Damaged Good

Passages

Genesis 47:7-28

Sermon Summary

Joseph saved many lives and prioritized his own family, but he also enslaved the Egyptians. Like every ‘hero” in the Bible and like all Christians today, he does both good and bad for the world. How do we make sense of this? By accepting five challenges:

1) Remember the Gospel of Grace. Unlike Joseph, Jesus impoverished himself and paid our unpayable debt so that we would be spiritually rich.

2) Expect Christians to fail you. People saved by grace and sanctified over time will always fall short in many ways. This is a feature, not a bug.

3) Trust that Christians will still face consequences. Just as the Egyptians eventually enslaved the Israelites, Christians still suffer for our sins against others.

4) Beware the subtle shaping power of your context. Joseph absorbed the oppressive values of Egypt, and we absorb more than we think from our broader culture and from the people we spend the most time with.

5) Embrace the Church as your best possible hope. Despite its failures, the Church’s Book tells the truth about us, and proclaims uniquely radical grace, and somehow still turns the world upside down.

Discussion Questions (choose any—you don't have to answer them all!)

1. [Optional starter question] What stood out or stuck with you from the sermon?
2. In contrast to Joseph here, Jesus impoverished himself so that we might become “rich.” Does this move you? Why or why not?
3. Consider how Christians or the Church have failed you. If we are saved by grace and sanctified over time, this should grieve us but not surprise us. Why does it?
4. What are some consequences the of the Church’s chronic sins in America? How do you see grace and consequences “stewing under the same steeple”?
5. Name some specific dangers of the context in which we (and/or you personally) live. Why do we think it’s easy to be “in the world but not of it”?
6. Do you believe the Church is still our best hope? Why or why not? If Yes, what is one specific way you personally can “dig in” and see what God might do in and through you?

Resources Consulted

• Africa Bible Commentary, ed. Tokunboh Adeyemo
• The Message of Genesis, Joyce Baldwin
• Genesis for Everyone, John Goldingay
• Tyndale Commentary on Genesis, Derek Kidner
• Living in Light of Inextinguishable Hope, Ian Duguid and Matthew Harmon
• Reading Genesis, Marilynne Robinson
• The Five Books of Moses, Robert Alter
• How to Read Genesis, Tremper Longman II
• NIV Application Commentary on Genesis, John Walton
• Zondervan Genesis Commentary, Bruce Waltke