June 13, 2021 Norwalk First United Methodist Church The Essential 50 – Old Testament 3rd Sunday after Pentecost Not Fair! Genesis 39:1-20 How many times in your life have you said, “That’s not fair!” And I bet your parents told you like they told me. “Son, life is not fair sometimes.” “Son, you can’t have everything go your way all the time. Sometimes, other people have to win.” Folks, sometimes, life is just not fair. Well, if you think life is not fair, you might feel a little better after you hear the written testimony of this bricklayer as he attempts to explain his accident to the insurance company. Listen. “I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In block number three of the accident reporting form, I put ‘poor planning’ as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more, and I trust that the following details are sufficient: “I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six-story building. When I completed my work, I discovered that I had about 500 pounds of bricks left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley, which fortunately was attached to the side of the building at the sixth floor. “Securing the rope at the ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the 500 pounds of bricks. You will note in block number 11 of the accident reporting form that I weigh 175 pounds. Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building. “In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down. This explains the fractured skull and broken collarbone. Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley. Fortunately, by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain. “At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighed approximately 50 pounds. I refer you again to my weight in - 1 - block number 11. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building. “In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles and lacerations of my legs and lower body. The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the pile of bricks and fortunately, only three vertebrae were cracked. I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks in pain, unable to move, and watching the barrel six stories above, I again lost my presence of mind. I let go of the rope!” And you thought you had some bad days. You thought life was not fair for you. Well, Joseph had some bad days, too. Life was not fair for Joseph as we will see. But when life isn’t fair, we should be able to trust that God is somehow still in control. Would you pray with me? PRAYER When we first met Joseph, he was an egotistical teenager who deliberately irritated his family. Even though he needed to be taught a lesson, this is a tough way to learn: sold into slavery, falsely accused, thrown into prison. You have to ask yourself, “How can this be God’s plan?” But God has a plan. You see, all along this tough way, Joseph matured. Maybe the trauma of being rejected by his brothers and trapped far from home prompted some deep reflection. Or maybe he simply realized that his life was headed in the wrong direction. Whatever it was, Joseph had matured. As our story opens we soon learn that Joseph had become a model of moral strength. Here is poor Joseph, sold by his brothers to the Ishmaelites and now sold once again to Potiphar, who was the captain of the Pharaoh’s guard. But notice verse 2, the Lord was with Joseph and he prospered. Joseph was soon living in the house of Potiphar and Potiphar noticed rather quickly that anything Joseph did, he did well and was successful. Our scripture says that even Potiphar noticed that the Lord was with Joseph. And so, Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his household and he entrusted everything to Joseph’s care. Potiphar only had to show up for his meals. Verse 5 says that from the time [Potiphar] put [Joseph] in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. I don’t know about you, but doesn’t it seem that when we feel everything in life is going just fine, something comes along to ruin it. And usually we blame it on God, don’t we? God doesn’t do it. It is usually our own bad choices or our own lack of planning like the bricklayer. But we still say, “Why is it God that you have - 2 - to give me those tough times? What do you want from me? How can I cope when life is not fair?” Well life was soon to become unfair for Joseph. The young man that had matured to a position of prominence and the young man that had developed a strong moral character was about to be tripped up by a woman who was used to getting what she wanted. Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph. And she wanted Joseph in bed with her. He was young, handsome, and well-built. Joseph must have been a sharp contrast physically to the husband she probably never saw much. Every day, Potiphar’s wife tried to lure Joseph into her bedroom. His refusal made her desire him all the more. But this is where Joseph’s maturity and moral character finally come through. Verse 8: But [Joseph] 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. 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?” And so, an unfair thing happened. Potiphar’s wife could not have what she wanted so she contrived a story of revenge against Joseph. She told all the household servants and later her husband that Joseph had tried to sleep with her, but when she screamed, he ran, leaving behind his cloak. That was enough evidence for Potiphar to throw Joseph into prison. Joseph had no control over what was happening to him once again. Sometimes life is not fair. The story is told of a socialist who thought it was unfair that Andrew Carnegie had so much wealth. After he came to see Carnegie he soon began railing against the injustice of Carnegie having so much money. In his view, wealth was meant to be divided equally. Carnegie asked his secretary for an assessment of everything he owned and at the same time looked up the figures on world population. He did a little arithmetic on a pad and then said to his secretary, “Give this gentleman 16 cents. That’s his share of my wealth.” When you think life’s not fair, how do you cope? How do you react? Do you lash out at the people around you, like the socialist did with Carnegie? Do you give up and give in to depression? Do you blame it on God? When you think life’s not fair, how do you cope? How do you react? Joseph had every right to do all of the things I just mentioned and probably even more. He was doing what was right. He took the moral high ground and yet he was still thrown into prison. But Joseph didn’t do any of those things and I think there are two reasons why; two reasons that help us to cope, too. First, Joseph put God at the center of his life. When Potiphar’s wife tried to tempt him, Joseph knew that God was the One to which he was accountable. - 3 - Remember, he said, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” And later in prison, Joseph gave credit to God for his ability to interpret dreams. Joseph put God at the center of his life, and it gave him a whole new perspective as well as power to deal with the problems he faced. We have to be like Joseph. When faced with tough times we have to put God first in our lives and not dwell on our problems. When we put God first, it keeps us from lashing out at our unfair situation.