Elevator Etiquette

Genesis 41

In chapter 41 Joseph goes from slopping swill for the inmates in prison to crowds parting to make way for his chariot.  Was there ever such a sudden elevation in all of history?

“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.” (Genesis 41:41-42)

What do you do when you are suddenly on top after being on the bottom for so long?  Here is some Elevator Etiquette from the Life of Joseph:

1.   Maintain Humility

I once took a ride on a coaster called The Volcano.  It was a VERY quick assent.  During that Volcano ride – it was hard to maintain my perspective… Am I up? Am I down? Rapid promotion can do that to you… you become disoriented.   Imagine how Joseph must have felt!

 Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.  ‘I cannot do it,’ Joseph relied to Pharaoh, ‘but God will give Pharaoh the answer He desires.'”  (Genesis 41:15-16)

Joseph exuded confidence that the God who was with him in prison would also be with him on this “all important job interview!”  He didn’t need to wring his hands in worry… or fear that he would say the wrong thing… He could be confident… because his confidence wasn’t in himself

2.  Tell the Bad With the Good.

There was an old radio commercial I remember where a CEO shouted:  “I don’t want any YES MEN in my organization.”  To which his staff responded:  “YES SIR!”   Most organizations are actually FULL of “yes men”… parroting back what their bosses desire to hear.   If you begin to reach the top you will get this feeling that you don’t want to leave your perch.  Maybe you’ll just down play the bad news and feast on the good for a while! Not so with Joseph. Look at his interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream:

The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. [27] The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.  (Genesis 41:26-27)

Do shortcut your integrity… even if what you have to say might not be pleasant to some ears.  As author Dr. Henry Cloud is fond of saying:  “Reality is your friend.”

3.  Be a Good Steward

It is helpful to remember this on your elevator ride to the top: Wealth isn’t yours to squander; and you may need some of that wealth tomorrow.  Joseph lived by these principles.

Joseph was thirty 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 the 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.  (Genesis 41:46-49)

Joseph’s plan to store up in the prosperous years so that they might survive the lean ones… is still a good one. Now matter how golden we imagine our futures… we can only see so far. Being prepared is a Biblically sound idea!

4.  Share the Wealth

 With all the perks that came with Joseph’s new job, he never forgot that first and foremost in his job description was to be a blessing to the world.

“When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt.  And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the world.”  (Genesis 41:56-57)

We can either treat our homes as a treasure chest… or a store house. When we treat them as a treasure chest… we invest time and energy protecting our stuff… and life can become a hassle. When we treat them as a store house… we realize that God can bless others through the “stuff” we are temporarily holding for him… and life becomes a blessing.

I was so moved when I heard the following story in  Skip Heitzig’s book,  Jesus Up Close.  He told the story about a man named Josh who was sailing down a Chicago neighborhood street in his two-month-old, 12-cylinder Jaguar XKE when  a brick sailed through the air and struck its shiny, black passenger door. Brakes slammed, gears ground into reverse, and tires spun the Jaguar back to the spot from which the missile had been launched. The young executive jumped out, grabbed the kid, and pushed him against a fender. “That’s my new Jag,” he shouted. “That brick you threw is gonna cost you lots of money!” “I’m sorry, mister! No one would stop! I didn’t know what else to do,” the youngster sobbed, pointing. “It’s my brother. He rolled off the curb, fell out of his wheelchair, and is hurt. He’s too heavy for me. Please, help me lift him back.” Josh’s head of steam evaporated. Straining, he lifted the boy’s brother into the wheelchair, wiped the scrapes and cuts with his handkerchief, and checked to see that there was no serious injury. He then watched the younger brother push the wheelchair down the sidewalk toward their home. Josh never did fix his door. He kept the dent to remind himself not to go through life so fast that someone would have to throw a brick to get his attention.”  (Skip Heitzig)

Okay… so the elevator doors are opening.  Let me hold the door for you.  “Going Up?” I ask.  Somewhat embarrassed you respond:  “Yes…” Great!  But just remember… don’t let your success destroy your humble confidence… or let it tear at your desire to speak up for the truth… or let it stop your from displaying good money management skills… or… above all this… I say this to you as you enter the threshold… don’t let it keep you from blessing others!

Rise up and bless the world. That is your calling!

Blessings!

Why Do GOOD Things Happen to BAD People?

Genesis 36

I know you’ve heard the question:  “Why do bad things happen to good people?”  It is a question that books have been devoted to.  And if you ever come close to a satisfactory answer to that question (as if that were possible)… there remains one more question that will STILL drive you nuts:  “Why do good things happen to bad people?”

If good people have to have hardship… that may be hard to swallow… but… so be it.  It helps them grow.  It produces compassion in them.  They endure in hope.  But why do evil people sometimes receive no such resistance?  Why is it smooth sailing for them?  Don’t they need even more so:  to grow, to learn compassion and to experience hope?  We reach the point of sympathizing with the Psalmist:  “…I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked.  …always at ease, they have increased in wealth.  ” (73:3-4, 12)

Case in point:  Genesis 36.  All one finds when they read this often skipped over chapter of the Bible is a long list of Jacob’s brother Esau’s property, sons and animals.  It is pretty dry reading unless you really examine closely this spreadsheet.  It is then you realize that Esau was loaded!  Money in those days was measured in how many children you fathered, the amount of deeds you possessed and how many flocks and herds were grazing on your property.  Esau, in the eyes of the ancient world, was a very successful man.  And yet God would say of him:  “Esau I hated.”  (Malachi 1:3 and Romans 9:13)  God must be very gracious indeed to spoil a man He hated with such degree of prosperity.

But it really shouldn’t surprise us… Jesus taught us that His Father “…causes His sun to rise  on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous.”  God is remarkable good to even those who don’t think to thank Him (or refuse to thank Him) for the rich blessings He sends their way.  (Romans 1:21)

Here is a warning here for us as believers.  We might be tempted to envy the “Esau”s of this world, but we must not be quick to equate material success with spiritual success.  The disciples in Jesus’ time stumbled on this issue as well.  When Jesus said that it was more difficult for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than a rich man to enter heaven, the disciples gasped and asked Him:  “Then who can be saved?”  Would we gasp if we saw who was in and who was out of favor with God?  Would many of the elite of this world be left off the “truly blessed” list?

Lael F. Arrington wrote about a time in her mid-twenties when she was trying to choose a life partner.  She wrote:  “On the same weekend in November one fellow I was dating told me he loved me, and the other fellow I was dating asked me to marry him.  Both were intelligent, tall, handsome, witty and charming. The first fellow was quite successful already. Our times together were spent at country clubs, elegant parties, and lovely dinners. The second fellow was scrimping by in seminary, and our time together was spent over a bucket of chicken on a study date—he was writing papers and I preparing lecture notes for the high school classes I taught.

          The first fellow and I did not share the same spiritual heritage or level of commitment, but the second one and I did. In fact, his level of commitment was greater than mine at the time and required a great deal of sacrifice. He wanted to teach and train Christians on the mission field. The lap of luxury looked much more appealing than a vow of poverty. But… when it came down to making a decision, I could not walk into the future and not share my past. After trusting Christ, it was the biggest decision of my life.

She continued:  We still get the bucket of chicken, and many nights are study nights… But the blessings flowing from that decision are a source of profound and continuing joy.  (A Bright Tomorrow, p. 12.)

In whatever financial circumstance you find yourself, rejoice in the fact that God does not hate you… but loves you with the most intense love.  That in and of itself is a blessing that all the land, sheep and children in the world can’t come close to rivaling.

Blessings!

 

The Incredible Shrinking Treasure

James 5:1-6              

In 2006 Bob Kitts, a contractor,was tearing out the walls of a bathroom he was renovating and just below the medicine cabinet he found two green metal lockboxes hanging from a wire.  Inside was $182,000 in Depression-era currency.  He quickly alerted the homeowner Amanda Reese and great was their excitement!

In the end, however, both only got a few thousand out of the find.  What happened?  They began to argue about how much each got.  Amanda offered him 10% and Bob wanted 40%.  It got ugly from there.  Eventually their legal battle gained public attention and the legal heirs of Patrick Dunn (who had hidden the money to start with) sued as well.  In the end everybody got a little… the treasure dwendled to nothing.  “If these two individuals had sat down and resolved their disputes and divided the money, the heirs would have had no knowledge of it,” said attorney Gid Marcinkevicius, who represents the Dunne estate. “Because they were not able to sit down and divide it in a rational way, they both lost.”

In today’s passage James issues one of the sternest warnings about hording wealth in the Bible.  While we tend to think that being filthy rich will make us deliriously happy, James says it should be an occasion to be miserable.  Why?  To begin with, stored up riches tend to evaporate.  Rich foods rot, fine clothes become moth-eaten, and gold and silver corrode.  Last to go is YOU!  (v. 3)

Jesus offers the alternative:  “Give and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.” (Luke 6:38)  And where does one store such a winfall?  “…store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where theives do not break in and steal.”  (Matthew 6:20)

Strive today that you will live a life of generousity.  It will come back to you… in good measure.