Have you ever noticed how many Disney movies have siblings who don’t get along? Everything from the Lion King to Cinderella to Frozen, there are stories of siblings who are opposed to each other. Ever since the story of Cain and Abel in the Bible, the stories of siblings at war with each other have captured our imagination. I imagine these stories hold a special sway for us because they are relatable for so many of us and yet, at the same time, they go against the ideal. Many of us have experienced conflict with our siblings, but we are also aware of the idyllic relationship that is supposed to exist between siblings.
Today, as we continue our journey through the stories of the forefathers of our faith, we come across another dysfunctional family dynamic with sibling rivalry at its core. We’ve had the stories of Isaac and Ishmael, and of Jacob and Esau, and now we get this story (Genesis 37:1-28) of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph dreams of one day being more important than his brothers and his parents, and is delighted to tell the rest of the family all about those dreams.
When I look at this story, there are two things that strike me quite strongly. One is the overt show of favouritism shown toward Joseph. His father, Jacob, fell in love with Rachel, but was tricked into marrying her sister Leah, and then had to work another seven years to earn Rachel’s hand in marriage. In his efforts to produce an heir, Jacob has had sons via two concubines, and then by Leah and then finally by Rachel. So although Joseph is one of the youngest, he is the first born son of his most beloved wife. You can understand why Joseph is Jacob’s favourite. You would think that Jacob would know better, having grown up in a family where there were definite displays of favouritism: he was obviously his mother’s favourite, while his brother, Esau, was their father’s favourite. And those overt displays of favouritism led to all sorts of strife. But Jacob has a favourite son, the firstborn of his one truly beloved wife, Rachel, and he lets it show.
The other thing that strikes me in this story is just how oblivious Jospeh is. The way this story is told, he seems to have no idea that his brothers hold any sort of animosity toward him; he has no problem in telling them all his dreams about being more important than the rest of them. There’s a certain naïve ignorance and lack of empathy in Joseph as he does this.
But then, this isn’t that surprising. Often those of us in favoured positions don’t recognise it. Those of us in favoured positions often assume that that’s just the way it is. Historically, it was just assumed as normal that a black person should be a slave. It wasn’t that white people were privileged; it’s just the way things were. Rudyard Kipling even wrote about the burden of being white, having to look after all the people of colour. Likewise, it was normal that a woman couldn’t be in leadership. Being male wasn’t considered a privilege; it was a burden to have to lead. It was normal that aboriginal people weren’t considered citizens; and it was the burden of the European settlers to look after them. Do you see how those in privileged positions have refused to acknowledge that privilege? And if you were to try to disrupt this status quo, you were considered a radical. You were upsetting the way things are supposed to be. What’s more you’re just making life more difficult for those who need to be looked after: people of colour, women, etc.
Or worse, if it’s assumed that your favoured position is entirely just and fair, then any attempt to redress an imbalance is seen as showing favouritism to certain groups. When we see efforts to redress imbalance, then sometimes it feels like favouritism, especially if we are part of the privileged ones. For example, when gender quotas get introduced, the complaint often goes up that they should just get the best person for the job no matter what their gender, without realising how often it’s subconsciously assumed that the best person for the job will be male.
Several experiments have been done where employers were given identical resumes with only the name at the top being changed, and it was shown that most employers subconsciously favour male applicants, especially those with English-sounding names. The resumes might be otherwise identical, but someone called Anthony is more likely to get an interview than someone called Yindi.
Why is this relevant to us? Well, as the Christian church in Australia, we have had a favoured position in society. I occasionally hear Christians expressing everything from disappointment through to outrage when our favoured position in society is challenged. Some fellow Christians will get upset by Sunday sport or Sunday trading because Sunday should be for church; or by aussie rules being played on Good Friday; or when it’s suggested that Christian schools shouldn’t get as much government funding; or that schools no longer have Christian prayers as part of their assemblies; or when legislation prevents Christian organisations from discriminating; and I have to wonder about our assumed privilege.
In our other reading for today (Romans 10:12-15), we heard these words from the apostle Paul: For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It might be tempting to then say, based on this, that we should treat all people the same. And yet, Paul spent the entirety of his ministry sharing the good news of Jesus with non-Jews. He says there is no distinction in God between Jew and Greek, but he spent a lot more time and energy on the Greeks than the Jews; he showed favouritism. Why? Because the Jews were already hearing the story of Jesus.
The way that Paul dedicates his ministry to the Gentiles looks like favouritism and indeed, Paul was accused of showing favouritism, but when you see that one group is already in a favoured position, you see that it’s simply addressing the imbalance that exists. In the ministry of Jesus, we see that Jesus was also criticised for showing favouritism: for spending too much time and energy on sinners and tax collectors, people who didn’t deserve it. But these were the people who most needed that love from Jesus.
Later this year, we have a referendum coming and already I have heard some people talking about it as favouritism: that it is embedding one group as favoured over others. When you’re in a privileged position, then attempts to redress that imbalance can seem like favouritism.
What might it mean for us to recognise the different ways in which we are privileged and favoured? Rather than being like Joseph, assuming that our favoured position is just natural, or being unaware of our privileged positions, what might it mean instead for us to follow the way of Paul, the way of Jesus, to redress the imbalance, and to show our love particularly to those who need it?
Amen.