Recently, I preached a sermon that seemed to surprise a few people. What surprised them was the political nature of the sermon. Here's the funny thing. I didn't think it was political. At least not in the way people seemed to think. I didn't mention any politician or any political party. I did highlight a glaring disparity between how we view the rich and the poor. But that's hard not to do if you're preaching from Luke's account of the beatitudes. If that's political, then I've preached that sermon before.
That to say, you might think today's note is a political one.
The Genesis account of Joseph's life is inspiring. We look at different points in his story and admire how he responds. It's affirming to see how his trust in God helped him make sense of the evil brought onto his life. His story even makes for one of the greatest Veggie Tales episodes ever.
In the closing chapters of Genesis, Joseph has a chance for revenge. Earlier, his brothers initiated every bad thing that would eventually happen to him. Now, he's second in command of the people and his brothers are, unknowingly, at his mercy. Joseph devises a plan to trap his brothers. Well, I'm not entirely sure what Joseph was thinking. But his plan works.
At this point, with that supposed political sermon on my mind today, I couldn't help but overlook the spiritual assertions we make about Joseph. I couldn't because today's reading seemed like another example of the difference between the poor and the rich. Whatever his reasons, Joseph never had to explain his plan against his brothers. As far as we can tell, he could have thought of this plan on a whim to see what would happen.
How many modern examples of that can we come up with? The rich make plans the poor have to follow. The rich create muddled systems that further alienate the poor. The poor so often have no plausible chance at recourse. Instead, they get stuck. Joseph's brothers were stuck. Tejanos were stuck in a "new" land. Isabel González was stuck on the S.S Philadelphia. And so on and so on.
Joseph would set his brothers free. They would know reconciliation and peace. That doesn't always happen. If they had responded in a different way, who knows how the story might have unfolded.
That is a reminder to me. That, as the people of Christ, it's part of our calling to live in ways that promote, insist upon and uphold that kind of reconciliation and peace. That's not a political statement. That's a Jesus statement. And it's an old sermon that's been preached before.
Stay blessed...john | 
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