Resurrection Lutheran Church, St Catharines

God’s “divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). We have seen how this played out in the lives of Abraham and Job. Abraham’s FAITH to believe in God’s great promises to him was put to the test in several ways, but the LORD continually restating His promises strengthened Abraham’s FAITH along the way. Job showed incredible STEADFASTNESS through the suffering that was inflicted upon him and, despite the poor counsel of his friends, maintained that somewhere in God was the mercy that he craved, and the LORD did not disappoint him.

 

Both of these saints obtained from the Lord the fruition of the very great promises that were made to them, not only in regard to their eternal salvation but also in regard to their lives in this world. They blossomed in the very virtues that the Lord promises are ours, proving that our God’s promises to us are sure and we can live our lives with His grace and blessing even amid “the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:4). Today we have a good look at that sinful desire that is behind the corruption in this world as we consider the patriarch Joseph and his SELF-CONTROL in times of testing.

 

Our Psalmody tonight began by asking, “How shall a young man keep his way pure?” (Psalm 119:9). That is a great question. I wish that I had given it more serious thought when I was a young man, but it is still worth pondering even for those who are not so young. We recognize that in the years of youth temptation seems to be all the more intense, as in our youth our heads were turned this way and that by all sorts of desires (bodies and cash and cars and tech toys and fashion and sport).

 

Although we are still tempted by many of these things and others besides, it seemed much more intense when we were young, perhaps because there is a deliberate strategy to corrupt the youth, or a reality to the proposition that part of maturity is to develop a resistance to such temptations, and probably both of those things. “How shall a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your word” (Psalm 119:9).

 

Joseph was one of the many sons of Jacob, of whom the twelve tribes of Israel were founded. Joseph had ten older half-brothers, and one younger full brother. Joseph and Benjamin were the sons of Jacob through Rachel, his beloved wife, and she had died after giving birth to Benjamin. Joseph was Jacob’s favourite son and he did not hide that fact. He gave Joseph a special robe which made it very clear that Joseph held the favoured place in his father’s eyes.

 

Joseph also received favour from God, who gave to Joseph dreams in which He promised that Joseph would rule over his brothers and even his parents (Genesis 37). It seemed that Joseph would be given all that he could ever desire. His brothers, on the other hand, grew to hate Joseph because they desired the things that had been promised to him. And their hatred grew so bold as to plot to kill their brother. But in order to get something out of getting rid of him, they sold him to slave traders instead. The price was twenty pieces of silver, the same for which Judas Iscariot betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ.

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What happens to a young man who believes he is sure to receive all that his heart could ever desire, including superiority over his older brothers, but then has it all stripped away like that precious robe from his father was stripped off of his body and dipped in blood as evidence to his father that his beloved son was dead? From promised exaltation to the pit of despair, literally, as his brothers had cast him into a pit until the Ishmaelite slave traders came by.

 

Then Joseph was sold to the wicked Egyptians with their plenitude of gods and worship of death and magical arts. Joseph was purchased by a prominent Egyptian, a wealthy man, so that every day serving in his house Joseph was reminded of the authority he was promised but seemed to have been diverted from him. There was wealth and luxury all around him but none of it was truly his.

 

Yet even if Joseph thought the visionary promises from the LORD had been taken away, they were not taken away by the LORD Himself. God remained with Joseph and so whether Joseph was aware of it or not, the promises of the LORD were present with the LORD Himself who was with Joseph in all that he did. So the LORD blessed Joseph’s servitude, and he gained some of the authority that the LORD had promised him. He was put in charge of everything in his master’s house.

 

But is that helpful for a young man seeking to keep his way pure? Does it help to be given access to great resources like a credit card with no spending limit? Does it help to be given the authority to tell others in the household what they must do? Even the responsibility of checking on his shepherding brothers for his father did not help Joseph at home. Rather, it gave them the opportunity to sell him for profit. Likewise, those in the Egyptian household where Joseph served, began to look for what they could get out of him, also.

 

And then a great great temptation for a handsome young man, when the rich lady of the house, decked out in her splendour and lounging in luxury, did more than make an offer of intimacy to the boy so far removed from his family. In Joseph we come to see that the sexual abuse of slaves was not uncommon for either males or females. Many seek to take advantage of handsome young men and women who also show themselves to be industrious and promising, pursuing advancement in their careers and isolated from the stability of their family structures.

 

Perhaps most of us have to go back in time to remember if we were ever in a similar situation. But what is it that allows a young man to “keep his way pure?” What prompted Joseph to respond to the advances of the woman of the house with, “How can I do this wickedness and sin against God?” Can you see that for Joseph the question was from the other side. He did not ask how he might keep from sin, but how could he ever consider it?

 

The psalm makes this progression, too. It moves from one wondering how to maintain SELF-CONTROL to a resolute stance against temptation. From the initial inquiry of “How shall a young man keep his way pure?”, it moves to speak with the retrospection of one who has maintained SELF-CONTROL in the face of temptation. “I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11).

 

There is a way for young man to keep his way pure. And Joseph found it. It is to store up God’s Word in your heart. And that is what Joseph did. He stored up the LORD’s promises to him in his heart and did not let go of them even when it looked like he had lost every opportunity for them to be fulfilled and was surrounded by so many other tempting ways to seize for himself some of what it appeared he had lost. In faith Joseph stored up the words of God’s promises and so, often pondered the magnitude of their grandeur and the grace of the God who would make such promises to an undeserving youth like him.

 

The Lord also remembered. He remembered Joseph even when he was in the pit of despair, even when he was reduced to the place of a slave. And the Lord blessed Joseph so that Joseph would not forget what God had promised him. The LORD blessed the work of Joseph’s hands, and so gave him reminders of the dreams in which God showed him the blessings that were yet to come.

 

A young man keeps his way pure by holding onto what God has promised him: blessing, salvation, forgiveness, eternal life, a partaking in the very glory of the exalted Christ Jesus, and even for life here and now the strength and resolve to live a life of godliness as the true child of God and brother of Christ that He has called you to be. He has not just called you to start acting like that, but actually called you so that His word of calling has brought about what it has stated. You are His Child. You do partake of the divine nature of the holiness and righteousness of the only-begotten Son of God.

 

Most of us may be a little older now, but that does not necessarily mean that we are any wiser or stronger. We still need to exercise SELF-CONTROL in the face of temptations. The temptations may not be the same. They may be more difficult for us to spot. But at their root they are still temptations to seize hold for ourselves of those things that we think God has promised to give but has not yet bestowed in ways that we appreciate.

 

“How can a young [or old] man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to God’s word.” Take hold of the promises of Christ and do not let go of them to try to grasp for something of your own design. What the Lord has promised He will bring to fulfillment. He will make the dreams He has given to you come true as He did for Joseph. Even if you find yourself in the pits, rejected by family, cast off, even as some kind of slave, abused, or in prison, the life of godliness displayed in Joseph’s SELF-CONTROL is a testimony to how the Lord is at work in you.

 

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence.” By His Word He will keep you pure. He will instruct you in the ways of right and wrong. He will strengthen you to flee from temptation. He will continually restate His promises to you for life and blessing and glory and peace.

 

And that continual reminder will come through confession and absolution. Every time we confess our sins and receive absolution, “that is forgiveness from the pastor as from God Himself” (Small Catechism V.1), the promise of undeserved blessing and grace comes into our ears again. God’s promises to us are spoken again to unworthy sinners and we come to appreciate more and more His mercy and love to us in Christ Jesus.

 

We see the awful price paid by His Son for our salvation from sin: how He was cast off by His brothers, stripped and nailed to the cross; how He went down into the pit of death and hell for us and was exalted to resurrected life and glory by the same Father who has issued such great and precious promises to us. In such contemplation of the love of God for us in Christ Jesus the question is answered. “How can a young man keep his way pure?” In the forgiving grace of our most merciful and loving Father.

 

Guard your life of godliness according to His Word. Remember that He has forgiven you through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. Listen and take to heart the words with which the pastor speaks this grace and mercy to you. You are made holy and righteous in these words. You confess your sins and you receive absolution and your life is kept pure.