Summum Bonum

(Latin for the Highest Good)

Genesis 45:9-28

March 13, 2011

Rev. Sang-Kun Park

Sacramento Korean Presbyterian Church

Summum Bonum is a Latin phrase that means The Highest Good. It was
the title of a poem written by Robert Browning, one of the two best British poets
from the 18th century. Browning wrote many poems about sincere and genuine
goodness, and The Highest Good was one of those poems exploring its meaning.
I found myself wondering the same thing as I read and mediated todays
passage, hence the title of this sermon.
Rich Mullins was a world famous CCM artist who lived to share the Gospel
through music and to heal those who were hurt. He saw his musical gift as a
debt to pay back to his neighbors, and constantly thought about what it truly
meant to follow Christ Jesus, and tried his best to show the unconditional love of
God to others. In order to practice vow to the poor, he lived in an Indian
reservation in New Mexico and taught music to children. He was a man of God
who regarded knowing Christ as the highest calling in the world, whose heart
experienced compassion for others and joy in the simple things, whose legacy is
unchanging honesty and sincerity. He tragically died in 1997 at the young age of
41 in an unexpected car accident.
This is a story from one day when Rich Mullins was walking along the
Appalachian trails. A young man was driving by and offered to drive him to his
campgrounds. After they rode and talked together for a while, Mullins found out
that this young man was a gay. The young man asked in a trembling voice, Will
I go to hell because Im a gay?

Mullinss instinctual response in his head was,

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Yes, since the Bible condemns homosexual and sexually immoral people, but he
did not say that. Instead Mullins suddenly replied, No, just because you are a
gay does not mean you will go to hell. Mullins felt uneasy then as if he had said
something on his own accord, not what God says, but in that moment he
suddenly had an epiphany of truth. Just because youre a gay does not mean
you are more likely to go to hell than a liar or a thief or a racist. The reason
people go to hell is that they have rejected the precious grace and forgiveness of
our God.
Suddenly the young man started to cry.

No ones ever told me that

before. What do you think about this? Mullinss response made me think. If
youre not applying the Gospel in your life, it is useless! Many Christians think
they know the Gospel, but in many cases they in fact dont know it. They think
they know the Gospel of God who forgives all sins, and takes care of us, but until
they have personally experienced the Gods grace, the Gospel is nothing more
than a catchphrase.
On that note, todays text shows us the true value and the highest good of
the Gospel. Being too weak to take revenge can lead to suppressed anger and
high stress. In fact I saw on the news last week that 80% of Korean women
cancer patients found their cause in suppressed anger. It is naturally difficult for
human beings to suppress their anger. However if someone has power to avenge
but suppressed their anger, it is called forbearance. Josephs heart toward his
brothers far surpassed forgiveness itself. Not only did he suppress his anger
against his brothers even though he had great power to revenge, he also
promised their well-being at his own cost. Even as Joseph revealed his identity
and wailed, he was worrying about his brothers and their family back home. The
rest of his life showed his sacrifices on behalf of his brothers and their children.
This is called meekness.
Even before he wiped away his tears, Joseph told them that five years of
the drought still remained, and was worried about his brothers. He told them it
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would be impossible to survive from the drought in Canaan, but the brothers did
not think as Joseph said looking at their situation. It was true that they had
difficult time due to the drought, but they were still surviving, werent they?
They probably hoped that rain would come next year, and probably not seriously
thought about leaving Canaan.

At the moment, they were more amazed at

seeing Joseph again than the trouble of drought. However Joseph understood
the spiritual meaning of the drought more than anyone else. He was begging
and trying to communicate to them that they would starve to death if they would
not move down to Egypt.
Here we see the difference in vision. We see the difference in faith. We
see the difference between those who know the future and those who do not.
Joseph knew that the drought was not just a natural disaster, but a Godordained judgment. The same is true with us. We should not live each day dillydallying, but live believing that we will one day stand before Gods judgment.
This is faith.
40 years old Senior Pastor Rob Bell of Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan
just released a book that became a big issue in Christian society these days. The
title is Love Wins: Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever
Lived. The book basically says There is no hell! He says that there is no
reason for God of love to create hell to torment people. What do you think? The
problem is, its not about what we say or what Rob Bell says- but it has to be
about what the Bible says. Man is free to wish there would be no hell, but the
Bible describes hell in at least 54 places. To take our own thought differently
from the Bible and present it as truth is heresy.
It would be the same thing if Josephs brothers thought that the drought
was nothing to worry about. Joseph was trying to clearly tell them about the
dreadful drought. In the ways Joseph was telling his brothers to prepare for the
coming years of famine, we Christians also must prepare for eternity. If people
truly learned about Gods coming judgment, they wouldnt live their lives so
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flippantly. It is deplorable that this truth seems hazy to Christians as well. Only
what they see is whats important to them. They live as if their lives are going to
continue forever.

Consequently, their faith eventually becomes seriously ill.

When Josephs brothers did not understand the situation, Joseph said it is
really I who am speaking to you. This is a forceful Hebrew phrase that
emphasizes his sincerity. Joseph wanted his urgency to be well communicated to
his father Jacob, so he told his brothers to tell their father of his wealth and
honor in Egypt. This was not Josephs pride and vanity speaking, but his earnest
desire to show his ability to take care of them. He was showing his brothers how
to persuade their father who would not want to leave his homeland. He told
Benjamin and his brothers to describe all they saw in Egypt to their father Jacob,
and to trust that the whole family could come and live well in Egypt.
Wouldnt the highest good we could offer to the world as Christians be this
kind of responsibility and certainty?

There is nothing as forlorn-looking as

uncertain faith. Be certain about what you believe in.

As soon as Joseph revealed his identity, he first persuaded his brothers to
move down to Egypt if they wanted to survive through the famine, and then did
he embrace and kiss his brother Benjamin. To us the order seems backwards,
but this just shows how earnestly Joseph wanted the safety and well-being of his
entire family.
Are you really Benjamin? I am your brother Joseph! My brother!
he cried. His brothers still looked at him shocked. They had no idea how they
were supposed to respond to this. They were sure he was their brother Joseph,
but remembering their past stopped them from going up to him. He was also the
Egypts prime minister, so they werent sure how they were supposed to behave
around him.
Yet Joseph came up to them first with kisses and tears. This is grace. The
brothers had no courage or right to first come to Joseph because of what they did
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to Joseph. Isnt this just like us before God? Who are we that we would dare to
go before God and lift our face to him? We know how shabby and bad we are,
and even the thought of approaching God in that state overwhelms us. At that
moment God himself comes down to us, barefoot and with tears. Think of this:
God who comes and embraces us poor sinners with tears! That is the Gospel,
and that is Gods grace.
The important point is that Joseph hugged and cried with his brothers
getting over the hatred, enmity, jealousy and envy that had accumulated in the
past. At that moment, the inner fearfulness of Josephs brothers melted away.
At times, a drop of tear can show the genuine emotion more accurately than
dazzling rhetoric. Only after they received truthful crying comfort from Joseph,
did they become relaxed and start to converse with him.

Genuine tears have

power to demolish falsehood and pretense, and eventually pull down distrustful
barriers erected between people. It was that kind of change that swept across
between Joseph and his brothers. What splendid goodness it was! Many things
are good in the world, but could anything be better than tearing down barriers of
distrust between people?
The reason why Joseph hugged and embraced his brothers individually was
to make peace with every one of them. By doing so, they were finally relieved of
their guilt-feelings of the past and restored peaceful minds. At last, they were
able to greet Joseph and started talking with him.
The fact that the Pharaoh and his servants were pleased with the news that
Josephs brothers came is a notable lesson, especially to modern churches. The
kind of treatments believers receive from this world depends on what they
themselves have done. The world doesnt recognize you automatically or in any
other way. You have to earn it. Thoughtful consideration shown by the king and
his staff demonstrated eloquently how Joseph was perceived and respected in
Egypt.

Joseph could naturally be a target of jealousy from the officials of Egypt

because he was a Hebrew whom they despised and furthermore he was a slave.
An individual with such a poor background became the core of power over night.
Naturally, making enemies was inevitable in this situation and becoming a target
of jealousy seemed unavoidable.

Nevertheless, not only Pharaoh but even his

officials were very happy to hear Josephs meeting with his brothers and offered
help from their heart, which was very clear evidence of how beautiful Josephs life
was in ordinary times. Isnt it a huge challenge to us? Believers ought to give a
good impression to nonbelievers around them.
In certain prospective, the real value of faith does not arise from faithful
fellowship within a church. Rather, the essence of practical faith lies in how we
interact with non-believing neighbors in our society and what recognition we earn
from them.

Surely he deserves happiness.

I am so glad to see him happy

because his everyday life was different from ours. If we are able to earn this
kind of recognition from nonbelievers, that also would be the highest good in
our faithful life. That is why Jesus said you are the salt of the earth and the
light of the world. It is not that we are in the process of becoming the salt
and the light, but that we are already the salt and the light spiritually from the
moment we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior.

Our light should shine before

men, and our salt should not lose its taste. The Pharaoh, his servants and people
saw the light before them clearly through the Josephs ordinary life. They tasted
the truthfulness of his life just like salt. This is the life of the highest good for
believers. Obeying the Lords command of evangelism is also the highest good
as commanded in a phrase you shall be my witness to the end of the
earth.
The Pharaoh provided as many as five things for the convenience of Joseph
and his brothers. He gave them food to be carried to Canaan, invited all his
family to move to Egypt, and promised the best of the land of Egypt and the fat
of the land.

He offered wagons for their little ones, wives and Jacob as a

provision for them on the journey back to Egypt. He also commanded them give
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no thought to their goods, which meant that they didnt have to save their
household goods. We could imagine their mountain-high household goods that
they wished to save because of their emotional attachment to them in the place
where they had lived for decades. What the Pharaoh said was that they should
not be too attached to them to leave their land.

He would compensate for all

their possessions with better ones to top their needs.

Josephs situation with his brothers was a huge interest to Pharaoh and his
officials. This shows how much he was appreciated for his contribution to Egypt,
and how deeply he influenced them by his good character.

Thus Christians

should be able to influence his/her surroundings with faith and good character.
People of Egypt were truly thankful to Joseph for what he did to save their
life and the entire nation. They probably had been wanting to return the favor to
Joseph but could not find a way till then. Well, the opportunity finally came and
they were able to return that favor to Josephs family.
One day, my son went to a certain restaurant with a group of people from
his church. The lady restaurant owner kept looking at him and asked him Do
you know pastor Park Sang-Keun? He replied, He is my father. After he said
that, the ladys face lightened up, and he was served and treated extra-ordinary.
I do not remember this lady but I was told that she attended the first Bible
Reading Revival our church held and wanted a chance to thank Pastor Park and
this was her chance. Since then my son thinks of me differently.
People of Egypt were happy that Joseph had a family and was not alone.
They finally had a chance to return the favor for all that Joseph had done for
them. It is apparent that Josephs family was treated like royal guests since the
royal wagon was permitted to bring Josephs family to Egypt. The generous care
and attention by the highest ruler of all the land of Egypt must have played big in
Jacobs family deciding whether or not to immigrate to Egypt.

If it wasnt for

Josephs effort, Jacob would not have decided to leave Canaan because of his

carefully calculating ways. There was no way that he would have left everything
behind in Canaan after all that struggle settling down.
Joseph gave brothers gifts as they went on the journey home.

He gave

each of them new clothes, but to Benjamin he gave five changes of clothes and
300 pieces of silver.

This was not a simple gift to his brothers but it was his

intention to show his promise to take care of them in the future and they should
not have to be afraid to leave Canaan and come to Egypt.
The new clothes that Joseph gave to brothers were not just clothes, but
they were for festivals, according to the Luthers annotation and I follow his
opinion.

Joseph wanted to celebrate with his brothers.

That is why he gave

them festive clothes. He also gave them wagon and food for their journey.

He

sent ten male donkeys loaded with the finest products of Egypt. He sent grain
and bread and other supplies for his father and family need during the journey to
Egypt.

This level of detail shows how much he cared, like a Korean mother

caring for her married daughter returning home.

There was some possibility that Josephs brothers could have thought that
it was not necessary to immigrate to Egypt since it was not an easy decision to
make. Even for the present time, immigration from one country to another is not
easy.

It could have been harder in the ancient times because, in those days,

there was no freedom to choose where you wanted to live and no guarantees for
safety, and this kind of reality made Joseph worried.

So he gave his brothers

clothes and gifts. He wanted to assure his brothers that they would be given a
better life and everything that Joseph had would be shared when they came to
Egypt and he would take care of them. Joseph knew that his father would not
come to Egypt unless he convinced his brothers first, and he relied on his
brothers to be a messenger to his father, not telling the father any negative
things about Egypt.
Then, he decisively gave his brothers one important request.

By the

way, brothers, I ask you, please do not quarrel on the way. Why did he
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say that? When they tried to harm Joseph in Dothan in the past, the brothers
didnt agree with each other on the matter. Now they might put blame on each
other for the past incident and get into a fight. But Joseph was telling them not
to get bound by the past any more. There shouldnt be any more division in the
community. They couldnt survive in a foreign country in which the whole clan
would now have to move to settle down if they harbored resentment against each
other and not united among them. Joseph already realized that. Hadnt Joseph
experienced the lowliest life of an immigrant in a foreign land first hand? So he
pleaded with them to be of one mind.
Unless people become one accord in a family, church or any other
community, they cant have a vision together. Nor can they make their dreams
come true together.

Thats why the Psalmist exclaimed and sang the hymn,

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! My

beloved brothers and sisters, please do not quarrel. Apostle Paul stressed that
the result of quarrels was destruction of a community. (Galatians 5:5) If you
keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be
destroyed by each other. When they hurt and sold Joseph into slavery, the
brothers were divided by many different opinions.

Do you remember Reuben

regretted and grieved after he found out Joseph was sold away? The ones who
were relatively less guilty might easily blame and reproach the other brothers.
I told you not to do that before! Why did you do that then? How often do
we see such an argument? Its all in the past, done and over! Because Joseph
knew his brothers all too well, he had to ask them not to quarrel on the way.
Dear brothers and sisters, do not quarrel. You must not quarrel in church. It is
much better to keep peace without doing any work than to quarrel while serving
the church. I really dont like people quarrelling anywhere. I hope we all live as
people of peace anytime and anywhere.
Why did Joseph ask his brothers not to quarrel as if they were little
children? Although all the troubles were over a long time ago, the brothers
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conscience problems were yet to be taken care of.

Their conscience would

become the accuser and attack them from this time on. Then they would try to
make excuses for their evil deeds. They would start accusing each other and
naturally fights would break out among them. Joseph saw it all in advance. They
could feel guilty themselves for having deceived their father and doing evil to
Joseph. So they would condemn themselves. That naturally would make them
find faults and accuse each other of their wrongdoings in order to defend their
own selves. He asked not to do that.
Josephs saying, Please do not quarrel on the way is, in other words,
Theres now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Looking back, we all have memories of shameful sin. Those memories deprive us
of our deep gratitude for salvation and joy of the Word. But dont forget! All our
sins of the past were crucified on the cross with Christ Jesus, and we were born
again as new creation through Christ Jesus who resurrected.

I pray that God

gives you the blessed forgetfulness! May God bless you with His enfolding grace
that you never remember your shame and guilt from the past, or those
memories, if surfacing up by chance, never judge you again!
While Jacobs sons came to get some food, they heard the frightening news
of judgment. However, they could come back home with good news that they
could survive the judgment. The news they would bring home was not just that
Joseph was alive. They conveyed the amazing message that God had prepared
for them to survive the terrible pain of death.
Josephs brothers returned home with the news that Joseph was still alive,
and the way to survive the drought. Especially they brought the news that the
Pharaoh of Egypt would welcome them and help them to settle down in Egypt.
What do you think is the greatest news that church could give to the world in this
age? It is the news that the church has at last come to senses. It is the news
that the church is getting back her glorious image and the Holy Spirit works in

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her.

This is very important because the church has let people down for some

time.
Not only is the churchs restoration of the original glorious image good for
herself, but it also is a tremendous blessing for the world. Dear my friends, lets
make our church a blessing for this community and for the entire nation. Let us
be the good news. No matter what changes people try to bring to society, it is
going to be useless if the church is dead. Do you think what people want from
the church? Even though they themselves are laden with greed or corrupt in sin,
they want the church to stay pure and beautiful.

The more corrupt the world

gets, the firmer should the church stand and be their spiritual buttress.

Dont

you think people complain about the church because they have high expectation
of the church? Even though they could not live that way, since they expect the
church to be different, they criticize. In that point of view, I hope our church can
deliver the gospel as it should. I bless you that you would not quarrel but plant
peace in your lifes journey.
Todays text ends where Jacobs family was preparing to move to Egypt.
Jacob couldnt believe the news that Joseph was still alive. He had believed for
22 years that Joseph was dead. Since Jacob did not trust his sons ever since the
massacre of Shechem, it was difficult for him to believe his sons words at their
face value. He might have thought that they teased him. On top of everything
else, he had a bad impression of this ruler of Egypt, didnt he? Could he believe
that the terrifying ruler of Egypt was his son, Joseph? Jacob was so shocked that
his legs gave in. It must have been overwhelming for a 130-years-old. His sons
told him that Joseph was not only alive but had become the prime minister of
Egypt. I am sure the sons showed him the presents from Joseph as well. Jacob
still was not convinced.

Finally he came to believe once he saw the Egyptian

wagons Joseph had sent for them. And then the spirit of Jacob revived.
Especially, the Egyptian royal wagons Joseph sent probably swayed Jacobs
heart very much.

He had been living without hope, but now his spirit had
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revived.

This had important symbolic meaning.

Jacob had long lived without

hope. His dreams were dashed. He had grudges against God. The wife he loved
died while giving birth, and soon afterwards the son he loved the most was eaten
by beasts. He had no reason to live. So he fell into deathly despair. Since then,
though he was alive, he was not truly living.
But today he heard amazing and happy news.

The dead son was alive!

Now he had a reason to live. He was happy again. Hope, that he thought had
died, was now back. Therefore, his name resurfaced as Israel. Through all the
years of mourning over his sons disappearance, the name Israel was not used.
When hope was revived at the news of Joseph being alive, however, he was able
to use Israel.
Israel means to struggle with God and overcame. Jacob became a
victor as the word suggests. In the end he lost nothing before God. Precisely
because of the pain of loss in his heart, he received something tremendous in
return. What did Jacob say? It is enough. This word in Hebrew sums up the
joy that was welling up in Jacobs heart.

He no longer had any complaints or

grudges before God.

We, too, at times hurt over losses in life. This makes us hold bitterness
against God and cry out.

Why do you take away my most precious?

Of all

things, why my most precious person? Why my most precious thing?

But what we have lost for the sake of Jesus, we really have not lost. What
I think I have lost remains like a gem forever in God. Please remember. So long
as God does not give up, our life is not lost. It is not a failure. Therefore, at last
Jacob declared that he was satisfied.

I pray that God would comfort you that

someday you may say I am content!

What does todays text teach us?

Though terrible hardship continues,

Gods plan of salvation does not stop.

When Gods grace descends on us

unexpectedly, our painful torment of the past will turn into the greatest good for
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us. The Bible is not just a tale. It is a book of promise. Are any of you in the
middle of suffering, and thus, in dire need of Gods promise more than anything
else? We may not understand now, but I hope someday you will find yourself on
the summit of your life through Gods grace. Thus, I truly pray with blessing that
Gods comforting grace would envelop you around so you may declare, My life is
fulfilled.

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