God's Soap Opera

Sermon: Genesis 45:1-15
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Aug. 14, 2011

How many of you are soap opera fans? How many of you are soap opera addicts? Our daughter had a soap opera that she followed faithfully during her teen years, "Days of Our Lives." She would tape it and watch it in the evening after school. Sometimes I would watch it with her; that way we had something in common to talk about. I checked it out this week. It is still going and at least one of the characters is still in the show after twenty years.

A good soap opera includes the best and worst of human behavior. I’m thinking of one such now. It has several wives, many children, sibling rivalry, deceit, parental favoritism, flaunting or showing off, jealousy, hatred, violence, abundance, famine, hunger, love, caring, forgiveness and rescue.

I’m talking about one of the soap operas in the Bible, one of the longest running. It is the one involving Jacob and his sons, of which we have an excerpt in today’s Old Testament reading. It could aptly be called "All My Sons". Jacob, renamed Israel by God, dominates the last 25 chapters of the Book of Genesis, half the book. Today’s reading is just a little excerpt from that long saga. It has all the plots of a long-running contemporary soap opera.

I suggest you go home, get out your Bible and read all 25 chapters. The story, as briefly as it can be told, is that Jacob was born a twin, but second-born, and he had to trick his brother and his father into getting his brother’s birthright. He in turn is tricked by his future father-in- law into marrying, not the woman he loved after working 7 years for her, but her older sister. He then works another seven years for Rachel. Ultimately he has thirteen sons and one daughter, Dinah, by the two wives and their maid servants. Joseph, the 12th born son is his favorite; he is Rachel's only son up to that poinet. Joseph has the gift of dream interpretation. He is resented by his brothers because he tattled to their father on them and because he flaunts his special status with the multi-colored robe their father gave him. Some of his brothers want to kill him, but instead they sell him into slavery to a caravan headed for Egypt, but take his robe back to their father with animal blood on it. Jacob concludes his beloved son has been killed by a wild animal.

In the meantime in Egypt Joseph has mixed fortunes. After spending some time in jail for resisting the wiles of his master’s wife, he comes to the attention of Pharaoh who needs a dream interpreter. Joseph interprets his dream that there will be 7 years of abundant crops and seven years of famine. Pharaoh believes him and makes him #2 man in the land with responsibility for storing up the abundance. After 7 years famine does hit the entire region. Two years into the famine Jacob and his family are starving back in Canaan. He sends his boys to Egypt to buy grain, all except Benjamin, who has been born of Rachel after Joseph was taken away. Joseph recognizes them immediately and forgives, but they do not recognize him. He still will exact some pain from them, though, and tricks them into bringing Benjamin down to Egypt. Today’s Gospel describes his tearful reunion with his brothers. Jacob is then convinced to relocate his entire family and flocks to Egypt because there will be 5 more years of famine and Joseph can look out for them.

So, how does this biblical soap opera differ from those found in literature and television? This one is part of salvation history. This family is one chosen by God to keep alive the true faith in Him. He uses the tragedy of Joseph’s being sold into slavery as a vehicle for saving this family. Both Jacob and Joseph are recognized as having this strong faith. Through them the descendants of Abraham will prosper on the land. Yet the entire bunch is flawed; no one is perfect. So where was God going to find a family without flaw? One of ours?

The opera continues. Jacob’s descendants multiply in Egypt and prosper for a time, but then there comes a pharaoh who knew not Joseph and they become slaves. Some have speculated that they may have been involved in building some of the pyramids. God sends another savior, Moses, to bring them back home to Canaan and to restore their faith in Jahweh. But that’s another opera and another book, Exodus. I suggest that be next on your summer reading list.

The message: don’t give into despair. There are tragedies in our own families? We see many of the same themes as with Jacob’s opera: jealousies, alienations, brothers and sisters not talking to each other for generations, sometimes even violence. But it’s not over till it’s over. Remember Joseph. The fact that he matured and forgave made all the difference in the world. He became the salvation and change agent for his family. We too can change. Sometimes it takes a crisis. We can only change ourselves. We need to stop expecting others to change and change the one person we can.