“The Blessing of Reconciliation (Genesis 45:16 - 47:28)” | 8/22/2021
Genesis 45:16 - 47:28 | 8/22/21 | Will DuVal
I was moved this week reading the story of two friends - Andrew and Callixte - in the tiny village of Murambi, Rwanda. They work side by side every day in the coffee fields, their families share meals together, they even co-pastor the village church; Andrew preaches and Callixte leads music. But what makes their story so remarkable is that 27 years ago, Callixte murdered half of Andrew’s family. In 1994, when genocide broke out in Rwanda for 100 bloody days, Andrew managed to hide his ethnic minority Tutsi wife, but he couldn’t save her family, and Callixte led a gang of Hutu neighbors who slaughtered her parents, siblings, cousins, along with half the village.
We spent the last two Sundays in the book of Genesis dissecting the power of forgiveness, by looking at the life of Joseph. Forgiveness is POWERFUL, and it’s HARD. But RECONCILIATION? Now that is even harder.
Remember: forgiveness is letting go of past offenses; reconciliation is moving forward into a new future with one’s offender.
Forgiveness means putting down the gavel, when you have every right to sentence your offender; but reconciliation means taking off your judicial robes, leaving the courtroom arm-in-arm, and taking your offender out for LUNCH!
It takes power to forgive. It takes supernatural power to reconcile.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a single word that epitomizes the gospel - the good news of the Christian faith - better than the word “reconciliation”: “to bring into harmony or agreement; to restore; to win over to friendliness”; Ephesians 2 reminds us that “you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following [SATAN!]... by nature children of wrath, [enemies of God]... But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us… made us alive together with Christ (He “won us OVER to friendliness”) - by grace you have been saved” (vv1-5); you have been RECONCILED. “For our sake God made JESUS to be sin though he knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21) THAT is the gospel; that sinners like you and me, can be reconciled to a holy God, through Jesus’ substitutionary atoning death in our place.
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2 Corinthians 5 explains that “God - through Christ - reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling[c] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
All of us who are IN Christ this morning have been eternally, irrevocably reconciled TO God the Father, THROUGH Jesus His Son, BY the Holy Spirit, SO THAT we might exercise the ministry of reconciliation - convey the message of reconciliation - to OTHERS who are still far off, separated from God by their sins. Brothers and sisters: we are reconciled Reconcilers. That’s who we are; that’s why we’re here.
Because reconciliation, while it’s DIFFICULT, though it requires supernatural power; it also BRINGS supernatural power too; the power to heal, to restore. Vertically, most importantly: to mend our otherwise severed-by-sin relationship with God. But as we’re going to see this morning, reconciliation ALSO holds the power to repair our horizontal relationships as well, with one another. And specifically, we’re going to observe the manifold BLESSINGS associated with reconciliation, as we exposit Genesis chapters 45-47 together. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn there with me; if you DON’T have a Bible, we’d love to bless you with one, at the Info Bar.
LAST week we saw Joseph finally let GO of his past hurts and grievances, and forgive his older brothers who had 22 years prior sold him into slavery in Egypt. And this morning, Joseph will not only forgive the past, but reconcile and repair those relationships going forward. And enjoy the BLESSINGS that accompany that. SIX blessings, to be exact.
But before we dive in, let’s go to the Lord together again in prayer...
#1 - The first blessing that accompanies reconciliation, is the Blessing of AFFLUENCE (45:16-23; 46:31-47:6; 47:11-28). Wealth. Prosperity.
Now, if you’re newer to West Hills, before you get nervous that I’m about to ask you to “sow your seed of faith” then fly off in my private jet, let me assure you: this is NOT that kind of church. I keep it VERY coach. But the Bible does actually have quite a bit to say about prosperity. And specifically, how often it goes hand in hand with living in right relationship with OTHERS.
Proverbs 11:24 “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.”
Take care of others, and God will take care of you.
Proverbs 28:25, same idea: “A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched.”
While it’s true that sometimes folks get ahead in life by being cutthroat and stepping on their competition to climb their way to the top, more often than not, the people and companies that tend to experience the MOST success are the ones who VALUE people and learn to work TOGETHER, with them. That’s who YOU wanna do business with, isn’t it?
Truth be told, I don’t know anything about business; but I have played a lot of Settlers of Catan in my day. And I’ve learned that the longer I can keep up the charade of being a really NICE guy, who offers mutually beneficial trades to all my opponents, and DELAY their realization that I’m beating everybody and they should probably all be ganging UP on me - the better! Because affluence and success tend to follow good relationships.
That was certainly the case for Joseph’s family. They were STARVING in Canaan during the famine, until they reconciled with Joseph. We pick the story back up in ch45, v16:
“When the report was heard in Pharaoh's house, “Joseph's brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, 18 and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ ...Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20 Have no concern for[a] your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’””
V21: “and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. 22 To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels[b] of silver and five changes of clothes. 23 To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey.”
Boy, sometimes it PAYS to be nice, doesn’t it? To reconcile? To live in good relationship with others. Especially when that “other” is the #2 in command of the most affluent nation, the ONLY nation with any food left in the region - that’s a guy you want on your side!
And Joseph IS. He has not only forgiven the past; he’s now ADVOCATING for his family; flip ahead to ch46 now (we’ll jump around a bit tracing these 6 blessings thematically):
Ch46, v31: “Joseph said, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father's household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 And the men are shepherds… v34: in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen”.
Goshen was located on the northeastern edge of the Nile River delta; even amidst famine and drought, it would have remained the most fertile and graze-able land for livestock; it was PRIME real estate, if you were a shepherd.
So ch47 now, Joseph’s family went and “They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land… please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” v5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph... “The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and - NOT ONLY THAT! But… - if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of MY livestock.””
Not only does Joseph’s family secure the best real estate in Egypt; they get put directly in charge of the personal livestock of Pharaoh’s himself. Why?
Because “they know a guy”. They got friends in high places. Really, they KNEW him all along; they just needed to RECOGNIZE it was Joseph, and be RECONCILED to him.
Last section, vv13-28 of ch47; we’re not gonna read it all, but suffice it to say, not only did Joseph’s family prosper through their renewed relationship with him; but so did PHARAOH. Ch47 describes how savvy Joseph used the famine to acquire for Pharaoh all the MONEY in Egypt (v14), all the LIVESTOCK in Egypt (v16), all the LAND in Egypt (v20), and finally, the indentured servitude of all the PEOPLE of Egypt (v21). Man, if you thought OUR government had gotten too big, too much centralized power; Pharaoh owned it ALL! And it’s all because of Joseph.
So v27 concludes: “Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.”
It is GOOD to make friends - to be reconciled - especially with those whom God has blessed. If you are struggling financially, this morning, I’m not gonna tell you to give your last “widow’s mite” to the church, and PREY on the poor like the Pharisees did. But I will encourage you to go find a friend like Joseph!
Proverbs 19:4 says “Wealth brings many new friends” - any lottery winners here? Friends and VERY extended family just start coming out of the woodworks, don’t they? It’s amazing how much RECONCILIATION a lottery can cause. But on the other side of the coin, if God has blessed YOU, it’s so that you can be a blessing to OTHERS: 1 Timothy 6 exhorts us: “As for the rich in this present age… They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.” And the church is a great vehicle for that. We take cash, check, credit, Venmo… Bitcoin, Mark? We’ll make it work. :)
#2 - Reconciliation produces the Blessing of ACCORD (45:24; 46:5-27). “proper relationship; harmony; agreement”, accord.
Back to ch45, v24: When Joseph “sent his brothers away - back home to Canaan to bring his father Jacob - and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.””
Now, remember a few weeks ago we talked about the 4 different ways to interpret any passage of Scripture? Well, a past-practical reading of this verse simply reveals that Joseph cared deeply about maintaining harmony between his brothers here. Now that he has been reconciled with them, he says, “We’re turning over a new leaf as a family: no more sibling rivalry; no more back-biting and animosity; can’t we all just get along?!”
But I also want to remind you here about the PROPHETIC dimension to the story as well; Jesus said ALL Scripture points us to HIM. So this story foreshadows JESUS. HE is the better JOSEPH. So think about it: who does that make JOSEPH’S BROTHERS? Those sinners who desperately needed his mercy and grace? That’s US, right?! You and me - brothers and sisters of our forgiving, reconciling Savior!
So I love the practical takeaway for US: here’s Joseph, the Christ-figure saying, “Now that we’re reconciled, I’m sending you out, but while you are away from me, until you all stand before me again one day, I want you to remain UNIFIED. No divisiveness; don’t quarrel.
You remember Jesus’ last prayer, in the Upper Room, before he went to the cross? What did he pray, for his followers? “That they may be one - Father - even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me...” (Jn 17:22-23)
Church - do you know that our UNITY is the strongest TESTIMONY, the single greatest WITNESS that we have, collectively, in this fallen world? When people see Republicans and Democrats, whites and blacks, rich and poor, St. Louis County and City - and every other identity politics marker that the world wants to LABEL us with to try and divide us, when they see us instead coming TOGETHER every Sunday around the cross of Jesus, the world is forced to ask: “What IDENTITY marker is holding THAT group together, that’s stronger than politics, stronger than race, and socio-economic status, and geography - and the ONLY answer is our common identity in CHRIST!”
Our accord. Psalm 133:1 declares “how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”
By contrast, there’s nothing SADDER, than when someone leaves the church because they REFUSE to reconcile, and remain unified. When they actually admit, to the pastor, that their reason for leaving is: “we had a little falling out with another couple in our life group, and now it’s just kinda awkward on Sundays”. You know how I respond to that? I ask, “So when you have an argument with your SPOUSE, your PARENTS, your KIDS, is your solution to just go find another FAMILY? Cuz you know the Church is supposed to be your spiritual FAMILY, right? That’s how the Bible refers to us...?
Or do they not have SINNERS at this new church you’re headed to?
Friends, Jesus is just abundantly clear on this one: “if you are offering your gift at the altar - worshipping at church - and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be - WHAT? - reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
I spoke with one of y’all just this past week - kudos to her, cuz she’s only been at the church a few months now - but she’s starting to get plugged in, serving, and kinda got rubbed the wrong way by a conversation with another volunteer here, and she wanted my advice: “Should I just switch ministries that I serve in?” Again, props for not just leaving the church altogether; it’s so sad that that’s how LOW we’ve set the bar… But I told her: “Listen: whether you continue serving in that ministry or NOT, I think it’s just a good rule of thumb to try and minimize the number of people you feel like you want to AVOID in the church foyer on Sunday mornings.”
“If you have something against your brother or sister, if they have something against you, go and be RECONCILED.” And we’ve got good folks here - most of us aren’t gonna bite your head off for it; they’ll probably actually THANK you for coming to them.
Romans 12:16-18 “Live in harmony with one another… So far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” By the way, that’s good advice NOT just for the CHURCH family.
Let me ask you: Who do you need to be reconciled with this morning? Life really is better, isn’t it - It’s a BLESSING - when your relationships are in accord. I can think of THREE people in my life, well, no LONGER in my life, who if they ran into me in the grocery store, would ignore me, walk right past me without a word. And I don’t LIKE that. In fact, if I think about it long enough, it’ll cause me to lose sleep. In all 3 cases, I’ve tried reaching out to them, but you know what: that’s why Scripture says, “So far as it depends on YOU”; I have to make peace with the fact that it’s NOT all up to me. Relationships are a 2-way street. Sometimes all you can do is attempt to reconcile, and then pray that God would soften the other person’s heart. And I said THIS last week, but it bears repeating: not every relationship CAN be reconciled. SHOULD be reconciled. If it was broken by their sin, and they aren’t REPENTANT and remorseful, ready to try and change, then you can still forgive them, but not have a relationship moving forward. At least not in the same way; you’re gonna have to establish new boundaries for the relationship.
We’re not gonna read ch46, vv5-27; it’s a genealogical record of all 70 people that Jacob brought down with him to Egypt. But the emphasis once again is on family UNITY. They’re all headed to Egypt to be one big happy family again, finally, with Joseph and his family there. And it’s a beautiful thing. A blessing.
#3 - The Blessing of ANTICIPATION (45:25-28)
We won’t camp out long here; just 4 verses. But it is one of the SWEETER sections in these chapters - look at ch45, vv25-28 with me: this is after Joseph sends his brothers back to Canaan: “So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.””
Can you IMAGINE, thinking your child was dead for TWENTY-TWO years, and then discovering that he’s still ALIVE?! The kind of LIFE that must have breathed into Jacob’s poor, old, downcast spirit? Remember: he’s been mourning for twenty-two years; way back in ch37, after his sons LIED to him and told him Joseph was killed, we heard “All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.””
I know some of you have lost children. Polly and I have suffered two miscarriages, and that was enough. I honestly don’t know how some of y’all do it. I don’t know if I could. I guess God would just have to give me the strength, day by day, as he does you. But I imagine the ONLY thing that would keep me going, if I lost one of my kids, is the HOPE, the anticipation, of REUNIFICATION. Of reconciliation, restored relationship. If the relationship was SEVERED, was broken by DEATH - the severest severing of ALL; it seems so final. But God’s word reminds us we do “not grieve as others do, who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” That’s a euphemism for DEATH. Don’t lose hope, even in DEATH. Because Christ DEFEATED death, to reconcile ALL things to himself.
#4 - How about the Blessing of ALIGNMENT w/ God (46:1-4)
Ch46, v1: “So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” 3 Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. 4 I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes.””
Jacob needed God’s blessing to go down to Egypt. Remember, his grandfather Abraham travelled there AGAINST God’s will, back in ch12, and it didn’t turn out so great. He came home with a maid-servant named HAGAR, and world history has never been the same since. Her son, Ishmael, would father the nation of Islam. So Jacob wants to know that HIS journey is in alignment with God’s will for his life.
I think it’s significant that this is the first time God has SPOKEN to Jacob in over 30 years. Since way back in ch35, before Benjamin was even born. But God honors Jacob’s desire here to seek the Lord’s will for his life, and moreover, God honors his desire to be reunited with his SON, Joseph. Because God loves reconciliation.
Reconciliation may not ALWAYS be God’s will for you, for EVERY relationship; but until that becomes really clear, it sure seems to be God’s default desire for his people:
Matthew 18:15 ““If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault… If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.”
Luke 17:3 “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him”
1 Corinthians 7:10 “a wife should… be reconciled to her husband”
Matthew 5:23 “be reconciled to your brother”
Colossians 3:13 “forgive each other; as the Lord has forgiven you”
Time and time again, God calls us not to hold grudges, but rather, to move TOWARD one another, because GOD didn’t hold OUR sin against US, but moved TOWARD us, in the person of JESUS. More often than not, that is his WILL for us.
#5 - Reconciliation leads to the Blessing of AFFECTION (46:28-30)
Again, just a few verses here, but it’s kind of the CLIMAX of the whole passage; ch46, vv29-30: “Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. 30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.””
“FINALLY, I can die in peace.” (Actually, Israel won’t DIE for another 17 years, but now, unlike MOST 130 year olds out there, Jacob’s last 17 will actually be the happiest years of his LIFE, because of his great AFFECTION for his son, Joseph.)
A few years ago, I had a BIG falling out with my sister. So big, she told me she never wanted to SPEAK to me again. And for a few months, she didn’t. I actually asked for y’all’s prayers from the pulpit, and I thank those of you who were here back then, who prayed. Because over time, God softened her heart toward me, and when we DID eventually reconcile, our relationship became TWICE as strong as before. Because there’s something special that happens, when you see someone at their WORST, and you realize: “I STILL want a relationship with you; the REAL you, warts and all. That’s how much I LOVE you. But you know what, I love you ENOUGH, to call you on your junk, your sin; and I’m gonna hope that YOU can still love ME enough, to LISTEN to the difficult things that I’ve got to say to you, and even if you don’t LIKE them, or even AGREE with them, I hope you love ME enough to want to RECONCILE and move towards one another again. I really believe you can only LOVE someone to the extent that you KNOW them. And like it or not, you really get to KNOW someone through CONFLICT, don’t you? And if you are BLESSED enough to come out the other side, reconciled, then my experience is that the relationship is usually strengthened, you grow in AFFECTION for one another, by working through strife together.
Lastly, #6 - reconciliation offers us the Blessing of ASSIGNMENT FROM God (47:7-10).
What in the world do I mean? Is this just another bad, forced pastoral alliteration, where I couldn’t bring myself to ruin the “A” pattern - affluence, accord, anticipation, alignment, affection… ASSIGNMENT?
Ch47, vv7-10: “Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.”
What in the world is going on here?
This is God fulfilling, through Jacob, His promise - God’s assignment, his CALLING - to Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham, from all the way back in Genesis ch12. Remember, God had promised, had covenanted, to make Abraham “a blessing… [so that] in you, ALL the families of the earth shall be blessed.”” (12:2-3) But so far, there hasn’t been a lot of blessing of FOREIGNERS, outsiders, going on:
Abraham was a CURSE to the Pharaoh HE encountered in Egypt.
He wasn’t much help to Sodom and Gomorrah.
He abandoned Hagar and HER family.
He was a curse to Abimelech.
So was Abraham’s SON, Isaac.
Then Isaac’s son, Jacob, caused trouble abroad in Paddan-aram, for Laban.
Then Jacob had a falling out with his brother, Esau, who became a whole different family / nation: the Edomites.
Then Jacob’s SONS, Simeon and Levi, slaughtered an entire VILLAGE of foreigners at Shechem.
So this “chosen family”, up until this point, hasn’t been too much of a BLESSING to the REST of the families on earth! But here, for the first time in the book of Genesis, just 3 chapters from the END, Jacob BLESSES Pharaoh.
And don’t miss THIS either: Hebrews 7:7 explains that “the inferior is blessed by the superior.” In other words: poor, hungry, decrepit old Jacob, the shepherd - ch46, v34 told us that shepherds were an “abomination to the Egyptians” - but here’s this starving, detestable old man, Jacob BLESSING the most powerful man in the world, Pharaoh. As his SUPERIOR. HOW?!
Simple: because Jacob knows God. So he says, “the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life”.
Sojourning? Seems like after 130 years you’d put down some ROOTS! But Jacob is subtly hinting here to Pharaoh that “[I] have no lasting city here; [I] seek the city that is to come. (Heb 13:14) Pharaoh: if you think 130 years is a long time, that ain’t NOTHING compared to the eternity that lies ahead of me! If you think 12 sons, dozens of grandkids, more livestock than you can count, and the best of the land of Goshen - if you think THAT’s the “good life”; Psshhh - that’s EVIL compared to the blessings that wait in store for me!”
Jacob is humble-bragging about how amazingly FAITHFUL his God has been and WILL be, for all eternity, to him.
And how’d he even get an AUDIENCE with Pharaoh? Reconciliation.
Do you realize the ONLY reason Jesus leaves us here on earth, Christian, is to witness to others? That’s our assignment, for the few, evil days that God leaves us here. Everything else - worshipping God, growing in your knowledge and love for him, building your Christian relationships - you’ll be able to do ALL of that, even more GLORIOUSLY, in Heaven one day. The only thing you CAN’T do in Heaven is invite DEAD people to a saving knowledge of Jesus.
So you and I need to ask ourselves this morning - have I let broken, estranged relationships get in the way of completing my assignment?
You can’t tell a sister you don’t talk to about Jesus.
You can’t show a step-father you refuse to visit the love of Jesus.
Listen - ALL of these blessings - all SIX - are now ours, eternally ours, in Christ:
Affluence? We’re now “co-heirs with Christ” to all the riches of HEAVEN (Rom 8:17)! 1 Corinthians 3:21 “all things are yours”!
Accord? We now experience harmonious relationship with almighty GOD because Jesus “made peace by the blood of his cross.” (Col 1:20); Romans 5:1 & 10 “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son… Therefore… we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom 5:1,10)
Anticipation? Because of Christ, we now get to WAIT for, HOPE for, life eternal in PARADISE: “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet 1:3)
Alignment w/ God’s Will? Not just his WILL; Christ has aligned us with God HIMSELF - 1 Corinthians 6:17, “he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. ”
Affection? “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? ...Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:35-39)
Assignment: “God - through Christ - reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling[c] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:18-19)
So brother, sister: will YOU be a reconciled Reconciler this week? Will YOU embrace your God-given assignment this week, the “ministry and message of reconciliation” you have been entrusted with?
“How will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?[c] And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Rom 10:14) Let’s pray...