Pastor John Tilton
August 8, 2021 - W2132

"Joseph: A Guardian's Gift"

Friends - Guardians and Guardrails

Pastor John Tilton

August 7 & 8, 2021

Welcome, New Hope Oahu--everyone here, online, and around the world! It is a pleasure to have you worshipping with us, today. The title of the message is "Joseph: A Guardian's Gift," from the new series, Friends: Guardians and Guardrails. We will learn how friends are guardians to keep us on the path to guide and teach us how to navigate through these troubled times.  

The definition of a "friend" is someone you are connected to because of affection, relationship, or personal regard--a friend will be there to support, defend, and fight for your honor! 

Today, we'll be talking about Joseph, the son of Jacob, who faced many adversities and travesties; I say travesties because much of what he went through were unfair and unjust. What I love about Joseph is his perseverance with grace even when his brothers hated him and threw him in a cistern, a deep well. They first wanted to kill him but later decided to sell him and make some money; so, they sold him as a slave to Ishmaelite traders, and they sold him to Potiphar. Joseph served Potiphar so well that he became head of the household; Potiphar's wife had an "eye" for him and wanted to sleep with him, but he said, "No, I won't do that," and ran out of the house! She became angry and accused him of rape and he was thrown into prison and forgotten! That was the life of Joseph--that's hardship and adversity! 

Today, we'll unveil and unpack something that we are suppressing that is affecting our hearts and minds. For instance, are you feeling betrayed by someone who was supposed to have had your back but instead talked about you and "sold"you out for their own benefit? Or have you been falsely accused because of misunderstanding as they didn't know the situation, and you paid the consequences for what someone else did? That hurts! 

Know that grace is God's unmerited favor. Grace is how you respond to the things that are going on as God's answer to adversity! God will work through you! Grace is extending favor and goodness to someone else for their benefit regardless of what you are going through. It's extending favor to someone even if they hurt you! That is the definition of grace. The real test comes when someone wrongs you and crushes your soul. That's tough!

Genesis 45:7-8 NIV Joseph said, "⁷But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. ⁸ “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.

God has a masterplan: Joseph was now the head of all Egypt, having control of all the grain and corn in that region and when his brothers came to buy grain, he was able to do so. Joseph's family was just a small remnant, so why is it so important? It's because from this small remnant came our Lord Jesus Christ!

From all that Joseph went through, the unjust and unfair treatments, God saved the world! That is what grace can do! 

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV says: ^9" But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why...I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 

Joseph has a gift for us today. In Hawaiian, we say Makana for gift--here's the acronym:

1. G = Grace
2. I  = Integrity
3. F = Forgiveness
4. T = TrustWe'll learn about grace, integrity, forgiveness, and trust--

In the midst of our Adversity and Hardship, God does His best work in us!  

Here's a funny story I want to share: A wealthy man named Mr. Smith is walking down the harbor and sees a young boy about 12 years old sitting on the dock crying. Mr. Smith asks him his name and asks why he is crying.  Johnny said, "There is so much adversity and hardship in my family right now! My mom has cancer, my dad is out of a job and came down with COVID, and we don't have any money for medicine, and we don't have any food and I'm starving, and we just got an eviction notice to move out.

Mr. Smith said, "I can take care of this, Johnny. I'm going to write you a check to cover all your family's needs." But he wanted to teach Johnny a life lesson on the value of money and just then, he saw a ship in the harbor. He asked Johnny if he could swim, and Johnny said yes, and Mr. Smith said, "See that ship in the harbor, I want you to swim to it and climb up the mast, grab hold of it, and wave at me. When you come back, I'll write you a check to pay for all your family's needs. So, Johnny starts swimming to the ship but halfway across, he becomes fatigued and afraid and swims back and asks Mr. Smith, "Can I have another chance?" Mr. Smith says, "OK." So, Johnny rests a little and dives back into the ocean and halfway across the harbor, he gets tired and fatigued; but, this time, he thought about his family and kept swimming, saying, "This is for my family. This is for my family." He makes it to the ship, climbs up the mast, holds on with one arm and starts to wave and just then he slips and falls! A thud was heard across the harbor! Mr. Smith got into his boat and rushed to Johnny not knowing if he were hurt or dead! He gets on the deck and sees Johnny holding his shoulder slowly getting up and said, "I'm OK."

 There are two great morals to this story: (1) Some of us are like Johnny, we get so used to the hardships of what our families are going through and we get fatigued, scared, and turn around and never get to do what God is calling us to! (2) Today, God is asking us to go to the other side because our lives and the lives of our family matter! So, regardless of what our families are going through, let's continue to persevere with grace through hardships--hold on to what we must hold on to! That's the moral to the story!

1. Grace Precedes Teachability and Prosperity; Grace is How We respond to Adversity! 

Grace is how we respond to betrayal when we are hurt! That's God teaching us to do things in our lives we never imagined! Like Johnny, the second time, and like Joseph, they learned to respond correctly to adversities! Then, you will be blessed with favor! It's to prosper in who you are and being able to accomplish what God has called you to be!

Genesis 45:4-8 NIV says: "⁴ Then Joseph said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! ⁵ And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. ⁶ For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. ⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. ⁸ “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God."

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV says: "⁹ But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

2. Integrity is Not What You Say, But What You Do.

C.S. Lewis said, "Integrity is doing the right thing, when no one is watching," 

We need to follow the laws with grace and integrity because it's the right thing to do! 

Genesis 39:7-10 NIV says: "⁷ ...and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, 'Come to bed with me!' ⁸ But he refused. 'With me in charge.' he told her, ' My master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. ⁹ No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"  ¹⁰ And though she spoke to Joseph, day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her."

Titus 2:7-8 ESV says: "7...be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, ⁸ and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us."

How do we respond for the benefit of others when no one is watching? 

3. Forgiveness and Trust Can Change the World.

The worst thing we can harbor in our heart is unforgiveness. 

Colossians 3:13 NIV says: "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

Genesis 50:15-20 NIV says: "¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” ¹⁶ So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died:¹⁷ ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. ¹⁸ His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them... ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

In these troubled times, you may be the only Jesus that some people will see. They will wonder what is about you that makes you so happy and gracious--when they know what you are going through! They will ask you, "What is it?" You can say it's the Lord and tell them what He has done for you. But when you don't trust the Lord, forgiveness can be tough because they cannot trust because of frustration, isolation, and testing. 

Perhaps you may be feeling betrayed by someone whom you trusted, and they are talking about you behind your back and "sold" you out for their benefit; or someone made a false accusation about you, not knowing the whole story--that hurts! 

Grace precedes God teaching us to do things in our lives we could never have imagine! It's God's answer to adversity. Then you'll be blessed with FAVOR to accomplish what God has called you to do! Grace is extending favor to someone for their benefit--even when they have hurt you! That's the definition of grace!

STUDY QUESTION TO DISCUSS:

1.      What is the gift that God has for us today?
2.      Share your experience when you responded to adversity with grace.
3.      What does the acronym GIFT stand for?
4.      What does integrity mean?