IT’S GREAT to be back with you here at The Bridge.

It’s been a little while since I was last here and I’m pleased to report that there is now less of me to look at-as I’ve lost one stone seven pounds in weight, after I was challenged to do so following a piece I wrote in one of my weekly columns for the Hinckley Herald and Journal.

Just before Christmas I wrote a column saying that I wanted to lose some weight but asking what was the point before all the eating and drinking of the festive season?

And, a week later, a comment appeared on a blog I write for The Hinckley Times website saying, ‘no this is a great time to try and do that and I challenge you to come along to our slimming group and we challenge you to lose a pound a week and then, if you want to leave that’s fine but at least come and have a go.’

Well, they may be regretting having asked me because I’m still going each Wednesday, seven months on.

The only problem is that my Sister has been encouraging me in this-which is great-but she’s decided she’s going to buy me gym membership and I know that’s a good thing but, as you can tell, I’ve still got a way to go on the old weight loss front and I’m a bit concerned that I’m going to feel self-conscious at the gym and, perhaps, envious of those with better physiques.

Which brings me to what I’m talking about tonight.

Families at war and the destructive power of envy.

So, let’s take a look at our Bible passage.

We’re looking at Genesis 37:1-4.

It says: ‘Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.

Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report of them.’

‘Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him.’

‘When his brothers saw that he loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.’

So, here, in just a few short passages, we have a number of factors at play:

favouritism, arrogance, envy-the seeds, which, as we know, would lead, later in the chapter, to a serious set of events, including the attempted murder of Joseph by his brothers-as they sought to act on their envy and their feelings of hurt and jealousy.

Now, I’ve long-since been a fan of the West End musical version of this story, ‘Joseph and His Amazing technicolour dreamcoat,’ and in it the lead character-recently played by Lee Mead who won a BBC talent search for someone to play Joseph-sings the lines:

“I look handsome, I look smart. I am a walking work of art.”

So, at this point, I begin to have some sympathy with the brothers; Joseph sounds like the kind of cocksure guy you may feel like punching.

His dad separates him out, by giving him this shiny, colourful coat-he marks Joseph out as his favourite child, places him on a pedestal above the rest.

And this isn’t artistic license from the producers of a musical.

We’re told that, as a youngster, Joseph was overconfident.

His natural self-assurance, increased by being Jacob’s favourite son and knowing of God’s designs on his life, was unbearable to his ten older brothers who, eventually, conspired against him.

His self-assurance might have seemed like arrogance, but in fact self belief and his belief in God was absolutely what he needed for the many challenges he was to later face and which you’ll get to hear about in coming weeks here at The Bridge.

But all that the brothers could see was their own jealousy and envy.

Envy of what they perceived to be the extra attention being given to Joseph by their father, and jealousy of the beautiful coat he was given.

So, what of the coat?

In Joseph’s day everyone had a robe or cloak.

Robes were used for warmth, to bundle up belongings for a trip, to wrap babies, to sit on, or even to serve as security for a loan.

Most robes were knee-length, short-sleeved and plain-according to the New International version of The Bible.

In contrast, Joseph’s robe was probably of the kind worn by royalty.

So, I was trying to think what would be a modern-day equivalent?

So, with, as is self-evident, fashion not being my thing I went on Twitter and asked for some examples of fine modern coat makers and I’m told that examples include:

Hackett, Gieves and Hawkes and Burberry.

I’ll take their word on that!

Joseph’s coat was long-sleeved, ankle length, and colourful.

The robe, in of itself, wasn’t important, it was what it represented that mattered.

It was a potent symbol of Jacob’s favouritism toward Joseph, and it aggravated the already strained relations between Joseph and his brothers.

Favouritism in families may, perhaps, be unavoidable, but we must always seek to minimise what can be its divisive and destructive impact.

I’m very aware that I’m giving this talk about warring brothers and envy at the end of a week which has seen one of the worst acts of indiscriminate mass murder in the recent history of this country and, if reports are to be believed, its root cause may be found in the envy of a brother for the wealth and relative luxury of his sibling’s lifestyle-a sibling that was to become his first victim.

And, without wanting to be too political, who can be surprised-in terms of our wider society-that there is envy when, despite the alleged efforts of successive Governments, the gap between the richest and the poorest in this country is wider than ever, when our banks have been saved by public money but their bosses get multi-million pound bonuses, and when, according to official figures, social mobility in this country-that’s the help and chances given to enable those at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale to make it up the ladder-is all but stagnant?

Maybe we’ve not learned the lessons provided by Joseph and his brothers.

I’m itching to look at the rest of Joseph’s story with you-but I know there’s more on that to come in future weeks.

Joseph’s brothers, in this passage, show that tempers can run high when our feelings are hurt, especially by those closest to us.

All they could see was the alleged snub by their father, a cocky younger brother, and no apparent recognition for their efforts.

It is, to a greater or lesser extent, something we’ve all felt-undervalued, under-appreciated, unloved.

Let down by those who are supposed to care for us the most.

But what Joseph’s brothers failed to see-at this point at least-was the bigger picture.

They didn’t;t seem to realise that God had a plan for Joseph-and instead of embracing that, as they came to do much later, and giving Joseph all the love and support he needed on his journey-the green-eyed monster reared its ugly head and all that filled their minds and hearts were feelings of jealousy and loathing.

If we spend our lives consumed by feelings of inadequacy, of envy, of jealousy and loathing then we fail to fully appreciate our own God-given talents and abilities; to understand our own path.

Yes, some people get called to do great things for God-to lead nations, to head-up missions, etc-and some get called to do smaller things-small kindnesses-but to God each of these is equally important.

Joseph’s brothers deep jealousy drove a wedge between them and their brother.

But we are meant to live in unity together-God made us in His own image and, as congregations up and down the land heard last week, God is himself in unity-three in one; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

He loves us whatever our background and, if we seek His love and forgiveness, whatever we’ve done.

And, remember, if , as sadly sometimes happens, relations with those we love most do break down, God is always there for us-his precious children.

Ready to lift us into His loving arms.

So, how to sum-up the meaning of these opening verses of this dramatic, amazing story?

I think the over-riding lesson is that jealousy can be difficult to recognise because our reasons for it seem to make sense.

But, left unchecked, jealousy grows quickly and can lead us to do really bad things.

The longer we hold on to jealous feelings the harder it is to loosen ourselves from them.

The time, then, to deal with jealousy is when we notice ourselves having jealous thoughts towards others.

We have no need to be jealous of others-of their looks, or their intelligence, of their wealth or their relationships.

In closing, I’m reminded of the chorus of that great song of Delirious’ ‘Majesty.’

It says: ‘Majesty, majesty. Your grace has found me just as I am, empty handed but alive in your hands.’

In other words, even if we come to God empty-handed we are rich in His love.

May we remember that when times get tough.

May we remember that God has a plan for each of us.

And, may we love our families-even our sometimes annoying younger brothers.

God Bless.