The Politics of Integrity

Beginning the Story

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I am sure you have heard that old saying – it has been around since Bernard of Clairvoux first said something like that back in 1155…

It is a clever way of saying just because we intended something to go one way does not mean that we are not going to mess it up and do the wrong thing.

I could probably come up with some example in a book, or a movie, or a television show… but I think if I gave you a second you could come up with one from your own life… Let me ask it this way.
Have you ever tried to take the easy way, or do something you thought was for the right reasons, only to have it blow up in your face?

How about those “little white lies” we tell?

I have some ADD tendencies. I have some anxiety. I have a really poor memory. So I pretend I am a really great multitasker because I cannot really focus well – hey look – a squirrel…. What was I saying, Oh yes, I am not a great multitasker – so the little white lies are kind of hard for me. I tend to be really truthful because in five minutes I may not remember the lie I told to make things better.
Or how about this as an example – when asked if I like broccoli by my in-laws I say yes to be polite. Now at every single meal, they make my favourite… broccoli. (this is not a true story, by the way, I like broccoli and my in-laws do not eat vegetables)

This is a silly example – but it is a real problem. When we do the wrong thing for the right reasons – it is still the wrong thing.

A Reading: Genesis 39:1-23

             
Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her. One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house, she caught hold of his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she called out to the members of her household and said to them, “See, my husband has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.” Then she kept his garment by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.”

When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is the way your servant treated me,” he became enraged. And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

The Story Unfolds

This story would be laughable as a soap opera. In a nutshell here is the plot - Joseph is purchased by Potiphar, “a captain of the guard,” from the Ishmaelites, then is installed as an overseer in Potiphar’s house. The story emphatically repeats that God is active in Joseph’s life, making him successful in all his undertakings (Genesis 39:2, 3, 5, 21, 23). Potiphar, noticing his success, wants it to rub off on him and his household and so raises Joseph into a position of power within his household. Potiphar’s wife is also attracted to the success that emanates from Joseph. She uses her position to try to compel him to do her will, and when rejected, has Joseph put in prison.
         
It even has the humour of a modern television story – the wife grabs his robe and Joseph has to fight to keep away from her to the point that she rips it off of him as he runs out into the street naked…
         
Like I said, it would make a laughable soap opera – if it weren't for the fact that stories like this are a part of our daily news. It seems there is not a catholic priest or a politician alive who is not caught out on some sexual scandal. Almost every leader of a successful church is in trouble for everything from tax fraud to abuse.
         
There are still people out there who are different than this. There are people who have integrity. And perhaps this is why the story of Joseph made it into the bible. It is a story filled with the worst of human emotions, jealousy, lust, anger, murder, revenge… remember, this is the same guy whose brothers tried to kill him because he was father’s favourite, but instead threw him in a pit to die. (naked again, oddly)
         
And Joseph does some questionable things as he is making his way through the slavery route. For example, he keeps getting his wife to say she is his sister – so no one will use one against the other I suppose. And then when the owner invariably falls in love with her – and tries to sleep with her. Proverbial hell breaks loose.
         
So it is not that Joseph is perfect. He is not. And the rough life he has lived so far does not excuse his actions – he is often doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.
         
But there is a reason he continues to survive and thrive in this soap opera. And that reason is simple. Integrity.
         
A key difference between Joseph’s story and politics today is Joseph’s integrity. Most of the politicians who fall from power today do so because of their own failings, their own capitulation to corruption, greed, and lust. Joseph, on the other hand, falls from power because he dares to say “No” to corrupting power. He could have had a sweet deal, sleeping with Potiphar’s wife, running his house -- Potiphar didn’t need to know. But he decides to take the difficult path -- and it leads him to prison.

Ideas to Take With Us

These stories from Genesis are ancient. They are about people long dead living in a way we could never imagine, in a place, none of us have probably ever seen.
         
But there is a reason that for thousands of years they have been re-told – they are the fairie tales and fables of the Bible that are trying to teach us the basic idea of goodness.
         
Be honorable. Be upright. Be honest.
         
That is what it is to be a good person. And we tell these stories over and over so that we do not forget, and that we can pass them down to people like Brynlee.                                                                                                               
Despite the fact that the world DOES often seem like a soap opera gone wrong – there is still a right and wrong and there are still honourable people. This is our tradition and who we are.
         
We need to embrace it.

Advent 4 - A

A SIGN

Introduction

I cannot tell you how many times in my life I have looked for a sign. Some little signal from God to let me know that everything was going to be all right... I have prayed, I have hoped, I have bargained... I have even decided that the sign was there....

Sometimes I make it a 50/50 split with God. “Ok, God, if I drive around the corner and there is a tree still with leaves on it, I am going to take that as a sign that you want me to do this...”

Part of me knows full well that I am talking to myself – that a sign from God would not be leaves left on a tree randomly by the side of the road just when I wanted there to be leaves. I am talking to myself and justifying my decision.

But O for a sign. Some divine answer written across the sky in giant gold letters saying – THIS IS WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO! - I think there are times we all wish the answer was a little clearer, a little more obvious, a little more black and white.

Times when we knew what was the right thing to do.

We have been preparing for Christmas throughout the weeks of Advent by talking about ancient prophesies and bits of wisdom that people were hoping for with the Messiah. We even got nine months out and talked about what Mary was hoping this birth would be.

Well – lets move a little closer now to the due date. Lets advance to the point where Mary is showing, obviously, that she is pregnant – and let’s take a moment to consider this all from a different angle – that of the fiance. I am pretty sure Joseph was looking for a sign. He wanted God to tell him what to do...

Because let’s face it. This was a tough situation. He had not slept with Mary, she was claiming no one ever did, the family and crowds were talking, Mary’s life was on the line, maybe his too... at the very least their reputation was on the line...

The easiest thing and best thing for him would be to cast her out, let her take her own chances, forget about this and move on. After all, it was probably an arranged marriage, it was not really about love yet. He probably hardly knew this girl.

What is the right thing to do for his family? For his reputation? For his carpentry business? Or for that matter, how did he feel about all this?
This is part of the Christmas story too...

With the Kids

- cards and feelings – getting in touch with who we are and what we feel about the season...

Wrestling with the Texts

Have you ever seen a family coping with some stressful situation that seems beyond your own ability? Like a child getting cancer, or a child being born blind, or the death of a ten year old in a tragic car crash...

Almost every time I meet these people my first response is always to say, wow... they are coping with things with such grace, they are being so strong, look at how much love that family has for each other even when things are tough...

I see it every day in other relationships as well. Students looking out for each other, adults struggling with their aging parents, sickness and death taking one spouse... and for the most part what I see is that we are way stronger than we think.

Still....

The other side is true as well. Perhaps, sadly, even more true. We see marriages end, we see kids estranged from parents, we see abused runaways on the street. We see mental illness lead to drug addiction and prison. Just as often as I see people being strong, I see people being broken.

And I know there is a there but for the grace of God moment in all of this.
I have been broken. I have given up. I know what it feels like.

...

Ok, so I want you to see this as very human, I want you to understand that we are made of strong stuff but that any one of us could find ourselves broken by the weight of the world.
Now, look again at Joseph. He is not rich, he does not live in a city where there are hundreds of prospects, he does not come from a high society family, and yet, miracle of miracles, he gets engaged, to a young, seemingly happy and bright women. Her parents have the dowry, it is perfect.

Then she becomes pregnant.

Pregnant because she sleeps around? Pregnant because a Roman soldier raped her? There really is no good possibility here. Think about how a rape victim is treated today. Think about what society thinks of High School students who get pregnant. Think about the rumours when a wife gets pregnant after a man has a vasectomy.

Imagine how bad it was 2000 years ago? There were no women's rights, there were no divorce laws. This was a society where if a man says out loud three times that he is divorced, then he is. A woman is property. A woman exists to serve the man and bear him offspring. Which, by the way, in the thinking of the day do not even contain DNA of the woman – just little versions of the man growing up to carry on the name.

By law Mary must be put to death. By custom Joseph needed to move on and forget about this marriage. By the thoughts going on in the average persons head he needs to get angry and leave her. Why should he raise another mans son? Why should he be with an immoral and untrustworthy woman. Who, by the way, is probably a lair or insane ... saying she has never had sex...

But... we are told... and angel appears to Joseph. He has a vision. This child is going to grow up to change the world.

One night, one vision, one moment in time.... and Joseph marries his young bride and raises this child from another father as his son.

What we often gloss over in these stories is that so many amazing things had to happen for this to work out, including picking just the right step father for Jesus. A man who would believe the ramblings of a crazy young girl and show love and compassion despite all wisdom and tradition telling him not to. A man who would listen to the voice of the angel in his vision and see the possibility that perhaps Mary was telling the truth.

Conclusion

An angel talking to you at night is a pretty convincing sign from God. You could take the story to be telling us that. But I actually do not think that is true.

Scrooge saw a ghost talking to him and managed to convince himself, for a minute or two, that it was only some bad food he ate the night before playing havoc with his thinking.

And we have all done that. Dismissed the sign as being a coincidence. Dismissed the vision as being a dream. Seen someone smile at us and thought to ourselves they really cannot be smiling at us. Had someone tell us they thought we could do it, and known in our heart that we could not.

Joseph could have woken up and forgot about the night before. He could have dismissed it as a dream of wishful thinking. He could have said that God is not real anyway or else why would I be in this situation. He could have done a million things to convince himself to put her away quietly, he even could have put her to death himself. It was within the law.

But he didn’t.

What Joseph did was look in his heart and realize that this person needed the love of God more than anyone in that moment, and he had it within himself to give it.

There are signs around us all day. God is speaking to you right now. And most of us have the ability to hear, if we just accept that life is never black and white and we move into the mystery of Christmas. God did the unexpected and it changed the world. Joseph did the unexpected and it changed the world.


So go out and do the unexpected. It just might change the world.

ADVENT II A

GIVING FROM THE HEART

Joseph

Introduction

Christmas and giving seem to go together. They have for hundreds of years. It all started with the legend of St Nicholas who started bringing gifts to the poor children on Christmas Eve. Since that time so long ago it has grown and grown to become a time when we show our love though our gifts.

There are so many stories that have grown up over the years about gifts and giving. In fact, the idea of Boxing Day was originally that you would box up your leftovers and give them to the poor.

Then there is White Gift, started by a Presbyterian Minister’s wife in the early 1900’s when a Sunday school was having a gift exchange and she wanted to make it fairer, by making all of the gifts anonymous.

When I was thinking about who in the Christmas story gave the best gifts… like the shepherds or the drummer boy or the Wise Men… it occurred to me that I was missing someone, Joseph.

In fact, Joseph has got to be the unsung hero of the whole story. He gets the smallest part of all, no dialogue, an Angel tells him to go with it, and then he just goes along. But if you stop to think about it, it could not have been that simple.

So today let’s get behind the giving, let’s look at why sharing from our heart is important, and let’s celebrate the meaning of these gifts.

So why do gifts have such power in these stories? Why is giving such a huge part of Christmas?

Joseph

One of my favourite Christmas quotes of all times comes from Charles Dickens. In fact, Dickens and his book A Christmas Carol, sort of launched our modern Victorian influenced celebration of Christmas and made it into this gift giving, turkey feasting festival.

In the book, Scrooge, who hates Christmas, has a nephew who loves Christmas. And in an argument the nephew says this:

“But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round… as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys…"

Or to put it in the way Terry did at our Advent study the other day, during Christmas we all seem to be able to let ourselves imagine that all these miraculous things are true…

So how about this, an angel comes to you in the middle of the night and tells you your teenage girlfriend is pregnant, but not to worry, it is God’s child and everything will be all right.

What kind of man does it take to accept that? What kind of person could put the doubts away and believe in the miracle?

If Joseph was a different person, I bet Christmas would not have happened. After all, we tend to make the past sound a lot friendlier than it really was. If your fiancé got pregnant by someone else, the proscribed punishment would be to stone her to death publically as a harlot.

But Joseph never even seems to consider this, he seems to operate from some other way of being. 

Giving

Now, Paul had some pretty good advice for the church in Corinth, be a cheerful giver. Give from the heart and because you want to. If you do that, you are doing a good deed.

Then Jesus ups this one more time by saying when you give even if you have nothing, when you risk giving more than you can, you will be blessed.

It is not as if Jesus is saying you will be judged, you have to see this the right way. Jesus is saying, if you are faithful, if you believe in God, if you follow the religion the way it was taught to you in Sunday School, you are going to give from your heart.

See what I mean, if you are full of love, you just love. It is a natural response. You don’t have to be forced to do it. You don’t need to be convinced. It is just part of who you are.

Back to our friend Joseph, he was a Tekton, in Greek, which means he worked with his hands. He was either a wood worker or a stone mason. People have generally fallen towards carpentry, but it makes no difference, he was a skilled labourer and he was from a really small town.

He was from an unremarkable family of simple folk, and his marriage was arranged, probably by his father, to a young neighbor girl.

Joseph probably hasn’t been to Jerusalem more than once in his life, for a religious pilgrimage to the Temple. He certainly has never been any further away from town than that.

I want you to understand all of this because it shows us something of who Joseph was, someone just like you and me, a normal, run of the mill small town boy who grew up and worked for his father and got engaged when his family told him to.

Except… he has faith. We may not know much about Joseph, but we know that. We know when an Angel shows up and talks to him he listens. We know that he found out Mary was pregnant and did not shun her. We know he raises this child, not his real son, as if he was his very own, so much so that Jesus goes down in history as the Son of Joseph and a Carpenter, same as his father.

We know that Joseph fled his home town and left the country to Keep Jesus safe, we know that he brought him to the Temple to have him circumcised, we know that he took him to Jerusalem to learn from the Rabbi’s.

See, Joseph might not be mentioned a whole lot in the Bible, but we know what he did.

He loved. He gave of himself when he did not have to. He helped Jesus become who he needed to be.

Conclusion of Theme

There is a story I read quite a while ago now, I cannot even remember where I first saw it. But it is about a young boy, let’s say he is seven, who has an older sister who is dying.

Turns out there is a chance to turn things around, the girl needs a blood transfusion, and then perhaps her body will heal itself, and her brother is the perfect match.

The parents go to him and explain all of this carefully and completely, and ask him if he will be willing to do this, to which he says, of course.

So they are lying in hospital beds side by side and they hook up the IV and the blood starts pumping out and into the filter and the boy looks up and says…. “How long before I die?”

He thought he was giving all of his blood so his sister could live. And he did it anyway.

We might become a little cynical about the gift buying, about the credit card debt, about how it all seems to spiral out of control sometimes. But we also have to remember that there is something very basic at the heart of all of this. We give because we love. That is what Joseph taught us.