{"id":3211,"date":"2019-08-04T19:43:23","date_gmt":"2019-08-04T19:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=3211"},"modified":"2019-08-04T19:43:23","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T19:43:23","slug":"sermon-28th-july-2019-evening","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-28th-july-2019-evening\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 28th July 2019 – evening"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sermons index<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sixth Sunday after Trinity \u2013 evening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Sunday 28th July 2019 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Trinity 6 – Proper 12 \u2013 evening
\nGen. 42. 1-25
\n1 Cor 10. 1-24<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"Maureen<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Human beings are designed to be story-telling creatures. We like nothing better than a good yarn. But there are \u2013 so they say \u2013 only seven forms of story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd the most common begins\nwith a problem, introduces further complications, and ends in some\nform of resolution \u2013 either partial or complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe family saga of\nJacob\/Israel and his twelve sons is a typical example. Parental\nfavouritism that leads to sibling rivalry and escalates into\nviolence, pitting 11 of the brothers against the favoured son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAll elements that we know very\nwell \u2013 both from the Bible and for many today, from the various\nstage versions of Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat! (Thank you\nMessrs Rice and Webber!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe story unfolds with the\nbrothers plotting to get rid of their annoying sibling, who has the\nnerve to predict that one day they will all bow down to him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nYears pass. Joseph is\ntransported off to Egypt. Where \u2013 by a series of improbable turns\nof fortune, some good and some bad, he rises to become second only to\nPharoah in importance…. If someone pitched this as a programme or\nfilm idea today, I suspect they would be told it is too fanciful for\nwords… but then look at who has risen to power in recent years, and\nmaybe it stops being so unlikely!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nMeanwhile, Jacob and the rest\nof the family are facing starvation. Hearing that there is plentiful\ngrain available in Egypt, he sends most of his sons off to beg\nsupplies, where they meet but do not recognise their brother \u2013 who\nnow looks like an Egyptian lord, not a Hebrew herdsman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nHow will Joseph react, having\nhis former tormentors finally in his power? We still do not know for\ncertain at the conclusion of tonight\u2019s reading… The story\nfinishes with a typical duh, duh, dudududududah, cliff-hanging\nmoment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWell I am sure it is not too\nmuch of a spoiler if I leap ahead a bit. We know of course that\nJoseph\u2019s true identity will be revealed. The brothers will be\nforgiven and the whole family will be reconciled together as Joseph\ninvites them all to come and set up home with him in Egypt. Which\nthey will do \u2013 little thinking that this will sow the seeds for\nfurther problems for the tribe of Jacob far in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut of course, it is all part\nof God\u2019s plan to bring his chosen people back from the brink, back\nto inhabit their ancestral lands, and to forge a new identity as the\nJewish nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nStories are good fun for us to\nread and to imagine \u2013 even when we have heard them numerous times\nbefore and know how things will turn out. Stories always invite us to\noccupy other shoes, and challenge our attitudes and actions in the\nlight of other actors in the drama. Would we be as forgiving as\nJoseph eventually shows himself to be? Even though he does play some\ntricks on his brothers before we get to that point? It all poses some\ninteresting questions about the exercise of power and the way of\nforgiveness and healing. With the current turmoil in our national\nlife, they are questions that seem particularly relevant and apt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSo we must hold to the thought\nthat Paul gives us in writing to the people of Corinth, that human\nbeings, by their very nature, will find themselves sorely tested at\ntimes, but that God is faithful and \u2013 though it may seem hard to\nbelieve at times (!) he will not allow us to be tested beyond our\nstrength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nNothing else will be able to\noffer us the comfort and the salvation that God can. It is no good\nrunning after the false gods, the idols, of power and celebrity, of\nmaterial possessions or of short-term fixes of whatever kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe a good sentiment for all those recently elevated to positions of authority to consider? As you write the story of your own life drama, do not seek your own advantage, but rather that of others!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sixth Sunday after Trinity \u2013 evening Sunday 28th July 2019 Trinity 6 – Proper 12 \u2013 evening Gen. 42. 1-25 1 Cor 10. 1-24 Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs Human beings are designed to be story-telling creatures. We like nothing better than a good yarn. But there are \u2013 so they say \u2013 only seven forms … <\/p>\n

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