9/29/02 Genesis 40:1-23 - The Hardness of Ungratefulness Saved as 40.1-23.

doc on Viars hard drive [sermons/Joseph] - In the NT, a story is told about ten men who had the disease of leprosy. - this was a skin condition that was highly contagious - so people who had it were declared ceremonially unclean - they could not go to the temple if they were Jewish - and even out on the streets Jews and non-Jews alike were expected to stay away from people who did not have the disease so others would not be infected - the story explains that ten of these lepers were together and they saw Jesus on his way to Jerusalem and they began crying out to Him. - remember, they were supposed to stay away so the Bible says that they began yelling to him, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." - the Lord did just that, by telling them to go show themselves to the priest - thats what people who believed they had been healed would do so they could be allowed back into the temple to worship - and the passage says that as they turned to go, they were immediately healed - it was a wonderful experience except for what we read next - one of the men, who was a Samaritan, turned back, and the Bible says that he was - Luke 17:15-16 - glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him - that's the good newsthe bad news is, the other nine didn't. - in fact, Jesus pointed that out Luke 17:17 - Then Jesus answered and said, Were there not ten cleansed? But the ninewhere are they? - there are a lot of lessons from that eventbut one of them isserving God does not automatically yield immediate thanks. - if people would forget to thank the Son of God for something, where do you think that leaves the rest of us regarding the likelihood of our being thanked for everything we do - and if even after Jesus healed them immediately and miraculously of such a dreaded disease, the people involved did take time to be thankfulagain, where do you think that leaves you? - let me ask you a questionare the people in your life as thankful as you would like them to be? - now I'm not trying to get a big pity party going herebut if on the one hand you were to pile up all the things you did for others this week - and on the other hand you were to pile up all the times you were thanked - which pile would be bigger? - the premise is, and the illustration from of our Lord surely illustratesServants of God aren't always immediately thanked for what they dothats part of the equation - Jesus' life proves it, and you could give plenty of examples to prove it as well. - now let me ask you this

- how do people respond to being forgotten, or not being thanked or commended for what they've done? - there are different responses, aren't there? 1. Some people scale back - well, if I'm not going to be thanked, then I'm going to do the bare minimum - if they're not going to notice the excellent job I've tried to dothen let's see what they think about mediocrity - many employees live by the mantraI'll do more when I'm thanked more 2. Others become bitter and cynical - they dwell on what they're not getting - you're part of the nursery cleaning team and you have not been thanked for doing that for years - and pretty soon you find yourself focusing on that fact - [you're scrubbing the floors]they never thank me, they don't appreciate me - [you're disinfecting some toys---rubbing so hard that you see one of the pastor's faces appear]he never thanks me, he doesn't appreciate me. - there's a growing focus on what you're not getting, and a bubbling bitterness slowly simmering in the crock-pot of your heart. 3. Others quit - the position seems to be, if I'm not going to get the appreciation I deserve now, I'm outta here - I'm find a new job - I'll find a new spouse - I'll find a new town - I'll find a new church - I'll find a new planet - but I will not put up with a situation in which I am not thanked and acknowledged and appreciated the way I should be nowfully and immediately - but, on the other hand, there are some people who can serve Godand are not thanked nearly as frequently as they should be - are not commended or acknowledged in a way that is commensurate to their service - and they don't seem to let that get to them - it doesn't seem to bother them, at least to the degree that it alters the level or quality of their service - what's up with them? - what have they learned that some of the rest of us haven't? - and would they be willing to let the rest of us in on what they've learned? - with that in mind, let me invite you to open your Bible this morning to Genesis chapter 40. - [page 31 of the front section of the Bible under the chair in front of you] - the last several weeks we've been doing a study entitled Serving God Even when it's Hard. - this is a biographical study of the life of a man in the OT named Joseph - Joseph's life illustrates that principle that serving God is not always an easy thing - this man has had to deal with the hardness of 1) Having a passive father who showed favoritism to him 2) Being placed in charge of his older brothers and having to report on their performance

3) Receiving special revelation from God about the future which included ideas that others did not like or appreciate. 4) Having brothers who hated and despised him because of their jealousy and envy. 5) Being thrown into a well by his own brothers. 6) Being sold into slavery in Egypt. 7) Being purchased by an Egyptian officer and placed in charge of his household, and then facing daily sexual advances by the man's wife. 8) Being falsely accused by Potiphar's wife and being thrown in the dungeon. - and remember, from all we can tell, Joseph has responded to each of these events in a godly wayso we couldn't take the positionJoseph is reaping the consequences of sinful choices - he's serving God well and still facing hardness - to make matters worse.if you stop and think about the sequence of those events, not only has Joseph been facing a series of difficulties - but the truth of the matter is, they're getting progressively worse. - it's one thing if you could sayhold on, it will get better! - if you started that sentence with Joseph, you'd have to sayhold on, it's gonna get - aw, forget it! - now, in today's passagenot surprisingly, we're going to see God enabling Joseph to handle the hardness of this imprisonment in a very honorable way - he is going to be in a position to serve two men in prison in a marvelous fashion.but when it's all said and done, you know what's going to happen - these two men aren't going to thank himthey're not going to remember himand they're not going to help him. - apparently, ungratefulness didn't start in the NT with 9 of the 10 lepers - apparently, it's always something servants of God have to facewhich is why this morning we want to talk about.The Hardness of Ungratefulness. - READ Genesis 39:19-40:23 - This morning I'd like us to think about three principles to help God's people serve well even when you're not being thanked. - we all have a pile of things that we do for peoplewhether we're talking about home, or work, church, the community [whatever area you want to mention]. - we all have a pile of things we do for others that is far larger than the amount of thanks we receive. - how can we avoid scaling back, how can we avoid becoming bitter and cynical, how can we avoid giving up and throwing in the towel. - Joseph's life can really help us here if we'll let it. I. Choose to Thrive Where You're Planted. - one of the clear principles of this story is, wherever Joseph found himself, he found a way to serve Godhe found a way to growhe found a way to do righthe found a way to accomplish something. - Isn't that true? - he's one of the youngest brothersbut he handles that well and pretty soon he's promoted - he's sold into slavery, and pretty soon he is put in charge of his master's house - he's thrown into prison, and pretty soon he's in charge of the prison

- anywhere you plant Joseph, he's going to thrive. - now, how do you do this? A. By doing your job well. - there are a lot of details about these stories we dont know - we dont know exactly what Joseph did that caught Potiphar's attention - we dont know what he did to catch the jailer's attention - but we know thisit certainly wasn't moping around - it certainly wasn't, I don't like being here and I'm going to let everyone know by my surely attitude, my disrespectful tongue, and my sub-par performance. - he just did his job well - Do you mind if I ask you about thatthe responsibilities that you currently have - whether its at work if you a job - or it could be your schoolwork - your work around the housewhatever it might be - are you doing it well? -Does your work ethic match Colossians 3:22-24 - Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. - now, what about the person who would say, "well, no, but thats because God hasn't given me anything big to do yet" - in fact, I'm curioushow would you complete this statement. The person who says, "I'll be faithful when I'm given a really big job ____________________". - the principle of the Scripture is that we are to seek to thrive wherever God has placed us, and He will give us greater responsibility in His time and in His way. - do you remember the parable of the talentsin Matthew 25 where a master was going to go on along journey, so he brought three of his slaves in, and he gave one of them five talents [a kind of money]and another 2 talents, and another 1 talent. - and then he came backand the one who had been given five invested it and now had ten.the one who had been given two invested it and had four - and both of them received the same commendation - and both of them were given increased responsibility and authority - but the person with one did nothing with his, and he was soundly condemned - see, thrive wherever God has placed you. - I'd like to suggest that the more distasteful your current circumstances, the more important that you follow this principleeven if your job is menial, even if it is distastefuleven if it is well below your abilitieseven if you don't like your boss, even if you don't like your co-workers thrive where you're planted by doing your job well. - also, thrive where you're planted b. by working with integrity. - again, admittedly we don't know all the details, but what's common about these situations in which Joseph finds himself in is that his authority becomes convinced that Joseph can be trusted. - its not just that he's a hard workerhe a dependable worker - those are two different commodities.

- but Potiphar became convinced that Joseph could be trusted with all his houseand later he proved that that trust was well placed. - the jailer became convinced that Joseph could be trusted - Joseph's presence was a delight to his authorities - he worked with such a high level of diligence, and such a high level integrity, that his bosses didn't have to worry about what he was doingor whether he needed constant attention and supervision - you might want to ask yourself this morning.am I a delight to my boss? [because of my diligence and faithfulness] - students could ask, am I a delight to me teachers? - wives could ask, am I a delight to my husband? - children could ask, am I a delight to my parents? - Christians could ask, am I a delight to my pastors or ministry leaders? - you might saywhat does this have to do with Joseph handling the ungratefulness of the other two men? - the answer is, when you're focused on hoeing your patchyou're not as concerned about whether others are hoeing theirs? - should these men have thanked Joseph?of courseshould they have remembered him?of courseshould they [at least the cupbearer] have spoken on Joseph's behalfabsolutely - but Joseph was focused on what he was supposed to be doinghe was focused on his responsibility to thrive where God planted him - and if it's true that God's servants will always deal with not being thanked to the degree that you should in this lifethen you are going to have to decide - will you focus on fulfilling your responsibility to thrive where God has planted you - or are you going to focus on the fact that others are not thanking you the way they should - [and friend, I'd like to ask you to honestly evaluate, which category are you in?how are you doing at Handling the Hardness of Ungratefulness?] - now, there's a second principle in our passage that gives insight into what made Joseph tickwe could say it this way II. Choose to Focus on the Needs of Others. - could I ask you to look especially at verse 7 for a moment? - what intrigues you about that? - its amazing that Joseph would even notice that the look on the faces of these two men was different today, or that he would care. - and we couldn't take the position thatwell, Joseph resigned himself that he was always going to be in the prisonso his own freedom was no longer important - no, because in his conversations with both men, he said to themGenesis 40:14- Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. - but even though he was concerned about that, and he should have beenhe was still concerned more about other people. Genesis 40:7 - He asked Pharaohs officials who were with him in confinement in his masters house, Why are your faces so sad today?

- you might say, how did Joseph cultivate this kind of a lifestyle, this kind of a focus? A. This is one of the signs of a person who is walking with God. - did you notice the statement that was repeated twice at the end of chapter 39? - Genesis 39:21 - But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. - Genesis 39:23 - The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Josephs charge because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper. - then when we get down to where the men tell Joseph that they each had dreams, what's the first thing Joseph says? - Genesis 40:8 - Then Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please. - see, God was walking with Joseph, and Joseph was walking with Godand that softened his heart to the heart to the needs of others. - some folks are so self-focused that the needs of others go unnoticed and unmet, its all about -- am I receiving the credit that I deserve - whereas others are so God focused, that whether they are being thanked or not is not the issue.the question iswhat are the needs out there that God might be using me to meet? [develop --- the Gospel --- how to be in the place where you can walk with God.] - another way of saying this is. B. Learn to play the "where's the ministry" game? - and I don't mean "game" in a trite waybut I mean that we ought to have our eyes open for what God might be doing, and what ministry opportunities might be there - for example, I'm convinced that there have been times in our church when people have gotten ill and had to be hospitalized, and it wasn't so much about the person from our church in the hospitalbut it was what God wanted to do in the life of the person's roommate - or loved one, or one of the nurses or physicians. - when you have that kind of a focus, whether you're receiving thanks or not for all you're doing becomes irrelevant.its background noise.its just not that big of a deal. - cf. the Sportsmen's Spectacular.I've been out of town this weekend.I'm sure there have been all kinds of people serving like crazy to make that happen - its not very likely that I'll get around to thanking themin most cases I'll never know who did what. - but I think the average guy involved will saythat won't devastate me.I'm too tuned in to the needs of the people who came and the possible evangelistic opportunities involved - if I'm thanked, finebut thats not the issue - would Joseph have liked to be thanked, of course?.would he have liked to have been remembered?.yes - was that the only thing on his radar screenabsolutely not.

[last week I asked you to think about the prison you were inthe place/situation God has you in that you'd really rather not be.now, can I ask you this.have been aggressively asking - Lord, where's the ministry here? - how can I serve You here? - what are the needs here? [could also develop the idea that the ministry might involve speaking "hard truth"---Joseph had to tell the baker things that were not easy to hear] [could develop ---- work the school kids are going to do for the Feast, the Religious Arts Concert, the Barnabus group, etc.] - something else we could add to this idea is. C. Other prisoners have. - can you think of another prisoner in the Bible who handled his trial joyfully because he focused on the needs of others? - the apostle Paul in the book of Philippians - [if time, either have people give input on verses from the book they remember, or read 1:12-20 --- p. 154 of the back section] - in fact, if you let your prison impact you in this way, you might actually get to the place of becoming thankful for the prison. - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - The Gulag Archipelago - In the intoxication of youthful success I had felt myself to be infallible, and I was therefore cruel. In the surfeit of power I was a murderer, and an oppressor. In my most evil moments I was convinced that I was doing good, and I was well supplied with systematic arguments. And it was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually, it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, not between classes, not between political parties either--but right through every human heart--and through all human heartsSo bless you, prison, for having been in my life.

III. Choose to Remember that if People Fail You, God Will Not. - verse 23 is a very difficult verseGenesis 40:23 - Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. Chuck Swindoll - We have two choices: We can become disillusioned and embittered, or we can use that difficulty as a platform for putting our hope and trust in the living God. Disillusionment is a dangerous, slippery slope. First we become disillusioned about our fellow man. Then we move on to cynicism. Before long, we trust no one, not even God. We've been burned. We've been taken advantage of; we've been mistreated. I have never met an individual who was truly disillusioned with mankind who has not also become disillusioned with God. The two go together. Cynicism is spawned in such a context.

The cause of disillusionment and the cure for it can be expressed in almost the same simple words. The cause of disillusionment is putting one's complete hope and trust in people. Putting people on a pedestal, focusing on them, finding our security in them. Being so horizontally locked in that the person takes the place of God, even becomes God. Your complete hope can rest in one person. It can be your child. It can be your parent. It can be a business partner, a friend, a pastor, a coach, a mate. And when the feet of clay crumble (as surely they will), total disillusionment sets in. What's the cure? Putting our complete hope and trust in the living Lord. When we do that, the simplest messages from God calm our spirits. Hebrews 6:10 - For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.