Dangerous Dreams

Text focus: Genesis 37:1-11

Over the past few weeks, we have been following the family of early Israel. Abraham and Sarah, their son Isaac, and his children Esau and Jacob. We have discovered through their stories that God has never waited for perfect people before doing extraordinary things.

God's promises come to messy people, and when they seemed impossible, God remains faithful. Even in messy situations, God’s covenant with humanity remains, pursuing, staying with us, blessing us, and transforming us not by removing our struggles but by meeting us in them.

Today we meet the next generation. Jacob’s son Joseph. We will follow his story for a couple of weeks, this week focusing on the call and the dreams that God sends to us. Joseph helps us to learn that God protects the dreams placed in God's people.

After wrestling with God, Jacob, now called Israel, is finally reconciled with Esau.

The brother he feared embraces him instead of attacking him.

But Jacob's family remains complicated.

He has two wives, and twelve sons between not only his two wives but also their servants.

Though the rivalry with his brother is reconciled, there are deep wounds and unresolved injustices that continue to affect his family.

This is not a perfect family. They are messy.

And yet it is the family through whom God continues working.

That should give all of us hope.

One of the deepest human desires is to belong.

Most of us spend our lives trying to figure out where we fit.

As children we want to fit in at school.

As teenagers we worry about what others think of us.

As adults we often continue editing ourselves so we won't stand out too much.

We learn very early that standing out can be costly.

If we're too different, people stare.

If we dream too big, people laugh.

If we speak honestly, people may misunderstand.

So many people spend years trying to become who everyone else expects them to be instead of discovering who God created them to be.

Perhaps one of the saddest questions we can ask is not, "What if I fail?"

Perhaps the sadder question is "What if I never become the person God created me to be because I was too afraid?"

Joseph knew something about standing out.

Before he ever spoke a word...

Before he ever interpreted dreams...

Before he ever became second in command in Egypt...

Joseph was different.

And everyone knew it.

Genesis tells us Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons.

Already, that's enough to create tension.

Then Jacob gives Joseph a special garment.

An outward symbol of the clear favoritism that Jacob had for Joseph.

Most of us grew up calling it "the coat of many colors."

It's become one of the most recognizable images in the entire Bible.

Children color rainbow coats in Sunday school.

Musicals celebrate the "Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."

But here's something fascinating.

The Hebrew phrase used here is ketonet passim.

It only appears one other time in the Old Testament.

In 2 Samuel 13, Tamar, the daughter of King David, is described as wearing the same kind of garment. The Samuel text explains that this was the clothing worn by the virgin daughters of the king. This description in 2 Samuel, coupled with Joseph’s unique position in the community, he is described as being in the camp rather than out working in the field with his brothers. Yet another way he is set apart.

As a result, scholars have debated for years what this garment actually was.

Was it colorful? Perhaps.

Was it richly ornamented? Probably.

Was it a long royal robe marking someone as part of the king's household? Many scholars think so.

Could it even have been a garment worn by royal daughters? Some scholars argue yes.

And here's something important: the Bible never settles the question for us.

Sometimes faithful reading means admitting that Scripture leaves room for mystery.

We don't have to pretend certainty where God has not given it.

What we can say with confidence is this,

Whatever Joseph wore.

Whether a colorful royal outerwear garment or a beautiful princess dress.

The garment itself is less important than understanding that it was a visible symbol of him being set apart by the favoritism of his father and his different position in the community.

His place in the family and community set him apart.

His clothing was a physical outward marker of this.

He did not blend into the crowd.

And perhaps that's the point.

It is often in our differences, those things we are tempted to hide because they don’t fit everyone else’s expectations, that God works.

Think about Scripture.

Moses couldn't speak well.

David wasn't chosen by his own father.

Deborah led armies and governed her nation.

Mary was an unmarried teenager.

Peter was impulsive.

Paul had persecuted the church.

Again and again, God works through people who don't fit comfortably into the world's expectations.

And maybe that's true for us too.

Some of you have spent years trying to hide the very qualities God wants to use.

Maybe you're more compassionate than the people around you understand.

Maybe you're creative in a world that expects practicality.

Maybe you're quiet in a culture that rewards loud voices.

Maybe you've always felt a little different.

Joseph reminds us that being different is not the same as being wrong.

Sometimes the very thing that makes us stand out is part of God's calling.

Joseph’s garments were not the only thing that set him apart.

Joseph has dreams.

Not ordinary dreams.

Dreams from God.

Dreams that indicate the future.

Now, let's be honest.

Joseph doesn't always handle those dreams wisely.

He is seventeen.

He seems eager to tell everyone that someday they will bow down before him.

This angers his brothers and feeds their jealousy,

There's a youthful arrogance here.

Joseph still has much to learn.

Being called by God doesn't mean we've already matured.

God often calls people long before they're fully ready.

Yet despite Joseph's immaturity

The dreams themselves are genuine.

God is speaking.

And Joseph does not hide what God has shown him.

His brothers hate him for it.

His father questions him.

The dream creates conflict before it creates blessing.

And isn't that often true?

Sometimes God's calling can be uncomfortable.

Sometimes living authentically means not everyone will understand.

Sometimes God's dream for your life doesn't fit neatly into other people's expectations.

Authenticity isn't about doing whatever we want.

Authenticity is about becoming who God created us to be.

John Wesley spoke often about holiness as being restored into the image of God.

Our tradition as Methodists helps us to understand that God's grace isn't trying to make us into someone else or some cookie-cutter “perfect Christian”

God's grace is making us into our truest selves, the diverse, beautiful, and holy people God imagined when God first breathed life into us.

Here's what strikes me most.

Joseph's dream doesn't come true immediately.

In fact, before anyone bows down to Joseph like the dream suggests,

in the verses directly following today’s scripture, Joseph’s brothers plan to kill him.

Change their mind, and instead,

they throw him into a pit,

sell him into slavery,

and convince their father that he is dead.

Joseph ends up at the bottom of a pit and has even more struggle ahead of him.

Soon he'll become a slave.

Later he'll be imprisoned.

Nothing about Joseph's circumstances suggests the dream is unfolding.

And yet, God never abandons the dream.

Sometimes we assume that if life gets difficult, we must have misunderstood God's call.

Joseph reminds us that's not always true.

Sometimes obedience leads through hardship before it leads to fulfillment.

Sometimes the dream has to survive misunderstanding.

Sometimes it has to survive rejection.

Sometimes it has to survive waiting.

God is not only interested in fulfilling the dreams we carry.

God is fulfilling his dream of shaping the dreamer into the sacred image of God.

Before Joseph could become the man who would save nations, he first had to become someone who knew humility, faithfulness, patience, and trust.

God protects both the dream and the dreamer.

So what does Joseph's story mean for us?

First, we cannot allow fear to keep us from becoming who God created us to be.

The world has plenty of people pretending.

God needs people who are authentic.

Second, we must hold our dreams with humility.

Joseph had real dreams from God; he also had growing to do.

We can be confident in God's calling while remaining humble enough to keep learning.

Third, remember that hardship does not equate to abandonment.

If you're walking through something difficult right now, that doesn't mean God has forgotten you.

Joseph's hardest days were not evidence that God had left him.

God was with him in those moments, helping to prepare and form him into who he needed to be for the dream to become a reality.

God often works through the very things that make us different.

My prayer for you today is that what you see as a weakness may become your greatest strength.

That what others misunderstand about you may be a way you speak truth and demonstrate blessing to the world.

And that those things that make you feel out of place may become the very unique way God has created you to belong in the kingdom of God.

I pray that you may live authentically into God’s dream for your life so that others may experience the love and grace of God.

This week I want to invite you to spend some time in prayer, asking the question, "God, who are you calling me to become?"

Not who others expect.

Not who culture rewards.

Not who fear tells you to be.

Who has God created you to be?

And when you’re ready take it a little deeper ask the question "What dreams of mine are from God, and have I been afraid to trust them?"

Maybe it's a calling you've ignored.

A gift you've hidden.

A ministry you've postponed.

A step of faith you've delayed because you're worried about what others might think.

As you spend time in prayer, also allow for silence, it could be time spent in nature, or in a cozy nook journaling.

Spend time listening to what God may be saying to you.

When a thought comes to your mind write it down and pray over it.

Then take courage and share it with someone you trust, perhaps a friend or family member, maybe someone in this church, maybe even your pastor.

If someone shares their dreams with you, listen, help them listen.

One of the most important things about our community that we call the church is that it offers us space to explore our dreams, discern God’s call on our lives, and encourage each other to live authentically into them.

So often God’s call on our lives is understood when those around us affirm them.

Having one person support you when you feel different can help break through our fear and embrace our authentic selves.

God's dreams are too precious to leave buried beneath fear.

Joseph stood at the beginning of a journey he could not yet understand.

He wore a garment that set him apart.

He dreamed dreams that others mocked.

He belonged to a family that was anything but perfect.

Yet God was already at work.

The dream was never really about Joseph.

It was about what God intended to do through him.

The same is true for us.

God is still calling ordinary, imperfect people.

God is still planting dreams.

God is still shaping lives.

God is still working through messy people.

So don't be afraid to be who God created you to be.

Trust the dreams God has placed in your heart.

And don't lose hope when the journey becomes difficult.

Because the God who blessed Abraham,

Who pursued Jacob and transformed Israel

Is the same God who protects the dreams God plants in us.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.