They wanted to kill his dream

Genesis 37: 1-5 and 12-28, OT page 34 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. 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. 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. 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. Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 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.” 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, and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” “I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 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. They saw him from a distance and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 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.” But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 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. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. 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. Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 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. 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. Sermon There’s something wonderful about summer but there’s something wonderful about the first week of school too. It even smells a certain way, and it’s a time of year full of transitions. The baby who’s been staying at home goes to pre-school for the first time, no longer a baby, and it seems like the teacher is there to console her when her Mama leaves the room but I’ve been consoled by a few teachers myself. Then the preschooler moves on to Kindergarten with a back-pack so big you could stuff the kid wearing it down into it. They walk around so proud, wide eyed and excited, and their parents are excited too but they cry anyway. Middle School comes next and parents drop off a child at the beginning of the day but the kid who gets in the car in the afternoon is a foot taller than the one you dropped off. The new school khakis seem to last about a week. Then they’re off to High School – you send them into that great big place, maybe they even drive themselves. Before long it’s off to college, and the “goodbye” never goes right because these kinds of goodbyes are too difficult to say. How do you say everything you need to say before leaving him in the dorm room? Don’t drink and drive, study hard, don’t stay up too late, try to meet some nice friends - I’ll miss you more than I can say and the house is going to be so empty without you in it. You can’t say all that – so you just try to get him everything he needs – new sheets and a shower caddy. There are so many changes – phases of growing up and saying goodbye to what was so constant just the day before. But that’s the way that it is and that’s the way that it always has been, and that’s the way that it is supposed to be so give thanks if that’s how it’s progressing at your house. And the kindergartner’s new back pack, the new school clothes, the shower caddy for college – it’s not so different from that cloak with the nice long sleeves that Jacob, now called Israel, gave to Joseph, the son closest to his heart. Israel sent him off to find his brothers, just as parents have always sent off their children, not knowing exactly what they’re sending him off to. So off goes Joseph wearing his new school clothes, off he goes to join his big brothers, however while the dreamer walks towards them they are plotting to kill their little brother’s dreams. Now there’s something for all parents to fear. She goes off to conquer the world, ready to be a doctor and a nurse and a teacher and a babysitter, but the world will scoff at her dreams because that’s what the world does. Go into a 1st grade class and ask those students to raise their hand if they’re a musician – every hand will go up, because James takes piano lessons and Susie can play the maraca – but go into a 10th grade class and see how many hands go up. The world will take your dreams. Joseph’s brothers don’t want to hear any more about how he’s the center of the universe. They’ve heard enough, and now they’re ready to silence the dreamer, willing to kill him even if in killing the dreamer they can kill his dreams too. We all walk off into a world where to try means to fail, maybe even most of the time. We walk down the hall and off to the lunch room to be excluded maybe more often that we’re embraced. To apply for a job means to risk not being chosen. To put up a campaign sign may well mean having to take it down the day after Election Day not having gained anything beyond a broken heart. To try for American Idol may mean walking out onto a stage to applause only to walk off it in tears. And I know this to be the world that we live in so I walked my daughter to her kindergarten class and there was such a part of me ready to take her home where I can keep her and her dreams intact. I just wanted to keep her home. But a parent can kill a child’s dreams too. And the only way Joseph’s dreams were going to come to fulfillment was for him to face his brothers, for them to throw him into a pit and sell him into slavery so that he would rise to power in Egypt and save his entire family from famine, no longer the little brother, but the dream fulfilled in him he became the great man God created him to be. The world is a challenging place, but it is the only place where dreams become reality. So go out into the world, and when disappointment and trial comes, know that temporary disappointment is a precursor to greater accomplishments – that today’s heartache will give way to tomorrow’s joy – for through our God, the dreamer’s dream will be fulfilled. Amen.