3 March 2010
Psalm 72; Gen. 42:18-28; 1 Cor. 5:9-6:8; Mark 4:1-20

Joseph continues to test his brothers. It is interesting that he reassures them in their test, promising if they are honest they will live “for I fear God.” It would be interesting to know what they believed he meant by that statement. He has compassion on their families in sending food to them and demands that they bring the younger brother back. They immediately leap to the conclusion that this test is punishment for what they did so many years before to their brother Joseph. His weeping is surely for the fact that they have expressed remorse for their sin against him. The test, however, continues with the money being returned to them without their knowledge, a gift of mercy and grace. As we read through the Joseph stories, try and see where there are parallels with Jesus.

The parable of the sower is one that for a long time caused me grief. I would hear the word with gladness and yet my life didn’t show any indication that I had ever received it. Over a long season of time I believe that the Lord prepared the ground of my heart to receive that truth in such a way that I not only received it but it also began to take root and grow. I am still not where I want to be on this journey but God is still at work in my heart, softening the ground to receive His Word and His Spirit in order that I can be as fruitful as He desires me to be. We see in the story of Joseph that God took an arrogant young man and used the circumstances of his life to mold his heart into the man who can forgive his brothers completely.

Church discipline, if we follow Paul’s prescription, requires us to be ruthless about sin in the body, a zero tolerance policy for known sins. He says do not associate with those who would take the name of Jesus and then live lives characterized by immorality. Our Prayer Book, in the preface for Ash Wednesday, speaks of the season of Lent as a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. The Church is the place where sin is dealt with, where we hold one another accountable for our confession of Jesus lest we bring His Name into disrepute. Joseph didn’t excuse the sins of his brothers, he sought to determine if they were indeed different men, who acknowledged their sin and who had repented, had a change of life.

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory!