Meditation on Genesis 45:1-15
Reverend Dr. Karen Crawford
First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown
Palm Sunday: March 29, 2026
I listened to part of a podcast yesterday featuring Orlando pastors Jim Davis and Michael Graham. They are authors of The Great Dechurching, Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? They quote the findings of a Barna Group study that about 15 percent of American adults living today (around 40 million people) have effectively stopped going to church. More people have left the church in the last 25 years than all the new people who became Christians from the First Great Awakening, Second Great Awakening, and Billy Graham crusades combined.
Those who are “dechurched” are adult Americans who used to go to church on a monthly basis and now go less than once per year. C and E’s—those who come to church only on Christmas and Easter—are still “churched” and not counted among the “dechurched.” Another 60 million people, the study found, are among those who attend only on Christmas and Easter. Of the 40 million “dechurched,” the question is why did they leave? Davis and Graham say, “30 million of them said, very casually, “they moved.” The move was often associated with a family change, such as getting a divorce and becoming a single parent. They moved and didn’t seek out another church. The final 10 million are the ones who “painfully dechurched.” They left intentionally. “There was suffering. There was church hurt. There was clergy scandal.”
What led me to listen to the podcast was my Presbyterian 101 class on Thursday night at the manse. Everyone in my dining room was raised in the faith. Several shared stories of the churches that hurt them and let them down. One said that after the church refused to marry him, he decided that he would never go back. It wasn’t until many years later, after he started seeing a member of our congregation who loved her church, that he decided to give church another chance.
These Presbyterian 101 classes have led me to believe that a focus of our ministry here needs to be helping people heal from emotional and spiritual wounds and forgive and make peace with their past. I believe we are called to be a gentle, nonjudgmental listening ear. Be the loving presence of Christ. Hold one another up in prayer.
Joseph’s family back in Canaan are suffering after two years of severe famine across the land. His father, Israel, tells his brothers, in chapter 43, that they must return to Egypt and procure food for them. Judah persuades his father, Israel, to allow Benjamin—Israels’ youngest and the only living son of his beloved deceased wife, Rachel—to come with them.
Judah says, “Send the boy in my care, and let us be on our way, that we may live and not die—you and we and our children.”
They take with them zimrat ha-‘arets, choice produce of the land that are celebrated in Hebrew scripture and song as a gift, and a sign of submission to the man who still held their brother Simeon in a dungeon and let them live only if they promised to return with Benjamin. (They still don’t know that this “man,” who is second in command to Pharaoh, is their long-lost brother Joseph.) They take with them balm, honey, gum, ladanum, pistachios and almonds, and double the money they took with them before, including the money that was returned to their bags as they left, without their knowledge.
Israel blesses them as they go. “And may El Shaddai dispose the man to mercy towards you, that he may release to you your other brother, as well as Benjamin. As for me, if I am to be bereaved, I shall be bereaved.”
They return to Egypt and present themselves to Joseph.
What do you think happens next? Is Joseph ready to forgive and put the trauma of his past behind him?
When Joseph sees Benjamin, he reminds me of the father’s reaction to the prodigal son in the gospel of Luke. Joseph orders his steward to take the brothers into his home, and slaughter and prepare an animal, “for the men will dine with (him) at noon.”
The brothers are terrified at being brought into Joseph’s house. They think that they are going to be attacked and seized as slaves because of the money that was replaced in their bags on their first visit to Joseph for rations, when he accused them of being spies. They try to explain to the Egyptian steward what happened with the money, and the witness of Joseph’s faith is apparent when the steward replies, “All is well with you; do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put treasure in your bags for you. I got your payment.” And he brings Simeon out to them, gives them water to bathe their feet and food for their donkeys.
The men spread out their gifts for Joseph and bow low to the ground when he arrives. Joseph’s prophetic dream at 17 has been fulfilled. Joseph asks if their aged father is still in good health. He is, they say. And then Joseph sees his brother Benjamin, “his mother’s son,” and Joseph blesses him. “May God be gracious to you, my boy.”
Afterward, he runs out because he is overcome with emotion and is on the verge of tears. He goes into another room, weeps, then washes his face and reappears—now in control of himself. At the meal, Benjamin is given the largest portion of them all—double what his brothers receive. Then Joseph orders the servants to fill their bags with grain and put each one’s money back inside. And there’s one more thing. He tells them to put a silver goblet into Benjamin’s bag, along with his money.
What’s going to happen?
At first light the next morning, in chapter 44, when the brothers are sent off with their pack animals, Joseph sends his steward after them to bring them back. He tells the steward to say, “Why did you repay good with evil?” And accuse them of stealing the goblet. The bags are searched; the goblet is discovered in Benjamin’s sack. The brothers tear their clothes in grief, load up their animals, and go back to the city. Joseph insists that the one with the goblet—Benjamin—must stay and be his slave.
Judah pleads their case at length, explaining that he is the only one left of his mother, the child of his father’s old age, the youngest. His “full brother (meaning Joseph) is dead,” he says. If they return home without Benjamin, their father will die. Judah begs Joseph to keep him as a slave, in Benjamin’s place. “For how can I got back to my father unless the boy is with me? Let me not be witness to the woe that would overtake my father.”
Joseph is no longer able to control himself. He commands his attendants to leave him as chapter 45 begins. Only the brothers remain. His sobs are so loud that the Egyptians can hear, and the news reaches the Pharoah’s palace. The second in command, the one who wears the finest robes, gold chains, the Pharoah’s signet ring on his hand and rides in a horse-drawn chariot, says, “I am Joseph. Is my father still well?”
His brothers are dismayed and confused. They still don’t recognize him. He invites them to draw nearer and explains how the Lord has used what they did to him to accomplish God’s purposes. Joseph has had years to process all that has happened since his journey to Egypt at 17, since the beginning of his journey to become the man God had planned for Joseph to be. He has made peace with his past and is ready to make peace with his family. He urges them to come and live near him in the land of Goshen outside Egypt—them and their father and children and grandchildren, flocks and herds—so that Joseph may care for and provide for them for the remaining 5 years of famine, when there will be no plowing or harvest.
Joseph not only forgives them, but he urges them to forgive themselves. “And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”
Then he cries as he kisses and embraces Benjamin and all his brothers around their necks. Pharoah sends his brothers home in wagons to fetch their father and return with all their belongings. Only then is the spirit of Jacob revived. “Enough!” says Israel. “My son Joseph is still alive! I must go and see him before I die.”
On the way to Egypt, Israel stops at Beer-sheba, in chapter 46, and offers sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac. God calls to Israel in a vision by night, saying, “Fear not to go down to Egypt, for I will make you there into a great nation. I Myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I Myself will also bring you back; and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”
Joseph orders his chariot when his huge family arrives in Goshen, led by his brother, Judah. He meets his father, weeps on his neck, and Israel says, “Now I can die, having seen for myself that you are still alive.” Jacob will live 17 years in the land of Egypt. He will bless all his children and grandchildren before he lies down with his ancestors at the age of 147. We cannot help but think of his father Isaac, when Jacob’s eyes are “dim with age” and he cannot see. He blesses Joseph and bestows the younger son, Ephraim, with a greater blessing than the older one, Manasseh, just like Isaac’s younger son, Jacob, received a greater blessing than the older son Esau.
Israel breathes his last in chapter 49. But the story isn’t over, yet. The brothers need reassurance, in chapter 50, that Joseph will truly forgive and forget, now that their father has died. They send him a message, telling him that their father forgave them for the wrong they had done. His dying wish was that Joseph would forgive them, too. For forgiveness, much like healing from trauma, can take many years—for Joseph, his brothers, his father, and us, too. The ability to forgive is a gift from our God of mercy, but forgiveness is a journey that can take a lifetime. We are called to help one another along this journey. To be a gentle, nonjudgmental listening ear. To be the peaceful, loving presence of Christ for one another. And hold each other up in prayer.
Joseph is in tears when he tells his brothers, who threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery at 17, “Have no fear! Am I in the place of God? Besides, although you intended me harm, God intended it for good, to save the lives of many people. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” Joseph stays in Egypt for the rest of his life, along with all his father’s family. He lives to see children of the third generation of Ephraim. He blesses them all, like his father before him, before he dies at the age of 110.
Let us pray. God of Joseph, thank you for your love and great plan for our lives and our church. Thank you for always being with us, like you were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. Thank you for providing for us and giving us spiritual gifts to use for your glory, including the gift of forgiveness. We pray that you will help us all to heal from the traumas of the past and forgive ourselves for the parts that we played in them. We lift up the millions of dechurched people in this country and we ask that your Spirit would lead them back home to you and new church families. May they be healed by your love, mercy, and grace. May they and we be renewed in the faith and discover your purpose for our lives. In the name of our humble Savior we pray. Amen.
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