Home

Our Church

Services of Worship

Our People

Coming Events

Getting Married at Holy Trinity

Youth

Sermons

Prayer Groups

Education

Articles of Interest

Parish Magazine

St. Augustine's

Anglican FAQs

Inspiration

Links

We read of rebel forces and their atrocities in Iraq, or in the Sudan. We read of thousands being displaced or murdered. We read of ongoing floods in Bangladesh and millions being made homeless.   And we ask ourselves Why? Why does all this happen when there is a God whom we believe is omnipotent and present everywhere?  How come this happens when, at the same time, the Bible leads us to believe and to trust in a God of love, who notices even when a sparrow falls to the ground?

In  the collect for tonight we have just addressed God as the One “whose never-failing providence ordereth all things, both in heaven and earth”    and we might easily add, that if we look only to world events around us, that He doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job of ordering some things! Is God really in control in this world?   Can we really trust God’s providence to order all things?   And more personally, - and for most of us , perhaps more importantly, - “can we trust and believe God’s “never-failing providence” in my life? If my life takes a turn for the worse – can I believe that God still loves and cares for me, or is it a sign that somehow my name has dropped of His page, and He’s forgotten about me? 

I think if any One character from the bible might have had good reason for thinking or believing that, then Joseph, from the Old Testament, the son of Jacob, was surely the one.  And we read about Joseph in tonight’s first reading. Joseph had not had an easy life.    While he had been the favourite among his eleven brothers, Joseph soon got himself off side with them. You may remember the story of Joseph’s life!

He was sold, by his brothers,  as a slave, to Midianite traders, who later, in Egypt,   sold him as a slave to Potiphar ,one of the King’s  officers.   Joseph may have thought that God had forgotten him, that God’s never-failing providence was not working, but there was yet more in store for Joseph.  Joseph became a trusted servant in Potiphar’s household, so much so that he was put in charge of all Potiphar’s possessions. But Joseph was also a good looking man, and Potiphar’s wife began to take a keen interest in him. She tried to seduce him, but when Joseph refused on the grounds that such an action would be a sin against God,  and fled from the room, - to cover her shame and embarrassment she claimed the reverse, that Joseph had tried to abuse and to rape her, and she maintained her story to her husband Potiphar.    Joseph, of course, stood no chance. He was arrested and put in prison, and there he was kept for at least two years.  But at this point the Bible gives us an inkling of God’s Providence. For it says  - “But the Lord was with Joseph , and blessed him..” ( Gen.39:19)

Then sometime later the King became worried about his dreams, and through a series of events Joseph is called to interpret the dreams.  Joseph does so, acknowledging that it is God who really gives the interpretation, and with that, Joseph is released from prison and elevated to become Governor of Egypt, second in charge only to the king.  Meanwhile, the seven years of plenty which Joseph had seen in the dream , came to pass, and with Joseph’s management, storehouses are built and the grain is stockpiled.  Then seven years of famine begin to sweep across the land. And even Joseph’s brothers, who had sold him into slavery, hear that there is grain in Egypt, and they make the long journey to secure food for their family. These same brothers who once hated Joseph to the point of wanting to kill him, now find themselves, unknowingly, in his brothers presence, begging for help. And this very act in itself becomes the fulfilment of a dream which Joseph had had as a young man, and which sparked off therebellion against him.     But  Joseph, without revealing his identity to them, gives them assistance over a period of time, and eventually, he asks about the welfare of their father. At this point, Joseph breaks down  and makes himself known to his brothers.  He commands them to return to their father, and with the invitation of the Pharaoah, invites his familes all to travel to Egypt, and to stay there until at least the famine has passed over.   Jacob and his families lived in Egypt for seventeen years and then, calling in his sons, he blessed each of them before he died.  After Jacob died and the family returned from his burial, the brothers of Joseph became worried that Joseph would now turn on them for what they had done in selling him as a slave, so many years before.  And they make up a story that they claim their father told them, that  they were to ask Joseph to forgive them for what they had done.     I wonder, in those earlier years, before Joseph rose to fame and fortune in Egypt,  how often he  had doubted God’s “never-failing Providence”?

If I had been in Joseph’s shoes, or sandals, I might well have, - and Joseph may well have too – but now, at this stage in his life, Joseph, whose character had been purified through the furnace of affliction , could look back and say to his brothers -  “You plotted evil against me, but God turned it into good, in order to preserve the lives on many people who are alive today because of what happened.” (Gen.50:20).  We find the lesson from Joseph’s life repeated often – not only in the bible, but in present day events.              The New Testament affirms the same?  The worst criminal act of mankind – crucifying the Son of God, became the means God used to offer eternal life to all.

Isn’t this the experience of St.Paul, and the other apostles and evangelists as well?  No matter what happened to them – they could still see God’s never-failing providence at work.

St.Paul could boldly affirm -  “We know that in ALL things God works for good with those who love him, those whom He has called according to His purpose.” (Rom 8:28)

I think part of our problem is that we see life according to a short-sighted view of things and events.   Joseph could not see what was ahead for him, or his family – Jesus could – and he still trusted the Father’s wisdom, and that trust was vindicated. St.Paul couldn’t see into the future very far – but beyond where he could see – Paul still had that invincible trust in God’s never-failing providence that enabled him to say – “In all things we have complete victory through Him who loved us! For I am certain that nothing can separate us from the Love of God; neither death nor life; neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers; neither the present nor the future; neither the world above nor the world below – there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Rom. 8:38-39)   If nothing can separate us from the love of God, from the never-failing Providence of God – then surely no matter what happens to us , offered to God, can be used by Him, for good,- both in our own lives and in the lives of others.  Let us then choose to believe , and trust  in God’s never-failing providence and goodness towards us, no matter what events may tell us.