Peace in the Pit
Announcements
Marta: Good morning, church. It's so good to see you all today. My name is Marta and I am the youth pastor here at the table. And if you're wondering why it looks so good today and the matching everybody else is because we just had our first ever VBS this past week.
So I'll tell you a little bit more about that in a second. This is the portion of the service that I like to say you should have your phones out because I wanna see you adding things to your calendar. I want you to scan QR codes, take pictures, get ready to plug in because this is when we are doing events together as a church throughout the rest of the week and we want you to know about them.
So this week we have women at the table on Wednesday. It will be at a South Minneapolis home and it's just girls being girls, hanging out, drinking beverages of any kind, vibing, getting to know each other. Am I correct, Emma? That's the idea. So we go kind of every other month of someone sharing their story and then just an event based on connection. So that's the connecting event and we, if you are a woman, you identify as a woman, we would love to see you there.
We have table kids summer break on the 23rd and the 30th of August. So today we've got kids in service for an older for VBS. We're gonna do the same kind of style just to kind of give our kids staff, myself included, Miss Caitlin, et cetera, et cetera, a well-deserved break leading up to fall kickoff. So at the back table there are fidgets, there are coloring sheets, there are little tiny little pamphlets called sanctuary scribes for the older kids to help take notes and pay attention to things in the service. So that is all available to you back there.
Finally, one of the best parts, wouldn't you agree, of Sunday service is donuts after church, amen? That doesn't just appear out of loaves and fishes. That is brought by generous volunteers. And so if that's something that you could swing by, cub on your way to church and pick up a couple boxes and volunteer, the sign up is out there and we would be so grateful. And I like, we've said like the kids would be so grateful, but I would be grateful too.
All right, VBS, first ever, I said this at the end of our last day and Edin Wunderlich went home and she goes, "Mom, I made history." Because she did, this is a big deal. We didn't have a VBS because at one point it was our now middle schoolers were kind of all we had for kids. And we had at the end of it, 18 students participating ages four through incoming fifth grade. We had about 20 volunteers, middle school and adults in all different capacities. We played games, we ate snacks. We did memory verse things, which we'll do a memory verse after the sermon, we'll come together and do that together. We did songs, we did so many different things and it truly was such a special moment.
There was, I think day two or three, Caitlin and I looked at each other, we're like, "We're doing this and this is great. Like this is really, really fun." So it was so amazing. We've left some of our decorations up so that you could kind of experience some of the vibe. And I would love to show you this quick little slideshow that we have to just give you a taste and a flavor of all the things we got up to this week. [Video plays]
Sermon
Debbie: Debbie: What a week. Oh my gosh, we had so much fun. And I have to tell you, like, first of all, big thank you to every person who volunteered, but really, Caitlin and Marta knocked it out of the park. And we are talking months and months and months of planning and the execution, like, couldn't have been better because it was executed with a lot of heart.
Hey, my name's Debbie. I'm one of the pastors here at the table. And we continue our series that Justin started out last week, Hills and Valleys. Every week we will be hearing from someone from our community that's gonna share their own experience of God in when they've been in those hills and valleys of life. So our goal as the preaching people this month is to keep it short and I am gonna try really hard to do that.
I think the reality of our lives is that it is a life full of hills and valleys. Because sometimes we're on the top of that hilltop and everything is going great. But then we have those seasons, right, when we're walking through those deep valleys and sometimes those deep valleys can feel really unfair.
You've worked hard and someone else gets that promotion. You try to be a good friend and your trust is betrayed. You pour into your family and relationships are strained. You do all the things you can do for healthy living and you end up with that diagnosis. You've done all the right things and things still are not working out and life can feel incredibly unfair.
And I think most of us in this room have one time or the other asked why me God? But here's the good news. Scripture doesn't ignore those questions. In fact, the Bible, in the Bible, some of our greatest stories take place in valleys that have seemed really unfair. And this week, have I got a story for you? And it is a story, it's a big story, that's why I gotta try to keep this short. But it's the story of Joseph.
So for those of you that have grown up in the church, it may be a familiar one, but let me remind you that the story of Joseph is from Genesis chapter 37 through 50. That's a lot of hills and valleys, a lot of life to try to get down to 12 minutes today, but I'm gonna do the best that I can. It's one of the longest stories devoted to a single person in scripture and while we often remember those highlights, right? The code of many colors, his dreams, the palace in Egypt, his life was actually a really long journey of a lot of hills and valleys.
Because today we got a story of jealousy and rivalry, a story of dramatic changes of fortune, revenge, forgiveness, and God working behind the scenes all the time to try to make something good out of all this human suffering.
And I think the story matters because it touches on our own human realities. The things that actually happen in our own lives, in our church, in our communities, in our country right now. So we've got Joseph and Benjamin, they're the two youngest of Jacob's. Justin talked about Jacob last week, the one renamed Israel, the one we think of as the trickster, the deceiver, but he's the youngest, they're the youngest of Jacob's 12 sons and from Jacob's favorite wife, Rachel. And guess what? Jacob loves Joseph the most. The most scripture says he loved Joseph more than any other of his children.
And on top of all that, he gave him this special robe, sort of ornamental robe that pointed to Joseph having honor and distinction. And every time Joseph wore that robe, make no mistake, it just pounded home to those brothers that he was the favorite, that he had his father's heart in a way nobody else did. And then Joseph began having dreams from God.
He's having those dreams and the dreams are like, there's a bundles of grain and they're all bowing down to his bundle of grain. The stars, the sun, they all bow down before him and then maybe not a good decision, but he decides to tell his brothers about the dreams and he implies that there will be a day that they will be bowing down toward him.
Well, as you can imagine, it's not going so well. His brothers not only see the favoritism, they hear about the dreams, but all of that turns to jealousy. And that jealousy turns to resentment and that resentment actually turns to hatred. And 17 year old Joseph standing on top of the hill is about to step right down into that valley. And it's a valley that starts when Jacob asks Joseph, hey, I want you to go check on your brothers as they're tending our family flocks. He didn't go to make trouble. He didn't go to show off. He was going in obedience to his father.
But when his brothers see him walking down the lane, they look at each other and say, there's that dreamer. There he comes in his colorful robe. And in that moment, they have a discussion and they decide they need to get rid of this guy. And here we are in today's text, Genesis 37:18-28:
They saw him from a distance and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, here comes the dreamer, come now, let's kill him and throw him into the pits. Then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him and we shall see what will become of his dreams. But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hand saying, let us not take his life.
Reuben said to them, shed no blood, throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father.
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the ornamented robe that he wore and they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty, it had no water in it.
Then they sat down to eat and looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead and their camels carrying gum, balm and resin on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, what profit is it? If we kill our brother and conceal his blood, come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh. And his brothers agreed. When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver.
And they took Joseph to Egypt.
I'm trying to think about what Joseph might be thinking as he sat at that bottom of the pit, terrified, confused, wondering, how could my own brothers do this to me? And on top of all that, I don't know what struck you all, but this vision of his brothers casually eating lunch, saying, wait, let's not kill him, let's make a dollar or two, let's sell him.
In that moment, Joseph's life changed forever. He lost his family, he lost his home, he lost his future, he lost his freedom. And nothing about what happened to Joseph was fair. Many of us in this room know what it feels like to have our life change in a moment of a phone conversation, a diagnosis, a decision that we didn't see coming.
But here's what this story tells us. The story tells us that God was with Joseph through it all. And from the moment that Joseph entered Egypt, we hear that over and over again in scripture, repeatedly saying, the Lord was with Joseph.
Now, in the story that didn't prevent Joseph from becoming a slave, it doesn't rescue him immediately. But we do know that God was with him, and thank goodness God was with him, because the hills and valleys just kept on coming for Joseph, because after being sold into slavery, he finally, his life had some success inside the house of this Potiphar, who was an Egyptian official.
And as he grew in success and he was managing the household, Potiphar's wife falsely accuses him of advances that never happened. And what ends up happening? He ends up in prison, and for a long time. And there is nothing fair about that. But we hear once again that the Lord is with him.
And while God's presence didn't remove the hardship, it helped Joseph sustain in the hardship. He kept the faith, he kept serving, he kept working, he kept honoring God. And here's the amazing thing, he did all that without knowing the rest of the story. One faithful step at a time. And no one ever said that being faithful is easy. Because it isn't.
But when we choose integrity, when no one's paying attention, when we continue to pray, when it doesn't seem like we're getting a response, when we continue to serve, when circumstances haven't changed, peace grows. And that kind of peace comes from a confidence in the character of God, not in what our circumstances are.
Now years later, Pharaoh starts having dreams that he can't interpret, and someone remembers Joseph and they bring Joseph in front of Pharaoh, and God gives Joseph the interpretation that Egypt will have seven years of abundance, and then they'll have seven years of famine. And so what the Pharaoh does is he puts Joseph in charge of all of that, so that he can stock up the stores, prepare Egypt for what is to come, and here's this man who'd been sold as a slave, who'd been in prison, who's now the second in command of Egypt, one of the greatest nations at the time.
And then when that famine spreads throughout the region, people come to Egypt for the food, and there's so much more to this big story, but eventually the brothers arrive looking for food. They don't recognize Joseph, Joseph reveals his identity, and after his father has died, Joseph speaks to these brothers, these brothers that have betrayed him.
He speaks to these brothers, some of the most hope-filled words in all of scripture. It's in the last book of that Genesis, chapter 50, verse 20. And he says this, "Even though you intended to harm me, God intended it for good in order to preserve a numerous people as he is doing today."
Life is hills and valleys, and sometimes those valleys feel incredibly unfair. And maybe someone has hurt you deeply, maybe you've lost something unexpected, maybe you've been waiting for God to explain why, but Joseph's story reminds us that peace isn't because of perfect circumstances, that peace is found in the one that we trust, the one who sees the rest of the story when we can't see it.
So today, maybe you're in the pit. Maybe you're experiencing pain. But here's what we all can do, we can choose faithfulness. Even when it's hard, we can choose trust, trusting in God's presence, even if we don't feel it. What we know from experience, though, and this is the most beautiful thing, and when you've had a lot of life, you really have some of this experience, you can stand on that hill, and you can look back, and you can see that God's hand had been on you all along, that God's hand had continued and continues to work because here's the deal, friends, God sees the palace, he sees tomorrow's purpose, he sees the hill on the other side of the valley.
And what we remember as we walk through those hills and valleys, we can also remember the words from the Apostle Paul when he spoke to the Romans: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”
Joseph's story is a reminder, peace isn't found in the perfect circumstances, but in trusting God's presence, his purposes, and what I love about this story is Joseph himself looks over his struggles and the difficulties of his life, the violence, the slavery, the imprisonment, and he sees that through all the remarkable ups and downs of his life that God was with him, God with him, the peace that passes all understanding.
The pit isn't the end of the story, and even when we can't see his hand, God continues to write that story.
I'd love to invite Nancy Hirschfeld. As I said each week, we're having someone from our community. Nancy has been with us from the beginning, a faithful servant, wonderful person, wonderful friend, and we're so grateful. Please welcome Nancy.
(Audience Applauding)
Hills & Valleys Story
Nancy: Good morning, everyone. I'm Nancy Hirschfeld, and my husband Mark and I started attending the table 13 years ago when we moved to Minneapolis for services for our son. In preparation, I reflected on today's scripture, Joseph, being thrown into the pit and having no idea how his story is going to end. All he knew was that his life had suddenly become much harder than he ever imagined.
No doubt many of us have experienced moments like this. One of our deepest valleys was when our son Jacob was diagnosed on the autism spectrum in 1998. Today, autism holds many challenges for the individual and their family, but when Jacob was diagnosed at the age of three, there was little understood and only a few states that had any resources. A specialist who diagnosed him encouraged us to plan to have him institutionalized by the age of nine for our safety and for his.
There were many dark days as we tried to find the best way to help our son. One of my closest friends said, "Nancy, you're grieving the childhood and life "you had dreamed for your son." She also said, "A mother can only be as well as her sickest child."
Those words freed me to process my grief at many different stages along the journey. In reflecting back, I now see there were many God moments, as I refer to them, that allowed us to quickly learn about the closest treatment in Madison, Wisconsin. Madison at the time was seven hours from our home in Nebraska. We immediately attempted to make an appointment, but were told we would be put on a waiting list, currently over a year in length. Out of desperation, I said, if there was a last minute cancellation, we could be there in eight hours. A few weeks later, I was called and offered a last minute cancellation to be evaluated, for Jacob to be evaluated for services. He was accepted and within two months of diagnosis, Mark moved me and the two kids seven hours away for what we expected to be a two year separation.
Like Joseph, we couldn't see what was ahead. We were simply trying to take the next faithful step to follow hope. Looking back now, I can see what I couldn't see then. The therapy dramatically helped our son gain language, and with the language, less aggression. Jacob's true loving personality emerged. The 10 years of therapy in Wisconsin and Nebraska mattered. It didn't cure our son of autism, but by God's grace, our son today lives a fairly independent life and holds two jobs he enjoys. He's involved in several Special Olympics teams, social groups, and has a great group of friends. We are incredibly grateful.
We've learned that life isn't a journey from one valley to one mountain top. New valleys and struggles will occur. For the past year, our 37 year old daughter has been dealing with a serious vestibular and immune system condition that has often debilitated her. Watching your son or daughter struggle is painful, no matter how old they are.
Then in March, I suffered a concussion. After a fall, my fourth concussion over my lifetime, I'm thankful that I'm improving, but the recovery has been much longer than expected. There have also been struggles with my own mental health for the last 30 years. Caregiving, worry, and many years of advocating for a child and adult with special needs can take a toll that isn't visible to others. We're blessed not to be facing financial hardship at this stage of our life, but it has brought into question what the next season of life might look like for me.
During all of this, God continues to surprise my husband and me with signs of support and grace. After my concussion, I have a far better understanding of my son's 30 year struggle with sensory issues and our daughter's issues with debilitating headaches, balance, dizziness, as well as sensitivity to light and noise.
Another sign that has been an answer to a 15 year prayer, after many years of individual and family therapy in May of this year, Jacob's state advocate recommended a therapist who gets our son and our relationship. For many years, we struggled with when to step in to support our son and when to allow his voice to be the answer. There have also been issues with him communicating respectfully to both me and Mark.
Recently, with the help of the therapists, we have been able to help our family and our friends in progress. It feels like another way God has provided what our former pastor called Jesus with Skin on, people who have come into our life unexpectedly with talents, connections, and guidance, as well as many of you who have provided prayers and support. It's easy to believe God is with us when prayers are answered, when health returns, when relationships are restored, and when life goes according to plan.
God never left Joseph. And when I look back on our story, I can say the same. God was with us when our son was diagnosed during the years of separation and treatment, through our fears of the future and through illness, injury, and uncertainty. And God is with us today, as more chapters are being written.
If you find yourself in a valley right now, I hope my words can be encouragement that God's faithfulness can't be judged by your current circumstances. God does not want you to be in the valley alone. And for me, some of the most meaningful relationships and moments of my life have come from the, time in the valley. God may be doing work you can't see. And one day, perhaps years from now, you may look back and discover that God was guiding you all along.
Words of Institution
Caitlin: Thank you, Nancy. As Nancy talked about the ups and downs in her life, and as Debbie talked about Joseph and what it means to experience life when it isn't fair, I was reminded that communion is something we do right in the middle of it all. The hard, the mountaintops, and the valleys. We don't come to this table because everything in our life is perfect. Peace isn't found in the perfect circumstances. We come because Jesus meets us in all of it. And the table reminds us that God is with us, even in the places that are painful or uncertain. So on the night before Jesus died, he gathered with a group of his friends. He took bread and after giving things, he broke it and said, "This is my body given to you. Do this in remembrance of me."
And then he took the cup and said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Pour it out for you."
This is the table and it's open to everyone. You're welcome here. You don't have to have everything figured out. You don't have to be in a good place. And children are welcome too. So in just a minute, as the music begins, please use the left dial to come forward to communion. If you are in front of the orange tape, you are gonna come to the front station. And if you're behind the tape, please use the back station. Take a piece of the gluten-free bread and dip it into the cup of grape juice, then return to your seat using the right aisle. And if you need prayer, a member of our prayer team, Andrea Johnson, will be in the back available during communion. So as we prepare to come to the table, I invite you to stand, embody our own spirit if you're able, and join us in the Lord's Prayer. We begin with the words: Our God, who art in heaven…