Words for Worship

Ministry Today

If you were in the Navy,

you had to get used to

annual reports.

 

For officers

these were called 206’s

after the form

they were typed onto.

 

When the time came

for your Captain to tell you

what he had written,

you were always apprehensive

for there was no certainty

that he saw you

as you saw yourself.

 

 Not surprisingly

humorous remarks

in 206’s were legendary –

such as this officer

is doomed to push doors

marked pull;

this man uses my ship

to transport his carcass

from port to port.

 

Or this officer conducts himself

entirely to his own satisfaction!

 

Well, I wonder

what Joseph’s 206 would say.

 

It would surely

reflect his good points

such as

his immense self confidence,

his huge ability at management

and his drive to pick up

when his life is a disaster.

 

Yet this report might also mention

a certain degree of arrogance,

of self righteousness

and even ruthlessness.

 

Yet over all,

his 206 would conclude

that he was

an exceptional individual,

a go-getter

and an over-achiever.

 

Therefore, just as

Jacob was a crook,

Joseph was a superstar.

 

However, there are problems

in being a superstar.

 

One of them is that

people like to knock you off

your pedestal.

 

And surely, Joseph

as a young boy

had been placed

on a very high pedestal

indeed by his father.

 

So too are superstars

unpopular through

their single-mindedness,

ambition and determination

which are too often

misinterpreted as power-seeking,

bullying and self centred.

 

And Joseph too

was all of these.

 

But, maybe more subtle

that these apparent flaws,

is the fact that

if you are superstar

in entertainment, sport

or business

you are one in a million

and a breed apart.

 

And that causes people

to resent and envy the difference.

 

Most, certainly,

Joseph was resented

and envied by his brothers.  

 

 

And so the first point

that Joseph’ story teach us,

particularly if we are not

a superstar ourselves,

is to be self-aware;

to be aware of our own desire

to knock off pedestals

and falsely equate

determined effort

with self seeking bombast.

 

Worst of all, we need

to be on our guard

to covering our resentment

with righteous judgement.

 

Instead, let us be slow

to condemn

and quick to give credit.  

 

Above all, let us try

wherever possible

to find something

to admire in the great,

the mighty, the powerful

and the successful.

 

For then we are gifting another

things that

his or her success

does not guarantee.

 

 

And these are charity,

humanity

and understand

the true meaning of the words

of Deitrich Bonhoeffer

when he said –

the figure of the Crucified

invalidates all thought

which takes success

for its standard.

 

Now I know

I have quoted

from the American political series

West Wing before.

 

But please forgive me

for doing so again.

 

For there is a hugely apt scene

just after

the President of the United States,

Jed Bartlett,

wins his second term in office.

 

Now this is a bit of a surprise.

 

Because a few months earlier

he had to admit

to having hidden

his suffering from MS

during his first election

and term in government.

 

But now

as he comes off the podium

after making his victory speech,

his wife  

who is a doctor-  

pushes her way through

the cheering crowds

and says –

what’s wrong –

you went off the speech

on the auto-prompt.

 

Despite being slapped on the back

by his jubilant supporters –

he whispers –

I couldn’t see.

 

She then whispers back to him –

it starts now –

the black outs,

the headaches,

the loss of control

and the physical decline–

it start now Jeb.

 

Here then is a man

at the pinnacle of his success

facing his own humanity,

his own frailty

and his own mortality.  

 

Joseph too had to face

those

at least twice in his life –

when he was sold into slavery

and when in prison

wrongly accused.  

 

Times, in fact,

when his life

must have seemed

latterly in ruins.

 

Yet on each occasion he rallied,

he got back on his feet

and he got on with it.

 

In the end, he did the right

not just for himself

and his family

but all that would have starved

without his foresight.

 

Well if we are routing around

for some admirable quality

in those

we are not over fond of –

here then

is at least one superb attribute

we hunt for;

and that is very attribute

that really inspires us

from the Joseph story.

 

For many around us –

famous or not so –

have had their disasters –

many have had to suffer

real set backs –

many have been truly hurt.

 

But despite these disasters,

most have gone on

to make a worthy success

of their work,

relationships and personal creed.

 

They have fought their way

back to the daylight.

 

Indeed if we to look

for the victory over adversity

in those we least like,

we risk not only finding

admiration

but other things as well.

 

For in their story

of trouble overcomed

we see the very seeds

of our greater understanding,

greater affection

and  greater forgiveness

for apparent faults.

 

But even more important,

in blessing with greater tolerance,

we cut ourselves

some slack as well.

 

For there is a Wild goose story

that goes like this.  

 

A man one night had a dream.

 

He was in a fair ground.

 

Ahead of him

was a helter-skelter

with a man with no legs

coming down laughing his head off.

 

Next is a woman terminally ill

giggling with glee

followed by

a mentally incapacitated child

obviously enjoying herself

as never before.

 

He turns and finds

a clown at his side

who smiles at him –  

the man  says –

this is obscene,

this is grotesque –

this is a travesty.

 

The clown points silently

to a round-about

whirling to the ecstatic delight

of its passengers of the disfigured,

the damaged

and the clinically depressed.

 

Suddenly, the dreamer

spots a colleague,

a neighbour or customer.

 

I didn’t know there was anything

wrong with him.

 

The clown quietly say –

those in the dark pit

aren’t always obvious.

 

At that the machine stops

and an empty chair

is beside him

with his name on it.

 

How did you know?

he enquires of the clown

who simply smiles

and invites him onboard.  

 

 

 

Vanity, vanity all is vanity

says the book of Ecclesiastes.

 

Certainly it is sadly pure vanity

to except every one

to like us as individuals.

 

For a thousand and one reasons

that is just not possible.

 

But the final lesson

from Joseph

is that we can at least offer

the opportunity

for the other’s

also to respect

and be inspired by us.

 

Of course, the gates

to the superstardom

of an Olympic Gold medal,

or hit movie

or even taking the keys

of our own private jet

are probably closed

to most of us.

 

But that does not exclude

the one area of our lives

that we have pursued

with much perseverance

through thick and thin.

 

And that is none other than faith –

our faith in God –

our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

And how could our displaying

of faith inspire others?

 

Having tested your patience

with one story from West Wing,

I’ll risk another one.

 

It is told by

the President’s chief of staff

to a younger staffer

suffering a breakdown.

 

He tells the story of a man

walking along

when he falls down a dark hole

in the pavement.

 

He shouts for help.

 

The first along

is a lawyer

who drops down

his business card

and says – if you want to sue,

I’ll represent you.

 

Next is a doctor

who drops down

a prescription for pills

to make him feel better.

 

Then a clergyman

comes along

and drops down

a prayer saying –

I’ll be thinking of you.

 

Finally, a friend arrives

and jumps down beside him.

 

The first man says –

fat load of good that did –

now you are down here

in the dark with me.

 

But the friend says –

Ah Yes –

but I have been here before

and I know the way out.

 

Here then is how we can help,

even people

who really don’t know us.

 

Here is how we can be

less concerned with pedestals and dislikes

and more with pits and prisons.

 

Here indeed

is how we can be

a true superstar

to someone in the rubble of their lives.

 

And that is to jump down

into their darkness

whoever they might be

and say –

come with me –

come with me in faith –

come with me

for I have been here before –

come with me

for I know the way out.

 

Amen

 

Offering

 

Hymn…………….

 

Joseph’s Dream