Sold Into Slavery

Scripture:

Genesis 37


Observation:

Family tension occasionally plagues every family, but in some families the tension is ignored or otherwise allowed to build instead of being addressed and resolved. The authors of the E100 Challenge Sermon Outline cite (from this passage) the following roots of family problems:

1. Favoritism (v. 3)
   • Not only was Joseph his father’s favorite child, Israel showed that favoritism through his actions (giving Joseph a special robe).
2. Arrogance (vv. 2-9)
   • Sharing his dreams that his brothers would one day bow down to him told Joseph’s brothers that he saw himself as significantly more important than they were. This would have been insulting enough had Joseph been the first born, but Joseph was the 11th son of his father, so the insult was many times greater. Sharing his dreams with his brothers would have been seen as both conceited and pompous.
3. Jealousy (vv. 4, 11)
   • The natural, very human reaction to favoritism is jealousy, and Joseph’s arrogance would probably have felt like salt on an open wound, fueling the fires of his brothers’ envy.
4. Hate (vv. 4, 5, 8)
   • When jealousy is left unchecked, it can very easily develop into full-fledged hatred.

Application:Family tension, whether sibling rivalry (as in today’s passage) or conflict with a spouse, parent, child, or other family member, is rarely the fault of only one person. It’s important to consider my own responsibility in the situation. It is all too easy to fall prey to (i.e. be a slave to) arrogance, jealousy, hatred, anger, bitterness, or other emotions, but I have a responsibility to address them promptly (Ephesians 4:26). Rather then letting myself be enslaved to my emotions, I must honestly and humbly admit to my part in the tension, repent, and prayerfully and in love seek reconciliation and restoration of any damaged relationship (Matthew 5:43-48).


Prayer:

Today, let’s pray the Prayer of Saint Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.