Reading
But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food; but if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and let us be on our way, so that we may live and not die—you and we and also our little ones. I myself will be surety for him; you can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.” Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry them down as a present to the man—a little balm and a little honey, gum, resin, pistachio nuts, and almonds. So the men took the present, and they took double the money with them, as well as Benjamin. Then they went on their way down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. (Genesis 43: 3-11, 15) Reflection It comes from a song I do not know so I cannot vouch for its appropriateness, but when a person at work is trying to get something and it seems others don’t understand, someone will break out singing, “Tell me what you want; what you really, really want.” And what was wanted actually gets done. So, the brothers go to Egypt to see if they can get food. The famine has hit hard back home where their father, Jacob, and youngest brother still are. Their brother (unbeknownst to them) Joseph starts asking a lot of questions to find out who is still around in the family after he was “disposed of” years ago. The brothers want food. Joseph wants to see Benjamin first. They may not understand but the brothers go back to Jacob and explain. Jacob balks but the brothers know that’s what Joseph wants; what he really, really wants. They actually bring Benjamin and they get their food. And more. What does God want? Really, really want? Ask and actually do it. --Ruth Gates Prayer Dear God, help us to know what you want. We know we are to love you and love others. Thank you for hearing our prayers. Amen. Our devotions are based on this Sunday’s Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). The RCL is a three-year cycle of readings telling the story of our Christian faith and corresponding to the season church calendar. On any given Sunday, we are hearing and praying and examining the same Scripture with millions of Christians around the world. In our current Year C, the Old Testament readings progress through the Prophets and have the theme of the day that it is connected to the Gospel reading. The Psalm, a song the congregation sings in response to the Old Testament reading, most often corresponds to the theme of the Hebrew Lessons and/or that of the Gospel Lesson. The lesson from the Epistles or from Acts typifies the church’s focus on the meaning of Christ for today. The Gospel lesson is connected to the season of the Church Year. This year, our gospel readings are from Luke, who writes that Jesus is the universal Savior and the perfect Son of Man. In the current season of Epiphany, Christ is revealed, the disciples are called, and we see the early ministry of Jesus.
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