Jealousy made Joseph's brothers want to kill him. But they decided, because "he is our brother," to just sell him off. That's interesting because, after they sell him, they dip his special robe in blood and take it home to their father. Then they tell him, “We found this; see now whether it is your son’s robe or not.”
Your son. Not our brother. I wonder exactly when that choice of words came to mind. Joseph had stopped being their brother and become Jacob’s son.
And maybe that’s how we learn to hurt people. The easiest way to mistreat someone, ignore them, dismiss them, or decide their suffering isn’t our concern, is to put some distance between us and them.
We change the nouns. They’re no longer our neighbors. They’re those people. Not our children. Those kids. Not our community. That side of town. Not our brother or sister. Someone else’s problem.
We've heard this already in Genesis. After Cain kills Abel, God asks, “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain responds, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”
Those stories bring a question to mind: What do we owe one another because we belong to one another? Jesus answered with a story about a Samaritan who sees a wounded stranger beside the road. He makes the man’s pain his problem.
Part of discipleship is learning to change the nouns back. Those people become our neighbors. Their children become our children. Someone else’s problem becomes our opportunity to love. And your son becomes our brother.
Pay attention to the nouns you use for people today. They might tell you something about the distance growing in your heart. It's much harder to walk past someone once you remember that God wants you to call them neighbor.
Stay blessed...john
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