Our Tragic Flaws - Redeemed!

Walking & Stumbling with God

November 24
Genesis 38:1-50:26
Lurking Providence
Read Dr. Spina’s commentary at www.spu.edu/lectio

Joseph

Summary

There is nothing quite like reading the Joseph saga - full of plot twists and intrigue, it is anything but a boring bible story.  Enjoy it!  If you’re reading along with SPU’s reading schedule, we’re reading these 13 chapters over the Thanksgiving holiday.  In your thoughts and prayers of giving thanks, consider the way God provided for His covenant people through the ups and downs of the Joseph story:

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 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. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping.  But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.  So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. (Genesis 45:4-8)

Bonus Thanksgiving reflection questions –

• How does Joseph’s journey demonstrate both God’s provision and Joseph’s thankfulness? 
• Inspired by Joseph’s story of God’s provision through negative circumstances, what might you be thankful for in the negative circumstances you’ve experienced?

Joseph’s Tragic Flaw
Okay, but what about Joseph’s experience of walking and stumbling with God?  Well, we’re going to keep our eyes focused on the same scene we looked at last week, only from Joseph’s perspective.  When we do this, Joseph's tragic flaw might be revealed as:

 

Dreams of Dominance

Hamartia – “the flaw in character which leads to the downfall of the protagonist in a tragedy” from the Greek “to miss the mark” (Dictionary.com)

Joseph was a dreamer.  It was his gift, the unique thing that he brought to the world.  But like most of our gifts, they can be both our tragic flaw AND our great blessing.  It all depends on how our gift is used, and whether or not we allow God to use it for God’s purposes.  Think of personal gifts (speaking your mind, industriousness, creativity, etc.) and consider how they might be both a benefit and a downfall.

 

When Joseph was a teenager, he dreamed about dominating his older brothers (Genesis 37:5-11).  They, and their father, were threatened: Are you indeed to reign over us and have dominion over us?  Shall we indeed come and bow to the ground before you?

The point is, even if this was God’s work of foreshadowing Joseph’s powerful deliverance later in the story, it was presented with little sense of the common good and the benefit to the entire family...it was all about Joseph's higher position.

From Stumbling to Walking with God

Joseph’s tragic flaw was turned around as he began to dream of the Common Good.  He began to use his gift for the benefit of others, and as he did this he no longer was the centerpiece of his dreams.  In place of a self-absorbed Joseph, now his dreams concerned the plight of two fellow prisoners (Gen 40), and the Pharaoh leading a population vulnerable to famine (Gen 41).

Consider these famous concluding words to the Joseph story: 

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20)

The same could be said of our gifts, our capacities, our defining characteristics: God intends them not for our self-interested desire for dominance, but for good, for the saving of many lives.

 

Personal Identification Questions

• Where might this tragic flaw show up in your story?

 

• What are your dreams of dominance?  How do they relate to your experience of being dominated (being “low on the totem pole”)?  What do you think God has to say about both your experience of being “low” and your dreams of being “great?”

• What are your gifts, the unique capabilities that you offer to the world, to human community?  How might your gift be both a curse and a blessing?  What can you do to tilt your gift to being more of a blessing than a curse?

Prayer of Confession

LORD, why is it so easy for my dreams and gifts to be turned inward by self-seeking?  I’m sorry…

• For using the gifts you’ve given me only for my benefit and not to benefit others.
• For not allowing you to direct my dreams beyond meeting my personal desires.
• For the ways I respond to my experience of being powerless by thinking of how I will dominate others when I get power.

Lead me not into temptation, and deliver me from evil.
Amen.

Encouragement

1 Peter 5:6-7

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Romans 12:1-2

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.