Many of you have already been to Great Plains Theatre’s excellent production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The script does not bring out the theological aspects of the story, but they are still there, just beneath the surface.

Frederick Buechner has a witty, concise, and enjoyable summary of the story of Joseph and his brothers that you can read in full here. Here’s his conclusion:

“Almost as much as it is the story of how Israel was saved from famine and extinction, it is the story of how Joseph was saved as a human being. It would be interesting to know which of the two achievements cost God the greater effort and which was the one he was prouder of.” [2]

Joseph’s individual salvation was intertwined with God’s plan to save the people of Israel. God’s deliverance of the people of Israel was ultimately for the sake of all the world. Both were saved that others might be saved; both were blessed that they might be a blessing. How can we not see that the same is true of each of us? [3]

[1] I’m biased because Liz is in the production as Rachel, but even so, this is an excellent production.
[2] Frederick Buechner, “Joseph and His Brethren,” frederickbuechner.com, August 16, 2019, https://bit.ly/2YT6AiZ.
[3] The alternate title of this post would have been “Save the cheerleader, save the world.” But I thought that might be too obscure a Heroes reference.