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Andy Stanley - Better For It Part 3 Moving Forward From a Crisis · Andy Stanley Sermons

0:03
Speaker 1: One of the reasons we respect the people that we
0:05
Speaker 1: respect most is their response to this to adversity. Right,
0:09
Speaker 1: the people that we respect the most are generally people
0:12
Speaker 1: who've walked through a fire or two, maybe through the
0:15
Speaker 1: valley of the shadow of death. We respect people who've
0:18
Speaker 1: been hurt but who didn't hurt back, who are treated
0:21
Speaker 1: unjustly or unfairly, but who didn't strike back. We respect
0:25
Speaker 1: people who faced extraordinary health challenges but didn't lose their
0:28
Speaker 1: love for life. They didn't despair. They exercised their superpower.
0:33
Speaker 1: Their superpower. It's the power that we all have, and
0:36
Speaker 1: when exercise, that actually keeps us from becoming like our enemies.
0:40
Speaker 1: It keeps us from reflecting our circumstances. It thwarts evil.
0:44
Speaker 1: Our superpower allows us to redeem suffering. And your superpower
0:48
Speaker 1: is why you can be better for It. We'll come
0:51
Speaker 1: back to that in just a minute now. This is
0:54
Speaker 1: the final episode of our series Better for It, and
0:56
Speaker 1: I chose this topic because while we're all ready for
0:59
Speaker 1: things to get back to normal, or maybe a new normal,
1:02
Speaker 1: we would all agree that all of this pain without
1:04
Speaker 1: any gain would certainly be a shame. So we're pausing
1:08
Speaker 1: to ask the question what have we learned and what
1:11
Speaker 1: have we observed that we want to carry forward or
1:14
Speaker 1: to the point of our series, how how can we
1:17
Speaker 1: be better for it? What have we been doing or
1:20
Speaker 1: what were we doing that almost led to our undoing
1:23
Speaker 1: that we need to stop doing? Or the second way
1:26
Speaker 1: of asking it is this, what should we begin doing
1:29
Speaker 1: that we should have been doing all along? Because again,
1:32
Speaker 1: it would be tragic to forget the lessons we've learned,
1:34
Speaker 1: and it would certainly be tragic to lose the perspective
1:37
Speaker 1: that we've gained. So last week I talked about how
1:40
Speaker 1: to ensure that you can be better for it, and
1:42
Speaker 1: I talked about why we can all be better for
1:44
Speaker 1: it regardless of what it is, and the reason we
1:47
Speaker 1: can be better for it is we all have As
1:49
Speaker 1: I just mentioned, we all have a superpower. We all
1:52
Speaker 1: have a special ability that empowers us to be better
1:56
Speaker 1: for well, to be better for anything that life throws
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Speaker 1: at you, or actually anything life has thrown at you.
2:02
Speaker 1: And our superpower, our superpower is our respond ability. Our
2:07
Speaker 1: respond ability, our ability to respond rather than react, because
2:13
Speaker 1: your ability to choose a response rather than have it
2:16
Speaker 1: dictated to you, or your ability to choose something rather
2:19
Speaker 1: than just do what's expected of you, or to simply
2:22
Speaker 1: model what you've seen done. Your ability to respond allows
2:25
Speaker 1: you to dictate and to influence your own future because
2:28
Speaker 1: and you know this, in fact, we've all seen this.
2:30
Speaker 1: To simply react, to simply react to circumstances, it sets
2:35
Speaker 1: us up to reflect those circumstances. Have you seen this.
2:39
Speaker 1: You've seen people go through very difficult circumstances and instead
2:42
Speaker 1: of choosing a measured response, they simply reacted, and now
2:46
Speaker 1: months later, maybe years later, they reflect the circumstances they
2:50
Speaker 1: didn't even choose. When we react, and this is the
2:54
Speaker 1: point of today's message, when we simply react, we actually
2:57
Speaker 1: relinquish control of our lives, and we ultimately relinquish control
3:03
Speaker 1: of our destiny and our legacy. But a measured response,
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Speaker 1: a measured, thought through response, ensures that that doesn't happen.
3:12
Speaker 1: But as we said last time, there's a catch. There's
3:16
Speaker 1: a reason we miss this, and that's the reason we're
3:18
Speaker 1: talking about it. And here's the catch. The response, the
3:22
Speaker 1: response that has the potential to reverse the natural course
3:26
Speaker 1: of things isn't natural. The response that has the potential
3:30
Speaker 1: to reverse the natural course of things isn't natural. Or
3:33
Speaker 1: another way of saying it is this. The catalytic response
3:36
Speaker 1: is the least intuitive response, The response that makes the
3:39
Speaker 1: most difference in a positive direction is the response we
3:42
Speaker 1: are least likely to choose, and most often we are
3:45
Speaker 1: at tempted, our tend to miss. So to illustrate this
3:49
Speaker 1: and to kind of, you know, drag us deep into
3:51
Speaker 1: the context of this and the emotion of this. Last
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Speaker 1: week we began a story that many of us are
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Speaker 1: familiar with. It's an Old Testament story, the story of Joseph,
4:00
Speaker 1: a young man who exercised his superpower get this for
4:04
Speaker 1: about twenty five years before the story is ultimately resolved.
4:09
Speaker 1: And his story, I think better than any other story
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Speaker 1: I've ever heard in any literature. His story illustrates the sustaining,
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Speaker 1: the course reversing, and the sanity preserving power of a
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Speaker 1: measured response. And like me and like you, Joseph didn't
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Speaker 1: know the end of his story. In fact, Joseph didn't
4:29
Speaker 1: even know there was a story worth telling. But throughout
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Speaker 1: his story and throughout his circumstances, he chose the catalytic response,
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Speaker 1: the unusual response, the unexpected response. So you're probably familiar
4:43
Speaker 1: with the story, but let me catch you up to
4:44
Speaker 1: where we left off last time. Here's basically Joseph's resume.
4:48
Speaker 1: Here's the synopsis of a synopsis of his life so far.
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Speaker 1: Joseph Jacobson, kidnapped once by his brothers, sold twice, first
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Speaker 1: to slave traders, and then he sold once again when
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Speaker 1: he gets to Egypt, then framed for a crime that
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Speaker 1: he ultimately didn't commit. And the reason he was punished
5:03
Speaker 1: is because he wouldn't commit the crime. Potiphar's wife, his
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Speaker 1: master's wife, accused him of trying to rape her because
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Speaker 1: he wouldn't go to bed with her, and then ultimately
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Speaker 1: he's imprisoned. So basically, this is his resume so far,
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Speaker 1: and again to catch you up. At this point in
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Speaker 1: the story, nobody's looking for Joseph. Nobody's looking out for Joseph.
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Speaker 1: And perhaps that's where your story intersects with Joseph. And yet,
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Speaker 1: in spite of these unbelievable circumstances, I mean, any one
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Speaker 1: of those things would be enough. In spite of all that,
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Speaker 1: Joseph continued to respond. Joseph continued to respond as if
5:38
Speaker 1: God was with him. And that brings me to the
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Speaker 1: question we left off with last time. The question we're
5:44
Speaker 1: going to end with this time as well. How would
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Speaker 1: someone how would someone in your circumstances respond, if they
5:51
Speaker 1: were absolutely confident that God was with them? How would
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Speaker 1: someone in your circumstances respond. You know how people in
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Speaker 1: your circumstances normally react, you know what's expected of people
6:03
Speaker 1: in your circumstances, you know what's been modeled for you.
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Speaker 1: But how would someone in your circumstances respond if they
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Speaker 1: were absolutely confident that God was with him? That there's
6:14
Speaker 1: more to the story than meets the eye, That your
6:16
Speaker 1: current circumstances are simply a chapter, They're not the entire story.
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Speaker 1: So back to Joseph's story. Following the rape accusation, Joseph's master,
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Speaker 1: potiphar imprisons him and will pick up the story there.
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Speaker 1: Joseph's master took Joseph and he put him in prison,
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Speaker 1: the place where the king's prisoners were confined. But while
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Speaker 1: Joseph was there in prison, and here it is again,
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Speaker 1: But while Joseph was there in prison, the lord was
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Speaker 1: with him, while he was being punished for something he
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Speaker 1: wouldn't do, because he wouldn't do it. This is the
6:50
Speaker 1: most this is the craziest part of the story to me,
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Speaker 1: while while he was being punished for something he wouldn't
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Speaker 1: do because he wouldn't do it, the Lord was with him.
6:58
Speaker 1: While while he's being treated unjustly, while he's being treated unfairly,
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Speaker 1: God is with Joseph. See, these are the moments when
7:06
Speaker 1: we want to say, God, where are you? Where are you?
7:08
Speaker 1: And God says, I'm I'm right here with you. But
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Speaker 1: it doesn't feel like you're right here with me. It
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Speaker 1: doesn't seem like you're right here with me? Where are you?
7:15
Speaker 1: And God would say, I'm right there with you. So
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Speaker 1: while Joseph was in prison, the Lord was with him,
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Speaker 1: and God showed him kindness. Now the word translated kindness
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Speaker 1: in our English text. In the Hebrew text, it actually
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Speaker 1: means loving kindness. It's a covenant word, and in fact,
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Speaker 1: throughout most of our English Old Testament it's translated loving kindness.
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Speaker 1: And the implication is that Joseph considered himself in some
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Speaker 1: sort of covenant relationship with a God who had done
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Speaker 1: nothing for him lately. In fact, what did this loving
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Speaker 1: kindness look like? Well, the author continues and he tells us,
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Speaker 1: here's what loving kindness looks like. He showed him kindness,
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Speaker 1: and he granted him favor if only it has stopped there.
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Speaker 1: He granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden,
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Speaker 1: which is a problem for us, because in our way
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Speaker 1: of thinking, if God is with you, and if God
8:03
Speaker 1: is for you, you do not have a relationship with a
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Speaker 1: prison warden. Right. In fact, if God is with you
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Speaker 1: and God is for you, you are not in prison.
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Speaker 1: You're certainly not in prisoned because you've been accused of
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Speaker 1: something you didn't do and found guilty of something you
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Speaker 1: weren't guilty of. I'm sure at times. I'm sure at times,
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Speaker 1: and I'm just making this part up. I'm sure at
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Speaker 1: times Joseph must have thought, I wish God would go
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Speaker 1: be with someone else for a change, right, like God
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Speaker 1: go be with my brothers, or God go be with
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Speaker 1: Potiphar's wife. I need a break from all this with well,
8:35
Speaker 1: months go by, years go by, there's no weekends off.
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Speaker 1: This doesn't feel like a story. It doesn't feel like
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Speaker 1: it's going anywhere, and of course Joseph certainly isn't going anywhere.
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Speaker 1: And then, seemingly totally unrelated, Pharaoh's baker and pharaoh's butler
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Speaker 1: have a falling out with Pharaoh, and Pharaoh is so
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Speaker 1: angry with them he puts them in prison, and he
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Speaker 1: puts them in the same prison where Joseph is. And
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Speaker 1: then the story has a strange twist. The captain of
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Speaker 1: the guard, who is assigned to running the prison, assigned
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Speaker 1: the butler and the baker to Joseph, and Joseph attended them.
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Speaker 1: And after they had been there for some time, because
9:15
Speaker 1: a lot of time goes by in the story that
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Speaker 1: the story is compressed like most narratives, the butler and
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Speaker 1: the baker Pharaoh's butler and baker have disturbing dreams on
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Speaker 1: the same night, and Joseph notices that they're disturbed by something.
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Speaker 1: And it's kind of a funny part of the story.
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Speaker 1: I mean, here they are in a dungeon, and so
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Speaker 1: Joseph is serving them breakfast one morning and he actually says, hey, guys,
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Speaker 1: why do you look so sad today, to which they
9:38
Speaker 1: could have responded, well, let's begin with the fact that
9:41
Speaker 1: we're in a dungeon, but that's not in the text.
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Speaker 1: So Joseph says to them, why are you so sad today?
9:46
Speaker 1: And both of them share that they had a very
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Speaker 1: disturbing dream a vivid dream. They can remember the details.
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Speaker 1: They're both convinced that the dreams mean something, but they
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Speaker 1: have no idea how to interpret their dreams. And then
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Speaker 1: Joseph responds with this. He says, do not interpretations belong
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Speaker 1: to God. Do not interpretations belong to God. He's still believing,
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Speaker 1: he's still trusting, even in the midst of these crazy circumstances.
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Speaker 1: He's continuing to respond rather than react. And then he says,
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Speaker 1: to the butler and the baker, tell me your dreams,
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Speaker 1: tell me your dreams. So the wine taster, the butler
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Speaker 1: went first, and he tells Joseph this elaborate dream, and
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Speaker 1: Joseph smiles, and he says, I've got some good news
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Speaker 1: for you. Three days from now. Three days from now,
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Speaker 1: Pharaoh is going to lift up your head and restore
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Speaker 1: you to your position. And of course the butler doesn't
10:39
Speaker 1: know if Joseph's just making this up, if this is
10:41
Speaker 1: certainly a positive outcome to his dream, and is at
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Speaker 1: this point in the story, we discover something about Joseph
10:47
Speaker 1: that's true of all of us. As much as he
10:49
Speaker 1: had a sense, perhaps that God was with him, he
10:52
Speaker 1: was not enjoying these circumstances. He despised his circumstances. He
10:57
Speaker 1: was not some sort of superhero. Even though he had
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Speaker 1: a super power, he was not immune to pain. And
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Speaker 1: he says to the butler, Look, when your dream comes true,
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Speaker 1: when you're finally out of here, when all goes well
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Speaker 1: with you, remember me, remember this conversation, and show me kindness,
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Speaker 1: perhaps a different kind of kindness than my God is
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Speaker 1: showing me at this point. Mention me to Pharaoh and
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Speaker 1: get me out of this prison. I was forcibly carried
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Speaker 1: off from the land of the Hebrews, I was kidnapped,
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Speaker 1: and even here I have done nothing to deserve being
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Speaker 1: put in this dungeon. So even though God was with Joseph,
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Speaker 1: Joseph felt what we would have felt. He was as
11:37
Speaker 1: frustrated as we would be, and he says, he says
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Speaker 1: to the butler, look, you are my only way out.
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Speaker 1: Remember me when this dream comes true. Well, meanwhile, the
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Speaker 1: baker sitting there hearing all of this, and he's thinking, hey,
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Speaker 1: my turn, you know my turn. So Joseph says, okay,
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Speaker 1: you know, tell me about your dreaming. The baker again
11:55
Speaker 1: explains this very detailed dream, and when he's finished, Joseph
12:00
Speaker 1: takes his head and he says, gee, that's a tough one.
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Speaker 1: I'm afraid I can't help you. Actually, that's not what
12:11
Speaker 1: he said, but that's probably what he should have said.
12:14
Speaker 1: He looks at the baker and he says this, Well,
12:16
Speaker 1: here's what your dream means. Within three days, Pharaoh isn't
12:20
Speaker 1: going to lift up your head. He's going to lift
12:23
Speaker 1: off your head and he's going to he's going to
12:26
Speaker 1: impale your body on a pole. He's going to impale
12:31
Speaker 1: your body on a pole. A little tmi right, Well,
12:35
Speaker 1: apparently Joseph was in a really bad mood that morning,
12:38
Speaker 1: and he should have just stopped with that, but he didn't.
12:40
Speaker 1: He continued. He said, oh yeah, and there's more to
12:42
Speaker 1: your dream, and the birds will eat away your flesh.
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Speaker 1: Have a nice day. Anybody else need to dream interpreted
12:51
Speaker 1: this morning? Well, sure enough, three days later, it's Pharaoh's birthday,
12:56
Speaker 1: and just like Joseph predicted, he restored the cupbearer, and
13:00
Speaker 1: he beheaded and impaled the baker. And now, think about it,
13:05
Speaker 1: Joseph waits expectantly because he knows what's gonna happen as
13:08
Speaker 1: soon as these dreams come true, Just like he predicted.
13:11
Speaker 1: He knows that the butler is gonna go to Pharaoh
13:13
Speaker 1: and say, Pharaoh, you're not gonna believe this. While I
13:16
Speaker 1: was in your dungeon, sorry to bring God up. While
13:18
Speaker 1: I was in your dungeon, I met a Hebrew boy
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Speaker 1: who predicted this would happen. So every time somebody bangs
13:24
Speaker 1: on the door of the dungeon, Joseph thinks, this is
13:26
Speaker 1: my day. I'm out of here. Every time there's a guest,
13:29
Speaker 1: every time there's a visitor, every time the warden calls
13:31
Speaker 1: his name, he thinks, this is the day I'm out
13:34
Speaker 1: of here. But the text tells us that the chief
13:37
Speaker 1: cutbearer did not remember Joseph, and he forgot him. And
13:46
Speaker 1: yet this is the young man. Now, this is the
13:50
Speaker 1: older man. He's in his late twenties. By this point
13:52
Speaker 1: that God was supposedly with two years go by, he's
13:59
Speaker 1: thirty years old. And then, suddenly, again unrelated to anything
14:04
Speaker 1: happening in the dungeon, Pharaoh has a series of disturbing dreams.
14:08
Speaker 1: Nobody can interpret the dreams, and finally the butler remembers
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Speaker 1: Joseph and he says to Pharaoh, Hey, Pharaoh, you remember
14:17
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. We had that falling out
14:19
Speaker 1: hate to bring that up. You put me in the dungeon,
14:22
Speaker 1: which I'm sure I deserved. But while I was there
14:24
Speaker 1: there was a Hebrew young man and he interpreted my
14:28
Speaker 1: dream correctly. And the text tells us that immediately Pharaoh
14:31
Speaker 1: sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon.
14:35
Speaker 1: And when he had been shaved and they changed his clothes,
14:38
Speaker 1: he came before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I
14:43
Speaker 1: had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But
14:46
Speaker 1: I have heard it said of you that when you
14:49
Speaker 1: hear a dream, you can interpret it. And what comes
14:54
Speaker 1: next are perhaps the most courageous words ever spoken by
14:58
Speaker 1: anyone in history. Here's this foreigner for whom God had
15:03
Speaker 1: done nothing for lately. This is his big break. He
15:07
Speaker 1: hasn't smelled this good or looked this good in years.
15:11
Speaker 1: And Joseph looks at the most powerful man in the world,
15:15
Speaker 1: his ticket out, and he says, I cannot do it.
15:22
Speaker 1: I cannot do it. And I think the butler is
15:26
Speaker 1: over in the corner and he's squirming like, oh no.
15:30
Speaker 1: Joseph replied to Pharaoh, he should have just stopped with
15:33
Speaker 1: I can't do it. But God, but God, but God.
15:37
Speaker 1: The problem with this is simply that Pharaoh thought he
15:39
Speaker 1: was a god, and Pharaoh believed in other gods, and
15:42
Speaker 1: clearly the gods of the Egyptians were more powerful than
15:45
Speaker 1: the Hebrew gods. And now here's this foreigner who has
15:49
Speaker 1: this one opportunity for freedom, and he says, Pharaoh, I
15:52
Speaker 1: can't do it, but my God can. My God will
15:57
Speaker 1: give Pharaoh the answer he desires. Well, I think everybody
16:03
Speaker 1: at that moment in the royal courtroom thought this is
16:06
Speaker 1: the end for this young Hebrew boy. But fortunately for Joseph,
16:09
Speaker 1: Pharaoh is more curious than he was offended, and so
16:12
Speaker 1: he explains these two dreams to Joseph, and Joseph listens patiently,
16:16
Speaker 1: and then it's quiet, and he looks at Pharaoh and
16:19
Speaker 1: he says, Pharaoh, here's what your dreams mean. For the
16:22
Speaker 1: next seven years. There is going to be an abundant
16:25
Speaker 1: grain harvest in Egypt. There's gonna be so much grain
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Speaker 1: you are not even gonna know what to do with it.
16:31
Speaker 1: But after those seven years, those seven years will be
16:33
Speaker 1: followed by a famine, and nothing's gonna grow. In fact,
16:37
Speaker 1: the abundance will not even be remembered. The seven years
16:39
Speaker 1: of plenty will not even be remembered because of the
16:41
Speaker 1: famine that follows, because it's going to be so severe.
16:45
Speaker 1: He's silent. No one says anything. And then Joseph does
16:49
Speaker 1: the unthinkable. He leans in and he begins to tell
16:52
Speaker 1: Pharaoh what to do. He begins to advise Pharaoh, and
16:56
Speaker 1: he says, Pharaoh, here's what you need to do. You
16:58
Speaker 1: need to appoint somebody and put them in charge of
17:01
Speaker 1: this problem. There needs to be somebody who wakes up
17:03
Speaker 1: every single day focused on solving this problem and preparing
17:07
Speaker 1: Egypt during the seven years of plenty for the seven
17:09
Speaker 1: years of famine. Well, the plan seemed good to Pharaoh,
17:14
Speaker 1: and it seemed good to all of his officials. So
17:17
Speaker 1: Pharaoh asked them, can we find anyone like this man,
17:20
Speaker 1: one in whom is the spirit of God? And then
17:23
Speaker 1: this is so amazing. And then Pharaoh said to Joseph,
17:26
Speaker 1: since God, your Hebrew God, since God has made all
17:31
Speaker 1: of this known to you, there is no one so
17:33
Speaker 1: discerning and wise as you, you shall be in charge
17:37
Speaker 1: of my palace. He makes him the prime Minister of Egypt.
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Speaker 1: You shall be in charge of my palace, and all
17:42
Speaker 1: of my people are to submit to your orders only
17:45
Speaker 1: with respect only with respect to the throne. Will I
17:48
Speaker 1: be greater than you? And I'm making this up. I
17:50
Speaker 1: think perhaps Joseph thought, yeah, that's what Potiphar said as well. Anyway,
17:55
Speaker 1: so Joseph goes to work. He begins preparing Egypt for
17:59
Speaker 1: the seven years of famine. In fact, the text says
18:02
Speaker 1: that Joseph began to store up such huge quantities of grain,
18:05
Speaker 1: it was like the sand of the sea. It was
18:08
Speaker 1: so much that he stopped keeping records because it was
18:11
Speaker 1: beyond measure. In fact, what he did was brilliant. He
18:14
Speaker 1: built storehouses in all the major cities and purchased the
18:18
Speaker 1: grain from the people. And again, as there was more
18:20
Speaker 1: and more grain, the price kept dropping, dropping, dropping, dropping
18:22
Speaker 1: and dropping. So he stored up all of this grain.
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Speaker 1: Seven years after this time of plenty, the rain stop,
18:29
Speaker 1: nothing will grow. The people of Egypt began to starve,
18:33
Speaker 1: and he opened up these storehouses in these primary cities,
18:36
Speaker 1: and he began to sell grain in Pharaoh's name to
18:39
Speaker 1: the people. Well, is this the case with all famines?
18:42
Speaker 1: It spread across the borders, it spread to the surrounding
18:45
Speaker 1: regions and up north of Egypt, where Joseph's family lived.
18:49
Speaker 1: Jacob and his sons Joseph's brothers, they began to starve
18:52
Speaker 1: as well, and this is where the story takes a
18:55
Speaker 1: very interesting twist. Here's what happens next. When Jacob, joseph father,
19:01
Speaker 1: learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to
19:03
Speaker 1: his sons, why do you just keep looking at each other?
19:07
Speaker 1: You know, do something. I have heard there is grain
19:10
Speaker 1: in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us,
19:12
Speaker 1: so that we may live and not die again. If
19:17
Speaker 1: you've heard this story, you know what happens next. But
19:18
Speaker 1: I mean, there is so much drama because now the
19:21
Speaker 1: stage is set. Fortunes have been reversed. Joseph is forty
19:27
Speaker 1: years old. His brothers have not seen him since he
19:29
Speaker 1: was seventeen years old, and this will be the ultimate
19:33
Speaker 1: test of Joseph's superpower. This will be the ultimate test
19:38
Speaker 1: of his willingness to respond rather than react. And everybody
19:43
Speaker 1: that knew or knows his story knows exactly how he's
19:47
Speaker 1: expected to react. And if we can put ourselves in
19:50
Speaker 1: his position, we know exactly what we would probably do
19:54
Speaker 1: if we were Joseph. The story continues. Now, Joseph, by
19:59
Speaker 1: this time time is the governor of the land. He's
20:02
Speaker 1: the second most powerful person in Egypt, which means he's,
20:05
Speaker 1: for all practical purposes, the second most powerful person in
20:08
Speaker 1: the world. He was the governor of the land and
20:10
Speaker 1: the person who sold the grain to all its people.
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Speaker 1: So when Joseph's brothers arrived, they bowed down to him
20:17
Speaker 1: with their faces to the ground. And as soon as
20:22
Speaker 1: Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended
20:27
Speaker 1: to be a stranger. Imagine this moment. He remembers the
20:32
Speaker 1: terror of having his clothes stripped from him when he's
20:35
Speaker 1: thrown into that empty well. He remembers the dampness of
20:39
Speaker 1: the pit and the fear of wondering are they going
20:41
Speaker 1: to abandon me here? He remembers the leer of the
20:44
Speaker 1: slave traders, the humiliation of being sold on an auction block.
20:49
Speaker 1: He remembers the hopelessness of prison, and then he remembers
20:53
Speaker 1: the despair at being forgotten by the butler. And then
20:58
Speaker 1: he does the most remark arkable thing. For a while,
21:01
Speaker 1: as he's trying to make up his mind, he toys
21:03
Speaker 1: with his brothers. He actually finds out from them that
21:06
Speaker 1: their father is still alive. He finds out that they
21:09
Speaker 1: have yet a brother that's not with them, Benjamin, and
21:12
Speaker 1: so he sends them back. He keeps one of them
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Speaker 1: as a hostage, just goes on and on and on,
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Speaker 1: chapter after chapter as he's trying to decide what he's
21:19
Speaker 1: going to do and tries to decide have they really
21:21
Speaker 1: changed and are they still the brothers they used to be?
21:24
Speaker 1: And finally, after this long back and forth situation that's
21:28
Speaker 1: so fascinating, there's so much, there's so much detail in
21:31
Speaker 1: the text, he finally, at the end defies expectation, He
21:36
Speaker 1: defies certainly his own instinct and his own emotion, and
21:40
Speaker 1: he employs superpower one more time. They're gathered with him.
21:46
Speaker 1: By this time they've brought Benjamin, so there's all eleven brothers.
21:49
Speaker 1: He sends everybody else out of the room. They are
21:52
Speaker 1: on their knees and suddenly they are alone with the
21:54
Speaker 1: Prime Minister of Egypt, and they are so confused, and
21:57
Speaker 1: he stares at each of them and then he announces,
22:02
Speaker 1: imagine this, I am Joseph. I am Joseph. And they
22:10
Speaker 1: look up and they see that seventeen year old in
22:15
Speaker 1: the face of that forty year old man. And they realize,
22:18
Speaker 1: and before they can say anything, Joseph says, is my
22:21
Speaker 1: father still living? The text says, of course, but his brothers.
22:27
Speaker 1: His brothers were not able to answer him because they
22:29
Speaker 1: were terrified. They were terrified at his presence, but they
22:37
Speaker 1: did not need to be terrified in his presence, because
22:41
Speaker 1: in their absence, Joseph had lived every single day of
22:46
Speaker 1: his life as if God was present. And now when
22:52
Speaker 1: it counted most, Joseph once again chose not to react
22:56
Speaker 1: but to respond, and he forgave his brothers. The text
23:03
Speaker 1: says this, come close to me, he said, And I'm
23:09
Speaker 1: sure that took a while, don't you think? Come close
23:11
Speaker 1: to me? And he said, I am your brother, Joseph,
23:14
Speaker 1: And I guess he just can't help himself. The one
23:17
Speaker 1: you remember, the one you sold in to Egypt. But
23:22
Speaker 1: now do not be distressed, and do not be angry
23:26
Speaker 1: with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to
23:29
Speaker 1: save lives that God sent me ahead of you. Can
23:35
Speaker 1: I pause and just say something about this real quick.
23:38
Speaker 1: When we are able, when we are able to believe,
23:41
Speaker 1: and when we are able to respond, is if God
23:44
Speaker 1: is with us, we gain a perspective on what's behind
23:48
Speaker 1: our circumstances that we can't gain any other way. And
23:54
Speaker 1: this is such a powerful reminder of that because Joseph
23:57
Speaker 1: is able to come to the conclusion the reason I'm here,
24:01
Speaker 1: the reason I went through everything I went through, God
24:04
Speaker 1: had a plan in my suffering. God had a plan
24:07
Speaker 1: in the injustice. God had a plan and circumstances that
24:11
Speaker 1: I would not have chosen for myself. God had a
24:13
Speaker 1: plan for me being forgotten. God had a plan for
24:16
Speaker 1: me being sold not once, but twice. When we choose
24:20
Speaker 1: to respond, looking back, we will have a perspective on
24:23
Speaker 1: our suffering that we cannot gain any other way. And
24:26
Speaker 1: if all we do is react, not only not only
24:29
Speaker 1: will we not be better for it, we will never
24:31
Speaker 1: have the perspective that allows us to move successfully into
24:36
Speaker 1: our future. Now, what nobody knew about this encounter was
24:40
Speaker 1: that God's entire plan of salvation for the world hung
24:44
Speaker 1: by the thread of Joseph's response that before him, before
24:48
Speaker 1: him is the nation of Israel. The twelve Brothers represented
24:52
Speaker 1: the twelve tribes of Israel, and Joseph did what his
24:55
Speaker 1: and the twelve tribes of Israel that will become the
24:57
Speaker 1: nation of Israel, that ultimately through wh that nation would
25:00
Speaker 1: come the Messiah, the Messiah who would do for the
25:03
Speaker 1: world exactly what Joseph did that day for his brothers.
25:09
Speaker 1: And this is why I said last time, and this
25:11
Speaker 1: is why I hope you'll never forget, never ever, ever,
25:16
Speaker 1: never underestimate, never underestimate the power of a measured response.
25:22
Speaker 1: Never underestimate the power of a measured response. Well, the
25:28
Speaker 1: story wraps up this way. Joseph brings his entire family
25:31
Speaker 1: to Egypt, and he provides for them for years and
25:34
Speaker 1: years and years. Eventually, his father, Jacob dies, and once
25:38
Speaker 1: they bury Jacob and they have this elaborate funeral, and
25:41
Speaker 1: they all come back to the land of Egypt. His
25:43
Speaker 1: brothers get together, the ten brothers that sold him into
25:46
Speaker 1: slavery get together, and they realize, uh, oh, perhaps Joseph
25:50
Speaker 1: was just waiting for our father to die before he
25:52
Speaker 1: exacts his revenge. And so they go to Joseph, and
25:55
Speaker 1: the text says this, His brothers came to him and
25:58
Speaker 1: they threw themselves down before him. They said to him,
26:00
Speaker 1: we are your slaves. But Joseph continues to respond rather
26:07
Speaker 1: than react, And here's what he said. These famous words,
26:10
Speaker 1: But Joseph said to them, do not be afraid. Am
26:13
Speaker 1: I in the place of God? Am I in the
26:18
Speaker 1: place of God? Guys, don't you understand that God was
26:23
Speaker 1: in this, that God worked through this. Am I in
26:26
Speaker 1: the place of God? The septuagen the Greek version of
26:29
Speaker 1: the Old Testament, It's written this way. Do not be afraid,
26:33
Speaker 1: for I am Gods. Do not be afraid. I belong
26:38
Speaker 1: to God. And since I belong to God, who am
26:41
Speaker 1: I to act like or to step into the place
26:44
Speaker 1: of God? You intended, he said. You intended to harm
26:48
Speaker 1: me that day when you kidnap me, that day, when
26:51
Speaker 1: you strip me of my clothes, that day, when you
26:52
Speaker 1: threw me into that empty well. You had the power,
26:55
Speaker 1: The odds were in your favor. There was evil in
26:58
Speaker 1: your heart. You created circumstance, chancews that generally transformed victims
27:02
Speaker 1: into perpetrators. But not this time. You intended to harm me.
27:07
Speaker 1: But God intended it for good to accomplish, he said,
27:13
Speaker 1: to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of
27:16
Speaker 1: many lives. Don't ever ever ever forget this, don't ever
27:19
Speaker 1: forget this God's intention. This is amazing. God's intention became
27:24
Speaker 1: a reality through one man's catalytic, unprecedented circumstance, defying responses,
27:33
Speaker 1: responses listen, none of which seems significant at a time.
27:37
Speaker 1: At the time, drop into his story and take any
27:39
Speaker 1: one of his responses. None of his individual responses seemed
27:42
Speaker 1: at all that significant, but all together they were part
27:45
Speaker 1: of the unfolding story of my redemption in yours, God's
27:49
Speaker 1: plan of salvation for the world. Here's the thing, our superpower,
27:55
Speaker 1: our respondability, gives us the potential to be better for it,
28:00
Speaker 1: whatever it is. And you know this. We don't get
28:03
Speaker 1: to choose the it. That's part of the problem, right,
28:05
Speaker 1: We don't choose the it, but our response, your response,
28:09
Speaker 1: is what determines whether or not we will be better
28:12
Speaker 1: for it, regardless of what the it is. And it
28:16
Speaker 1: all boils down to this terrifying, liberating, destiny altering question.
28:23
Speaker 1: How would someone in my circumstances respond? How would someone
28:27
Speaker 1: in my circumstances respond? How would someone in my circumstances respond?
28:31
Speaker 1: We know how someone in my circumstances would react, We
28:34
Speaker 1: see that all the time. But how would someone in
28:37
Speaker 1: my circumstances respond if they were absolutely confident God was
28:42
Speaker 1: with them? Your answer? Your answer to that question is
28:49
Speaker 1: your invitation to exercise your superpower. Your answer to this
28:54
Speaker 1: question is your best way forward, and if you act
28:59
Speaker 1: on it, you will emerge from whatever you're facing better
29:02
Speaker 1: for it. Let's face it, we are no better than
29:06
Speaker 1: our responses, but our responses have extraordinary potential to make
29:11
Speaker 1: us and to make the world better. So one more time,
29:15
Speaker 1: how would someone How would someone in your circumstances respond
29:19
Speaker 1: if they were confident God was with them, if they
29:23
Speaker 1: were absolutely confident that there was more to their circumstances,
29:26
Speaker 1: more to your circumstances than meets the eye, That your
29:29
Speaker 1: current circumstances are not the story, there's simply a chapter
29:32
Speaker 1: in the story, and that God has chosen to be
29:35
Speaker 1: part of your story, and that God is going to
29:37
Speaker 1: connect the dots of your responses to do something great
29:40
Speaker 1: for you and something great through you. You have a superpower,
29:46
Speaker 1: your respondibility. Use it. If you do, you will be
29:53
Speaker 1: better for it, The people around you will be better
29:56
Speaker 1: for it, and who knows, perhaps the world will be
30:01
Speaker 1: better for it as well. How would someone and your
30:05
Speaker 1: circumstances respond if they were confident God was with them