Daily Devotion May 19, 2006

Family Matters

 

Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me." Genesis 37:9

 

A week does not go by where we don’t hear on the news at least one story about a really dysfunctional family. Multiple partners, child abandonment, and even neglect and murder of children.  The institution of family is in danger. Now we look at our text for today and see an equally dysfunctional family that is torn with jealousy and hatred.

 

It is the beginning of the life of Joseph, one of the most prominent figures in the Bible. He was a member of a wealthy family, a successful one. His father was favored by God and he was his father’s favorite. Now Joseph was either too young or too naïve to understand that being the youngest, and at the same time the favorite of a father who held in his hands the inheritance of everybody under his household, was not exactly something to feel good or safe about. It was a cause for dislike. Due to Joseph’s honesty about his dreams of future glory, this dislike turned into hatred, which was displayed when all of his brothers decided to get rid of Joseph without taking into consideration the pain that this would cause their father. Israel refuses to be comforted about the “death” of his beloved son. Those who wanted to kill Joseph are among the ones that go to give comfort to the father. Now at the same time, far away from everything and everybody he knew, Joseph is experiencing a rude awakening from his dream, living with people who are not exactly kind to him. Yet he finds strength in the God he heard so much about. This, however, is a subject for another day.

 

 It is true that when some people speak to us about their big dreams we tend to think of them as arrogant, overconfident or cocky. When children come up with dreams like that we tend to laugh them off. The story of Joseph’s beginnings teaches us a lot about how to handle such situations with integrity and love. Now Joseph sees in a dream that the stars and the moon and the sun will bow down to him and he openly shares this. The brothers hear it and hate him for it. Why? Because after the tunic and the other dream, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The brothers had allowed their anger to accumulate. They had gossiped about Joseph with one another, had fed each other with irritation about the little brother, and fueled up anger in each other’s heart. Yet no one went to instruct and teach Joseph humility as a big brother should do. They only felt threatened by his existence.

 

 The father did what the brothers didn’t do. He teaches Joseph humility by rebuking him. Yet, he doesn’t dismiss the dream he just heard from the mouth of his child. Now Israel was a great dreamer himself. He saw some awesome dreams that God sent to him during his youth. He also saw most of those dreams come true. From his experience he had become a believer in God’s dreams. Yet there is a fine line between encouraging dreams and encouraging prideful behavior. And it makes all the difference. Even our own dreams need to be proved in the fire of God’s Word. What are they directed towards? Who will benefit from them? If these basic questions are not answered, then maybe the dream has not been revealed to us completely. In this world, which is getting more and more dangerous by the hour, our family and church family are safe places that nurture and encourage, teach and correct. It is a position to be cherished, but that cannot be taken lightly. With empty hands, let’s lift up those around us to God in prayer, let’s lift up their dreams and give thanks for one another.

 

Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for my family, for this community of faith that I can trust with my dreams. Give us wisdom to teach and correct, nurture and encourage according to your will. Open our eyes to test our dreams in the fire of your Word, and teach us humility. We are here to bring you glory. Amen!

 

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Tim Hetzner - President - Lutheran Church Charities
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