, yes?). Sometimes we need to dwell in the questions and be open to the answers, even when they come from places we least expect.

Thank you, God for people of wisdom who bestow wisdom.

Let us pray: We’ve got questions. Direct us to the answers only you can give. We pray this in Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord. Amen.