Welcome to Trinity Sermons. Thanks for joining us today here at Trinity Church
Streetsville as we journey together to love Jesus, live like Jesus and lead
others to Jesus. Now this is episode 5 of our fourth sermon from our sermon
series we're calling Live in the Dream and we are excited to have Rob Hirkmans
with us again today. In today's message Rob will be continuing our journey
through the life of Joseph and is going to be talking about the dream job that
Joseph lands and how we can learn to approach our work like Joseph did.
Definitely a relevant and relatable talk today and you don't want to miss it.
Now just before we get started please make sure to follow our podcast so that
we can better reach even more people with the good news. God bless.
Our reading today is from the book of Genesis chapter 41 verses 39 to 57.
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, since God has made all this known to you, there is no one
so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace and all my
people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be
greater than you. So Pharaoh said to Joseph, I hereby put you in charge of the
whole land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put
it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain
around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second in command and
people shouted before him, make way! Thus he put him in charge of the whole land
of Egypt. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh but without your word no one
will lift hand or foot in all Egypt. Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zephanath
Panaya and gave him Aznath, daughter of Potipharia, priest of On to be his wife.
And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt. Joseph was 30 years old when he
entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt and Joseph went out from Pharaoh's
presence and traveled throughout Egypt. During the seven years of abundance the
land produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those
seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in his cities. In each city he
put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge
quantities of grain like the sand of the sea. It was so much that he stopped
keeping records because it was beyond measure. Before the years of famine came
two sons were born to Joseph and Aznath, daughter of Potipharia, priest of On.
Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said it is because God has made me
forget all my trouble and all my father's household. The second son named
Ephraim and said it is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my
suffering. The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end and the seven
years of famine began just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other
lands but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. When all Egypt began to
feel the famine the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all
the Egyptians go to Joseph and do what he tells you. When the famine had spread
over the whole country Joseph opened all his storehouses and sold grain to the
Egyptians for the famine was severe throughout Egypt and the world came to
Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe everywhere. This is
the word of the Lord. Well according to statistics the average
worker will hold between 10 and 12 different jobs throughout their lifetime
which is to say that the job that you work in won't necessarily be a job that
ends up working out and I can attest to this because you know before I received
my dream job of working here at Trinity streetsville I went through my share of
day jobs. I'd like to share a few of those day jobs with you now and just to
warn you there's a few dad jokes that are about to come at you. So for example
I wanted to be a photographer but nothing really developed. Yeah I went
into telemarketing but it wasn't my calling. Yeah that's right. I thought
about being a barber but I just couldn't cut it. That's right and you know I lost
my job as a psychic. I just didn't see that coming and actually there was a
time when I worked as a baker because I really needed the dough. I really needed
the dough but enough about that enough. Get that spit that out get that out of
your mouth those horrible jokes. What about you? What is your dream job? If you
go to indeed.com Canada's premier job search website you can find some of the
hot jobs some of the dream jobs that everybody wants. I want you to take a
moment and and and turn to the person beside you and and just discuss which of
these eight jobs is for you would be a dream job. I'll give you this 15 seconds.
Ready set go.
Yeah.
All right okay all right I'm just curious to know let's take a little quick show
of hands. How many of you said pro athlete? Oh how many said actor? Musician?
Pilot? Mmm zookeeper? Video game tester? No. Fashion model? There they are.
Anglican priest? Yes thank you. All right we'll talk after the service. Hey listen
most of us are actually happy just to have a job and we don't often have the
luxury of thinking about what our dream job might be but maybe that's not true.
Because it actually depends on how you define a dream job. You know if you
define a dream job as some job that fulfills all of your dreams then yes
that might be pretty hard to achieve. But if you define a dream job as any job
that furthers God's dream, now that's a different kind of dream job. That is a
dream job but that's a different kind of dream job. I want to suggest to you that
that's the way we need to think about our dream jobs right? Desmond Tutu once
wrote a little book. The book was called God has a Dream. I don't know if you guys knew
that that God has a dream for the world. God has a dream but he but he does and
if you read in this book this is what Tutu says. He says and now my clicker has
stopped working for some reason I want to show you this quote because it's a
really good quote about God's dream. God calls on us to be his partners to work
for a new kind of society where people matter more than things, where human life
is revered, where no one will suffer from hungry, from ignorance, from disease, where
there will be more gentleness, more caring, more sharing, more compassion, more
laughter, where there is peace and not war. God has a dream and that's what God's
dream looks like and I want to suggest to you that whatever your job may be if
it in even a little way helps further this God's dream then you do have a
dream job not because it fulfills all of your dreams necessarily but because it
furthers God's dream in the world. So we're in the middle of a teaching series
which is called Living the Dream and we've been looking at the life of Joseph
and today in our story Joseph gets his dream job and you would say oh I know
why it's a dream job for Joseph because he's surely gonna be rich it's a well
paying job and he's very powerful and sure there's a sense in which you might
say that's what makes it a dream job but I want to suggest to you today what
really makes Joseph's job a dream job is not because it fulfills all of his
dreams but again it's because Joseph is gonna use that job to further God's
dream not his own. But before we go any further it's probably helpful just to
stop and acknowledge that sitting here today there's probably people in all
sorts of different places when it comes to jobs. Some of you may have a job and
you absolutely love your job way to go that's fantastic. Others of you may have
a job and you you endure it it's not great but but you endure your job and
others of you maybe just hate your job and we're sorry to hear that. There are
others here who don't have a job and really wish they did and then there's
some of us here who've retired from our jobs and we really need to get in
another one. And then and then there are some of us here who are studying for a
job you're in high school you're in college you're in university and you're
looking ahead to the job that you want to have maybe you want to have a dream
job one day well whatever your job if we look closely at today's reading we're
gonna see that Joseph's job is actually not all that different from your job or
mine. Our day jobs whatever they are can become dream jobs when we work them
toward God's dream and to show you all this we're gonna let Joseph kind of be
our job coach today we're gonna look at Joseph's job and see what we can learn
from it. Namely we're gonna kind of go through these things. What was Joseph's
employment? What was his job? Secondly what kind of education did
Joseph have in order that qualified him for that job? Thirdly what were the
experiences that Joseph had that readied him for the job? Fourthly what was
Joseph's first day on the job like? His entrance into that job? And then fifthly
what were the job expectations? The job description that came along with
Joseph's job? I want to say to you that we're gonna find out we have a lot more
in common with Joseph than you might first think. Let's start first with
Joseph's employment. What was Joseph's job? I mean if you go to indeed.com and
you want to look for a certain job you got to start by typing in the position
you're interested in. I'm interested in a psychologist or a chef or you know I
want to be a firefighter or I am a firefighter I'm looking for a job I'm an
Anglican priest I'm looking for a job click oh there's no jobs there isn't
that interesting. We're looking for a certain position right? Well the title of
Joseph's job what is it? It's not exactly told to us in the text but we can kind
of put it together. We read that the Pharaoh says that all my people are
gonna submit to your orders Joseph and only with respect to the throne will I
be greater than you and then later on he goes on to refer to Joseph as his
second-in-command. So for this reason many Bibles and theologians translate
Joseph's job as this a minister. He is a cabinet minister maybe he is the minister
of agriculture or maybe he's even the prime minister right? He is Joseph Trudeau
right? I though do not believe that it is an accident that Joseph's job is
best understood as minister because he wasn't just a politician he wasn't just
an administrator he was a minister in the truest sense of the word. Do you know
what a minister is? And don't look at me and say oh there's a minister that's not
how it works as we're gonna see. The noun the noun minister means any agent
working on behalf of another so anytime you're working on behalf of somebody
else and minister as a verb means to serve to serve the needs of someone
else. So Joseph was a minister because he was acting on behalf of Pharaoh he was
acting on behalf of God that makes him a minister and he was a minister because
he was serving the needs of the people the people of Egypt in particular that
makes Joseph a minister. Joseph's employment was a minister. Joseph's work
is ministry and I want to say to you that whatever job position you have or
whatever job position you are pursuing with God a job is never just a job. With
God you're never just a worker you're a minister with God your job is a
ministry. So when you apply for that job as a psychologist you're actually
applying to be a minister because you're applying to help people right to serve
them. When you apply as a teacher you're a minister because you're applying
to care for people. If you apply as a chef you're a minister you're also
you're applying for a job that is meant to serve other people whatever job it is
you're studying for whatever job it is you are working in that job is a
ministry and you are a minister if you can think about it that you are working
actually on behalf of God and serving the needs of the people around you. So I'm
gonna do something we don't normally do here in Trinity but I'm gonna get to say
something out loud together on the count of three I'd like to get all of you to
say I'm a minister okay are you ready one two three I'm a minister. I mean one
of the one of the biggest problems in the church is that we have this very
narrow definition of what a minister is we have this very narrow idea of what
ministry is in history the church has been kind of bad at this and saying oh
there are certain jobs that are really holy and then there are these other jobs
that aren't of course as holy and and the best job of all of course is being
an Anglican priest that's the very best job that the church has set but my
goodness how wrong that is because if you go back to the 16th century go back
to some of those reformers like Luther and Calvin and they railed against us
and they said no no no no no all work all work even so-called secular work is
as much a calling from God as the monk or the priests calling the Bible is
clear every person can be a priest every member can be a minister and the
scriptures say if if a minister speaks they should do no no if anyone speaks
they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God if if the priest
serves then no if anyone serves they should do it with the strength that God
provides so when we reimagine our employment as ministers then our jobs
become ministry our jobs become a place to do God's work not just the company's
work right and to pursue God's dream not just our dream so that's what we learned
from Joseph's employment first and foremost he wasn't just a master of many
people he was a minister to many people okay but secondly we've got a look now at
Joseph's education I mean if you're applying for a job good grief you've got
to have the right education some of you were in school right now and you're
studying and you're paying big bucks to get the right degree because you know
that if you want to get the job you've got to have the right kind of education
no one's gonna hire you if you don't have the education so Joseph too didn't
just enter into his employment without some education can you imagine if God
had just picked a 17 year old shepherd boy up and transported him into the
throne room of Egypt and put him as second in charge of all the land that
would have been a complete disaster no actually Joseph was educated over time
for this job but he didn't get an MBA from the University of Egypt and he
didn't get a commerce degree from you know the Alexandria School of Business
no Joseph trained slowly as God gave him more and more responsibility and here's
what I mean right before Joseph was given all the power in Egypt he started
off as like a slave as a servant working in Potiphar's house a slave just
purchased to do menial work but Joseph made the most of it he was faithful in
that work so much so that after doing that for a while his boss saw his
potential and said wow Joseph you are I see what you're doing I like what I see
I am gonna give you a promotion Joseph gets promoted to a higher place even
when Joseph got sent to prison you might think oh that's the end of it for Joseph
but no he was faithful in prison he worked away in prison even the prison
official the chief jailer said gosh I like what this guy's doing I like how
he's working I want to give you a promotion pretty soon Joseph Joseph is
in charge of the whole prison now if I were you and you were applying for a job
I would not put head prisoner or head slave on your resume that's probably not
gonna help but but the point is little by little and bit by bit what is God
doing he is training Joseph Joseph is learning he's gaining more
responsibilities gaining more insight into administration into finance into
politics into diplomacy until eventually the day comes where Pharaoh says to
Joseph I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt so if you're here
today and you're pursuing your dream job or you're studying for your dream job I
think the lesson is clear start where you are with what you have to all the
college and university students out there that might be watching or
listening you know you're thinking about a dream job you're thinking about the
success that you're gonna have and the money you're gonna make but remember
Joseph be patient be faithful don't look for shortcuts to success instead take a
look at what God has put into your hand right now take a look at the opportunity
God has given you right now whatever Joseph's job was wherever he was working
he did whatever God gave him to do with his whole heart and he rose to the top
and I wonder if that's what Jesus was thinking when he said this line back in
Luke's gospel Jesus said he who is faithful with little will be faithful
with much we may not have a dream job we may not have all the fame or the
reputation or the success like Joseph but we can be faithful with what God has
given us with what God is teaching us and training us and promoting us to do
one day little by little so that was Joseph's education but of course
education on a resume is never enough you also have to have some experience
right employers don't want to just see all your degrees and all the letters
after your name they want to know what kind of experience you bring to this
position well what kind of experience did Joseph bring to his position well I
got to tell you they weren't very nice experiences he was thrown into a pit and
left to die that's an experience he was chained to a wagon and carted off to
Egypt that's an experience he was accused falsely and slandered by
Potiphar's wife ruined his name that's an experience he was thrown in jail and
forgotten there's an experience for you I'm sure there were many times when
Joseph just looked up to heaven and said why God why are you putting me through
all these horrible experiences and the answer and I think we can get in
retrospect is that these experiences were all part of the training they were
all part of of helping to form Joseph into the person that he needed to be for
the job that God had in mind before him Madame Goyon wrote she said it is the
fire of suffering that brings forth the gold of godliness you see often we look
at the painful experiences of our lives and we assume that it means that we are
moving further and further away from God's dream for our life but God never
wastes an experience in your life a good one or a bad one he will use those
experiences to draw you closer to him and closer to that dream in fact some
say some say that your greatest ministry will likely come out of your greatest
hurt and that the the the greatest resentments and the greatest regrets of
your lives are actually preparing you for the greatest work of your lives so
when we encounter a problem when we encounter a setback it's natural to ask
why God why are you putting me through these experiences but can we also ask
the other question what God God what do you want me to learn from this
experience how are you shaping me in this because for Joseph there was a
purpose behind every problem and every pain and so we see finally now that
Joseph who was had his employment he was a minister he was educated and he now
had the experience and that means he can begin this great job this great job and
Joseph enters into this job on day one we see quite a ceremony happening in
fact most offices most new jobs when you start there's a little ceremony that
happens you kind of come on in and all the people greet you and your staff
members there's coffee there's Timbits that day you're handed a bunch of
paperwork to fill out you get your key card you get your laptop here's the keys
to the company car you know I'm still waiting for the keys to the company car
actually have to check into that one you know but you're given everything you're
given everything that you need when Joseph entered his ministry there was a
great ceremony to right Pharaoh sitting on this ivory throne dressed in robes
Joseph has given a signet ring it's a sign of authority he's given a chain
around his neck it's a symbol of dignity he's given a robes he's he's given the
keys to the company chariot and and there's a great big announcement make
way for Joseph make way right he's even given a new name his name has changed
from Joseph to Zathmath Paneah which translated means something Savior of the
world right but there's there's more not only is Joseph given these tokens he's
also given a new family he's given a wife and later on he's he's given
children everything he needs is provided for him and all of it comes as he begins
this new role now do you know that in the church we also have this special
ceremony where people are given their new ministry where people are welcomed
in and they are provided with everything that they need we call it baptism and
there's no thrones and there's no robes and there's no rings but there's water
and there's fire and there is an announcement I baptize you in the name
of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit right let your lights so shine
before others that they see you good your good works and they glorify your
father in heaven right that's how we begin the work God has for us baptism is
day one your first day on the job as a minister of Jesus Christ so yeah
baptism is an entrance into the people of God but don't forget baptism is also
your entrance into the employment of God into the mission that God has that
means if you are baptized if you're baptized then you and me are called to
ministry just as this is Joseph was given Pharaoh's authority in baptism we
are given Jesus authority and just as Joseph was given a family in baptism we
are given a new family right this church just as Joseph was given a new name in
baptism we are given a new identity and just as Joseph was provided for we too
are provided for we received the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit gives us
everything we need for the work that God calls us to do I have to say it
sometimes as followers of Jesus we forget this and sometimes we get nervous
you know maybe we feel like God is calling us to something new or God is
promoting us or God is moving you into a new job or a new opportunity or new
ministry or whatever and you're nervous because you're like I don't know if I
have what it takes I don't know if I can do it I don't I don't know what if I
don't know if I can afford it if our family can afford it what if it's too
hard and in the story Joseph reminds us that those whom God calls God provides
for if you enter into God's work you'll be equipped for God's work God provided
for Joseph he'll provide for you too and so where have we been so far we've seen
Joseph's employment he was a minister we've seen his education we've seen his
experience now we've seen his entrance into this new job day one and that
brings us to the final part of Joseph's dream job what were the expectations
every job is gonna have some kind of job description to go with it right that's
all the stuff you're supposed to do in the job and you're responsible for
Joseph was no different he had a job to do during the seven years of abundance
Joseph collected all the food he stored it in cities Joseph stored up huge
quantities of grain like the sand of the sea and when the famine came then Joseph
opened all the storehouses he sold all the grain to the Egyptians and the world
came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph what was Joseph's job description well
that's kind of Joseph's job description but here's another way of putting it
Joseph's job description was to feed the hungry to save the lost to bring life
and hope and healing to a hurting world I look around this world I look around
this room I see all sorts of different jobs out there and all your jobs of
course have very different job descriptions some of you work in offices
some of you work at home some of you work in restaurants or schools or
hospitals or whatever and I think God is saying I want you to do those jobs the
very best way you can do them to the best of your ability but on top of those
jobs and on top of those responsibilities God has this other job for us that has
these other expectations right and like Joseph what are we supposed to do we're
supposed to feed the hungry right we're supposed to save the loss we're supposed
to go out and bring life and hope and healing to a hurting world that's the
dream job those are the expectations or as Jesus would put it later on he would
say go to the lost go to the confused people right here in the neighborhood
tell them that the kingdom of God is here bring health to the sick raise the
dead touch the untouchable kick out the demons you've been treated generously so
now live generously as ministers you and me who have been employed and empowered
by the Holy Spirit this is the job but not just any job like I said at the very
beginning it's the dream job not because it necessarily fulfills your dream but
because it furthers God's dream so that's the job then let's get to work
you've got a position you're a minister of God you've got an education God is
teaching you right now to be faithful just be faithful with what you're doing
you've got the experience God never wastes an experience the good ones and
the bad ones you've got the job descriptions the expectations have been
laid out and heck you've even already started the job baptism was your very
first day so let's go out from this place as a mighty workforce of God living
the dream but also working toward God's dream thanks be to God I'm in thanks so
much for joining us today and if you enjoyed the show please take a minute to
rate and review our podcast so that we can continue to spread the good news
with others today's sermon was taken from the November 19th 2023 service at
Trinity Church streetsville in Mississauga Ontario come back again next
week and thanks for listening