Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, September 27, 2026
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: Joseph’s story parallels the story of many who are currently legally enslaved in the US. Through all his turmoil, God continued to bless Joseph and send people to intervene on his behalf.
Joseph’s story of imprisonment uncannily parallels the stories of many prison systems around the world today, most notably policing in the US. Educating parishioners and offering a God’s-eye view of what can be done might be an incredible opportunity for preachers willing to look at it and bold enough to preach it.
In the US “slave patrols” were created in the 1700s to hunt runaway slaves and put down rebellions. Once slavery was abolished, militia groups fought to deny equal rights to newly freed persons. In the 1900s, police were tasked with violently preventing Black people from breaking Jim Crow laws. Still today, Black men are incarcerated at a disproportionately high rate compared to their representation of the population.
Joseph was sold into slavery by his own jealous brothers. While he succeeded there, his master’s jealous wife falsely accused Joseph of attempted SA, and innocent Joseph was thrown into the King’s prison. This happens to far too many in the US as well. In the US slavery is still legal within the prison system.
All that happened to Joseph eventually led him to the highest station in the land where he saved countless lives. And as God continued to bless Joseph, God also placed in Joseph’s path people who were instrumental in all that happened to him. Joseph’s brothers sold him. His master made him responsible for the household. The master’s wife accused him. And we will later learn Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer intervened and alerted Pharaoh to Joseph’s fate and talent for interpreting dreams.
It's this last part that can challenge us; first, to acknowledge that what Joseph endured is still happening today in our own backyards, and second, to make an action plan for how to participate in intervening, as did Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer. God acted on behalf of Joseph through the actions of people. We too can either be people who remain complacent about the injustices that still occur, or we can be the people who intervene and stop such abuses of power.
How have God’s blessings that have been bestowed on you be used for the greater good.
