Series: Citizenship
Message: Hopeful Faithfulness in Prison
Preacher: Tony Hunter
Reflection: Sam Millen
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Ame Fowler
Live Beyond: Chelsea Mensink
Live Purpose: Emily Ellis
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: Genesis 40:1-23 in the International Children’s Bible (ICB). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: Genesis 40 has a sad ending. “The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him” (Verse 23). Have you ever needed help? I was stranded once on a stretch of highway miles from anywhere in the high desert of California. This was before everyone owned a cell phone, and I certainly didn’t have one. I tried to flag down the occasional passing vehicles passing but was unsuccessful in convincing anyone to stop. Nobody would take a risk. Maybe these drivers suspected I was a serial killer! Did I mention this was in the middle of the night? Since I am writing this, I obviously survived the ordeal, but I still chuckle as I remember my unlikely rescuer. Instead of a macho trucker, a woman who looked like a hippie straight out of a 1969 Woodstock photograph happily gave me a ride (she was smoking something and had weird music playing loudly). I was surprised just like Jesus’ listeners when they realized the hero in his rescue story was a Samaritan. Neither the Good Samaritan nor this woman driving through California had anything to gain from helping a stranger on the side of the road. Pharaoh’s cupbearer, however, was buoyed up by Joseph at a very low point in his life, imprisoned and haunted by dreams. But once the upheaval and uncertainty had passed, and he resumed his daily routine, Joseph was no longer relevant. Selfishness is not just revealed in what we do, but also in what we neglect to do.
I find this prayer of confession used in mainline churches very apropos:
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.
(The Book of Common Prayer, p. 352—emphasis added)
It is sad when people who could make a real difference neglect to act. In America we argue over the role of “privilege” in maintaining systems of “haves” and “have nots” Regardless of your view on “privilege,” if I don’t use opportunities given to me as a white, (lower) middle-class, college-educated, able-bodied, cis-gendered, heterosexual male to advocate for those enduring unnecessary suffering or unfair limitations, may our most merciful God forgive me for what I have left undone.
Recalibrate: Have you ever needed someone to speak on your behalf so that those in positions of power and authority can be made aware of your plight? Have you been in a position to speak on behalf of someone else needing assistance?
Respond: Ask God to reveal to you someone you can help in a tangible way today.
Research: Read this article discussing “privilege” in America.
Remember: “Joseph said to them, ‘God is the only One who can explain the meaning of dreams. So tell me your dreams’” (Genesis 40:8, ICB).
Sam Millen is the pastor at Anacortes Adventist Fellowship in Washington State. After living in five countries on three continents (and five states), he feels at home on Orcas Island with his wife and three kids.
Note: You will need a few balloons for this activity. Blow up balloons with your child today. As you blow up each balloon, hold your child's hands on the outside so they can feel the balloon getting bigger. Tie the balloon up and hit it so it goes up in the air. See if your little one can catch the balloon. If the balloon pops, that’s OK—just blow up another one. Make a game of keeping the balloons in the air. Invite others to play your game with you and share in keeping the balloons in the air. So often we just want to hold on to what has been given to us. The real fun happens when we let go and share what we have.
Hebrews 11 is about people who lived by faith. Joseph is in this faith chapter. It says that by faith all those people looked forward to a time when things would look brighter. All of them had bad days and faith in God that things could be better. Make a batch of muffins. Watch them grow in the oven. At first, they’re just batter, but with a little time, they come out of the oven as a tasty treat. We don’t always get a reward for our hard work, but we can choose to be kind, honest, and patient anyway.
I sat up straight in bed, feeling sweaty and afraid. Ah, I had had that scary dream again! For several years, I would have recurring dreams, which means they would happen again and again. I was about ten years old and in the dream I was the size of a mouse, running away and hiding from a bad guy. I remember waking up in the middle of the night again and again from that scary dream.
Sometimes, dreams seem so real. That’s why we feel afraid even when we wake up from them. But after a few minutes we realize it wasn’t real, and we start to relax. In the story of Joseph, I would have been really afraid if I had dreamed the baker’s dream. And in the baker’s case, the dream meant something would happen to him in real life. Sometimes, God uses dreams to give people messages. But, for the most part, dreams are just our brains trying to process things like events or emotions. When you experience your next bad dream, try to remember that God is protecting you and that you don’t have to be afraid.
Think back to the friends you had four years ago. How many of them are still in your life? I can truthfully say that I have one friend that has remained my best friend since we were twelve. All the others are still friends of mine, but we aren’t as close because we went to different colleges or made different life choices that drew us apart. The reality is that people come and go in our lives, but God is the one who remains steadfast forever. In the story of Joseph in prison, he thought that he could rely on the chief cupbearer and the baker. But in the end, they forgot him when they left prison. Joseph truly had no one, so he had to rely on God for everything. What are some ways that you can rely on God and make Him your all in all?
Zan Long is GRC director for faith development for ages 0-17. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and serves at her local church in nearby Kellyville.
Ame Fowler has fifteen years of youth and children’s ministry experience and has served as a leader with TOP kids. She and her husband enjoy ministry through coffee, and live in Chattanooga, TN.
Chelsea Mensink serves as the family ministries director at Crosswalk Church in Redlands, California. She is a delightful and talented children’s pastor who just oozes fun and love like a squished Twinkie.
Emily Ellis is a junior studying theology at Walla Walla University and interning at the Eastgate Seventh-day Adventist Church.