Holding in a... Surprise!
By Rev. William Dohle
Ever had something that gnawed at your bones? A surprise that you just couldn't wait to reveal? Something so good that hiding it was virtually impossible?
This past summer we discovered such a surprise. We found out that Jenny, my wife, was pregnant with our fourth child! It was, as I have told others, a surprise but not a shock. We hadn't expected this news...but it wasn't entirely unwelcome either.
After our initial discovery, we took time to discuss how we would tell others about this. We started with our kids. My oldest was at Scout camp at the time, so we decided to wait until he was back. Coming back from Scout Camp, we bought them all ice cream and told the kids our news. Their reaction was mixed. Lynne loved the idea of having a sister. Matthew was a middle grounder. William looked at us as if he'd been shot. "Why did you have to tell me this after scout camp," he asked us.
Then it was a matter of telling our congregation. And that was a bit trickier. We didn't want to announce anything that wasn't unconfirmed. But good news is hard to keep quiet. It has a tendancy to leak out. First to the office staff...then to a few close friends...then to others. Finally, one day in June, I announced our big news. The response was overwhelming! And still is! It's amazing what happens when people hear good news!
But there were some who had a harder time with our news. My parents, for instance, had difficulty getting "on-board" with it. I think it truly came as a shock for them. "Huh..." my mother said. "Great..." my brother trailed. Only my sister seemed completely happy with our news from the start.
Such was the reaction I think to Joseph when he finally tells his brothers the good news. "I am Joseph!" he says. You can almost hear a pin drop in the room. Judah's face goes white with fear. Reuben starts moving from one foot to the other, and all the brothers are afraid. Afraid because, as the text says, "But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence."
This "good news" wasn't good for the brothers. They expected retribution. Even when Joseph comforts them:
“Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. " (45:5-7)
It takes awhile for Joseph's brothers to get "on-board" with his good news. Even years later they're still afraid something bad will happen because of it.
But letting go of this news gives Joseph peace. Before his announcement, Joseph was known to something of a cry baby, weeping uncontrollably as he tried to hide himself from them. Now, with everything out in the open, with the good news of his rescue fully known, now Joseph can be Joseph. Now all can be made right.
Good news is something we have all been given, not to keep to ourselves, but to share. The word that Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah of Israel, died and is raised, can give us and others hope. It can dispel the shadows of fear that surround us. It can help us face life...and death. It can give us faith in the face of hopelessness. It can help us love others.
It is good news...not to be kept to ourselves, but to be shared. As Joseph shared the good news of his salvation. As we shared our good news of new life growing in our midst. You too must share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world, not matter what their reaction to it is.
Almighty God, king of the universe, as your servant gave his brothers the good news of his life, help us too share the good news of your life, the news of our lives in you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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