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Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
How Did We Get Here: The End with Pastor Ryan Braley
Ever questioned how trials and tribulations could possibly lead to a greater purpose? Join us as we unravel the extraordinary journey of Joseph—a tale of betrayal, redemption, and divine purpose. Discover how Joseph's life, from being sold into slavery to becoming Egypt's second most powerful man, encapsulates the unforeseen twists that shape our destinies. Through his story, we shed light on how the Israelites ended up enslaved in Egypt, setting the stage for their extraordinary deliverance led by Moses, Miriam, and Aaron.
Have you ever felt like you’re trudging through life without understanding its bigger picture? Inspired by Soren Kierkegaard's profound idea that life can only be understood backward, yet must be lived forward, we delve into the moments of Joseph’s life that illustrate this truth. While enduring betrayal and imprisonment, Joseph couldn't see the divine plan at play. It's only with hindsight that he realizes the significance of his hardships, leading to the salvation of many. We encourage you to trust the process and have faith that clarity and understanding will come with time and reflection.
Struggling with guilt and shame over past actions? This episode delves into the importance of making amends and moving forward without being shackled by remorse. By reflecting on Joseph's resilience and faithfulness, we emphasize that life's challenges are profound teachers that shape us toward personal and spiritual growth. We also discuss Paula Darcy's insightful concept that "God comes to us disguised as our lives," helping you find comfort and hope in every moment. Tune in for a compelling conversation that underscores how every experience contributes to a greater purpose, shaping us into more mature and Christ-like individuals.
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How's everybody doing? Good, that'll work. Hey, we're at the end. How about that? Wow, look at us, we did it.
Speaker 1:If you read Genesis 2 and you come to the end and you read the end of Genesis, if you're like me, it's a bit dissatisfying because you're like that's the end, it just sort of ends. And it's because you realize at the end of Genesis it's really only the beginning and the story is meant to keep going. You're meant to keep reading it. So, by all means, keep reading it. And when you hit Leviticus or that Leviticus wall, give me a call I'll help counsel you through it. But that's where we are. We're at the end and we've been asking this whole time how did we get here?
Speaker 1:And Genesis raises all kinds of questions. And then, most especially, in Exodus, there's thousands some people think millions of Israelites who are enslaved in Egypt under the Pharaoh. And how did they get there? Well, we learn, joseph saves his family from famine and they all come with him and they go to Egypt where he's second in command, and there, over the course of many more years after Joseph dies, the family gets bigger and bigger and bigger, as was promised to Abraham and Sarah many generations before. Remember this. And so this promise of them becoming outnumbering the stars in the sky is becoming true and the family's growing. And, of course, there's a new pharaoh in town later on.
Speaker 1:And sometimes you might recognize some leaders and rulers get insecure in their power and they're afraid of others grabbing their power from them, and they'll do anything to maintain their power. I know're afraid of others grabbing their power from them and they'll do anything to maintain their power. I know that we don't deal with this in our world today, but back then it was a thing right. And so this Pharaoh gets super insecure. So he decides I want to enslave all these Israelites, because they're getting so big in number, they might overtake me and I might lose my power and prestige. So he puts them all in slavery and then they're enslaved for hundreds of years before Moses and Miriam and Aaron come and God uses them to rescue them. So how'd they get here? It's a long, twisting and turning journey, and we've been through it a little bit. And then, in the next chapter, in Exodus, we find them going into slavery and they're there for a long time. And the Bible is, of course, this great story of God delivering his people over and over and over again, and saving them again and again and again, and them being born again and again, and again and again. This is the story of God.
Speaker 1:So this morning, the title of my sermon is this how did we get here? Go ahead for me, sarah, the end. We're at the end Now. I did have a secondary title for this sermon. I wanted to also call it so just to make me know, slide Olivia. And so here's the other title Everything, my friends, is recycled. Are you ready for this? Okay, okay, joseph was born. Thank you for that laugh of encouragement.
Speaker 1:And years later, as I told you and as we read down here, in this end of his life, he grows older and he becomes the second in command in all of Egypt, so only second to the Pharaoh, who's the most powerful man in Egypt. And he's second in command, and the Bible says so. He can save many lives, and that's kind of where his life wraps up, according to the story. Now here's the deal. If you were to ask me what's the easiest way, most expedient way, the way that makes the most sense to get from here to over here, well, I learned in middle school physics class. I suppose that the shortest distance between two dots is a straight line, right? I would just draw a straight line from here to here. But you know already that Joseph's life does not go like that, does it? No, thank you. Instead, here's how it goes.
Speaker 1:Joseph's born, he's the favored son of his dad, jacob. He's got lots of sons, but he favors joseph for whatever reason. And uh, which is great for joseph, not so good for the other kids. And his father favors him and gives him this beautiful coat of many colors and he wears it around, perhaps a bit braggadociously. Joseph does like sometimes younger siblings tend to do quiet down, my sister's here. So quiet down, desiree, don't, don't chime in there. Uh and uh, and he's the favorite son. Jacob loves his son joseph.
Speaker 1:Well, one day jacob or joseph, excuse me has this dream about his brothers bowing down to him. Now, if you're a younger sibling, you might have also had this dream, but it wasn't from God, it was just you being delusional. And so he has this dream that his brothers were willing to bow down to him. So, of course, like a young, brash, young man whose brain isn't fully developed, he goes and tells his brothers this, and they don't like it. Of course they wouldn't like it. So his life takes this twist when one day he goes out there to visit his brothers, when they're out there working and they decide, hey, let's kill him. Like, oh, that's not good for Joseph. And they're like let's kill him which often happens in sibling rivalries. Hopefully no one actually does kill him, but you kind of have this desire sometimes and they throw him in this pit and he's down in the pit and they're going to leave him for dead. Why don't we not kill him? Let's make some money off of him, let's sell him to this band of people coming through town and they sell Joseph, their brother, they betray him, throw him in a pit and they sell him.
Speaker 1:Well, joseph ends up in this guy called Potiphar's house and things are looking a little bit better because he finds favor in Potiphar's eyes, potiphar's wife, and Potiphar's wife tries to seduce him. Now, whatever you think of that, let me just tell you it's bad, it's a bad thing. Okay, just so you in case you were wondering. It's not a good thing. And so Joseph does the only thing he can do when you're being seduced by another woman he runs out of the house just naked, just butt naked. That's a bad thing for him too. And Potiphar finds out. Now you think, oh, he was like no, dude, it was your wife's fault. Well, no, potiphar's wife tells Joseph, or tells her husband Potiphar, no dude, joseph tried to seduce me. Not good for Joseph, right? So Potiphar throws Joseph in prison.
Speaker 1:And there's Joseph. Now things have gotten really bad in his life. He's in prison, and this prison is not a very big one, maybe the size of, like, a refrigerator box or something like that size. And he ends up in this prison. And while he's in this prison, this is, of course, also what inspires the great Jerry Lee Lewis later on, years later, to write this great song. Because in prison, joseph cries out goodness gracious, great balls of fire. It's in the original Hebrew, you can look up later.
Speaker 1:And he's in prison and he meets these guys uh, it's a butcher, there's a baker, there's a candlestick maker and uh, wait, that's, they're in the tub. It's the, it's the cup bearer and the baker. And he, these guys have a dream, the, uh, the. Now I'm mixing up my own joke. The cupbearer and the baker, they have a dream and they're like Joseph, yo, I can interpret dreams. So he does. He interprets their dreams and they tell him hey, we'll remember you when we get out of prison. We'll help you out, we'll hook you up, dude. And Joseph's like finally, this is outstanding. And they get out of prison and what do they do? They forget about Joseph. It's like dadgum, you've got to be kidding me.
Speaker 1:So he rides his way a little bit further in prison, left alone and forgotten, until one day the Pharaoh has a dream and they're like oh yeah, this dude in prison, he's like this maniacal weirdo from this other land. He interprets dreams, go get him. And they get Joseph out of prison and they bring him to the Pharaoh. And the Pharaoh likes him and he finds favor in the Pharaoh's eyes and he begins to rise in power and he begins to be the second in command in all of Egypt, which raises the deeply sophisticated theological question, which is, of course, dude, what in the world? What is this? If I were to draw up his life, I would never have done it this way. It's a terrible idea. Why in the world did he do this? If I were to draw up his life, I would never have done it this way. It's a terrible idea. Why in the world did he do this?
Speaker 1:Back in 1979, I was born. Yes, I was born in the 1900s, for you young people, last century, I crawled out of my anyway. So there I was born, and here I am today, the pastor of Central Lutheran Church, saving many lives. That was my favorite joke this morning, and you think if you were going to draw a line from there to the pastor of Central Lutheran Church, you would just draw a straight line. It's not exactly how it went, but my mom is here, so I've got mom power in the house today, my sister and my nieces and a bunch of other friends, and so it's great. But when my parents, they were married when they had me, but then they got divorced shortly thereafter, and my mom did the best she could. She did only what she knew how to do and would drag us to church every Sunday and later on every Wednesday, which ended up saving our lives, I think, in many, many ways.
Speaker 1:And so in middle school, I had this wonderful experience with God at this church in Denver, and around that time, though, of course, was the infamous dry ice bomb incident, which I thought was going to land me in jail for sure. The fire chief showed up at my house and was like they're going to go to jail for this and I was like a I don't know 10-year-old kid. Oh, dear Lord, save me. I didn't go to jail, but I thought I was. That was, of course, the time when I ate a whole bowl full of raw cookie dough, which was delicious, but I thought I would die, because they always tell you if you eat raw cookie dough you'll die, which is just a conspiracy of the baked cookie industry trying to buy more baked cookies. Raw cookie dough is fine Around that time, too, we joined an all-black church.
Speaker 1:We were part of this all-black church for a short while, which changed my life in many ways. By the way, if you're here and you're white, go visit an all-black church. It will change your life, and they welcomed us and embraced us. It was an incredible experience as a young man, and those preachers they can preach. Let me tell you what, and you think I preach long sometimes. So we're part of this incredible middle school ministry in this church as well, and, like I just had these incredible experiences with God, it was wonderful.
Speaker 1:Then in high school, I kind of had this prodigal son experience, where I wandered off the path and went out into foreign lands and looked for things that I couldn't find out there. And then, of course, as I graduated from high school, I thought I can't go to college. If I go to college, I'll waste a bunch of money and time and do a bunch more things I shouldn't I wouldn't be proud of. So instead I went to YWAM and met my wife, katie, and Courtney and Derek and others, and things were looking. It was great. I kind of fell in love with God all over again.
Speaker 1:And while at YWAM I applied for two youth pastor jobs over the course of about three or four years and in both cases they narrowed it down to just me, like, which sounds great. It's like just Ryan. Should we pick Ryan or nobody? And both times they picked nobody. Both times, both times. How is that even possible? You can't make this up, dear Lord. But hey, look at me now. How are you liking that? So I recovered. I got a job at Chipotle Mexican Grill in Coon Rapids Free guac and double steak, all right, all right. Things are looking good. Now you know why I love me some Chipotle.
Speaker 1:And then, of course, my uncle, ma Kurt Hinkle, was like you should come and hang out with us at Central Lutheran Church. I'm like, I'm not Lutheran. I didn't really grow up that way and I don't know about young life and da-da-da. And then here I am. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Which of course raises the question dude, what in the world?
Speaker 1:Soren kirkegaard, the great existential philosopher, once said this oh yeah, oh, my bad, this is where I met katie. All right, katie is right there. Yeah, there, thank you for correcting me. I love you, katie. I had to go up to heaven to meet her because she's an angel. As I was saying, the great. That's my wife, by the way, in case you weren't, it's my wife. The great, the great.
Speaker 1:Soren Kierkegaard once said this. He said life can only be understood backwards, but I would add, unfortunately, it can only be lived forwards. And so many times in our lives we just don't understand what's going on. That's normal, that's pretty typical, because you can't know in the moment what's happening. How could you know? Many times in our lives we're like confused about what to make of this certain event or incident or thing. We're like, what does this even mean? And you can't know because you're right in the middle of it. There are all kinds of decisions that are just hard to make. But when you get older, when you move on in life and you look back, you have a bit more clarity and you finally realize oh, that's why my mom would lick her hand and smooth my hair down when I was a little kid, even though it caused me deep trauma. That's why I get why she did that and it's why, like in the middle of it, like you're like trying to make a decision between this or that you don't know, like this morning I'm sure somebody here was trying to decide between jeans or khakis, and your existential balance was at stake. Like what do I do? Jeans or khakis? Jeans is the answer, but because how would you know? There's no way to know, because life is understood backwards but for some odd reason it only moves forward, and so you can't always know what's going on in the moment, because you're not through it yet. So what do we make of these things?
Speaker 1:Joseph gets down here. He's the second in command, only to the Pharaoh. He looks back on his life and his father, jacob, who's the grandson of Abraham and Sarah, dies. Jacob dies, and so Joseph leans over into his father's body and he weeps over him and he kisses him and he hugs him as he's dying. It's a moving moment.
Speaker 1:The brothers though. They're over here, they're super nervous. They're like yo, jacob was the only thing holding our family together. Now that he's dead, the patriarch, our dad, joseph's gonna come after us for sure with vengeance. He's gonna come get his, because we threw in the pit all those years ago. He hasn't forgotten. We're doomed Like somebody should go and sort of do some damage control and see, on a scale of one to ten, how mad is Joseph.
Speaker 1:You go ask him, no, dude, you go ask him let's send Benjamin the youngest. That's what you do. You send the youngest brother in there to figure it out, send Benjamin. So they go to Joseph Like dude, they're nervous, he's going to kill him. And Joseph says this. He says, hey, you guys don't be nervous.
Speaker 1:What am I in the place of God? What you intended to harm me? God intended for good To accomplish what's now being done, the saving of many lives. What this is, of course, joseph. Looking back on all of this and how he frames it, all of it, he says, yeah, what you intended for harm, god has made it good. In fact, he saved many lives because of it.
Speaker 1:So, all the twists and the turns, the pits and the prisons, the betrayal, the highs, the lows, the seduction, all of it, all of it. He looks back and he frames it by saying, hey, what you guys intended for harm, way back here. God intended it for good and he's done. Somehow. He's saved many lives and so, in some strange way, joseph is thankful for it. I mean, how could he not be here? He is, and many lives are being saved, and that's not a bad thing, would you agree? And so he looks back hey, I'm grateful for this. And so I have to be grateful for all of this. And so Joseph is thankful for all of it. And here's why, for Joseph, it all belongs, all of it. Somehow he looks back on all this stuff, the betrayals, the twists, the turns, the highs, the lows, the ups and the downs, and he sort of says to himself, hey, all of this belongs Now. Here's the deal. He can only get there when he's down here looking back on his life and can make sense with greater perspective and wisdom and clarity.
Speaker 1:As an older man, as a young man or young boy, I'm sure he was not thinking about that. Imagine him in the middle of the thing. I'm sure he's crying out to God, he's angry at his brothers, wants to kill his brothers. He's weeping. He's had long nights. I'm sure at one point he ended up in his bedroom with a bottle of wine, a bag of Doritos, watching the Bachelor like sometimes happens to people, shaking his fist at the clouds, wondering why have you abandoned me again? God? Just angry, bad, bitter, resentful.
Speaker 1:But down here he looks back on all of it. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I see it. I see it now. What you intended for harm, god has made it good and many lives have been saved because of it, and for that I'm thankful. You see, joseph sees that all of this, all of this has led to this. So all of that, that squiggly line, has led to many lives being saved, and that's something. How could he not be grateful for that?
Speaker 1:I think also that joseph sees all of this and he says that, hey, god is in all of this, god is in the whole thing. As he looks back, he finds god and god's hand, god's work in all of it. Now, I don't think that jose Joseph is wishing this on anybody. He's not saying you know, you guys really should get thrown into a pit and have your brothers betray you and then get seduced by a woman and run out in the house naked and then have them throw you in jail and accused falsely of some kind of a crime and then have them forget about you. He's not saying that at all. He's not saying do what I've done. Rather, he's saying when I look back on all of this, I can find God God present in the whole journey, in all of it doing stuff.
Speaker 1:And so here I am, a 44-year-old man. My son just graduated from high school. I had a big party for him yesterday it was like a three-day party really and stayed up way too late, talking on the back patio and around the fire and looking back. What do I make of all this? Here I am, what do I make of all this? Years ago I was talking to Gavin, my son, and he's ever been the philosopher of the family and he was probably seven years old.
Speaker 1:I remember for a long time I would look back and I would sort of like lament that I made certain decisions, because sometimes you end up in the pit or in prison because someone betrayed you. Sometimes you end up in the pit or the prison because you did something stupid and got yourself there. I remember talking to Gavin. I said man, I just wish I would have done this differently or that differently. He goes yeah, dad, but if you did that, you probably would have never met Mom and we wouldn't be here. I'm like, dang, that's right, that's a good point, man, and that's something right. So I can't change it. I'd love to go back and change it. I wish I could go back and reorganize my life and change some of those decisions and do people better and do better for myself and make wiser decisions and so on, but I can't. I can't do that.
Speaker 1:But from down here I can look back and be like oh man, all those things in some way, in some mysterious way, all those things actually belong because they got me here and what the world or myself intended for harm, God has somehow, in his infinite creativity and grace, has made it good to save many lives. Are you with me Now? Two free points here. So these are free. So these are just. You know I won't charge you for these. One is this Many times I look back on my life and I'm like man, I really regret certain things, like you might.
Speaker 1:This might be you Like. I just regret that and I feel guilty and shame over it. Like, why did I do that and you might lay awake at night or, or you know, around the fire with friends and just like lament certain things you've done. I'll say a couple things. One is that if you've got to go back and make things right, do that. Maybe you need to call that friend back here that you really betrayed or you hurt. Maybe you need to call this friend who hurt you and talk it out. Maybe you need to repay that thing that you stole or whatever. Do that. But once you've done it, hey, leave it back there. It's part of your life and part of your story. There's no need to go back and try to wish and long and ache that you could change it, because you can't change it anyway, right. So why beat yourself up over it? Instead, open your hands, find God and then be like, hey, yeah, it all belongs. I'm not proud of it, but man, I don't know, somehow God got me here through all that mess. All right, I'm not doing so bad. Then Second thing I'll say is this If you're here and you're a young person and you're like Ryan, I'm still right here.
Speaker 1:What do I do now? I don't know how to make sense of all these things. I'm not quite there yet. What do I do? Here's what you do. Do what Joseph does when you're here trying to figure out life. This is what a lot of young folks are doing. Figuring out life, hey, yeah, just keep showing up, keep being faithful, and when an older man or woman tries to seduce you, just get out of the house and run. You know, but stay faithful, do what's yours to do and show up and keep going. And maybe right now you don't quite understand. That's fine. How could you? You're just a young person, that's fine. But down here you'll look back and be like, oh, fair enough. So let go of that guilt, that shame. If you've got to make things right, go back and make them right. And if you're a young person, just stay faithful and do what's yours to do.
Speaker 1:Because here's why these moments down here, these pits, and you're going to end up in there one point, one day, if you haven't already, if you're a young person, you will experience some of these at some point. But here's the thing about those pits and those bellies of the whale, those tombs. They're wonderful teachers, they're good instructors. There's lots to be learned down in these bellies of the whale and these tombs. Those are like a death and resurrection story in your life, and you can't have resurrection unless something dies in you. And so in many ways you need to go down into the pit, into the belly of the whale, into the tomb, and let the thing die and find the good and the gold in those moments and stay faithful, because God is in the entire thing.
Speaker 1:Now, I'm not saying that God has caused any of these things. I'm not a Calvinist. I don't believe that God sort of micromanages those kind of things, but I do believe that, again, god in his infinite creativity and wisdom and goodness can make any of these things into something beautiful. Are you with me? Revelations is this way. It says behold, I am making all things new, and so God's in it. God's found in all of these things. And, I might add, god is found especially and most often and most poignantly in these moments Down here, the most ostensibly God-forsaken moments. God is especially found in those moments. David writes this if I go to the heavens, lord, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, hell, hades, even there you're with me. Is this not what the cross was about? The places we want to look the least is often where God is found the most, and so God is in all of it. Even the most God-forsaken, painful, sinful, shameful, awful moments of our lives, god is indeed there as well, to be found. Again, I'm not saying that God causes those things. I'm simply saying that God can use those things and God can be found in those moments, because God is in all of it and that way it all belongs.
Speaker 1:Notice, too, that Joseph ends up down here, a different man than when he started out, young boy. Joseph is not how he ends. He ends as more mature, magnanimous, he's open, he's soft and he's more humble. How could he not have been? Look at his journey, and in some ways I know Jesus hasn't been around yet, but in almost every way he's more like Jesus down here than he was at the beginning. He forgives his brothers. He had every right to kill all of them. They tried to kill him, they sold him into slavery, but he doesn't retaliate. He forgives them. They reconcile, he saves their lives. He saves the lives of many. How about that? And in the end, joseph is a lot more like Jesus. This is the point, isn't it? To be more like Jesus.
Speaker 1:Paul writes it this way in Romans 8. I love this verse. Paul writes it. We know that in all things, god works for the good of those who love him. What's all things? This is all things God works. In all things Works good for those those who love him. And I'm going to call the corner to his purpose, which raises the question what about you? What's your thing? What's your thing and where is God in your thing? Where can you find God in your journey? What's your thing?
Speaker 1:Here's the other thing that confuses a lot of people. We often mistake the good. Put that verse back up, would you please for me, sarah. Uh, oh, that's fine. Yeah, works together. All things for good. We often that means that means okay. Good must mean that I'll be comfortable and everything will work out just fine and I'll finally have a wonderful wife or husband with three super obedient children, the Porsche 911 twin turbo that I've wanted since I was eight years old, and it will all be great and I'll be successful and rich and everyone will love me.
Speaker 1:That's not what Paul means when he writes good. Matt Chandler says that comfort has become the God of our generation and God never promises they'll be comfortable. Matt Chandler says that comfort has become the God of our generation and God never promises they'll be comfortable. Paul doesn't mean that when he says that he'll work all things together for good for those who love him. Paul goes on to and many people get frustrated. It's like oh, that means, if I follow Jesus, everything will work out good, which means I'll be successful and wealthy and I'll take over the business and I'll make lots of money and all my friends will love me and I'll never be betrayed and nothing ever bad will happen to me and I'll be just fine. That's why it's frustrating, because that's not what Paul means.
Speaker 1:Paul goes on to clarify what he means by the good in the very next verse. He writes this in verse 29. He says for those God foreknew he also predestines to become conformed to the. So good doesn't mean that he'll make your life great and you'll be successful and wealthy and good looking and have lots of kids that obey you all the time and a dog that's obedient and all those things. What he says is I'll make all things good, meaning I will make you more like my son Jesus. So these things that all belong, that somehow can be recycled and made good. That means he'll make you more like Jesus and the thing is oftentimes your thing is not comfortable. Are you with me? Nobody wants to be in the pit or in the belly of the whale or in the tomb. No one likes that. Death sucks, no one wants to die. But in those things, god somehow will make you more like his son Jesus. That's what we're doing.
Speaker 1:Paula Darcy, the great author, says this. Paula Darcy writes that God comes to us disguised as our lives. I love that. Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward. Here's the thing too. My thing and my things are also God's things. So when I'm down here, god is with me. When I grieve, god grieves. And when I make wrong decisions and I send myself into the pit, god also grieves that and calls me to come back out of there and follow him and live according to his ways. But in all those things, god will work good out of them and make me more like his son Jesus.
Speaker 1:So here's the deal. All of your things have brought you here today to this moment. Look around, every one of you, all the decisions you've made, choices you made, things that happened to you, they've all brought you here to this moment. And here we are. Look at us. It's not bad.
Speaker 1:This is indeed a sacred moment that we can be grateful for, and in many ways we can be grateful for the whole thing, because somehow it all belongs, and we can spend energy regretting, lamenting, wishing we could change it, being full of shame and guilt. We can open our hands and our hearts and recognize God in all of these places Central Lutheran Church. As we look back on Genesis and the life of Joseph, and hopefully even your own life, may you recognize that God has been in the entire thing the whole time. And I don't believe that God causes all these things. Sometimes we do these things to ourselves, sometimes life just happens, but in all these things we can take comfort and have hope that God can make good out of all of it, and by good I mean he'll make you more like Jesus. That's what we're trying to do, right? So may you know that God is present in all of it. Nothing is wasted. There's no wasted energy. Everything, indeed, central Lutheran Church is recycled, amen.
