What would you give?

Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. Joseph collected all the money to be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. When the money from the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan was spent, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us food! Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” And Joseph answered, “Give me your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” So they brought their livestock to Joseph; and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. That year he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock. When that year was ended, they came to him the following year, and said to him, “We can not hide from my lord that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. Shall we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food. We with our land will become slaves to Pharaoh; just give us seed, so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.” So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. All the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe upon them; and the land became Pharaoh’s. As for the people, he made slaves of them from one end of Egypt to the other. Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh, and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land. Then Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh, here is seed for you; sow the land. And at the harvests you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” They said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be slaves to Pharaoh.” So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. The land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s. (Genesis 47:13-26, NRSV)

What would you give up to feed your family?

There was a severe famine in all of the land, and people gave all of their money, and then their land to Pharaoh so they could eat.

They literally gave everything they had except themselves.

Which led me to think about this passage as I read it, what do we give to God?

Do you give God all of your money?

Do you give God all of your land?

Do you give God your family?

Do you give God yourself?

Or maybe the better question is, what don’t we give God?

You see everything we have is already His. He gave us our family and our land, our money and our home. What are we holding back from Him?

Are we ready to give Him our lives, so that He can give us the life He has for us?

given food

Now the famine was severe in the land. And when they had eaten up the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little more food.” But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food; but if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and let us be on our way, so that we may live and not die—you and we and also our little ones. I myself will be surety for him; you can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.” Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry them down as a present to the man—a little balm and a little honey, gum, resin, pistachio nuts, and almonds. Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the top of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight. Take your brother also, and be on your way again to the man; may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, so that he may send back your other brother and Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” So the men took the present, and they took double the money with them, as well as Benjamin. Then they went on their way down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. (Genesis 43:1-15, NRSV)

The brothers of Joseph sold him off to slavery because they did not like the way they were treated differently by their father.

But what they intended for evil, came around to be for their good.

Joseph in their time of need was there to provide for them.

He gave them food when they needed it.

And once again God turns things that were evil into something that is good…

So follow God and He will give you what you need.

Need food

Now the famine was severe in the land. And when they had eaten up the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little more food.” But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food; but if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and let us be on our way, so that we may live and not die—you and we and also our little ones. I myself will be surety for him; you can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.” Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry them down as a present to the man—a little balm and a little honey, gum, resin, pistachio nuts, and almonds. Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the top of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight. Take your brother also, and be on your way again to the man; may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, so that he may send back your other brother and Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” So the men took the present, and they took double the money with them, as well as Benjamin. Then they went on their way down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. (Genesis 43:1-15, NRSV)

There was a severe drought in all of the land and people needed food.

Have you ever needed food?

When you did not have anything to eat, and no resources to get something to eat?

Most of us have never had to deal with this situation. We may have been down on our luck for a while, or had times where money was tight…

But these brothers of Joseph had nothing and had to go and ask for a hand out.

That is a hard place to be, and a scary place, yet we can hold to what the Bible promises, that God will always be there for us.

So what would you have done if you were in their shoes?

gnawing on flesh

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:51-58, NRSV)

We, as Christians, say we eat the flesh of Christ and drink His blood. It is the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, Communion. We partake of this sacrament, and it connects us to Jesus, and God.

But did you know that early Christians were thought to be cannibals because of this? And even today there are some people who may not understand when we say we are eating His body and drinking His blood. It is insider language.

What else do we as christians say that is insider language?

Grace…

Justification…

These are some Lutheran terms that we can get hung up on.

But what is that isn’t even the biggest issue with this text?

Have you ever known someone who smacks their jowls when they eat?

They make a noise that sounds like a cow chewing its cud?

A sound that is loud and obnoxious?

A sound that is filled with extreme joy for what is being eaten?

That is gnawing…

it is what a dog does to a bone. It bites down hard and really loves to chew on that thing.

That is what one of the words John uses when referring to communion, and how we are to “eat” His flesh.

We are to smack our jowls and get into eating the bread given as His body. It is not a polite Martha Stewart kind of dinner, but a smack down of finger licking good down home fried chicken!

So smack those jowls, and get into the sacrament that feeds us!

any one who wishes

“It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let everyone who hears say, “Come.” And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift. (Revelation 22:16-17, NRSV)

Anyone who wishes can take the water of life!

What a wonderful gift!

We are all able to come and be quenched of our thirst, and the water of life is available to us, all we need to do is come and partake!

So what are you waiting for?

never…when

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; (Revelation 7:13-16, NRSV)

Who are these robed in white?

Those who have washed their clothes in the blood of the Lamb, and are now dazzling white!

They are in a place around the throne, with God and they will never be burnt by the sun or know scorching heat any more. They will also never again know hunger of be thirsty, for they are with God, and will never experience human need again!

When we are fully with God, we will be/are one of those robed in white, washed in the blood of the lamb!

we know

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified. When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the prophet.” Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some asked, “Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? (John 7:37-41, NRSV)

Do we really ever hear what Jesus says?

Some heard the words He spoke here and said,

This is really the prophet…

This is really the Messiah…

Surely the Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee…

We think we know someone and everything about them from maybe one detail about them.

We are set on preconceived notions and ideas and are not willing to open ourselves up to the possibilities that maybe something bigger than us is at work here.

Jesus said out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water, and these weren’t even His words, but the words of the Hebrew Scripture. Yet we are sometimes slow to believe, and when others around us question we waver.

Hold tight to Jesus and allow Him to live in and through you so that He is the center and not what we think we know.

living water

But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, (John 4:4-13, NRSV)

Jesus broke down bearers, not just societal, but every bearer that existed.

He should not have gone the way He did, even though it was the shortest route to where He was going.

He should not have been speaking to the person He was speaking to for so many reasons:

She is a Samaritan
She is a she.
She is at the well at noon.

All of these things are against her and society would say that she is not worth anyones time.

But Jesus comes to meet her here. He comes and offers her living water.

Just as Jesus comes to meet you where ever you are to offer you that same living water.

yours is…

YoursISThen he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets. (Luke 6:20-26, NRSV)

Yours is…

If you are poor you will have the kingdom of God.

If you are hungry you will be filled.

If you weep you will laugh.

If people hate you you can rejoice.

But if you hoard your blessings now and do not live as God has shown us to live, yours is hunger, weeping and mourning.

So what is yours?