Baccalaureate: What are You Doing after Graduation? Genesis 45:4-8a
By William H. Willimon
"My mom is a banker. Dad is a banker. I was doomed. Hello DeutscheBank."
Against these stories of who you are and where you are going, I want to place a third. It is from
Genesis, out of Israel's past. I won't recount the whole thing, but I will say that Joseph, who grew up in a more dysfunctional family than any of you, is sold into Egyptian slavery by his brothers. But he lands on his feet at Pharaoh's place. Joseph is put in charge of all of the Pharaoh's public works. During a great famine, Joseph's brothers (who attempted to kill him, then sold him into slavery) show up in Egypt looking for food.
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They do not know that the Egyptian official who stands before them, holding their family's life in his hands, the one before whom they grovel for food, is none other than little brother Joseph, the same kid brother they tried to get rid of earlier. This is where we come in. Little brother Joseph reveals himself to his older siblings. And when they realize that this great official standing before them is none other than little brother Joseph whom they had so terribly wronged, they are filled with fear. It is pay back time, when little brother Joseph will get revenge for all his brothers did to him, the part of the story so dearly beloved by little sisters and brothers everywhere.
But Joseph calms their fears and tells them that, though they deserve it, he is not going to get revenge. Rather he will bless them, give them the food they need. The family will be preserved. Then Joseph says something to his brothers that I want you to note. Looking back on what has happened in the years, all twists and turns, the weird events and strange coincidences, the heartache, the hurt, Joseph says, "You meant this for evil. But God meant this for good. You didn't send me here. God sent me."
Surprise! There is another actor in this story. As it turns out, the protagonists are not limited to Joseph, his brothers, what he did, or didn't do to them. There is a third participant without whom the story cannot be fully told - God. Joseph's brothers were meaning all of this for evil, to do in their uppity little brother, and Joseph was meaning simply to survive. But God was also busy, making meaning in the story that was not exclusively of Joseph's or his brothers' doing.
So Joseph declares, "You meant this for evil, but God meant this for good."
As modern people we have been conditioned to describe our lives as mostly what we do, or mostly what is done to us by others. I am the sum of my choices. Or, I am the sum of my genetic heritage. But this ancient story dares to assert another actor. Or, more properly, an author. Our lives may not be stories written by us, or even by our parents, or our genes. Maybe there is a meaning beyond the meaning that we make. There is an author, unseen, but nevertheless active - God.
So Joseph said, "You meant this for evil, but God meant this for good."