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Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Anyone know the musical? Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice. Who’s seen the 1999 film version with Donny Osmond as Joseph? I watched it for the first time last week. It was a whole thing! So, the musical is based on the story from the book of Genesis where Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers. Joseph becomes a steward for one of the potiphars, one of the captains of the king’s guard. Joseph rises to power and eventually the Pharaoh makes him governor of Egypt. 

While Joseph is governor, there is a widespread famine in the land. Back home, Joseph’s family is starving. The brothers make their way to Egypt because they’ve heard there’s food there. They wind up begging for food from Joseph, not recognizing him as the very brother they sold.

“Come closer to me,” Joseph says to them, and they lean in closer. 

‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt,” he says. 

“Do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here,” he continues (interesting); “for God sent me before you to preserve life.”

“Go, go, go, Joseph” is one of my favourite songs from that musical. It goes a little something like this: Go, go, go Joseph, you know what they say/Hang on now Joseph, you’ll make it some day/Don’t give up Joseph, fight till you drop/We’ve read the book and you come out on top

Shall we have a singalong? We know the words, yeah?

Go, go, go Joseph, you know what they say/Hang on now Joseph, you’ll make it some day/Don’t give up Joseph, fight till you drop/We’ve read the book and you come out on top

Despite being tossed down, beaten up, thrown to the bottom, Joseph rises to the top. 
And, Joseph goes on to tell his brothers (and the readers of his story, really) how God cares deeply for the hungry—for those who experience famine. Though the brothers acted with cruelty towards their brother, their brother will act with compassion towards them. The message of the Joseph story (and really of the Gospels, too) is this: While human beings are busy in the present concocting all kinds of evil, God is at work preparing a place for love to come out on top. 

There are a couple of things I want to say about the Joseph story this morning; the first is about famine. Amanda Ruston, she’s a priest in this diocese currently working out of St James in the downtown eastside. Last week, Amanda wrote an entry for a blog called the Wild Lectionary. She was talking about the different types of famine. She wrote: “In our world today, there are many places where famine is an actual, literal thing. Christians have always made it a priority to follow Jesus’ teaching to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick. But there are other kinds of famine, too. In the Western world especially, there is a widespread famine of compassion - a spreading, darkening apathy that threatens to turn human hearts into withering grass. Christians are called to be witnesses to Christ’s love in this - and other kinds - of spiritual famine, too.”

In the Western world especially, there is a widespread famine of compassion - a spreading, darkening apathy that threatens to turn human hearts into withering grass. Christians are called to be witnesses to Christ’s love in this - and other kinds - of spiritual famine, too.

Joseph’s care for his brothers, God’s care for Joseph’s family, this was God and God’s people attending to a famine of compassion inasmuch as it was them attending to a famine of the literal sort. How much more, then, as Christians, who claim to follow Jesus who embodied this compassionate God in human skin, how much more ought we to attend to the literal as well as the famines of compassion in our world today?

First, the literal famines. I get asked a lot as a priest what kind of work we’re doing in the world to strengthen food security in countries where there are widespread food shortages. We’re very lucky in the Anglican Church of Canada to have one of the best relief and development organizations in the world. It’s called Alongside Hope (formerly the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund). I want to make a point today of thanking those of you who donate your time and money to Alongside Hope. It goes a long way in helping with literal famines. Here’s an example: “Many people in developing countries rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. Climate change can disrupt traditional farming practices, leading to reduced crop yields, livestock losses and decreased income, as well as reduced food security. Climate change and food insecurity can lead to ecosystem degradation and loss of biodiversity. Implementing food security and climate change projects in developing countries is crucial as these initiatives address interconnected challenges that have far-reaching implications for both local communities and the global population.”

“By implementing projects that promote sustainable land use, water management and conservation, communities can protect their natural resources for future generations. Food security and climate change projects can help build resilience and provide alternative livelihood options. They focus on adaptation strategies to help communities cope with changing environmental conditions. This may include introducing climate-resilient crop varieties, implementing water conservation practices, and adopting sustainable land management techniques.”

“In South Sudan, people are returning home following years of conflict. [A recent Alongside Hope project called] Improving Food Security and Livelihoods of Crisis-Affected People in Yei County, South Sudan is supporting returnees as well as members of the host community with agricultural training and farming inputs.”

To date, “200 small-scale farmers (150 women and 50 men) participated in vocational training for livelihood diversification;1,000 returnee households received monthly cash transfers of $130 for four months to assist them in re-establishing their livelihoods . . . . Seeds and tools were distributed to 3,000 households [including] . . . Vegetable seeds: 100 kg of okra, 20 kg of tomato, 20 kg of onion, 20 kg of amaranth, 20 kg of cabbage, 20 kg of eggplant and 20 kg of collard; Crop and cereal seeds: 9 metric tonnes of sorghum, 15 MT of maize, 6 MT of beans; Farming Tools: 3,000 weeding hoes, 3,000 of hand hoes, 30 pedal pumps for irrigation and 2 power tillers; and 430 farmers (190 women, 240 men) participated in training on off-season growing techniques; compost use; integrated pest management; post-harvest methods; seed preservation; conservation agriculture; mulching; and crop rotation techniques.”

Even while famine as a result of years of conflict and climate change devastation, even while this was taking place, God, working through the people of Sudan in partnership with Anglicans around the world, God has been preparing a place for love to come out on top.

Here’s another example, closer to home. A couple of weeks ago, we received an email from Rose Conway, the Community Engagement Coordinator at the Harvest Project on the North Shore. She wanted to thank Deacon Peggy and the people of St Clement’s for the donations we gathered over Thanksgiving which were brought to the Harvest Project in support of the hundreds of people each month who access one-to-one client-coaching and active-listening, a rent bank, a grocery-support program, clothing supports, assistance for workforce re-entry, food-recovery and redistribution. And, at the bottom of the email was an invitation to come for a tour of the Harvest Project sometime in the next year. I wrote back to Rose and said we’d love to. When we find a date, I hope you’ll join me. 

And, now, the famine of compassion. I think Amanda’s right: the famine of compassion is a widespread spiritual famine in the Western World. Last week in her sermon, Peggy introduced us to the phrase “Bring your real to the meal”. She offered it as a motto for family dinners, for gatherings with friends or colleagues where we maybe too often put on a mask to hide what’s really going on in our lives. Peggy offered the phrase as well as an invitation to the Eucharist, to bring your real to the communion meal we share every week here at St Clement’s. Come as you who you really are. All of you is welcome. 

As we celebrate in the year ahead the completion of our kitchen renovation, as we consider how we can attend to the famine of compassion in our world today, I’d like to suggest that we declare 2025 a year of food and hospitality renewal at St Clement’s. A year where we focus specially on bringing our real to the meal. Because this is a place both upstairs and downstairs where we have the opportunity to extend and receive uncommon warmth, a place where we have the opportunity through the breaking of bread with others to offer ourselves as the compassionate, loving body of Christ broken and shared for the world.

My charge to you on this Vestry Sunday is this: consider prayerfully where you will bring your ‘real to the meal’ this next year at St Clement’s. What event will you host in our new kitchen? Will you offer cooking classes with refugees? Will you host a fabulous wedding anniversary party and invite the whole congregation? Will you host a Lunar New Year celebration open to the neighbourhood? 

And, how will you bring your real to the meal at this Eucharist table? Will you sing with the choir? Or, try a reading? How about a new volunteer role that may very well stretch beyond your comfort zone? How about inviting a friend to church? In the year 2025, let’s bring our ‘real to the meal.’ In the face of a world where there exists a spreading, darkening apathy that threatens to turn human hearts into withering grass, let’s fight till we drop. ‘Cause we’ve read the book, and we know God’s way of love always comes out on top. Amen.