Mark continued his fascinating series on Joseph by looking at Genesis 45. The story has reached the climatic point where Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers. Judah’s plea for mercy, offering to give his own life so that Benjamin can return with his other brothers so that Jacob is not caused further heartache (Gen 44:30-34) releases the emotion Joseph must have been feeling ever since he first recognised his brothers. Now, it is too much for him and he cannot hold his emotions in any longer.

The ‘big reveal’ is not just about Joseph, however. His brothers are astonished and terrified at this news. They are dumbfounded, unable to find any words to articulate their shock. They must have been afraid when his words ‘I am Joseph your brother, the one you sold into Egypt’ (Gen 45:4) confirmed a fact they had never dared voice to anyone else, which could only have been known by Joseph. What would he do? What would be the final consequences of their sin?

Joseph’s words in Gen 45:5 show us he has finally understood the purpose of all that has happened to him: ‘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.’

Joseph’s response is one of heartfelt forgiveness. He sees the bigger picture. In order for us to forgive as God wants us to, we must:

• let go of the past hurt
• release our emotions to God (the chapter describes Joseph weeping and wailing so loudly that even the Egyptians who had left the room could hear him!)
• receive God’s heart of forgiveness to give us the ability to forgive
• let the person know that we have forgiven them privately so that we can all move on

Joseph is able to forgive because He sees the bigger purposes of God. The ‘big reveal’ is not so much Joseph revealing his identity as God revealing His purposes to him. He realises that God has been with him all along, in every trial and difficulty. God worked through Joseph so that life could be preserved, so that millions of people did not die through famine. God’s plan is that the whole world should be saved through Jesus (see John 3:16) and wherever we are on the dream cycle of life, the ultimate purpose is for God to save the world. He wants to use us to see others saved and forgiven and restored. All the miracles and revelations, all the sorrow and heartache we face in this life are all part of this plan. God sent Joseph to Egypt, not his brothers. God reveals Himself to Joseph, to his brothers, to Pharaoh, to all Egypt. Life is really all about God’s plan of salvation, about God revealing this plan through Jesus and using us, His people, to proclaim this message.

Many people complain that the Bible is an outdated book which is irrelevant today. It may well have importance because of its contribution to our literary heritage or how it has shaped culture, but they do not feel it has any day-to-day significance that can influence and guide our lives today.

Christians believe that the Bible is a living word, relevant not only because of what it teaches us about the past but because it guides our behaviour in the present and teaches us about the future. Heb 4:12 tells us ‘the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.‘

As we study 1 Corinthians, one of the reasons for doing so is because the issues and problems faced by Christians in that church still apply today. Eccl 1:9 reminds us that ‘there is nothing new under the sun.’ Human nature has not changed over the years. The selfishness, sinfulness and immaturity shown by the Corinthian Christians can still be found in modern society, where power struggles, sexual immorality, demandingness over rights (without necessarily acknowledging any responsibilities) and lack of respect still abound. The immorality and competitive spirit of Corinth can be found in most Western cities. We need to understand the influences of the world and see that there is a radical need for change if we are to be a church which moulds our culture instead of us being moulded by the culture around us.

Paul writes to people ‘sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people.’ (1 Cor 1:2) As we read this letter, we find much that is neither sanctified nor holy in the people’s behaviour and attitudes. As we look at the church overall in the world today, we may well feel discouraged and frustrated. But as we learn from Paul how to tackle the problems, we will find the Bible still relevant today: still speaking, still working, still answering our complex questions, still penetrating, judging and moulding us.

Garry gave an introduction to 1 Corinthians last night, which we will be studying in detail over the next few months (where ‘few’ probably means ‘many’ and ‘months’ may well turn to ‘years’!) As an introduction, we looked at Acts 18:1-19, which describes the birth of the church in Corinth.

Corinth was a city in Achaia (modern-day Greece), the main land route between the East and West, and as such a crucial and important city for the sea routes converged on two harbours there, making it a very prosperous city.

The proconsul from Rome (Gallio) was situated there, and whilst Athens was the intellectual capital of the area (causing great rivalry between the two cities), Corinth was significant because of its location. Goldthorpe owed much of its success in the past to its location on the main road between Barnsley and Doncaster, always featuring more prominently than Thurnscoe or Bolton-on-Dearne, but as the new bypass has shown, significance because of location can wane…

Corinth was also famous for its vice and licentiousness, for moral laxity and intellectual pride. The verb ‘to corinthianise’ meant to be completely without sexual morals. Clearly, Paul had his work cut out in teaching these people the basics of the Christian faith! His letters show that after 18 months of ministry there, there were still many issues which caused confusion and problems. Understanding where people come from is important when teaching, as these people had no prior knowledge of God as the Jews did. In our generation, people come from all kinds of backgrounds and a basic knowledge of Christian doctrines and morals cannot be assumed.

1 Corinthians was written to address the divisions and disorder in the church (1 Cor 1:10), to correct specific problems (1 Cor 1-6) and to address questions asked of Paul. Paul’s problems came from various groups with tendencies leading to an inadequate understanding of Christianity (such as libertarians who misunderstood Christian freedom, ascetics who were too rigid in their approach to Christian behaviour and ecstatics who allowed their spiritual ‘experiences’ to lead to disorder.)

Other issues Paul tackles in this letter include:

• power struggles in the church
• people who thought they were spiritually or intellectually superior to others
• immorality
• exercising rights
• sex and marriage
• respecting one another’s personality and gifts
• how our understanding of eternity makes a difference to how we live together today

Prayer was never intended to be an abstract occupation, but is the most personal way we relate to God. In Luke 11:1-13, Jesus’s disciples come to Him asking to be taught how to pray. The prayer He teaches them (the ‘Lord’s Prayer’) is addressed to a personal God, our Father. God is not an idea, an entity, a mystery, but is One to whom we can relate using the vocative case (which simply means we are speaking directly to Him, rather than talking about Him.) Most of the verbs in this prayer are in the imperative form (giving commands.) At first glance, this seems rather odd. Who are we to give orders to God when we pray? Yet as we look at this prayer, we see verbs which are directly addressing God (‘give’, ‘forgive’, ‘lead us not’) in terms which are quite unlike the usual ways we approach those in authority over us (where our requests are more obliquely phrased: ‘I wonder if you wouldn’t mind…’, ‘Perhaps you could help me by…‘)

Eugene Peterson says  ‘by using nouns in the vocative and verbs in the imperative, Jesus gets us involved personally in the action of the God who acts personally in our lives. Prayer is action.’ (‘The Word Made Flesh’, P 50) As we approach God as a loving Father (and the parable Jesus goes on to tell His disciples illustrates God’s willingness to give to us and the love He has for us), we don’t have to ‘hedge our bets’ using oblique phrases; we are encouraged to ask Him directly for all we need. This is made explicit in Luke 11:9-10 (‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.‘) The Message version paraphrases this as ‘Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in.‘ Using the imperative can indeed seem presumptuous or even arrogant, but when viewed in the context of a loving relationship, it is not a case of us ordering God about. Rather, it is a case of us being encouraged by God Himself to approach Him directly with confidence, assurance, boldness  (see Heb 4:16), secure enough in our relationship to use language simply. Many of us spend our adult lives obscuring what we mean because we are afraid to say what we really think; we call this being polite, but it usually only results in obfuscation! God encourages us to approach Him with virtually the simplest form of language there is: a direct petition, made directly, not prettified but using the most basic of language.

Help! Save! Protect! Give! Forgive! Rescue! Deliver! These are the verbs we use in prayer. Even the longer phrases in the Lord’s prayer (‘hallowed be Your name’, ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done’) are direct requests. Let’s remember we can approach God directly and personally and that we don’t have to hide our meaning from Him. This section on prayer ends with the words ‘If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!‘ (Luke 11:13) God is more willing to give than we are to receive. He simply invites us to approach Him directly, coming to Him because we recognise our neediness and our inability to meet those needs by ourselves.

We had two birthdays to celebrate tonight!

Dave spoke from Ezekiel 37:1-14 tonight,  a passage commonly known as the ‘Valley of Dry Bones.‘ Quite often, the church is seen as being insignificant and irrelevant, but this is not a new situation; in Ezekiel’s time, Israel was in exile, feeling forsaken and cut off from God and apparently insignificant. How we view situations is not necessarily how God views them, however.

For Ezekiel to see the valley of dry bones must have been distressing; as a priest, he was not allowed to touch the dead, and this valley was so full of bleached, brittle bones that it was obvious that bodies had been abandoned, something which would have been anathema to Jews for whom burial was really valued. Nowadays, we have become inured to the sight of mass bodies killed in war or disasters, but this vision must have underlined the hopelessness of Israel’s situation.

Nonetheless, God’s question ‘can these bones live?’ evoked an answer that implies Ezekiel recognises there is more to this vision than is apparent from natural sight. ‘Sovereign Lord, You alone know’, he says. God’s response must have seemed even stranger: why prophesy to bones which cannot hear? Nonetheless, he obeyed God and spoke to the bones. What he saw next was beyond imagination, but still he needed to prophesy further for breath – life – to enter these bones.

God speaks and breathes life into us (as at creation) and can do the same for the church today. He could act without us, but He wants us to be involved in His work. We may see dry bones (churches that have closed in recent years, lack of spiritual vitality and so on), but God sees more than we do and knows we can be a ‘mighty army.’ We have to speak out what God says, standing on His promises, prophesying as He commands us to, for God’s Word is living and able to bring even the dry bones to life. God moved as Ezekiel did as He was commanded; we need to rise up and believe and see the valley not as one of dry bones but as the valley of potential.