1. The Bones
Of Joseph

2. Standing for principal
carries a cost
Standing for principle usually carries a cost. But faithfulness can pay dividends beyond our imagining. Religious liberty is not just a principle in itself, but is integrally tied to our allegiance to the Creator and Lord of all things

3. Religious liberty is proven by the actions of those who honor the great “gospel of liberty,” and are willing to stand up, speak out and remain faithful,
“though the
heavens fall.”
Religious liberty is proven in actions. It is proven by the actions of those who honor the great “gospel of liberty,” as the apostle Paul puts it, and are willing to stand up, speak out and remain faithful, “though the heavens fall.”

4. University of Tennessee Students Abroad program
An opportunity to witness
Kimberly Crider
University of Tennessee
Students Abroad program
Seventh-day Adventist Kimberly Crider, is a young woman with a husband and eight-year-old son; a bright, confident manner accompanying her professional training and prior experience with the Peace Corps. When she applied for a position at the University of Tennessee with their Students Abroad program, it seemed a perfect fit and she was quickly accepted. Then a week later she was told she must carry her cell phone on the weekends and be available to respond— this had never been mentioned before and created an immediate conflict with her deeply held convictions on honoring God’s Sabbath.
This was a big thing for Kimberly, which might have been easily accommodated by her employers. In fact, fellow workers offered to help and cover the phones on the weekend, but this was not allowed. In short order Kimberly was fired. She appealed through legal means and lost the court case, in part perhaps because she was still a probationary employee. But that was not the end of story, according to Kimberly. As she tells it, the whole process gave her an opportunity—no, more than that—she believes she was placed in that position to witness to her counsel, to the lawyers, to the judge, to her employers and fellow workers. She saw God’s leading in getting the job, only to lose it.

5. “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save
many people alive.”
Several thousand years ago Joseph said something similar to his brothers—the very same brothers who had sold him into slavery. “As for you,” he told them as they came fearfully before him, thinking he might exact revenge. “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” Genesis 50:20, NKJV.
Genesis 50:20 NKJV

6. Kimberly’s take on her situation are not uncommon
Joseph’s realization of God’s overruling providence and
Kimberly’s take on her situation are not uncommon
Joseph’s realization of God’s overruling providence and Kimberly’s take on her situation are not as uncommon as you might expect. Yes, in our religious liberty work we are often able to help an employee win an accommodation case. Other times we join our voice with like-minded organizations, and are able to block or delay legislation that might negatively impact our religious freedoms

7. the real issue at hand is witnessing and living
out our freedom in Christ before the world and
at all costs
But it is worth keeping in mind that the real issue at hand is witnessing and living out our freedom in Christ before the world and at all costs. Through the years the tested ones have seen this and often give glory to God for the experience of persecution itself.

8. Pastor Antonio Monteiro, imprisoned in Togo, on charges of committing a heinous crime of
Mass murder and
trafficking in the
blood of the
victims.
For almost two years our religious liberty department did all that it could to obtain the release of Pastor Antonio Monteiro, a church worker in Togo, imprisoned on charges of committing a heinous crime of mass murder and trafficking in the blood of the victims. The charge was bizarre and soon translated into equally bizarre coverage of Adventist belief and practice in Togo. It became a real “blood libel” to Monteiro and the faith he held.
The months went byand lengthened into years for our pastor as he languished in a jail with no indication of when his trial might be held. His jail was worse than hardened criminals in the West might endure. Plumbing and sanitation were hardly “up to code.” The prison was guarded on the outside, but inside the prisoners ruled themselves. The only food inside was what relatives were able to pass by the guards and through the door. We could imagine that the pastor’s very life was at risk during the imprisonment. And with the failure of each attempt to negotiate with different levels of government we began to wonder just how God was going to show Himself in this desperate situation!

9. After 22 months in prison, Pastor Monteiro has stated on many occasions that he felt that he had been chosen to witness
under trial
in that prison
In the beginning of 2014, after 22 months of detainment, Pastor Monteiro was released. Without much advance notice a trial was held. The testimony against him was recanted and he was declared innocent. There was again much prayer—this time of thanksgiving. And of course there was much celebration of his release. He returned with his family to his homeland of the Cape Verde islands, and received a tumultuous welcome from the government and the people there.
And to all and sundry his story was the same. God meant it for good. Pastor Monteiro has stated on many occasions that he felt that he had been chosen to witness under trial in that prison. For me, one of the most enduring anecdotes of the whole story was the prison guard and inmates bidding farewell to Pastor Monteiro on his release. How else could such a powerful witness be given to them?
There is a shadow to the story, though. While Pastor Monteiro was acquitted, a church layman imprisoned with him on the same recanted accusation was given a life sentence. It remains to be seen how God’s plan will finally reveal itself. But it is sure His comforting presence is as available there to our brother as it was to Daniel, Paul and Joseph.

10. Lincoln Steed tells about the painting he has by Lars Justinen illustrating the life of Joseph.
I have on a wall at home an original painting by Adventist artist Lars Justinen. It was used to illustrate a Pacific Press book on the life of Joseph. I often look at it and muse on the dynamic of the story it portrays. Part of the illustration is of the pyramids of Egypt with silhouetted figures on camels in the foreground—very much the “mystic land of Egypt” celebrated in song and legend. Center to the illustration in a circled cameo is the artist’s recreation of Joseph as the story begins—a seventeen-year-old boy with a strong, confident gaze and smooth, youthful features. On the right is Joseph of the later years. His head is covered with an Egyptian-style caped headdress and his lined face shows the strength of character that had taken him to the pinnacle of political power

11. Joseph was 30 years old when he went into service for Pharoah
Joseph was 30 years old when he went into service for Pharoah. … He was 39 when his brothers appeared before him.
According to the Bible account, Joseph was 30 years old when he went into service for Pharaoh. After seven years of plenty and two of the seven lean years, he was now 39 years of age when his brothers appeared before him Egypt, seeking relief from the famine. The artwork shows vividly the transformation from a principled but headstrong youth to the middle-aged man of wisdom and proven faithfulness.
The answer to these questions is complex, but ultimately expressed in Joseph’s reaction to Potiphar’s wife’s attempted seduction, just as one way or another the world will always attempt to seduce those who aspire to obedience to God. During that precarious encounter Joseph recounted why he must return the trust his master had placed in him. In the same way today, a Christian has an obligation toward the employer, toward the community, and toward family.
How had Joseph remained faithful all those years? How had he put aside hatred for the older brothers who sought to kill him, and instead sold him into what they could have only expected to be a fate worse than death? How had Joseph kept his integrity in the household of Potiphar, the military officer? How did he remain hopeful during his two years in prison? How could he be so sure that it was a dream fulfilled and not happenstance that brought the would-be murderers into his power after many years? And how could he have been so certain it was the God of his forefathers giving dreams and direction when his wife’s family was of the priestly caste of Egypt?

12. The key to this young man’s character:
“How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
But Joseph’s explanation for his action (or lack of) went further: “How can I do this great wickedness,” he asked rhetorically, “and sin against God?” Genesis 39:9. Here was the key to a young man’s character.
Years earlier he had alienated his brothers and startled his parents by self-consciously repeating two divine dreams that had sheaves, representing his brothers; and the sun, moon, and stars, representing his parents and descendants; bowing down to him. He had self-consciously worn the multicolored coat of a father’s favor in front of jealous brothers. Just as we of the remnant can sometimes wave our spiritual privilege ahead of the obligation that comes with our calling, so Joseph had to learn that the focus was not on him, but on God. He had to learn to rein in his dreams in order to best serve God. During his imprisonment he discovered the God behind the dreams. When asked by the butler and the baker to interpret their dreams, he answered, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” Genesis 40:8. Like Pastor Monteiro and others through the years, Joseph had come to realize that God was the center of the dream, not himself. This realization is revealed nine years later when the guilty brothers bowed before him in a tableau that evoked the original dream for Joseph. But he held his peace, and cried behind the curtains
where no one could see him. For by that time he sensed that he was but a small part of a bigger story: the bigger story of working out God’s purposes to save a whole people.
I see this “holy boldness” and diminished ego on display when Joseph is summoned before Pharaoh to interpret his dreams of the fat cows and corn and the lean cows and corn. The re-instated butler belatedly remembers his hasty promise to remember Joseph. It was a promise easily forgotten, perhaps because Joseph made the request almost off-handedly; perhaps trusting more in God’s memory than the butler’s.
Joseph answered Pharaoh with confidence, but he only tangentially includes himself in the response. His answer makes it clear he is privy to the ways of God, but only inferentially. Instead he says “God has revealed to Pharaoh,” “God has shown to Pharaoh,” and “the thing is fixed by God and He will shortly bring it to pass.” Genesis 41:25-32.
Genesis 39:9

13. Nelson Madela was imprisoned by hate for 27 years
Nelson Madela was imprisoned by hate for 27 years. He rejoined society empowered to teach love and forgiveness in the face of
Prejudice and
animosity.
To me this shift from the brash youth to the confident messenger of God is clear, and has everything to do with his time in prison and his spiritual maturity while there. To me the obvious parallel is to modern political prisoner Nelson Mandela. Imprisoned by hate and released 27 years later, Mandela rejoined society empowered to teach love and forgiveness in the face of prejudice and animosity. In standing for religious liberty we must not fall for the fallacy of thinking that the struggle is about us. We cannot escape the obligation to witness to the “spirits in prison,” and even refine our own characters through adversity. (memo: this story is not in the magazine edition of the sermon)

14. commandments of God and the commandments of men.”
“The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul.…The contest is between the
commandments of God and the commandments of men.”
In Testimonies, volume 5, page 81, I read this from the pen of an inspired Ellen White: “The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The mark of the beast will be urged upon us. Those who have step by step yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church.”
Where did Joseph learn to trust in God alone? He had had the advantage of a Godly upbringing. He was loved by his father, perhaps too much, on a certain level of undisguised favoritism! Doubtless Joseph knew by rote the story of God’s dealings with his forebears.
Testimonies, vol. 5, p.81

15. give of ourselves, even if it deprives us of liberty?
Are we ready to
give of ourselves, even if it deprives us of liberty?
In a way Joseph was like many of us: individuals born into, one way or another, the remnant movement. We know our history. We know God has spoken to us in these latter days by dreams and visions. We feel special and often communicate that to others. But are we ready when our own turn on us, and perhaps betray us to the forces arrayed against truth? Are we ready to sacrifice all, to give up a livelihood for our faith? Are we ready to give of ourselves, even if it deprives us of liberty? Are we ready to stand before authorities and explain what our faith means to them? Can we give a reason for our faith other than we once had a multicolored coat—that somewhere far away in our experience we knew the daily favor of a doting father?

16. each one will have to give
“The time will come when we shall be brought before councils and before thousands for His name’s sake, and
each one will have to give
the reason
of his faith.”
Again I read something pertinent from the pen of Ellen White: “It does not seem possible to us now that any should have to stand alone,” she wrote in The Review and Herald, December 18, 1888; “but if God has ever spoken by me, the time will come when we shall be brought before councils and before thousands for His name’s sake, and each one will have to give the reason of his faith.
Review & Herald, Dec. 18, 1888

17. “We need … to study the Word of God, that we may
know why we believe the doctrines we advocate.”
We need, then, to study the Word of God, that we may know why we believe the doctrines we advocate.”
Where did Joseph learn his faith? Was it those desperate moments in the pit before he was sold to traders descended from the estranged Ishmael? Perhaps not. But he clearly made a resolution upon entering his captivity that he would remain true to his principles.... true to God. His years in prison confirmed that choice of faithfulness. He was the model prisoner who ministered to the needs of fellow prisoners. In those years he changed from brash to confident in his Lord.
We come at the story from the Bible outline of the descendants of Abraham, who was promised God’s favor. But think for a moment on the dynamic from the point of the Egyptians.
Joseph grew up a sheepherder in the desolate places of Canaan. To the Egyptians he was the lowest of the low; almost an untouchable. The Bible says that it was an “abomination” for the Egyptians to even eat with such people. It was not likely that Joseph came to Egypt well educated, or even speaking their tongue fluently. Joseph, for all his facility for dreams, was what he was: a convicted attacker of his master’s wife. Certainly this was a moral offence, but more seriously to the times, this action cast him as a usurper of place and an attacker of the social order. But once before Pharaoh, Joseph spoke “truth to power” and transcended self by speaking authoritatively of God and His ways. We, too, can do that! We, too, are called to prepare to do this! Joseph was great not because he once wore a desert coat of many colors, not because he had risen to be steward of a wealthy man’s household, and not because he had in himself the power to divine dreams. Joseph was great because he was faithful to God, no matter the circumstances.
Review & Herald, Dec. 18, 1888

18. “In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged....
God will work a work in our day that but few anticipate….
God will manifest that He is
not dependent on learned, self-important mortals.”
This I read about great men in the last days: “In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged.... God will work a work in our day that but few anticipate. He will raise up and exalt among us those who are taught rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the outward training of scientific institutions. These facilities are not to be despised or condemned; they are ordained of God, but they can furnish only the exterior qualifications. God will manifest that He is not dependent on learned, self-important mortals.” Testimonies to the Church, vol. 8, p. 80, 82.
The story of Joseph is a saga one could scarcely imagine. Second in command in the kingdom after Pharaoh! But other than his feigned haughtiness to test the broken brothers, Joseph seems not to have focused much on the prerogatives of power. He implores Pharaoh to let him go meet his aged father, and then later to go to Canaan to bury the patriarch in the tomb at Machpelah. The image of Joseph in those later days is one of kindness and solicitude to his family. The young man is gone, now that middle-aged man weeps with joy to see his brothers, weeps on the neck of his aged father, and does all he can to secure favor for his clan as they settle in Egypt. The days of pit and prison are gone and not remembered by the one once alone in a strange land.
Seventy years or so after the reunion in Egypt, Joseph died and was embalmed after the manner of the Pharoahs. He was not buried, but lay in waiting for the deliverance. “God will visit you,” he told his family on his deathbed. He will “bring you out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob…. and you shall carry up my bones from here.” Genesis 50:24, 25.
And so they did hundreds of years later.
Testimonies, vol. 8, p. 80,82

19. In exile from Canaan to Egypt, the young captive
~The Bones of Joseph~
In exile from Canaan to Egypt, the young captive
had only his faith in God to sustain him.
The bones of Joseph? What were they really? For some of the mixed multitude, they were a talisman of another era. But for me, the bones of Joseph were something more. In exile from Canaan to Egypt, the young captive had only his faith in God to sustain him.

20. ~The Bones of Joseph~
In prison on trumped up charges, Joseph clung to the faith that God “is a rewarder of the faithful.”
In prison on trumped up-charges, Joseph clung to the faith that God “is a rewarder of the faithful.”

21. ~The Bones of Joseph~
Before Pharaoh himself, Joseph could ignore his simple origins and boldly represent the God who had sustained him.
Before Pharaoh himself, Joseph could ignore his simple origins and boldly represent the God who had sustained him.

22. ~The Bones of Joseph~
In later years, he could put aside malice and seek not justice, but mercy.
And in later years, he could put aside malice and seek not justice, but mercy.

23. have, as the years of plenty come to an end, and the
~The Bones of Joseph~
Such bones we all must
have, as the years of plenty come to an end, and the
times of test come upon us.
Such bones we should all have, indeed must have, as the years of plenty come to an end, and the times of test come upon us.

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