Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the story of the family of Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.
…
12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.
He came to Shechem, 15 and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. 18 They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; 24 and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed. 28 When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 is the beginning of the story of Joseph. I am going to assume that the story of Joseph also reflects influence from the E tradition. The story of Joseph appears to be a novella, a little novel. Scenes are part of the whole rather than individual Joseph sagas. Joseph is the ideal youth of the wisdom school in the time of Solomon. The story is like other Patriarchal stories in that a parent often favors one child over another, and problems are the result. It is a story with all the requisite dramatic parts of envy, conspiracy, conflict, sibling rivalry, deception, lust, despair, recovery, justice, reconciliation and more. Since Joseph had dreams, the brothers wanted to kill him and claim that an animal had killed him. Reuben objected, wanting to throw him into a pit and then rescue him later. They sell him to Midianite traders for 20 pieces of silver, reminding Christians of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas for 30 pieces of silver.
The story involves family dysfunction, violence, and the activity of God in and through all things. It provides a classic example of how God works in all things for those who love God (Romans 8:38). Since God is active and present in all things, even when we are not aware of it, we can affirm the providential care of God for the people of God. We can think of the completed story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50 as an ancient novella, a short novel that reflects the values of the wisdom tradition in Israel. The final canonical text seems to connect some wisdom themes newly emerging during the reign of Solomon. Joseph, at his best, is the ideal youth of the wisdom school. However, according to some scholars, these verses also show signs of the history of development of the early traditions of Israel that biblical scholars have named the documentary hypothesis. The idea is that behind our canonical text we find various traditions that have come together. It is a finely crafted and engaging piece of literature that stands out within the literature of the Old Testament. The text as we have it weaves the various scenes into a whole. We have a story rather than a compilation of individual sagas, as we found with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It contains identifiable literary dramatic elements, such as foreshadowing, word plays, irony, suspense, and vivid characterizations. It has a riches to rags to riches life story that has inspired many readers. It is a story with all the requisite dramatic parts: envy, conspiracy, conflict, sibling rivalry, deception, lust, despair, recovery, justice, reconciliation and more. It concludes the story of the Patriarchal founders and forms a bridge to the story of the hardship and struggle for the liberation of Israel that we will find in the rest of the Torah.
As the documentary hypothesis applies to this passage, verses 1-2 are from the Priestly tradition. They have the character of an insertion. Typical of this tradition, we find references to the settlement of a patriarch, Jacob, in the land of Canaan as an alien. We see the memory of this alien status in Deuteronomy 26:5-10 and Leviticus 19:34. A resident alien or sojourner enjoyed protections of Torah, equal status in the worship life of Israel, and fair labor treatment. Exodus 22:21-24 included them with widows and orphans as having protective status. This tradition also has an interest in family lineage. In this case, it identifies Joseph as 17 years old. He was a shepherd with his brothers. He helped the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, two of the wives of Jacob. It also informs us that Joseph gave a bad report about his brothers to Jacob. Thus, we see the tensions within this family that will reflect later rivalry among the tribes. Then, in verses 3-4, we find the beginning of the J or Yahwist tradition about Joseph. It refers to Jacob with his new name, “Israel.” Israel favored Joseph, and the first exhibit is the long robe or tunic he received from his father. Sometimes, parents are the source of dysfunction in a family, and we see that here in the case of Israel. His favoritism toward Joseph is obvious enough that the half-brothers of Joseph cannot carry a civil conversation with him. The story in Genesis has seen favoritism and its disastrous consequences in Chapter 4 (Cain and Abel), 21 (Isaac and Ishmael), and 27 (Jacob and Esau). Verses 5-11 relate the dream of Joseph that his brothers will bow down to him. He tells the brothers about the dream. Joseph becomes the source of some of the dysfunction within this family. The brothers understandably respond with jealousy. Israel “kept the matter in mind.” It may well be that Joseph at this young age succumbs to the human illusion of wanting to be master of all that one surveys. Our tendency is to want to control self and all things. Yet, the more one seeks such power over others, the more one finds oneself compelled and controlled by darker forces that will lead to self-destruction, such as people like Nero, Napoleon, Hitler, and Mussolini discovered.[1] Yet, as we progress in this story, we learn that the dream is from God. It has a prophetic character in its literal fulfillment at the end of the story of Joseph. It will contribute to the tension with his brothers. The dream is troublesome and demanding. He will go through slavery and imprisonment before it becomes a reality. In any case, we see the tension mount in verses 12-19, where Israel sends Joseph to see how things are going with his brothers. He thought they were in Shechem, but a man told him they went to Dothan. When they see him coming, they start their plan to kill the “dreamer,” Joseph. In verses 20-24, we have the beginning of the Joseph story in the E or Elohist tradition. The plot to kill Joseph will continue. Since Joseph had dreams, the brothers wanted to kill him and claim that an animal had killed him. Reuben objected, wanting to throw him into a pit and then rescue him later. Then, returning to the J tradition in verses 25-27, the brothers see Ishmaelites from Gilead in a caravan on their way to trade in Egypt. Of course, the descendants of Ishmael are also descendants of Abraham. Their arrival shows the providential care of the Lord over this family. The preservation of the young Joseph, despite the plan to kill him, will lead to the preservation of this family through a famine. Judah will stress that they can now gather some money rather than kill him. At least this sale will mean they do not kill their brother. The brothers agree. Then, in verse 28a from the E tradition, we now learn that Midianite traders were Ishmaelites who bought Joseph for 20 pieces of silver. For Christians, this purchase will remind them of the thirty pieces of silver Judas received to betray Jesus in Matthew 28:15. Then, in verse 28b from the J tradition, the Ishmaelites from Gilead took Joseph to Egypt. This part of the story leaves us hanging. What will happen to this family? We want to keep travelling with them.
Genesis 37:1-2 is part of the Priestly tradition that, beginning in verse 40, lists the chieftains of Edom, concluding with the reference to Jacob. Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. As the Israelites themselves had once been resident aliens, with all the precariousness such a status entailed, so their regard for the vulnerable and marginalized other was to be shaped by that collective memory and consciousness (cf Deuteronomy 26:5-10; Leviticus 19:34). While the etymology of the Hebrew word ger remains uncertain (it has been linked to the Akkadian word garu, "enemy"), the status of those so designated is clearly drawn in the Hebrew Bible. Resident aliens (formerly "sojourners"), like natives, enjoyed the protections of law (Exodus 22:21; 23:9), equal status in the cult (Numbers 9:14; 15:15-16) and fair labor treatment (Exodus 23:12). Recognition of the vulnerable position of resident aliens is evident in their inclusion, with widows and orphans, in the classes of persons for whom protective provisions had to be made in ancient Israelite society (Exodus 22:21-24). The mention of Isaac's status as a resident alien is in contrast to Jacob's settling on a land also signals the central theme of the drama about to unfold: Israel's return to landlessness and oppression (the two were virtually synonymous in ancient agrarian societies) as resident aliens in Egypt. Genesis 37:2 is a priestly note in the J and E story of Joseph. 2 This is the story of the family of Jacob, a similar introduction to the previous family stories in Genesis 2:4; 6:9; 10:1; 11:27. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. The order is important, as it refers to the doting father Jacob, then to Joseph, who is caught in the middle, as the text then refers to his envious brothers. This will be our first hint of the rivalry and tension among the sons of Jacob. The theme of the disastrous consequences of favoritism is prominent throughout the patriarchal narratives of Genesis (e.g., Abel and Cain, 4:4-5; Isaac and Ishmael, 21:9-10; Jacob and Esau, 27:5-38), and reaches its fullest and most complex exploration in this story of how a father treated his sons, how brothers treated a favored and resented sibling, and how that favored one in turn treated his family, his adopted country and all the nations of the earth.
In the story of Joseph, J is no longer drawing from any sources regarding the patriarchs. He seems to connect some wisdom themes newly emerging during the reign of Solomon in his story of Joseph. Joseph, at his best, is the ideal youth of the wisdom school in the time of Solomon. Scholars now describe this story as a novella, describing it as one of the most finely crafted and engaging pieces of literature in the Old Testament. It contains identifiable literary dramatic elements, such as foreshadowing, word plays, irony, suspense, and vivid characterizations. It has a riches to rags to riches life story that has inspired many readers. It is a story with all the requisite dramatic parts: envy, conspiracy, conflict, sibling rivalry, deception, lust, despair, recovery, justice, reconciliation and more. It concludes the story of the Patriarchal founders and forms a bridge to the story of the hardship and struggle for liberation of Israel.
The Qur’an (Muhammad, 570-632) discusses Joseph in Surah 12. There is little difference between the story in the Bible and the story in the Qur’an. However, the application becomes a warning for the opponents of Muhammad. They oppose Muhammad, just as the brothers of Joseph opposed him. The opponents of Muhammad, focusing upon Jews and Christians, will bow before him.
We find the J story of Joseph in Genesis 37:3-19, 25-27, 28b, 39:1-23, 42:27-28, 43:1-13, 15-34, 44:1-34, 45:1-28, 46:1, 28-34, 47:1-4, 5, 6, 13-26, 29-31, 48:8-22, 50:1-11, 14. We learn in Chapter 37 that Joseph was the son of the old age of Israel in the sense that he and Benjamin were the children born through Rachel.
Israel favored Joseph, and the first exhibit is the long robe or tunic he received from his father. Sometimes, parents are the source of dysfunction in a family, and we see that here in the case of Israel. His favoritism toward Joseph is obvious enough that the half-brothers of Joseph cannot carry a civil conversation with him. The story in Genesis has seen favoritism and its disastrous consequences in Chapter 4 (Can and Abel), 21 (Isaac and Ishmael), and 27 (Jacob and Esau).
Joseph seems to contribute to this tension by having a dream of his brothers bowing before him and then sharing that dream with them. The dream has a worldly and vain character. The dream carries in it the desire of human beings to master and control their surroundings. Yet, the more one compels and controls, the more one finds oneself compelled and controlled by desires that derive from illusion.[2] Yet, as we progress in this story, we learn that the dream is from God. It has a prophetic character in its literal fulfillment at the end of the story of Joseph. It will contribute to the tension with his brothers. The dream is troublesome and demanding. He will go through slavery and imprisonment before it becomes a reality. The brothers, concerned that the prophecy contained in the dream might come true, want to kill him, except for the intervention of Judah. As an example of the providential care of the Lord, another branch of the family of Abraham descended from Ishmael are in caravan. The brothers sell Joseph to them, and they continue their journey to Egypt.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age. Although Joseph's birth received particular notice earlier in the Jacob cycle (30:22-24), the designation "son of his old age" more accurately describes Benjamin, the last of Jacob's sons (35:16-19), who was, like Joseph, favored by his father (42:38; cf 43:34). And he had made him a long robe with sleeves. An ornamented tunic would be jewels sown into clothing. The traditional "coat of many colors" derives from the Septuagint's rendering of the Hebrew. The notorious "long robe with sleeves," with which Jacob favored Joseph, will figure prominently in the ensuing narrative. The meaning of the Hebrew phrase kethoneth passim is literally "tunic of palms/soles (of hands or feet)," indicating that the basic foundational garment worn by both men and women -- the short-sleeved, mid-calf tunic -- was, in Joseph's case, a long-sleeved, flowing garment with ample ankle-length skirts. This version of the garment was ordinarily worn by women in the Hebrew Bible (cf II Samuel 13:18, 19), making this reference one of the several subtle suggestions of Joseph's unmanly nature in the story. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him. Here is the beginning of the hatred of Joseph by his brothers. The brother's hate stems from two sources. Joseph received preferential treatment from his father. Joseph shared the content of his dreams. The theme of the disastrous consequences of favoritism is prominent throughout the patriarchal narratives of Genesis (e.g., Abel and Cain, 4:4-5; Isaac and Ishmael, 21:9-10; Jacob and Esau, 27:5-38). It reaches its fullest and most complex exploration in this story of how a father treated his sons, how brothers treated a favored and resented sibling, and how that favored one in turn treated his family, his adopted country and all the nations of the earth.
12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. He came to Shechem, 15 and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. 18 They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Behind this action is the view that once one spoke a prophetic vision, it would happen. … 25 Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. They are offspring of Abraham as well, and now in a providential way save Joseph from death, which then allows him to save his own people from death in the future. We can see the conservative nature of the canonical text in that it preserved both J and E accounts of the preservation of the life of Joseph rather than choose one or harmonize them. With their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? There was a long step to murder, so Judah’s suggestion is sensible. 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” Caravans would pass through Dothan regularly. And his brothers agreed. 28bAnd they took Joseph to Egypt.
Genesis 37:20-24, 28a begins the story in the E document of the hatred of Joseph by his brothers. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” Behind this action is the view that once one spoke a prophetic vision, it would happen. 21 But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” We can see the conservative nature of the canonical text as it preserves both J and E accounts of the preservation of Joseph rather than decide between them or harmonize them. 22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; 24 and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. A cistern was a hole in the ground designed to store winter rain for the summer. … 28a When some Midianite traders passed by. Caravans would pass through Dothan regularly.They drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. In Matthew 28:15, Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
This part of the story of Joseph raises interesting matters of reflection for family, for divine providence, and for the power of dreams.
Families can be so dysfunctional. However, we must not be too harsh. After all, sin resides deeply in each of us, affecting the relationships dearest to us. Part of the reason for dysfunction can belong to the parents. Children need to learn trust. Their first encounter with trust in relationships is with parents and siblings. However, parents can show favoritism in subtle ways. Children and youth notice this hidden language of the family. Such a sense of the relationship between parent and child can lead to undermining the trust the child needs in order to engage life. Part of the reason for dysfunction in the family can belong to children. The abilities of siblings can inspire envy and pride. The thought that someone else is better, or that I am better, leads to a separation between siblings that can lead to alienation, bitterness and hatred. We often idealize the family. The reality is that many families struggle with their relationships. These intimate relationships can be the source of great happiness, as well as the source of great pain. Yet, even with the sickness we often see in the family, God can bring us to new places of healing. In fact, through such pain, God can help us become agents of healing to others.
There are plenty of bad things that we would like to go back in time and change — in world history and in our own personal histories. But God can transform those bad things into good.
Time-travel movies are entertaining and a bit mind-bending. They ask the question of what would happen if you could go back in time and change history. Back to the Future tells the story of Marty McFly, escaping to 1955 in a car-shaped time machine and entering the world of his parents when they were teenagers. The Terminator is a classic piece of science fiction, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a robot sent from the future to 1984 Los Angeles. His mission is to kill the mother of the man who would go on to be a hero. Even the Harry Potter series dabbled in time travel. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry and Hermione use a “time turner” to try to save Hogwarts. The superheroes of Avengers: Endgame use time travel to save the universe from a big, purple monster man. Time-travel movies. They raise an intriguing question: If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?
Most of us can think of positive choices that would have changed history and improved the world. Protecting Jews in 15th-century Spain. Saving Lincoln from assassination. Supporting Reconstruction after the Civil War. All would have been good for God’s people in some terribly tumultuous times. But we should never forget that God is always working toward a surprising conclusion, even when humans are acting in horrible ways.
“You intended to do harm to me,” said Joseph at the end of this little novel in Genesis, naming clearly that his brothers did a great evil to him. But knowing that God is always working toward a surprising conclusion, he also said, “God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people” (50:20). In every time and place and situation, God is working God’s purposes out. Sometimes we humans cooperate with these purposes, and sometimes we do not. But nothing deters God in the work of saving people from destruction. Even the bad things that we would like to change — in world history and in our own personal histories — can be transformed into good. God is not responsible for the evil that people do, but history shows that God can turn bad into good. Such is the confidence that we can have in the providential care of God for creation, for human history, and for each of us. God wastes nothing.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,” begins Reinhold Niebuhr’s famous “Serenity Prayer,” a favorite text of those in Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step recovery groups. Things we cannot change. These are the annoyances, the obstacles, the stumbling-blocks that stymie us. Some things in life are susceptible to change. A great many others are not. Our personal histories are a prime example. “If I Could Turn Back Time,” sang Cher, in a 1989 pop hit: “If I could find a way; I'd take back those words that hurt you; And you’d stay.” But none of us can turn back time. The way to healing painful memories of the past lies through spiritual practices like Niebhur’s “Serenity Prayer.” After replaying the tape of that painful memory countless times in our head, the only way to new life is to simply accept it.
Nurturing past grievances is not only a waste of time, but a positive danger to our spiritual lives. This short exchange from Lewis Carroll’s Through The Looking Glass sums it up:
“‘The horror of that moment,’ the King said, ‘I shall never, never forget.’
“‘You will, though, if you don’t make a memorandum of it.’”
If we keep a ledger of ways others have hurt us, those painful past experiences take on a life of their own.
For most of us, our most painful suffering often comes from those who love us and those we love. The relationships between husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters, teachers and students, pastors and parishioners — these are where our deepest wounds occur. Even late in life, yes, even after those who wounded us have long since died, we might still need help to sort out what happened in these relationships. The great temptation is to keep blaming those who were closest to us for our present condition saying: “You made me who I am now, and I hate who I am.” The great challenge is to acknowledge our hurts and claim our true selves as being more than the result of what other people do to us. Only when we can claim our God-made selves as the true source of our being will we be free to forgive those who have wounded us.[3]
What can we learn from the story of Joseph up to this point? I think we can learn that families need to face problems realistically. It will not help to pretend that they are not there, or that everything will work out. Sure, we have all had circumstances in which we have done nothing, and the problem resolved itself. Yet, sometimes we need to face problems directly.
First, cooperation with the Lord is crucial, especially when facing potentially awful outcomes. The music of the church helps us face these challenges. The hymn God of Grace and God of Glory by Harry Emerson Fosdick puts it well:
Lo! The hosts of evil ’round us
Scorn Thy Christ, assail His ways
From the fears that long have bound us
Free our hearts to faith and praise
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
For the living of these days
The Negro spiritual “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me”
I want Jesus to walk with me
I want Jesus to walk with me
All along my pilgrim journey
I want Jesus to walk with me
In my trial, Lord, walk with me
In my trials, Lord, walk with me
When the shades of life are falling
Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me
In my sorrow, Lord walk with me
In my sorrows, Lord walk with me
When my heart is aching
Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me
In my troubles, Lord walk with me
In my troubles, Lord walk with me
When my life becomes a burden,
Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me
Songs such as these remind us that life is a journey in which obstacles will be in our way. You can have that guarantee. What will you do? The story of Joseph tells us that the development of skills, ethics, morality and faith is the way we form a partnership with providence and align ourselves with what God is doing in the world. When Joseph was dragged down to Egypt, he remained faithful to the Lord, strong in the face of sexual temptation, courageous in prison and consistently discerning and wise in his dealings with Pharaoh. The result was that he became Pharaoh's right-hand man, the most powerful figure in the land of Egypt (chapters 39-41).
Second, evil is never the outcome when faithful people and God are providential partners. A contemporary song, “God is good all the time” puts it this way:
If you're walkin' through the valley,
And there are shadows all around;
Do no fear, He will guide you,
He will keep you safe and sound.
'Cause He has promised
To never leave you
Nor forsake you,
And His Word is true.
Though I may not understand
All the plans you have for me;
My life is in Your hands,
And, through the eyes of faith,
I can clearly see.
God is good,
…
All the time.
Joseph will have long stretches in an Egyptian prison, but flash forward to the end of the story -- there, Joseph is able to tell his brothers that while they intended their action for evil, "God intended it for good" (50:20). We should prepare for potentially rough places but do so with the confidence that God is going to guard us and give us direction.
The story of Joseph invites us to reflect upon the role of dreams. We read of the dream of the content of the dream of Joseph in 37:5-11. His brothers refer to him as “this dreamer.” We must not dwell on dreams in a way that makes us to forget to live.[4] Yet, the genuine dream can give us a sense of the potential of the future. Such a dream can keep us young and passionate. We see the possibilities contained within the moment. Possibility becomes the sparkling, fragrant, and intoxicating wine of our life.[5]
The dream in the heart is the outlet. It is one with the living water welling up from the very springs of Being, nourishing and sustaining all of life. Where there is no dream, the life becomes a swamp, a dreary dead place and, deep within, a [person's] heart begins to rot. The dream need not be some great and overwhelming plan; it need not be a dramatic picture of what might or must be someday; it need not be a concrete outpouring of a world-shaking possibility of sure fulfillment. ... The dream is the quiet persistence in the heart that enables a [person] to ride out the storms of ... churning experiences. ... It is the ever-recurring melody in the midst of broken harmony and harsh discords of human conflict. It is the touch of significance which highlights the ordinary experience, the common event. The dream is no outward thing. It does not take its rise from the environment in which one moves or functions. It lives in the inward parts, it is deep within, where the issues of life and death are ultimately determined. Keep alive the dream; for as long as [you have] a dream in [your] heart, [you] cannot lose the significance of living.[6]
As to the content of the dream of Joseph, Barth relates this dream to the impossible and grotesque nature of the human enterprise, symbolized by Nero, Caligula, Napoleon, Nietzsche, Mussolini, and Hitler. He places the claims of the Papacy in the same arena. Human beings all want the same thing. They play the role of a being that is superior to the world and others. They want to master and control all things. They want the role of the central monad before which all the others are destined to do obeisance, such as he finds symbolized here. One does not accomplish what one thinks one can accomplish. The more one wants to compel and control, the more one finds oneself compelled and controlled. He thinks of this as arrogant and illusory.[7]
Yet, in the context of the canon, we learn that the dream comes from the Lord. It may even be part of the enigmatic nature of a dream that Joseph did not understand what it truly meant. It will take years before we find the gracious fulfillment of the dream, as over against the grotesque possibilities contained in it. It will find fulfillment in a literal way at the end of the story. Young Joseph has nothing to call his own except this dream. It will contribute to the separation of Joseph from his family. The dream is troublesome and demanding. He will go through slavery and imprisonment before the dream becomes a reality. Joseph seems guilty of being the favorite of the father and of having prophetic dream. All they can think about is the short-sighted notion of the older members of the family to the younger, disrupting the authority structure of the ancient household. This prophetic dream threatens the status quo and envisions a new way of life. To be clear, there may be some things worthy of defense in the status quo, in the norms that govern the way things are. The record of rebellion against the way things are is not always a positive one. It often allows a form of anarchy that destroys the lives of people. At the same time, the status quo always changes, for that is the nature of history. Each historical moment confronts the status quo to challenges to which it must adapt. The story of Joseph confirms that setbacks may just be setups for a comeback, for dreamers do not easily.[8]
T.E. Lawrence -- the famed Lawrence of Arabia -- had this to say about those who dream: "All [people] dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds awake to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of day are dangerous [people], that they may act their dreams with open eyes to make it possible." We need more dreamers of the day, just like that. We need people of passion and principle who refuse to accept the cynical wisdom of the old French proverb: "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
In every generation, there are those who would kill the dreamers. John F. Kennedy dreamed of a "new frontier" -- and Lee Harvey Oswald's bullet cut him down in Dallas. His brother Robert liked to quote George Bernard Shaw: "You see things; and you say ‘Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?'" -- Sirhan Sirhan ended that dreamer's life in the kitchen of a California hotel. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s most famous speech was all about having a dream -- a dream that placed him squarely in the cross-hairs of James Earl Ray's rifle-scope.
For an American, such reflections lead almost irresistibly toward considering the American dream.
I would like to use as a subject from which to speak tonight, the American Dream. And I use this subject because America is essentially a dream, a dream yet unfulfilled. The substance of the dream is expressed in some very familiar words found in the Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." This is a dream.
Now one of the first things we notice about this dream is an amazing universalism. It does not say some men, it says all men. ...
It says that each individual has certain basic rights that are neither derived from nor conferred by the state. They are gifts from the hands of the Almighty God. ...
Indeed, slavery and racial segregation are strange paradoxes in the nation founded on the principle that all men are created equal. But now, more than ever before, our nation is challenged to realize this dream.[9]
[1] Barth (Church Dogmatics IV.1 [60.2] 433)
[2] (Church Dogmatics IV.1 [60.2] 433)
[3] —Henri J. M. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith (HarperCollins, 2006), entry for April 8.
[4] It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. --Dumbledore to Harry, in J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Scholastic, 1998).
[5] If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating as possibility! --Søren Kierkegaard, Either/Or: A Fragment of Life (Penguin, 2004).
[6] --Howard Thurman, Meditations of the Heart (Beacon Press, 2014), 37.
[7] (Church Dogmatics IV.1 [60.2] 433)
[8] Inspired by but also taken in a different direction from Luke Powery, "Daring to Dream," sermon delivered at the 2014 Festival of Homiletics in Minneapolis, Time, May 25, 2014. time.com. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
[9] --Martin Luther King Jr., "The American Dream," address given on February 5, 1964, at Drew University. drew.edu. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
No comments:
Post a Comment