Finding the story within the story

Recently I was reading through the story of Joseph with some buddies of mine and I was impacted not by the story of his life.  That may sound strange,  as we typically read it and all assume we are like Joseph, but this time the Lord led me to the interesting side note on Judah that takes place from Genesis 37-50.  Judah is the story within the story.

To summarize, Joseph was Jacob's favorite son and the other eleven decided one day to kill Joseph as they were overcome with anger and jealousy.  The brothers agree to kill him but Reuben talks them into  beating him until they could decide what the next step would be.  As they are waiting, Judah convinces the brothers that killing him was a bad financial mistake when they could make some money out of selling him into slavery.  It was bad enough that their jealousy overcame them to the point that they wanted to kill their brother (This was not new as Cain had revealed in Genesis 4), but Judah wanted to get something out of it.  Genesis 38 takes a timeout from Joseph and tells a story of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar.  It seems oddly placed for a number of reasons.  First, chapter 37 shows a focus on Joseph that would continue, it set the story up with the foreshadowing of his dreams and the lack of resolution at the end of the chapter, thus it steps away from the direction of the narrative.   Second, the story paints Judah in a particularly negative light as lacking the integrity of his daughter-in-law, a Canaanite widow who pretended to be a prostitute.  Surely this would have been an easy story to leave out, or set aside.  

Following this story Judah takes a central role in the resolution with Joseph.  In 43:1-11 Judah convinces Jacob to let him take Benjamin back to Egypt.  This had been tried by Reuben in 42:37 unsuccessfully.  In 44:14 Judah becomes central in the conversation with Joseph, expressing the sentiments of all of the brothers.  In 46:28 Jacob sends before him to show the road that led to Joseph.  Judah's transformation culminates in the blessing he receives from his father in 49:8-12.  It lasts the longest and is the greatest of all the blessings he gives to his sons.  The story hinges back at 38:26 where Judah repents of his wrong doing.  

I'd like to think the story is included because it shows the transformation that took place in Judah's life.  Transformation cannot happen until we recognize the depths of our unrighteousness.  I think we like to associate ourselves with Joseph when reading Genesis 37-50 because we think he seems like the innocent one, that everything he touches turns to gold and God blesses.  The reality is that far too much of our stories are more like the story of Judah.  The depths of our transgression and rebellion is great and even then we long to make more of a profit at our brother's expense.  We fail at parenting, we fail as patriarchs, we lie and worse yet, we are quick to condemn someone else when they look to be in sin.  It's not until we are forced to face the reality that we are unrighteous, that we fall short of God's standard that life-change can happen.  

I like to think Judah changed because of the grace he found in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and his father Jacob and that set him on a trajectory to live radically different.  The text isn't explicit, but the author seems to use his recognition of his unrighteousness as a launching pad for transformation.  Don't get me wrong, the blessings Judah received were not a reward for better living or a change of heart, but as John says, they were merely "grace upon grace," that Judah's blessings were unmerited and a further testimony of the depths of God's love.  What a sweet picture of God's redeeming love for a sinner.  Don't miss that story because Judah's story is our's as well.

Ministry of Presence

What do we say to someone in the midst of a trial?  How do we comfort them? How do we encourage them and come alongside them as Jesus would want in those moments?

Despite your career or background, these are questions we all long to know because we've all been faced with situations in life where a co-worker, classmate, or friend was walking through a season of trials or loss.  Your heart ached for them because their grief, fear, and worry was pasted on the expressions of their face and their body language.  In those moments we want so badly to remove their hurt, the cause of their pain and worries.  Knowing we can't do that, we wonder how we can do something, however small to help and bless them.

I've often heard ministers talk about the ministry of presence, and that being with someone, taking the time to visit is so critical to comforting them.   In my experience there truly is something powerful about people's presence and knowing that the trials you face you do so not alone, but accompanied by others.  Let's look at this approach from a different angle.  Recently I've been reading through the book of Job and in chapter 2 Job's three friends; Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite came to visit.  These friends are often treated pretty badly by commentators and readers alike, and well they should, but in 2:13 the text says that the friends spent the first seven days with Job, not saying a word.  This is the ministry of presence to the extreme!  For a second let's give the guys some credit, they traveled great distances to come to Job in his trials, and were with Job in his suffering, refusing to leave him for an entire week, while not saying anything.

But the time came when they had to give Job counsel, and that's when the problem arose as their counsel was not wise or sound.  It didn't reflect God's character or His dealings with mankind, but rather reflect a system void of grace.  Despite how one may attempt a ministry of presence with those walking through a trial, the moment will come when you must speak.  That's a lesson to be learned from all of us about Job's friends.  So what should be said?  Here are a few suggestions;

• Less is more Sometimes we don't know what to say and babel on and on and end up saying too much (kind of like grocery shopping when you're hungry!).  Affirming your commitment to them, offering aid, and pointing them back to the Lord and His Word are non-negotiables, but leave the rest for some other time.
• Offer to pray with them We often tell people in trials that we are praying for them, but seldom do we offer on the spot to pray with them (this would depend on the setting).  Prayer has a way of easing the worries and concerns of the person.  Sometimes in the midst of trials you don't know what to tell God and it can be nourishing to the soul to hear others praying for you to the Lord, almost as if it gives you words that you were unable to find.   
• Never call evil good I've heard people quickly quote Romans 8:28 and wrongly suggest that sickness or loss will be good.  I'm inclined to think that sickness, loss, and death are all a result of the fall and would never be looked at as good by God, but instead as a result of our rebellion to Him.  I avoid that verse in the moment, and prefer to look at the Psalms, places in Isaiah, or others that focus on God's character and faithfulness.  After all, what we need to hear in those moments is that we worship a God who is with us, who is both powerful and compassionate, who will take this evil and work through it to bring about some seeds of good.