Sermons

A page from Pastor Howard's 8th grade year book

Success is a word all of us can relate to. At the same time, no two people would completely agree with the criteria of success. Who is the successful person? The Patriarch Joseph teaches us that success is having and displaying the character of God. It is no less than becoming Christ-like, for this is God's goal for each of His children. This sermon challenges our worldly definitions of success and points us to the path of humility and service.



Who would you consider a successful person?

Some of us may be considered potentially successful:
When I was in 8th grade I was nominated to be the male version of the Most likely to succeed. But what does this mean? Seems vague. What is success?

What is the dictionary definition of success? It is reaching a favorable or desired result or outcome; i.e., Reaching your goal. When I was thirteen, my brother and I climbed from the base of Yosemite up to the top of Half-Dome. When we reach the top, we were successful in the goals we had set forth.

Our society sees other mountains to climb as the pinnacle of success.

What about our culture? (also from dictionary)…the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence.
We might think about success in terms of how we would like retire--our end of life goals:

• Early Retirement would mean one had great wealth or prominence and could quit their job early.
• Comfortable Retirement would mean having an independent and healthy lifestyle so that we can pursue other goals.

We might also consider success in terms of what might be added on to our name:
When I bought my minivan a couple of years ago I had a myriad of add-on features as options. I wanted 6-cylinders for power; I wanted tinted windows for the kids in the back and a security system. I could not have everything--I had to choose what I wanted that I thought would meet my needs and goals for the car.

This view of success is indicative of seeing success as something that is added on to us--an add on feature. Maybe we would do without a Ph.D., but we want a Master's a good paying job. Maybe going to Yale is too pricey, but we at least want UC Berkeley. At the end of our life, we hope to have as many of those goals accomplished. As I've been to a few funerals recently, the eulogies always recount the deeds of that person on a page. We may hope that page will contain a list of achieved goals in life.

If we look at success this way, then Joseph seemed to possess those added on features most people would appreciate: (41:41-57)

• Rags to Riches story: he was taken from dungeon (41:14) before he met Pharaoh.
• 2nd in Command of a vast Egyptian Empire: Pharaoh gave Joseph his Signet Ring (41:42) signifying transfer of authority.
• Power: Pharaoh said that no one will lift a hand or foot without Joseph's word (41:44).
• Influence: all the people and nations came to him to get food. (41:57)

But too God success is deeper than the externals, that which can be added to our name.

Indeed we would consider Joseph a successful person according to the measure of the world. But in this account of him in Genesis what he had gained in the world is a far second to the kind of person he had become and how God could use him. 

Hal Miller said there are two kinds of success: One is the person who is COMFORTABLE, the either who is UNCOMFORTABLE. What he meant by this UNCOMFORTABLE success is that it is "broader and deeper than the simple definition of comfort and independence would lead us to believe." 

When it comes to answering the question of WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED, we have been asking the wrong questions. The question we need to answer is not WHAT I can gain or accomplish to add on to my name, but WHO I am becoming in God's eyes? Joseph was pleasing to God way before he gained success in this world. It was because of WHO he had become--his attitude and his actions. 

Let's look a bit closer at this success story.



I. Adopt the Goal of Character: Becoming who God wants me to become 

Joseph Transformed
At first Joseph let the dreams God gave him to rule go to his head (chapter 37). He boasted to his family. Joseph had to grow from that experience. God had to change Joseph's view of success that he had in his youth. Joseph originally had a self-serving view of success. But after spending time is a cistern and then being sold like a commodity, Joseph was humbled. 

Joseph Learned: Don't let success go to your head. 

How do we know?

With Potiphar, Jail Warden, cupbearer and Baker, and now Pharaoh the text describes him the same way: the Lord was with him; he found favor in those people's eyes because of the Lord's doing. Joseph from then on did not change the way he approached his opportunities whether they brought worldly success or not.

What had Joseph learned? That whatever he could accomplish in the world was not from him, but from God:

The Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 4:7 "For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?"

Truly what he had in life was due to:

• God's timing (Joseph waiting in jail for cupbearer to remember him)
• God given ability (Interpretations come from God, he spoke wisely--even Pharaoh attributed his work to God's spirit)
• God given opportunity (Faithfulness to God's original dreams and plans-he continued to look for opportunities to make a difference for God)
• God given purpose (save the nation Israel through God's sovereign plan through all nations)

Us Transformed
Remember we said that success is reaching a goal or achieving a favorable or desired result? What is God's desired result for each one of us? Ultimately, He wants us to be like Christ--or, as Paul puts it, being conformed to the likeness of God's Son.

Rom 8:28-29
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the liken ess of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Our Transformed Goal: Christ-likeness
Our youth today, especially our seniors in high school, are facing life changing decisions. As I've talked to a few of them over the past couple of years, there is great anxiety and fear about their futures. What college will they attend? Who will their new friends be? Will they find a church? How will they do without mom and dad (will they eat)? For those working on applications right now, the greatest pressure is college entrance. As I talked to one of the youth they shared with me they wished they could not care what college they would be admitted to. If they did not care, then the joy of Christ would be in them no matter what college they made it to.

I don't think this struggle only plagues seniors in high school. We all have expectations and desires of this world. We have our goals of what it means to succeed. Yet, to grow in Christ is to change our expectations--or our goals--of this world. 

God's goal for us is to Christ-like in everyway: in character and attitude and view of success. If that our goal?



II. Desire to further God's work: Doing what God wants us to do

Building God's Kingdom
It is speculation, but I would say that was not Pharaoh's goal. He was about building an earthly kingdom. Our glimpse into this King shows us that his every move was to secure the success of His own Kingdom. When he had two dreams he was troubled. Where did he look for interpretation? He looked to those people he had secured to give him counsel to build the Kingdom.

Gen 41:8
8 In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him. (NIV)

He turned to man but they had nothing to say. Only God knew what God was going to do. Those men represented the wisdom of this world. The world knows not the things of God.

There Joseph stood alone; he had nobody else to turn to. Not his family, not a friend, not a wise counsel. The cupbearer finally remembered Joseph's ability to interpret dreams two years later. They called him up out of the dungeon. Quickly he took a shower and got dressed. With confidence he proclaimed God's Kingdom work: 

Gen 41:25
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do."

He was the messenger. God used Him to deliver a message.

He then set out a plan to Pharaoh, never pointing to himself. 

Gen 41:39
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. (NIV)

What happened? He got the job even though he was not looking for one. God clearly has his purposes not only in our lives, but also in the role of great nations. Joseph did not know all the details, but he was willing to be used by God for God's purposes.

Being successful is having God's goals in mind and desiring they be fulfilled. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:33

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (NIV)

My Former Youth Group
Recently I had the opportunity to email with my former youth group members. It has been over ten years since I talked to many of them. One of the former youth group girls had coordinated putting together biographies of our youth group. I proudly submitted mine. After a couple of weeks I read about where others were in life. There was a doctor, another was a lawyer. A couple were successful engineers. One was a youth pastor. Another a CPA with an MBA. I fell into the trap of comparing myself with them. I was the only one with kids. Just a couple of us had not pursued money making professions. At that moment a part of me felt like a failure. Could my life had been different if I had chosen a different path like my former youth group members? Then I thought, well I am a pastor, so I am more successful in terms of spiritual matters.

God had to rebuke my thinking. How could I make that comparison? The path that God put me on was God's path. Others followed different paths. The question I had to answer for myself, was how faithful had I been to further God's Kingdom and work in the area he called me to: being a parent, a husband, a pastor? I could not answer this question for anyone else. 

I had to reflect in my own heart if I truly wanted God's plan in my life, if I truly desired to further His work or build an earthly Kingdom.

Excellence in God's Work
We need to reflect on this as well. A prevailing philosophy I hear among Chinese churches is that what I am doing in the world is to further God's Kingdom. So I must perform it excellently--in other words, succeed in what I am doing. Have you heard that before?

This may be true, but let us not deceive ourselves. Does this thinking put the cart before the horse? Let me explain. Being excellent in the things of this world takes first an excellence in our relationship with God. We must be careful not to spiritualize our striving after the things of the world. Jesus in Matthew warns us: Matthew 16:24 What good is it if a man gains the whole world but loses his soul? (this is spoken in the context of judgment and reward when Jesus returns).

The principle for us to remember is to put the horse before the cart: Seek First His Kingdom and His Righteousness and all these shall be given to you as well. This is the concluding principle after a lengthy discussion on worry about gaining the things of this world. Seek First God, and then leave the rest to God.

Let us FIRST be excellent in our relationship with God. Let us FIRST examine our desires and goals. Only then let us be excellent in the things of world that He calls us to.

As Joseph kept his faith and relationship with God, some good circumstances and some bad circumstances came along. But we know he was excellent in the things of God because he did not allow his worldly success get in the way of his first priority.

III. Remember God in Your worldly success: Giving Back to God in Gratitude

Joseph, after his meteoric rise to political power, still gave back to God. There was no bargaining to get what he wanted, then forgetting God thereafter. How do we know? He made a very personal offering to God. Even though his wife was not Jewish, Joseph still gave his children Jewish names:

• Manasseh: God made me forget my troubles
• Ephraim: God made me fruitful in the land of my suffering 

Professor Allen Ross in his commentary on Genesis says, "It would have been easy for a young man to be taken with his success and forget his spiritual heritage. But Joseph was the faithful servant of the Lord" (Ross, 643).

Some of us may say that we have not reached our goals, that we are not successful. But in a real sense we are already successful in Christ. Spiritually speaking, Christ's work on the Cross is a completed work. You and I do not need to die on the Cross, and neither does Jesus have to again. And that work is transferred onto each believer. We are IN Christ. When we die, we will be glorified, complete.

If we have this perspective, then everything else is used for God's purposes--for he bought us with a prize. 

What are some practical ways we can remember God in our success?

Application

• Build Your Trust in Your Relationship with God; put your trust in no other.
• Use Your Advantages to further others' well being (Joseph looked out for his family)
• Give back time and resources: do we give of our time and our material wealth? Joseph spent time to help his family, to bury his father back in Palestine after he died. He provided grain and a means to live for the chosen family of God.
• Credit given to God is Evident to Others (the way Joseph did to Potiphar, the Prison Warden, and Pharaoh). One measure that we are indeed giving the credit to God: People can see you change.
• Be an Instrument for God's purposes-God is the carpenter, the musical conductor. Have a THY WILL BE DONE attitude.

Conclusion

No one can deny that given Joseph's position in Egypt, that he was a success in the world's eyes. But most importantly, he was a success where it counted--in his godly character and concern for others. Joseph is an example of someone who had all the elements of success the world would want; yet his success was deeper.

Dr. Paul Brand.
Philip Yancey, in Finding God in Unexpected Places, reflected on his time with Dr. Paul Brand. He co-authored three books with Dr. Brand, a missionary surgeon and leprosy specialist who practiced in a remote Indian village. In writing Dr. Brand's Memoirs, He wanted to get a first hand look at the forces that shaped the doctor. Visiting Dr. Brand's boyhood home and seeing a few of his ex-leprosy patients made quite an impression on Yancey. Yancey realized what Brand had given up to work with lepers. If he had stayed in England, what would have become of his career? Could he have run a national research laboratory and maybe even won a Nobel Prize? We will never know, for that was not the road God led him on.

Dr. Brand's legacy is found in obscure villages with the lowest class members of India's society, the lepers. In closing his reflections of Dr. Brand, Yancey writes, "Whether we live out our days in India, England, or Clarkston, Georgia, the true measure of our worth will depend not on the curriculum vitae or an income statement, but on the spirit we pass on to others."

The life in Christ is a humble, other-seeking life. Let us become successful and excellent in becoming like our Savior.

Jesus said, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:39). Being a disciple of Christ will have its costs, but, as Dr. Brand found out, and I pray we would as well, eternal value.
 

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