Genesis.45.3-15; The Seventh Sunday
after the Epiphany; February 24, 2019;
Life in Christ Lutheran Church,
Grand Marais, Minnesota;
And
Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his
brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. So
Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And
he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not
be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent
me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two
years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor
harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and
to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but
God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler
over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus
says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do
not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you
and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds,
and all that you have. There I will provide for you, for there are yet five
years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have,
do not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother
Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father
of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my
father down here.” Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and
Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them.
After that his brothers talked with him.” (Genesis 45:3–15, ESV)
Grace and peace to you from our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
There
is no doubt that forgiveness is at the center of our faith. All the creeds, the
Athanasian, the Apostles, and the Nicene, place forgiveness at the very center.
And our Lutheran confessions do the same. The Augsburg Confession Article IV states
very clearly:
Our churches teach that people
cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. People
are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that
they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for
Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. God counts
this faith for righteousness in His sight (Romans 3 and 4 [3:21–26; 4:5]). (AC:
I, art. iv, par. 2)
Because
of the Work of Jesus Christ for us, his active and passive obedience, his life
death and resurrection, his keeping all God’s commands perfectly, we have
forgiveness. It is forgiveness won for all people and given freely through faith.
St.
Paul especially tells us that forgiveness is needed within the family of
Christ.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones,
holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and
patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another,
forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect
harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you
were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And
whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:12–17, ESV)
Our
issue as sinful human beings is that we often want to hold God’s forgiveness
hostage to our own feelings and desires. We want to be in control of who is
forgiven and who is not forgiven. While God has indeed given the responsibility
to bind and forgive sins to the church, he expects Christians to forgive one
another freely. And to speak that forgiveness out loud. The church has the
responsibility to speak about forgiveness connected to faith. It effectively
says, because of your public actions your faith is in question and forgiveness
is connected to faith (But that’s a discussion for another time). For us,
Christians, forgiveness is a way of life. You’re not allowed to say things
like, “I can’t forgive you now, maybe later.” …as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. So just as
we have been freely justified, we are
to forgive not based on the strength,
merits, or works of those who sin against us.
Let’s
look at the case of Joseph. If anyone had a reason or a right to withhold
forgiveness it was Joseph. He was a dreamer, and he told his dreams to his
brothers and parents. His brothers hated him for his dreams that told them that
he would rule over them. That hatred went so far as to plot his murder. But his
oldest brother, Ruben, saved his life by suggesting that they sell him to a
caravan heading for Egypt. Joseph suffered many things because of his brothers.
In Potiphar’s house he was put in charge of the household. But Potiphar’s wife
had eyes for him and tried to seduce him. When he refused her, she accused him
of attempted rape and Potiphar through him in prison. In prison Joseph was
housed with the Baker and the cupbearer of the King of Egypt. When they had
dreams they couldn’t interpret, Joseph told them what the dreams meant. The baker
would be hanged, and the cupbearer would be returned to Pharaoh’s service. The
cupbearer promptly forgot Joseph’s interpretation. Joseph spent two more years
in prison, before the cupbearer remembered what Joseph had done for him. When Pharaoh
had a dream he couldn’t interpret the cupbearer brought Joseph’s gift to the
attention of Pharaoh. Joseph was brought before him and interpreted the dream.
Its meaning was that there would be seven years of feast, and seven years of
famine. Pharaoh believe Joseph and put him in charge of preparing for the
famine. All these things showed God’s hand in Joseph’s slavery. And yet, he was
still a slave sold by his brothers. Of course, they thought he was dead. So,
when they came to Egypt in search of food during the famine, they didn’t expect
to find Joseph in charge.
Now
the dreams that Joseph told to his brothers before they sold him had come to be
true. He was in control of all that would happen to them. He could have had
them killed. But instead he vows to take care of them during the famine. They
would come to Egypt and be protected under his authority. Their families would
be protected and live in the best land of Egypt. Joseph’s words tell of his
forgiveness:
And now do not be distressed or
angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to
preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there
are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God
sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive
for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has
made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the
land of Egypt.” (Genesis 45:5–8, ESV)
But
even more telling is what happens later when Jacob died. All the time that they
were in Egypt the brothers feared Joseph’s retaliation. They believed Joseph’s
anger was still, while their father was still alive. They come before Joseph
pleading forgiveness.
But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear,
for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but
God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive,
as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little
ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.” (Genesis 50:19–21,
ESV)
“… Am I in the place of God?”
Joseph reveals his understanding of forgiveness.
“Judge not, and you will not be
judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be
forgiven;” (Luke 6:37, ESV)
He
forgives his brothers great sin of plotting his death and selling him into
slavery. Just as he was forgiven his great sin. His arrogance and pride when he
told his brothers and his parents how he would be ruler over them and is great
many sins since. God had forgiven him, he could do no less for them.
Joseph
understood that forgiveness came from God. He was forgiven freely through
faith. Forgiveness flowed freely from God through him freely to his brothers.
He did not deserve forgiveness neither did they. But that is the nature of
God’s forgiveness. He gives it freely without any merit or worthiness on our
part.
For
our part, we are required to do the same. Our forgiveness flows freely from
Christ on the cross. Our sin is that we want to withhold that forgiveness from
other people. We want to receive forgiveness but withhold that same forgiveness
from those who sin against us until they show their repentance. We want them to
be worthy of the forgiveness we offer. In this, we show our lack of
understanding of what forgiveness is. We measure our sin as small and
forgivable, but the forgiveness of those who sin against us as large and
unforgivable. We place ourselves in the place of God by judging faith. But it
is God alone who judges faith in the heart. We go by public confession of
faith. We offer forgiveness freely to those who confess faith in Christ.
So,
what do we do when we don’t feel forgiving? Well, we don’t go to, “I can’t
forgive you now, maybe later.” Instead we offer the peace that comes with forgiveness.
We declared God’s forgiveness won by Jesus Christ on the cross to our fellow
Christians. It might go like this, “God forgives you your sin on the cross. I’m
having trouble with that forgiveness but that is my sin.” And then we turn to
Christ, confessing our sin to him. And the Holy Spirit will bring us comfort
that that sin also is forgiven. And over time our feelings of unforgiveness
will fade and evaporate. And we too will know the peace that comes from
forgiveness. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all
understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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