Joseph and the Mazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - The Gospel According to Broadway

Here comes that dreamer.

That dreamer.

This is what Joseph's brothers call him.

Not a term of endearment or respect, but a sarcastic insult.

A moniker they gave him out of their jealousy and resentment.

Here comes that dreamer.

Andrew Lloyd Weber's smash hit Broadway musical, Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Code, is obviously based on this biblical story from the book of Genesis of Joseph.

And so perhaps today it's more like the Broadway according to the gospel rather than the other way around.

We find God's good news all over this story and this musical.

Joseph is the son of Jacob, one of the great Hebrew patriarchs.

Jacob has 12 sons, and Joseph is the 11th in line.

And early in the story, we learn that Joseph is his father's favorite, and he doesn't try to hide it.

In fact, he makes him a coat of many colors, it says, and it says it's long and it has sleeves, which would mean that it's rare and expensive.

Andrew Lloyd Weber took a little poetic license and calls it an amazing technicolor dream coat.

The coat is what first sparks the jealousy of his brothers.

But their resentment grows when Joseph has a couple of dreams that could be interpreted that his brothers are to bow to Joseph in subservience.

In fact, in one dream, his mother and father, represented as the sun and moon, bow down to him along with eleven stars representing his brothers.

And then to make things worse, while he was shepherding a flock with his brothers, he told his father that his brothers weren't doing a very good job.

And so his brothers' resentment grows to a point where it says they hated him, and they could not speak peaceably with him.

And then one day they saw Joseph coming towards them from far off, strolling along in his fancy, colorful coat with sleeves.

Here comes that dreamer, they say.

And their anger boils over and they conspire to kill him.

But one of the brothers, Reuben, convinces them not to kill him, but instead to throw him into a pit or a cistern.

And Reuben is going to come back later and rescue him.

But before he could, the other brothers sold Joseph to a camel caravan of merchants on their way to Egypt.

And then they took his fancy coat and spread goat's blood on it and told their father that he must have been attacked by a wild animal and died.

This is just the beginning.

This is just the start of this story.

Because Joseph is then taken to Egypt as a slave and is sold to a man named Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard.

And his luck turns because he works as his servant and eventually becomes his household superintendent.

But that luck turns again.

And it says that because he is really handsome, Potiphar's wife takes a liken to him.

But he rejects her advance.

And in her humiliation, she tells her husband that Joseph raped her.

And so Joseph is put in prison.

And then while in prison, Joseph, as the dreamer, emerges again, this time not because of his own dreams, but as he interprets the dreams of some of his fellow prisoners.

Pharaoh's chief baker and chief cupbearer.

And his interpretations of their dreams prove accurate.

And so he asks the cupbearer to remember him when he gets out of prison.

A few years later, when the cupbearer is out of prison and has been restored to his role, Pharaoh has a dream so strange and complex and disturbing that none of his advisors could figure it out.

But the cupbearer remembers this guy he was in prison with who could interpret dreams.

So Pharaoh sends for Joseph and he interprets that dream as a premonition that there will be seven years of abundance in the land, followed by seven years of famine.

Joseph tells Pharaoh that this dream means that he should use the seven years of abundance to store grain, so that they could make it through the seven years of famine to follow.

Pharaoh was so impressed he appoints Joseph as the vizier, which is like second in command.

And he's in charge of collecting one-fifth of the grain from all the people and storing it in preparation for the famine and then distributing it.

When the famine hits, Egypt is ready.

They're able to distribute the grain to people so that they don't starve.

And the surrounding nations come to Egypt to buy grain.

In fact, they are sent directly to Joseph, who decides who will get what.

And now his father sends his brothers to Egypt to buy grain.

His brothers come to Joseph, but they don't recognize their brother.

But he recognizes them.

He now holds all the power.

He has his chance to get revenge.

This is his chance to do to them what they did to him.

At the very least, he can make them bow to him as he originally dreamed.

He gives them the grain they need, but ultimately he wants to be reunited with his father and to meet his full brother Benjamin, who was born after his brother sold him.

So without revealing his identity, he makes them go through a great deal to return to their father in Canaan and bring back their youngest brother.

And eventually, when he sees his youngest brother, Joseph is overcome with emotion and he can't contain himself any longer.

He reveals himself to his brothers who are stunned in silence.

But in their reunion, Joseph chooses reconciliation over revenge.

In fact, he tells them, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here.

For God sent me.

God sent me before you to preserve life.

He sends his brothers back to their father to move their entire family to Egypt because there are five more years of famine ahead, and he wants them to be closer and he can provide for them.

You see how Joseph's story has so many twists and turns almost more than any other in the Bible.

It's a story filled with pain, intrigue, shame, triumph, and eventually reconciliation.

But all through it is Joseph's faithfulness and God's vision for the world.

Here comes that dreamer.

Yes, Joseph, the dreamer.

But I think his dreaming is more than just what runs through his mind while he sleeps.

Or because he is able to interpret the dreams of others.

He's a dreamer because he sees the world as it can be, not just as it is.

You see, dreamers refuse to accept the world as it is.

Dreamers see the world as it can be.

Dreamers are the ones who find possibility.

Joseph is a dreamer.

Joseph accepts the reality of the famine, but sees a possibility where all may be fed and survive by sharing and placing the needs of the whole above all.

He accepts the reality of his brother's wrongs, but he dreams of the possibility beyond revenge and hate.

He dreams of a possibility where he can offer grace.

That kind of dreaming isn't simple and easy.

It takes more than falling asleep and letting your mind wander.

It takes an understanding grounded in faith.

It's seeing the world the way God sees it.

That kind of dreaming requires sacrifice.

Giving up what you've earned or what you're owed.

Joseph asked the people to give a portion of their crops to benefit everyone.

And he had to go out, he had to go away from the revenge that he was owed from his brothers and the retribution that he's earned.

Here comes that dreamer.

These kinds of dreams are risky.

Because the rest of the world doesn't always see these kinds of possibilities.

For Joseph, Pharaoh could have ignored his warnings.

Or the people could have revolted and not allowed their crops to be taken and stored.

Or his brothers could have continued to cover up their crimes and tried to defend themselves.

Joseph has to trust that the way of God is better.

And that following these dreams will lead them all closer to God's vision for their life, for the world.

I think we often assume dreamers aren't being realistic.

Dreamers ignore truth or facts.

We think of dreaming and being realistic as opposites.

The opposite is a cynic.

One who expects the worst of everyone.

One who expects the worst of everything and has no hope that anything can be different.

Dreamers see possibilities and hope that some things can change.

Now you all know I wrestle with my own tendency towards cynicism.

But I want to be a dreamer.

I want to look for new possibilities.

I want to see the world differently.

Believe in God's vision so deeply that I'll chase after it, even if I look foolish to people, even if others will say, here comes that dreamer.

What might your dreams be?

Is it reconciliation with someone who's wronged you?

Or someone you've wronged?

Or if reconciliation is no longer possible, is it at least the internal spiritual journey to give and receive forgiveness, to choose grace above all?

Is your dream to discover something beyond what you've earned or what you're owed?

To dream of what you can give and share and create.

With beauty and love and connection and grace.

May you be so filled with God's love and faithfulness that you see beyond the world as it is.

And dream of all that is possible.

May the world see you coming and say, here comes that dream.

Amen.