NRS Genesis 39:
1 Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field. 6 So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. 7 And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, "Lie with me." 8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. 9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" 10 And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her.
11 One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house, 12 she caught hold of his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. 13 When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, 14 she called out to the members of her household and said to them, "See, my husband has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; 15 and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside."
16 Then she kept his garment by her until his master came home, 17 and she told him the same story, saying, "The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; 18 but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me, and fled
outside."
19 When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, "This is the way your servant treated me," he became enraged. 20 And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison. 21 But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. 22 The chief jailer committed to Joseph's care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23 The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph's care, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.

God is spirit, and spirit is, of course, beyond any kind of physical representation, but that doesn't keep us from trying. Even as very young children, we form mental pictures of God, and some Bible stories actually seem to encourage us to see God in particular ways. You can hardly hear or read the story of creation without imagining the mighty Maker of Heaven and Earth with his sleeves rolled up, setting the stars in the sky, gathering up the waters, molding the earth and working the dirt to create the humans to whom he will entrust dominion. The Book of Exodus likens God to a man of war, and as God leads Israel from out of Egyptian bondage, you can almost see the Lord at the reins of a fiery chariot, wielding a sword of flame, smiting the oppressors of God's people and making a way through the wilderness toward the land of promise. When Moses ascends Mount Sinai, you can't help but get that Cecil B. deMille image of God, awesome in majesty, terrifying in righteousness, a God whose sheer holiness makes all mortal flesh tremble.

I think tonight's Bible story also conjures up an image of God, but rather than a mighty warrior, this story suggests to me a wise, old woman. And instead of molding dry land, I see careful hands working at a great cosmic loom, weaving the threads of history into a fantastic tapestry. And rather than the all-righteous Lawgiver handing down commands from on high, I imagine an artist gathering up scraps of cloth and bits of paper that she works into a whole that infinitely exceeds the sum of its parts.

Tonight's Bible story focuses on Joseph in the household of an Egyptian soldier named Potiphar. Joseph was, you know, the favorite son of his father Jacob, who was himself the favorite son of his mother Rebekah. And as you may also recall, Rebekah's favoritism earned Jacob the lasting hate of his older brother Esau, and in good family tradition, Jacob's favoritism has also put Joseph at odds with his ten older brothers.

As the son of his old age, Jacob dressed Joseph in a special robe with long sleeves, advertising not only that Joseph was daddy's pet, but also strongly hinting that Jacob intended to set this boy up over the others, perhaps in the same underhanded way that Jacob himself got a leg up on Esau. To make matters worse, Joseph is kind of a snitch. On at least one occasion he carried a bad report on his brothers to his all-too doting father. But however spoiled he may be, Joseph is nevertheless a very special person. In dreams he sees that he is called to leadership, but he doesn't see to what end he will lead, and so when he shares these dreams, he further infuriates his brothers, and even shocks his father.

One day Jacob sends Joseph out to look for his brothers who are tending the flocks. As they see him coming, and doubtless assume that he will be reporting back to their father, Joseph's brothers immediately start thinking murder. Joseph's brother Reuben, however, tries to put the brakes on the scheme, and suggests instead that they dump him into a waterless hole, in secret hopes that he can come back later to rescue him. Joseph gets stripped of his robe and thrown into the pit, but while Reuben is apparently out tending the flock, the brothers spy a caravan on its way to Egypt. That's when Judah says, "Why kill him when we can sell him?" So they sell their brother to slave traders in the passing caravan, and when Reuben gets back and finds his brother gone, after some weeping and wailing and I suspect even more pushing and shoving, they all agree to tell their father that Joseph was the victim of a wild animal attack. Returning home, the brothers present Jacob with Joseph's long-sleeved robe that they had dipped in goat's blood. Jacob is overwhelmed with grief, convinced that the son of his old age is no more.

Meanwhile, though, Joseph is on the road to Egypt, and once there he is sold to Potiphar, "an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard" (39:1). Joseph's gifts become immediately apparent, and even Potiphar, an Egyptian, can tell, "the Lord was with him" (v. 3). Soon Joseph is running the whole house, completely winning the confidence of his master and also drawing the notice of his master's wife.

According to Genesis, Joseph was "handsome and good-looking," and while we know next to nothing about Potiphar's wife, we do learn that she is a very sexually aggressive woman. (I suspect there's a little Israelite humor here about the "virtue" of Egyptian women and/or the virility of Egyptian men.) If you remember the movie "The Graduate," I picture Potiphar's wife as an Egyptian Mrs. Robinson. Casting her eyes on Joseph, she does not mince words. "Lie with me," she says, an invitation perhaps, but maybe, too, a command. We're not told how old Potiphar's wife is or how practiced she was in such matters, but we do know that Joseph is maybe 17 years old, a foreigner, a slave, and yet trusted to run the household of a prominent man. Out of allegiance to his master, and perhaps for his own self-preservation, Joseph refuses Potiphar's wife, not just once but day after day, until one day she catches him alone in the house. This time grabbing him by his garment, she again propositions Joseph, who again refuses her and flees the house, leaving her holding his garment in her hand.

Obviously accustomed to getting her way, and not so accustomed to being turned down, Potiphar's wife takes revenge on Joseph. She accuses him of attempted rape and produces the garment she snatched as evidence of his "assault." Enraged, Potiphar has Joseph thrown into prison and (wouldn't you know!) Joseph so impresses the warden that in no time Joseph is all but running the place. Shortly thereafter, two new prisoners are placed under his charge. Former officers in the Pharaoh's court, the prisoners tell Joseph of their troubling dreams, which Joseph interprets for them to a tee. When one of the prisoners is restored to his position in the court, as per Joseph's prophecy, he swears to tell the Pharaoh of Joseph's gifts, which he promptly forgets to do. Only when disturbing dreams trouble the king does the ex-prisoner recall Joseph and recommend him to the Pharaoh. After being summoned to the court, Joseph interprets the Pharaoh's dreams so convincingly that the king makes him his de facto secretary of agriculture, so that when famine strikes, the whole world comes bowing and scraping to Joseph for relief, including his long-lost brothers.

And this is how God makes history. Not by moving people around like pieces on a chessboard, not by pulling strings on human puppets, but more like a wise and frugal Hausfrau, who cuts, and pastes, and stitches old rags and scraps and cast-off fabric into a quilt that keeps her family warm and makes her home beautiful. What other people would throw away, what less practiced eyes would just dump, the careful quilt-maker fashions into a work of art, finding design and beauty where we see only chaos and disorder. She weaves treasure out of trash, and out of household junk she creates a rich tapestry of priceless worth.

Isn't this what God is doing throughout the trials and tribulations of Joseph? It's not like God made Jacob's family into the dysfunctional mess it was. It's not like God made Joseph's brothers plot his death and sell him into slavery. It's not like God made Joseph into sexual prey for Potiphar's wife. But rather God takes even our worst messes, and by grace that passes all human comprehension, God transforms our disasters into occasions of boundless blessing. Joseph himself comes to this same conclusion. When finally he confronts his brothers with their terrible misdeeds, Joseph tells them, "Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today" (Genesis 50:20). And isn't this, in effect, the miracle of the cross? We did the worst thing imaginable, crucifying the very Son of God, and still God made our most grievous sin into the salvation of the world.

The point is not that we should now go out to live as carelessly as possible, confident that God will clean up our messes. The point is that if God can make even our train wrecks into blessings, then just imagine what can God do with our lives when we surrender them to him in works of love and deeds of mercy.

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.