Sermon: Joseph: Stamped With Integrity - Genesis 41

Sermon series: Extraordinary Relationships

Introduction

Some of us may have already known the name of boxer Jim Braddock before the 2005 motion picture Cinderella Man retold his story. It's the classic American drama of how one man overcomes career-ending injuries and the pervasive desperation of the Great Depression with integrity, humility, and tenacity.

Once a rising star in the amateur boxing world, Jim Braddock shattered his right hand in a punch just two months before Sept. 3, 1929, when the stock market crashed. Braddock, like so many others, lost everything, and with his injury, his fight career hit the skids as well. He only won 6 of his next 22 bouts. He was tagged as a "has been" before he ever really achieved his full potential. The boxing world lost all interest in Jim Braddock.

For the next five years, Braddock scrounged for jobs, trying his best to provide for his family. It was a time of humiliation and pain and loss. But Braddock handled the challenges with such integrity that something deep and strong formed itself in the inner character of the man. Suffering had made him strong in ways that had been missing before.

In 1934, something happened that changed everything for Braddock. He received a surprise invitation back into the ring. It was only the under-card fight to the title match - nothing official, just a one-time shot. He was to face future Hall of Fame boxer John "Corn" Griffin, who was being groomed as one of the contenders for the world title. Braddock stepped right out of dock work into the ring with no training to refine his forgotten skills. Nevertheless in three rounds, it was over. The underdog surprised everyone.

That win put Braddock back into the circuit, where he went on to face boxers who had defeated him two years before. But he continued to defy all predictions, decisively defeating opponents of such caliber that it cleared the fighting brackets for a shot at the title. On June 13th 1935, Braddock stepped into the ring at Madison Square Garden to face Max Baer for the championship, a10-to-1 underdog. But 15 brutal rounds later, James J. Braddock, dubbed "the Cinderella Man" for his rise from the pit to the pinnacle, was announced the winner by unanimous vote of the judges. It is ranked as one of the most stunning upsets in boxing history, when this washed out fighter claimed the title "Heavyweight Champion of the World."

Long before Jim Braddock, there were others who could be called "Cinderella Man" as well. Job was beaten black and blue by calamity. Yet through it all, he held fast to His confidence in God. Listen to Job's own words: He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my portion of food. (Job 23:10-12) Job trusted God when it didn't make sense to trust Him and it put steel in his soul.

Or listen to Peter: In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (I Peter 1:6-7). Peter rose to the challenge of his trials because he had learned what it meant to trust in the crucible of suffering.

Or take our man of the hour, Joseph. Over the weeks, we've walked through this young man's life and left with admiration and wisdom each time because of how his character kept him straight and true in spite of how he was treated. Like so many other heroes of the faith, he learned to see something more in suffering than just sorrow and self-pity. Let's look at what a proven character looks like through the twists and turns in Joseph's experience and pray that we learn something about what it means to be stamped with intergrity.

I. Godly character during the test

Our first stop looks at a Godly character while you're still in the midst of the trial. When we last left Joseph, he was serving out a sentence for a crime he didn't' commit in a place where the sun never shines, the dungeon for the king's prisoners. Chapter 41:1 tells us that Joseph has marked two entire years doing hard time. Two years earlier, Joseph had told the royal cupbearer who spent some time in jail as well to remember me when it is well with you (40:14). Only three days after Joseph made this request, the cupbearer was released and restored to his former position serving Pharaoh directly. But he forgot about his former cell mate, who had been so helpful.

Here was the climactic ending of a long series of malice and injustice. Joseph had already felt the unsettled nature of a dysfunctional family, the unjust hatred of his brothers, the shock of being torn away from home forever, the humiliation of slavery, and the bite of slander. Now, he faces what looks like a non-ending trip to death in a foreign dungeon.

Each day was nothing more than a monotonous, slow-moving grind, to be repeated tomorrow and the next day. For Joseph it must have looked like nothing was ever going to change. He must have felt like his whole life was stuck in a permanent holding pattern.

It is here, in the place of continued suffering, that our faith is attacked with doubts, anger, confusion, loneliness, and sorrow. Suffering always changes us, but not necessarily for the better. In his book, A Grace Disguised, Gerald Sittser, who lost his wife, his mother, and a daughter in a head-on collision, writes about the struggle that happens to us all in our losses: "Loss creates a barren present, as if one were sailing on a vast sea of nothingness. Those who suffer loss live suspended between a past for which they long and a future for which they hope. They want to return to the harbor of the familiar past and recover what was lost…Or they want to sail on and discover a meaningful future that promises to bring them life again… Instead, they find themselves living in a barren present that is empty of meaning." [Gerald Sittser, A Grace Disguised, quoted in John Ortberg's The Life You've Always Dreamed Of, p. 211.]

Joseph was there, in that empty middle ground, going nowhere. But he clung to a single truth that kept him. If is inferred in every word he speaks, every action he undertakes.

Let's call it Character Conviction #1: There is a design in my distress.

Affliction is always pure gold in the making for the child of God. There is a truth that is repeated throughout pages of Scripture. Even though it looks like nothing is happening, like nothing will ever change, circumstances are being aligned and you are being refined by sufferings.

Listen to Peter once more: Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you." (I Pet. 4:12) What does he mean? He means your suffering, your losses, your heartaches are not a surprise, they're a plan. They're not absurd, meaningless, or purposeless. They are part of God's refining process. He's distilling your life and designing your circumstances.

I wonder: What might God be doing in your life through your losses? What assignment is He preparing your for? What wisdom is He imparting? What pride is He driving out? What part of your character is He overhauling in that place of lack and loss? Pain, properly handled, can shape your life for greatness. This is the staying power of Godly character during the test.

II. Godly character when you're rewarded

Next stop in Joseph's experience is the golden moment, totally unanticipated, when in one afternoon, Joseph is elevated out of a pit to become one of the most powerful men on earth in the ancient world. It happened on just another dungeon day for Joseph. As far as he knew, nothing was different. But there was a little matter Joseph knew nothing about: the night before Pharaoh had a bad dream!

Back to Gen. 41. The opening verses tell us that after two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke.

Verses 5-7 tell us that when Pharaoh fell back asleep, he dreamed the same dream again, only this time it involved ears of grain instead of cows. Verse 8 says that in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians (the word refers to the wise men of his court) of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

Boom! Right then, the light clicks on for the royal cupbearer. Verse 9-13 describe the cupbearer's testimony about a Hebrew guy he met while in prison a couple years before who accurately interpreted his dream and that of the former royal baker. Verse 14 reports that this was all Pharaoh needed to hear.

In less than an hour, Joseph is transported from the stinking hole where he had whiled away two years of his life to the resplendent courts of the ruler of Egypt. Imagine the scene as Joseph hurriedly shaves off two years of scraggly beard, bathes, and puts on clean clothes for the first time in who knows when. Think of that moment as he strides into the place of power.

In v. 15, Pharaoh addresses the prisoner by explaining that he's had a baffling dream and that he heard reports of Joseph's ability to explain it.

And here's where Character Conviction #2 shows up: Promote God, not yourself. Stand there with the broken man, Joseph. Pharaoh has rolled out the red carpet for him. This is the golden moment for our mistreated, maligned friend to strut his stuff. If he was appearing on The Apprentice, this would be his chance to win the big guy over, to exude self-confidence, to manipulate the situation to his favor, to promote himself. This is when fear can make you desperate: "I've got to convince Pharaoh that he needs me here in the palace. I can't go back to that dungeon again!"

What does Joseph do? How does he handle this moment of opportunity? Listen to his reply to Pharaoh in v. 16: Joseph answered Pharaoh, "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer." "I'm not the one with the answers, but I serve God who will tell you the meaning of your dreams." Even when he gives the meaning of the strange dreams of this pagan king, Joseph constantly gives God the credit. He determined to point this human king to the King of all kings.

Then in v. 33, he offers this counsel to Pharaoh: Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. Notice that even here, he doesn't try to hedge his position before Pharaoh. He doesn't offer his resume. He doesn't drop hints. He isn't grasping or selfishly ambitious.

Joseph exudes a Godly character that lets the Lord have His way, in His time, for His purposes! He believed that if God wanted this to happen, it would happen. James 4:10 gives us the principle behind this belief, Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.

What happens? Look at v. 39-45: Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you." And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."

Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand (this is the ancient equivalent to the company's platinum charge card), and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, "Bow the knee!" Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. 44Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

III. Character at the crossroads

1. When people let you down, turn it over to God without vengeance

Count on the Lord to handle the cupbearers in your life - the people who take but don't give back, who forget you, who abandon you, who break their promises to you. It's God's job to deal with the cupbearers of your past. It's your job to be faithful to a God who will not forget you.

2. When nothing seems to change, count on God's purposes without panic

Vance Havner, wise in the ways of God, once said, "God uses broken things. Broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever." (source: Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 1)

Some of you may be on the verge of a promotion that God is preparing you for and preparing for you. He doesn't announce His appointments in advance. While you're waiting, stay under the hand of the Lord. Remember, joy comes in the morning.

3. When the reward comes, thank God without pride

Only God can bring you through and out of the dungeon. Only God can reward your faithfulness. So when it comes, don't pat yourself on the back. Be grateful, not proud.

Joseph, the Cinderella Man, went through the fire faithful to God and he came out with a character purer, stronger, ready for the assignment God had in store. His promises are just as real today as they were for Joseph. His grace is still at work. You can trust Him.