An Ability to Forgive

Albertville

9-14-08

Genesis 50:15-21

Rev. Michael A. Trask

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Did you ever see such an awesome display of God’s power?  The Lord gave Joseph, a mere human being, the ability to forgive his brothers who had hurt him so terribly.  We should not be surprised I guess, for the Lord was with Joseph. When he was sold as a slave in Egypt, Genesis says: “The Lord was with Joseph.”  (Gen. 39:2) When he was thrown into prison for a crime he did not commit it says again “The Lord was with Joseph.” (Gen. 39:23) And when the time came for him to forgive his brothers, he forgave them with all of his heart! The Lord certainly WAS with Joseph! God gave him the strength to forgive

In this broken world, families often live in great tension because of what happened in the past.   So, can God give such power to you and me? Could he give us this power to forgive others who have done us wrong?

Forgiving another person who has done you wrong is one of the hardest things you will ever do; many deem it impossible. Joseph’s brothers, for instance, could not believe that Joseph could actually forgive them. They thought he was being nice to them for the sake of their father. So when dad died, they started freaking out. “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us” “What if he pays us back” They could not believe that Joseph could truly forgive them! They could not forget the seriousness of their crimes against him, even though it was now 39 years in the past.

Guilt is like that. The horrible things that folks do has a way of piling up on ‘em over time. And they had done some pretty horrible things to Joseph. It all started with anger over their father’s obvious favoritism.   They incubated their anger as they talked about ways to get even with him. Finally, they hatched a plan to take his life!   Their oldest brother managed to temper their rage and convinced them to sell him into slavery instead.   These gentlemen had heard the cries of their brother after they threw him into the pit.  They saw his tears as the Ishmaelites hauled him away in chains.  They watched their dear father almost die from sorrow after they told him that a “wild animal” had eaten his favorite son. They knew what they had done. It had seared itself into their collective conscience!

Of course they were wondering how Joseph could possibly forgive them! You and I are wondering the same thing this morning! For we have seen a lot. We have seen brothers and sisters hold grudges against each other that last for years and even generations! We have seen fathers who vow never to to speak to their sons again; we have seen sons who refuse to go to their father’s funeral. We know exactly why these brothers are thinking the way they do, don’t we? Grudges are powerful things. And they can’t understand how Joseph got past it.

So Fearing the worst, they sent word to Joseph.  “Your Father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers....”  The voice of the Dad is pleading from the grave for Joseph to have mercy even though Joseph had already had mercy! Joseph wept when he read the message. He wept, I think, because he saw how gnarled up with guilt his brothers were and how it diminished them. He wept also, I think, because they did not believe that he could forgive them. When they presented themselves before him saying “We are your slaves” His first words were “Don’t be Afraid”!

When I hear Joseph says this to his brothers, I cannot help but think of Jesus saying much the same thing to his brothers: the disciples on the night of his resurrection. There they were huddled together in great fear. Peter had denied him. Most all of them had fled the scene when he was captured. And what does he say: “Peace be with you.” And he could say that because of what he had just done! He had died for their sins and rose victorious. The peace he offers is peace with God. God is not angry. God does not condemn. God forgives!

There’s actually a lot of similarity between Joseph and Jesus. Jesus was “made to be like his brothers” (Heb 2:17) in every way. The Father had made it clear that this “was his beloved Son with whom he was well pleased” (Matt 3:17) . His brothers became Jealous. They handed him over. He died a most miserable, painful, and lonely death. Yet, it was through this terribly rotten situation that God opened up the wonderful possibility of forgiveness for all people!

What we see so evident in the life of Jesus, We see also in the life of Joseph. Joseph says “Don’t be afraid” “Yes you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Did you Hear that? He acknowledged that the brothers had done him wrong, but at the same time Joseph understood that no matter what they might have done, God’s greater plans and greater will would be done! God would take what they had done to him and use it for Joseph’s and also much of the world’s greater good! Paul says pretty much the same thing in Romans “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28) This was a big part of Joseph’s ability to forgive! He understood that Great thing that God had done with his situation and so was lifted above what his brothers had done.

Imagine if he hadn’t been so lifted? What if he had allowed bitterness to preoccupy him? What if he had simmered away for those 39 years? I dare say that we would not recognize the Joseph we have come to know and love. I dare say, he would not have ascended to the level of acclaim and leadership that he did. He would have just been another bent-over nut bar going on and on about what someone did to him in the past; never letting it go. But God was WITH JOSEPH and Joseph rose above what his brothers had done to him. And instead of becoming a bitter person, he became an early reflection of Christ Jesus!

And it is this that we ourselves are called to be! We are called to be latter reflections of Christ Jesus! (2Cor. 3:18) Like Joseph we too can be lifted above the sins that are committed against us because we have God’s promise to use all things for our ultimate good. As Paul put it in Romans “If God is for us, Who can be against us” (Romans 8:31) Answer nobody can really be against us, because no matter what they do to us, God can use it to our betterment! Or as David said in the psalms. “The Lord is with me...what can man do to me.” (Psalm 118:60) Rise Above the sins that others commit against you!

But at the same time, try to look at the people who hurt you in a different way. Realize that the things they have done is not what God intended. They are part of the broken world. It is broken people who do the mean things; broken people struggling with sin in their lives; struggling even as you have struggled. They need to be forgiven as you have been forgiven in Christ.

God was with Joseph; that’s how he was able to forgive his brothers. But God is with you too: with you in His Son; With you in Holy Spirit; With you where two or more are gathered; With you in his Word; with you in your baptism and in the Lord’s Supper. So you can do it You have God given power to forgive. So pick up the phone! Go visit. Write that letter! Do what you know you must do! AMEN