Sunday of Joseph (OTA)

Lamentations 3:25-33

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait for him,

to the soul who seeks him.

²⁶ It is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the Lord.

²⁷ It is good for a man that he bear

the yoke in his youth.

²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence

when it is laid on him;

²⁹ let him put his mouth in the dust—

there may yet be hope;

³⁰ let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,

and let him be filled with insults.

³¹ For the Lord will not

cast off forever,

³² but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion

according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

³³ for he does not afflict from his heart

or grieve the children of men.

I think there is something very powerful about waiting for the Lord. The Lord will come to save his people from their sins. The Lord will also come to renew and restore his creation. God will not forget his people forever. It is very interesting that Jeremiah remembers the steadfast love of God.

It is truly a time to repent and mourn over this world. We should take up the lament for a world that has fallen into despair and corruption. Jeremiah is lamenting over the destruction of Jerusalem, but it would not take you very long to look at the many steeples (or other building structures) falling around us in the name of progress.

But even as we may find ourselves sitting alone, or saddened by loss, or even at our father’s funeral, the Lord will not cast off forever. The Lord has not left us. He has given us his word to remind us that he still forgives us through Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit calls and gathers his lonely sheep to have compassion on them. The Word of God reminds us of the sadness of this life, but it also provides us with an eternal hope.

Joseph brought his brothers down to the land of Egypt. He brought the Children of Israel to the place where they would suffer in slavery for many years. At the death of his Father he consoles his brothers. Long after his death, God will finally deliver these suffering people from their land of slavery. I do not know when Jesus will return and finally deliver us from the groaning and fallen creation. But he will come and deliver us into our eternal promise land (new earth).