Posted January 14, 1999
"UNSINKABLE PEOPLE"
Genesis 39:1-12
I would like to talk to you today about unsinkable people and would like for you to consider if you are one or could be one. We are going to talk today about the 4 secrets of unsinkability.
We are living in a world were many Christians are sinking. Some are burned out, some have dropped out, some have copped out & some are carried out. In some form or another there are icebergs out there to sink you in your own personal sea.
Now, I don't know where your icebergs are, but I know where mine are. We are living in a world where people are under pressure. And people under pressure, Christian or not, need to understand the secrets of unsinkability. Now I can't give them to you. No, this is out of the Word of God, out of the life of Mr. Unsinkable. Now we each have our idea of who Mr. Unsinkable is and some would say Jesus and it is true that He was. But coming in a close second, out of the Book of Genesis, would be Joseph.
Turn if you would to Genesis chapter 39. Genesis 39 is where we pick up part of the story of Mr. Unsinkable. In case you were late for Sunday School a few times, let me review for you the life of Joseph so you'll understand where we are picking this up. It is important to know what went on before & after this to understand why Joseph is a model of unsinkability.
You remember that humor goes thru many stages. Years ago there use to be knock-knock jokes, then there was good news/bad news jokes. Do you remember the movies that had the Roman galley boats, they use to have a couple of hundred guys down below trying to inch that thing thru the water? (rowing like this--) And the first mate comes down below and says, "gentlemen, I have some good news & some bad news for you. The good news is you are going to get an extra half hour on deck today. Not only that but you are going to get meat for dinner tonight." He said, "that's the good news." "The bad news is, the captain wants to go water skiing." You can imagine what that's going to be like.
The life of Joseph is no joke, but it is good news, bad news. If you were going to summarize Joseph's life for him in advance, it would go something like this.
Joseph, I have some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is, your father is going to have 12 boys and you will be his favorite. "Oh, boy, that's great" The bad news is, your brothers are going to throw you in a pit and leave you there. "Oh, rats." But Joseph, the good news is that while you are there some slave traders are going to take you to Egypt and you will be set up in a beautiful, plush situation, you'll be very trusted and you'll have a wonderful life style there.
"Oh, great". But the bad news is, his wife is going to turn on you and they'll throw you into prison. "Oh no!" But Joseph the good news is, while you are in that prison you are going to meet 2 of the kings former servants, do them a favor, one of them is going to get out ---- go back to the king, and his parting words are, "Joseph, as soon as I get back to the king, I'll be back here to get you out." "OH, good."
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Yow, Joseph the bad news is, he's going to forget all about you.
THIS IS JOSEPH'S WHOLE LIFE. Good news, bad news, good news, bad news, good news, bad news. Like your's, huh. The old roller coaster. I don't know if you are in the middle of your good news or your bad news, but whatever you are in the middle of, you know what's coming next.
The amazing thing about Joseph is this.....that all the way thru the good news & the bad news, however good the good or however bad the bad, Joseph never sinks. SO I SAY, "JOSEPH, WHAT ARE THE SECRETS OF UNSINKABILITY?
His life literally begins in the pits & ends up on the pyramids. Because by the end of the Book of Genesis we know the Joseph has risen to become the assistant Pharaoh of Egypt & probably the 2nd most powerful man in the world.
Does he know what's God's plan for him? No. No more than a loud voice comes into your world & says, "This is My plan for your whole life." You don't know. Joseph didn't know where it was going, but thru the good news and the bad news, he trusted that plan. He did not think. As we come into Genesis chapter 39 we find here 4 responses to life, that I believe capture what it means to be unsinkable. No matter what the news is.
I think that it is important that we look at this this evening. With all the good things that have been happening to us we need this message. It is all too easy to come to a worship service like this & be challenged, but NOT CHANGED. Challenged with the best of challenges. Thinking about the best of intentions. But to leave here a go on with the same mediocrity with which we came.
We come up with the old camp syndrome. You know what that is don't you? You know, you go to camp, sing "I have decided to follow Jesus" around the camp fire & it looks like everybody is going to be a missionary, until about 2 days later when everything hits reality.
The only way to avoid that is to convert the challenge of this morning into specific responses to God. And that is exactly what we will find in the life of Joseph. Specific responses. Maybe this service is what God has you here for.
Maybe He has brought you here to seek from your heart specific responses that will take you from CHALLENGE to CHANGE. So look at the secrets of unsinkability. Including the unsinkability of a commitment to Jesus Christ.
Genesis chapter 39 & we pick up the story as he arrives at Potiphar's house. (39:1-12) Let me summarize the next few verses. You know about a woman's scorn & this woman turns on Joseph & accuses him of the very assault that he refused to be involved in. Potiphar in his rage has him thrown into prison & in the 2nd half of vs.20 we pick up the story. (20-23)
The 4 secrets of unsinkability. The 4 responses to life that make a person unsinkable. The 4 specific responses to Jesus Christ that can take a person from Challenge to Change.
HERE'S THE FIRST ONE. Unsinkable people, like Joseph, say yes to responsibility. Did you notice that there are 2 different scenes here. If you were going to put on a little drama, the stage hands would be very busy during intermission. Because in the 1st Act we would have the big couches & the ladies with the fans, the Egyptian ladies. It would be very nice. Then we would close the set & while people are at intermission they would have to come in & set up the dark, gloomy conditions of a prison. GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS.
But did you notice what was the same both places? Regardless of what place he was at, palace or prison, he said yes to responsibility. He was made in charge of everything. He was immediately identified by Potiphar & the prison warden as a MAN WHO COULD BE TRUSTED.
Unsinkable people are those who are known by those around them, as those regardless if the news is good or bad, winning or losing, feel good or not, if God's plan seems clear or not, YOU SAY YES TO RESPONSIBILITY, YOU CAN BE TRUSTED.
You keep your word, you keep your promises, you keep your commitment & if you say it, people know it's true.
THAT KIND OF PERSON DOES NOT SINK, REGARDLESS WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE.
Of course Joseph could not have known about 1 Cor. 4:2, but we do. You know, it says, "it is required in God's stewards, that they be found successful." This is a listening test. If your Bible says that, you need to get another Bible. It says, "It is required in God's stewards, that they be found (what?)---------- faithful" God says, "I trust not the good looking, not the talented, not the heroic-----I trust the HANG-IN-THERE-PEOPLE.
Saying yes is not to be based on their conditions, but on their character. Joseph is that kind of man. One of the leading business women, that travel around the country doing success seminars, & her model is this, IF IT'S TO BE, IT'S UP TO ME. Joseph was like that & unsinkable people are. They look at their situation and their family & they say, "If it is to be, it's up to me." If things are to change in my church, if things are to change in the youth group, if things are to change at my job, if things are to change at my home--- IF IT IS TO BE, IT'S UP TO ME, YES TO RESPONSIBILITY.
Those people don't sink. In fact, they become thermostats, wherever they are. Now, here's the question. Are you a thermometer or a thermostat? YOU ARE ONE OR THE OTHER. A thermometer reflects the temperature in the environment. The thermostat sets the temperature. The people who say yes to responsibility, the trusted people, say "I will not wait for someone else---I will set in my environment that atmosphere of trust & love & caring & candor & honesty----I will be the counted on person. ARE YOU COUNT-ON-ABLE?
If you are a count-on-able person you are on your way personal unsinkability. Now saying yes to responsibility could mean one of 3 things to people here......It will be one of these. You take your pick, you know your life, I don't. To say yes to responsibility, may mean for someone here, to step up to something you have been trying to get out of. It could be anything from a position at church, to trying to take more responsibility in your family, to saying yes to a lost world, who desperately needs to hear about your Christ. It may mean stepping up to responsibility.
To someone else it may mean shedding some responsibility, because you have said yes to so many, that you are not doing any of them well. White river runs by Williams Indiana. Well, it doesn't run, it sort of crawls by Williams. Someone has said that it is not a miracle to walk on the water on the White River, I don't know if that is true or not, I think it still would be. The White River by Williams just seems to lay there, you know, it doesn't do much. But if you go up stream, you will find that it is a powerful, rushing force of water. Do you know what the difference is? By Williams it is so spread out it is powerless. Upstream it is contained by its banks & when it is contained by its banks it has great power.
It could be that you are so spread out that you can't possibly say yes to all those responsibilities & you are neglecting many people who need your care. You need to narrow the banks in, because you are so spread out you have no power in anything you are doing.
To some to say yes to responsibility means to step up to it, to others it may mean to narrow our responsibilities & for some of us it means to hang on and refuel. In Gal. 6:9, "Be not weary in well doing." "for in due season you will reap, if you do not faint."
Someone here is involved in a responsibility & you are tempted to withdraw--to quit---to pull back. Please, say yes to responsibility. Napoleon was ask in exile, way the British had prevailed at Waterloo.
He said, "It wasn't because they were better trained, we were. It wasn't because there were more of them, there were more of us." Well, Mr. General Napoleon, why did they prevail? He said, "the British won at Waterloo for one simple reason, because the fought 5 minutes longer."
But you see, the unsinkable people always do. For when the smoke is cleared, even though the news is bad, there you will be, fighting 5 minutes longer.
UNSINKABLE PEOPLE, say yes to responsibility. Here's the 2nd one. Very obvious from the passage we just read. Unsinkable people say no to temptation. You know that if God has plans for you as He did for Joseph, so does the devil. And as God has begun to work in your life, the devil has a plan, knowing well your weaknesses, & will bring into your life that attractive temptation that he knows that you are most vulnerable to.
I believe this temptation that Joseph faced was particularly attractive ... Think about it a minute ... First of all he must have been lonely. Loneliness makes you a vulnerable person. Joseph had been ripped out of his family, he's in another country, he's lonely. #2, Potiphar's wife is probably a pretty attractive woman. Potiphar is a power man & I'm sure he had his pick of the ladies.
In fact it says here, "she was no dog" NO--no, that was in the original Hebrew.
Here you have a lonely man, you have an attractive woman--but that's not the most tempting thing---the most tempting thing is this, probably no one will ever know. He's so trusted. He would probably get away with it. Do you want to find out what you are really like? Let's send you to a town somewhere for 6 months where you can be totally anomymous, & see how you live. No one will ever know. That's who you really are right now anyway. Joseph had that opportunity. And yet his future hinges on 3 words recorded at the beginning of verse 8, it says this; "But....he.....refused". Had he not, had he said yes to temptation, we wouldn't be talking about Joseph today. Because all of God's future plans for his life, hinged on if he said yes or no to temptation.
I have no idea what form temptation is coming to you right now. It may be sexual. It may be the temptation to tell something less than the truth, it would appear to be to your advantage. It might be the temptation to become bitter & disillusioned - to give up--to quit on a commitment. To quit on your family... to hurt back someone who has hurt you... Could it be that God has brought you here this evening simply to bring you to the point of saying yes to responsibility & no to temptation.
Someone I am talking to this morning is closer to saying yes to that temptation than they have ever been. God knows of your flirtation & how close you are coming. You not only have to say no to sin, you have to say no to the opportunity. Look at verse 10 "he refused to go to bed with her or to even be with her." We know that with the moral collapse of Christian leaders, that some are playing too close to the line.
UNSINKABLE PEOPLE SAY YES TO RESPONSIBILITY, maybe that's your response to the Lord. THEY SAY NO TO TEMPTATION. Thirdly, UNSINKABLE PEOPLESAY NO TO DESPAIR.
Now if anybody had an excuse to give up, I would say that it was Joseph. In fact I would say he had several certifyable reasons to give up. First of all he's got family problems. If you've had those, you know how depressing they can be. Other than having his family turn totally against him. Then he has to relocate. Now, I don't mean that North American Van Lines came & moved him. Slave traders pulled him out of the pit.
If you've ever had to start all over again. You know how depression that can be.
Now he gets a good job and he loses it. Now if you have been out of work, you know what a powerless feeling that is. But he doesn't lose his job because he does the wrong thing, he did the right thing & lost his job. And then he's in a prison. As I said earlier, you may be in a prison, but without walls today. He had on many occasions lost his last hope, but never does he say yes to despair. He is consistant all the way thru the good news & the bad news.
How do you say no to despair? Why didn't he sink to despair? Well, I think there are 3 keys. First of all he captured his envirnoment instead of letting his envirnoment capture him. Wherever you put Joseph, in a foreign country, Potiphar's house, in a prison---wherever you put him, he walks in & says, "What needs to be done here?" And so, he doesn't sink. You know, that contentment is no always getting everything you want, it is realizing how much you already have. You can do that anywhere.
The secret to not sinking is, no matter where you are to train yourself on what is beautiful. To concentrate on what God has given you in the particular situation. So what have we done, we have captured our envirnoment.
I think another secret of saying no to despair is this. Joseph forgave the people who mistreated him. We know that because of what happened later when he had a chance to get even. Can you imagine 2 years in that jail to think about your brothers? OH--- Oh....if I ever see those guys again. I could think of 200 good ways to get even. And yet when Joseph had the power to hurt, he has the chance to even the score. Now the assistant pharaoh of Egypt. He has the food, they have the appetite. Joseph leaves his throne & embraces them in tears & expresses his love to them.
Names his first born son Manassah, which means "forgotten". I have chosen to forget all of that garbage. You've been there, betrayed, perhaps abused, talked about....& the problem is, the reason you keep sinking to depression is because inside of you is this emotional cancer, called bitterness. And until you can go to the cross & say "Lord, Jesus, give me the grace to forgive this person. Anyone you can forgive, I can forgive, if You live in me" & let go of that, it will continue to strangle you. You don't hold a grudge, a grudge holds you. You are a prisoner to your own bitterness.
Joseph, I believe was able to rise above despair because he chose, & it is a choice. He chose to forgive the brothers who had mistreated him. Will you do that? And finally be free & turn the page on all that dark chapter. You've read it over & over again, but forgiveness once & for all turns the page.
You say no to despair WHEN YOU CAPTURE YOUR ENVIRNOMENT, when YOU FORGIVE THOSE WHO MISTREATED YOU & thirdly WHEN YOU FOCUS ON THOSE WHO NEED YOU.
I didn't read to you from chapter 40 but it says there in verse 2 that Joseph in the middle of his own prison, walks in & finds these 2 servents of Pharaoh & says, "why are your faces so sad today" (I love this) Joseph is in a mess & yet in this bad news time of his life, he's walking around asking, "Who needs me today?" Who needs me here? He's worried about them being sad. We would have been sad. He is sensitive, his radar is on. Joseph does not sink to despair because he is not looking in the mirror.
What a way to live! To go back to your home, to walk into it every day, from work, from school, to go to your job, wherever you are, whatever envirnoment you are in, to go in there & say, "WHO NEEDS ME TODAY?" I'll tell you, somebody does. And when you get your eyes looking for that person who needs you, you'll lift yourself out of your own pit.
Jesus said it, "who ever hangs on to his life, will lose it." Roughly translated. "but whoever gives his life away for My sake, will find it." It is in the process of giving yourself away that you are finally delivered from despair. Has your problems in your prisons made you a self obsorbed person? You've got so much pressure, so many problems, you are running over people, you are a self-obsorbed unit. Go back to what you know in Christ, that it is in looking for the needs of others, that you, yourself will be delivered.
It could well be that the word of encouragement that you need today, is that word the old saint said many years ago, a much wiser man than I--- NEVER DOUBT IN THE DARKNESS WHAT GOD HAS TOLD YOU IN THE LIGHT! It was light awhile ago for you, wasn't it? You felt very close to God. You felt special. But it's dark now---but nothing has really changed. DO NOT DOUBT IN THE DARKNESS, WHAT GOD TOLD YOU IN THE LIGHT.
SAY NO TO DESPAIR.
Unsinkable people say YES TO RESPONSIBILITY, they say NO TO TEMPTATION, they say NO TO DESPAIR, and the say YES TO GOD'S CONTROL.
I don't know if you noticed, but 4 times as I read the passage a phrase is repeated, "The Lord is with Joseph". The 1st one appears in verse 2 when he is in a good situation & then you go down to where he is in the prison & it says in verse 21, "The Lord was with him". And then it says in the last verse in the chapter, "the Lord was with Joseph". Everything else changed. But Joseph simply had turned the leadership of his life over to Someone of whom he could say, "My problems may be bigger than I am, but He is bigger than my problems." There is a plan & there is a plan for your life. You are garenteed by God Himself, that there is nothing that will or has come into your life that has not got the Father's personal signature. IT IS FATHERED FILTERED. FATHER APPROVED. There is nothing that has come into your life that will not help you become more like Jesus, if you chose to let it be that kind of force in your life.
While everybody else goes crazy, you set there in peace and with poise, with thermostatic control, saying, "I know how this is going to end." You are able to say with the Psalmist, "This is the day that the Lord has made". You wake up in the morning and you don't say, "this is the day that my boss has made." "This is the day my health has made, my wife has made, my husband has made, my children have made----this is the day the Lord has made."
Listen to Nahum 1:3, "...the Lord has His way in the whirlwind and the storm...." Are you living in a storm right now? It seems like everything is out of control. No, you are right on course. If you have said yes to the Personal control of Jesus Christ, but there is a problem. You will give Him anything, but.......control. You'll give Him money, you'll give Him time, you'll give Him ministry, we'll play by His rules, we will sign up for His beliefs and His doctrinal statement, we will give Him everything .... BUT-- --CONTROL
If you are to be unsinkable, you are that person who has said, Jesus Christ is in control. The problem is that a lot of times we begin there, but we have drifted. I wonder, are you ready to come to Jesus with a specific response that will take you from CHALLENGE TO CHANGE. Does He have you here this morning to say YES TO RESPONSIBILITY--or is it to SAY NO TO A TEMPTATION that you have got far to close to---is it to say NO TO A DESPAIR that you have almost given into, denying His care for you..... or is it to say YES TO GOD'S CONTROL. I invite you this morning to response as He has given you call to do. For the moment you do this morning, YOU ARE UNSINKABLE. Let's pray.
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