Message 02-04-07

 

Series:            Developing Character

Scripture:            Genesis 50:19-20 [Genesis 45-50]

 

Title:                                        Get Out of the Game

 

As some of you know, maybe even most of you, I lived in the Philadelphia area for a long time. I want to talk to you about a day when the Buccaneers beat the Eagles. It was the first time that the Buccaneers won a game on an outside field on Astroturf. The year was 1995 and Ricky Waters was in his first season and in one of his first games, playing for the Eagles. He was a receiver and has just missed his second year to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He went on to average over 100 yards a game, but on this day, when he was running to catch the ball he realized that Buccaneer players were coming down on him. Instead of catching the ball and taking the hit he slowed up. When he was interviewed afterwards he said he wasn’t going to take a hit in that situation. “For Who? For What?” he asked. The next day the headline on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer was “For Who?  For What?” Every time Ricky Waters came out on the field after that he was booed. The one thing Philly wants out of its players is heart or guts or a determination to be in the game – however you want to say it –  If you’re not willing to take a hit, get out of the game.

 

Today is “Super Bowl Sunday”. This is the day when we expect players to be in the game even more than usual. Words and phrases like teamwork, effort, loyalty, strength, honor and integrity are going to be used to describe football players and football coaches. You may have already heard them. We are going to hear words like heart, hard work, determination and even humility all used to describe what we’re watching and who we’re watching on the field.

 

Some of you are not going to be watching because you can’t imagine how those words can be used in a game where a bunch of men are banging into each other and throwing a ball around. But for those who enjoy American football they are looking for something to emerge and that it is character. We are looking for men to show character within struggle.

 

If we don’t see it, we all get disappointed. Basically, if you’re not showing it on the field then “get out of the game.”

 

We expect that a quality of character will show itself within the game. Do we expect that quality of character off the field? In USA Today and maybe in other places a full page ad was taken out by today’s coaches. They state quite clearly that there is more to life than this game. And that’s what we believe about character. We may see it in the game, but we expect that the game is not where character ends.

 

For the past few weeks we’ve been looking at how character develops by looking at the life of Joseph. He was a man who grew in character from an obnoxious, self-centered teenager to a capable, compassionate adult who ultimately moves to a person of forgiveness.

 

Joseph, who most people know as the guy with the multi-colored coat, was a spoiled and favored, obnoxious, rude and self-centered kid, a teenager. He was beaten-up, initially left to die, but then sold into slavery by his brothers – most of whom were adult men. Being sent off as a slave to Egypt at that time was the same as a death sentence and certainly these men thought of Joseph as dead.

 

But, Joseph didn’t die. He went into a prolonged period of suffering. He was sold to a man for whom he went to work. And he worked diligently. He gave himself over to using all his skill and ability to do every job as well as he could and eventually he was put in-charge of the man’s entire household. By this time he was a good looking mid-twenties young guy. His master’s wife liked what she saw and made a play for him and then accused him of taking advantage of her when he refused her. With this false accusation he was thrown into prison. There he again went to work diligently and soon the chief jailer put him in charge of the running of the prison. When prestigious prisoners were thrown into the jail Joseph became their caretaker.

It was in this position that he shared God’s power in his life – interpreting the dreams of the men, hoping that one of them might help him get out of prison to life. But he was left, forgotten in prison for years.

Then, life shifted dramatically, the man Joseph helped remembered his ability to interpret dreams and when the king, Pharaoh of Egypt, had a particularly troubling one the man suggested Joseph’s help. Joseph was sent for, gave God the honor for anything he had to offer the king and gave the wisdom and insight.

 

The king’s dream was a gift from God foretelling the future. There would be seven years of plenty, crops would be good and the land fertile. These would be followed by seven lean years of famine. Joseph takes on the administration of receiving the excess produce of the good years, storing up enough so that the people can make it through the lean years.

 

The impact of the famine stretches all the way into the land of Canaan where Joseph’s family lives and they eventually make their way to buy food from him. After a series of tests Joseph determines that the hearts of his brothers have changed. So, he reveals himself to them. He finds out that his father is still alive and he sends for everyone to come to join him in Egypt.

 

The entire family – about 70 people – move from Canaan – the area we now call Israel, down to the land of Goshen, sort of the Delta region of the Nile River in the northern part of Eqypt. Jacob, the father of Joseph and his brothers is also called Israel and so we get the terms “the children of Israel” and “the people of Israel” for this family that becomes a nation. Jacob lives out the last 17 years of his life in Egypt and when he dies his children and dignitaries from Egypt bring him back to Canaan to be buried. He is buried where Abraham, his grandfather, Isaac his father are buried in a piece of property that Abraham bought. The men and women of the family are buried there except for Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife. She died giving birth to her second son and was buried near the village of Bethlehem where that happened.

 

It’s interesting to note that Jacob, in explaining where he wants to be buried, refers to burying his other wife – Leah, Rachel’s sister – in this family burial place. When he says she is buried there he doesn’t refer to her as his wife. He names the other women of the family – Sarah, Abraham’s wife and Rebecca, Isaac’s wife – he names them as wives, but in mentioning Leah he doesn’t claim her. He was tricked into marrying her and he was a man who played favorites.

 

As he came to the end of his life he pronounced a blessing on all his sons and some of these were substantial blessings, but some were a bit thin. The first three sons – the people who should have received the most from him were almost discounted. This cleared the way for the fourth brother, Judah, to take prominence. Judah’s family is the one we look to as the leaders. This is where the family line where King David comes from and where Jesus comes from. Out of all 12 brothers Joseph receives the fullest blessing of the bunch. Jacob never stopped playing favorites.

 

So when Jacob dies the brothers of Joseph feel that perhaps their buffer is gone. Perhaps Joseph hasn’t brought down full retribution on them simply because Jacob was alive. Now that the old man is dead there’s nothing stopping Joseph. He can kill them all. That wasn’t unheard of. We don’t have to look hard into history to see that people in power will wipe out all those who hurt them or threatened them. Individuals, whole families, whole communities are laid waste by those who become rulers. So Joseph’s brothers come to him and lie. They tell him that before he died Jacob said that he shouldn’t hurt them.

 

Joseph hears them and what does he do? What would you do?

 

Here is the point, the moment when you can bring down all the revenge you desire. You’re not going to break your father’s heart by wiping out these sons of his. You’re father’s gone and they are at your mercy. You have all the power.

 

What do you do when you have all the power?

 

Last Saturday on the front page of the Tampa Tribune there was an article about a man who shocked a courtroom. This was front page news. What was the story about? It was about forgiveness. Mac Brown lost his wife in a tragic circumstance. Because of the negligence of the owners of a carwash his wife was killed by a runaway vehicle. The jury brought back a judgment against the carwash employees and owners and the compensatory could have escalated into what jurors estimated would have been 10’s of millions of dollars. But once the initial settlement took place, Mac Brown shut the proceedings down saying he didn’t want to punish anymore. He wanted the business to change and he wanted other business to learn that they should change. He forgave the rest. The people who observed this remarked about Mac Brown’s character. Mac Brown attributed it to his faith in Jesus.

 

If the love of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, then we can deal with our suffering, we can see our suffering produce perseverance and we can discover that this perseverance produces character and that character will produce hope. When you hear a story like that, doesn’t it give you hope? Doesn’t it give you hope that there can be a better world? We can find a better way?

 

This was front page news.

 

When Joseph saw his brothers pleading their worries, saying their lies because of their fears, Joseph began to cry. And then he said the words of our Scripture today. He told them he wasn’t in the place of God. He told them that his suffering had changed him. He told them that God “planned—over” their plans in order to save many lives.

 

Many times we are told that this world makes us choose between the lesser of two evils. But you know what? That’s just a game the world wants us to play. It tries to tell us that the game has these parameters, these rules and that it’s only got so many choices. But God plans-over the world. God says don’t choose between the lesser of two evils. Choose the greater good. Choose the greater good.

 

Get out of the game. Stand on what you’ve learned.   Become what you were created to be. Get out of the game and into life. We have two teams that are going to fight today to become the owner of a ring. This ring will bring them respect and admiration for their hard work and determination, but ultimately it is only a game. What will be even greater is what they do outside of the game.

 

Get out of the game and into life. Become what God created you to be.