Monday, February 27, 2023

 

Monday, February 27, 2023


Psalm 140

Genesis 39

Luke 11:14-28


Observance: George Herbert, parish priest, poet (d. 1633)


“How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”


What I would give to be able to go back in time and meet this Joseph, just to find out what type of man he was. From here, all we can do is infer, based on how he was treated by other people. From what we do have, it seems like he was the type of man Jesus spoke of in today’s parable: that Joseph had a soul cleared of intruders and swept clean. He must have been such a trustworthy and noble man.


Joseph held an enviable position in life. I am not referring to his place as the favourite child. Nor am I referring to his apparent excellence in the field of administration and management. Even the fact that he was “handsome and good-looking” ended up being more of a curse than a blessing. What Joseph had, and what we all desire, was the fact that the Lord blessed the work of his hands, and was with him.


It would have been too easy for Joseph to give up – when he was thrown into the well; when he was sold as a slave; when Potiphar’s wife began to come on to him; when he was framed and thrown into prison. In every circumstance, the enemy attacked Joseph, but he stood as the strong man, guarding his castle.


If we join together the two readings from this morning, we could even go so far as to suggest that the armour worn by the strong man defending his castle is the armour of God. The Lord kept watch over Joseph; the Lord was Joseph’s defence against all attacks. And this kind of defence – the presence of the Holy Spirit of God – cleans our soul, too. In this season of Lent, as we do our own work of spiritual spring-cleaning, we can be so confident as to be rhetorical alongside Joseph: “how then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” How then, indeed.

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