Joseph - Faith to Forgive

July 6, 2003, 8:00, 9:30, 11:00 AM

Rev. Ronald Burcham

Typed from audio transcript

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Ten brothers. Ten brothers travel several hundred miles over to Egypt. They're in search of food. Two years have been famine in the land. They stand before the Governor of Egypt. They have no idea who he is. He doesn't look at all like anyone that they would recognize. He's dressed differently. His head is shaved clean. He probably has makeup on. And plus he's a long ways away from them. So ten brothers bow before this Governor of Egypt, this Governor who happens to be their brother, and, as Joseph looks out, I wonder the thoughts that went through his mind. Here, the ten brothers that picked on him as he grew up, the ten brothers who never had a kind word said to him, the ten brothers who plotted to kill him, the ten brothers who hated him because he had this richly ornamented coat, the ten brothers who couldn't stand him because his father had showed favoritism to him, the ten brothers who threw him in a cistern and were just going to leave him there to die, the ten brothers who decided "Why do that when we can make a little bit of money off the kid?" and sold him to the Ishmaelites not knowing what would happen to him, the ten brothers that, because of them and their actions, he would travel to a foreign land, he would be sold as a slave, he would go from being top in authority of his household to the bottom rung of the slave of Potiphar and officials of the Pharaoh, and there, just when things would start to look up for him, the rug would get pulled out from him and he would be sent to prison falsely accused. There in prison, he would sit year after year after year, thinking that's where he'd be for the rest of his life.

But then the events turn. He interprets the dream of Pharaoh. There are going to be seven good years, Pharaoh. There are going to be seven bad years. He says to the Pharaoh, "You know, you need to get somebody in charge who's going to manage your land well so that all the grain can be stored up so, when the seven years of famine hit, you're going to be okay, in fact, better than okay, you're going to be selling grain to other countries." Pharaoh says, "I like that idea. You're the man, Joseph."

Joseph is second in command of all of Egypt. How the tables have turned. The ten brothers that have caused him unbelievable pain, the ten brothers that have caused him grief, ten brothers that have cut him to the heart, and they're standing before him. It's easy for us to just pass over this story and not catch the drama, the emotions that were running through Joseph's heart, the deep hurt that he felt. We get a glimpse of that hurt when he names his first son Manasseh. In Hebrew that means to forget. And he goes on to explain that he named his son this because God has caused me to forget all of my troubles and, then the second line, to forget all of my father's family. Do you feel the hurt in that? To forget all of my father's family. And standing before Joseph are the culprits. What's he going to do? What's going to happen? Is he going to wipe his hands together and say, "It's payback time, boys. I can't wait to find out what I'm going to come up with for you guys." He could have them thrown in prison. Justice could be invoked. Pain could be sent to them. He could have them whipped. He could have them sent out in the middle of the desert. He could have anything he wanted done with them. What's Joseph going to do? The ten brothers that have caused him so much pain and trouble and turmoil, and he has all the power he needs to do whatever he chooses. What's he going to do?

Maybe more relevant, what would you do? What would you do? Oh, it's easy for us to read the book of Genesis, to nod our heads in agreement, yeah, that's what I would have done if I were Joseph. God tells me to forgive and to love, and I'd have loved my brothers and I'd have forgiven them and we would have had a big group hug. Everything would have been okay. Is that really what you would have done? What have you done when people have caused pain in your life, when people have sinned against you? I'm not talking about the things that can be easily excused. I'm talking about the traumatic events in your life. What do you do with a friend who betrayed you? What do you do with a boss that treated you unfairly, made you lose your job? What do you do with family members who constantly insult you, berate you, cause you pain? What do you do when people have sinned against you and it's caused your life to be different or changed? It's easy for us in church to say oh, we'd forgive them. But what happens when we walk out the door? What happens when we see them face-to-face? I think that we need to be honest with ourself that forgiveness is not an easy thing to do. Forgiveness is not something that is easily offered to someone else, not when it really hurts, not when the actions or the circumstances are such that it caused you deep pain.

Certainly, Joseph knew deep pain. His entire life had been changed because of the evil that his brothers had caused on him, because of their sin against him. But there's a reason that we call Joseph a hero of the faith. Because he had such a magnificent faith about him, he had such a strong faith about him, he was able to forgive his brothers. He was able to reach out to them in love. What Joseph was able to do was open up his eyes and see what God had done, even in the midst of the evil. He was able to open up his heart and to offer them his forgiveness and love, and he was able to open up his mouth and express that forgiveness and express that love for them.

There is much we can learn from Joseph. There is much we can learn about forgiving other people. The first thing that Joseph did was he opened up his eyes. It's really rather incredible that Joseph could remove himself from the situation and actually see that God had brought about good even though his brothers had intended it to be evil, that God had a plan and He put that plan into action and that He would actually use the sin of his brothers to bring about good, in fact, to bring about the salvation of the people of Israel, His chosen people. Now, mind you, God did not condone what his brothers had done. God did not agree that his brothers should have thrown him in a cistern. God did not like the idea that they sold him off as a slave and just wrote him off as being dead, but God was able to use that situation. God was able to use what his brothers intended as a sin against him, as evil in his life, and yet God was able to use that situation so that Joseph would eventually be second in command in Egypt, so that Joseph would have within his power to bring back Jacob and all of his family so that they would not die in the seven years of famine. The real amazing thing was that Joseph could see it, that Joseph could open up his eyes and say to his brothers, "Don't you see, God sent me ahead of you so that I could be His instrument to deliver all of my people."

Maybe the first step for you and me is to open up our eyes. Open up our eyes and see God at work, not just in the good things that happen in our life but also the bad things that happen in our life, to open up our eyes and to see that when we've been sinned against, that when somebody has done something against us, that even in that, God can use it. Certainly, God doesn't agree with it. God doesn't want that hurt to be in our life. God doesn't want that pain to be inflicted to us. God certainly doesn't agree with the person who's sinning against us. But the fact of the matter is God can use that, and God can turn that around. God still has plans for you. Through our faith can we open up our eyes and see God at work, even in the things you don't like.

Can you look back today and see something that's happened in the past? Was there some bitter argument or feud that you had with another person and they did some things that were really rotten to you, but can you look back now and see how God used that maybe to even make that relationship stronger than what it was before? Can you look back and maybe a coworker or a boss treated you wrongly? As a result of that, you either had to leave the job or you got fired from the job or you got eliminated from the job. You couldn't believe the pain. You couldn't believe the financial hardship, but can you look back now and see where you're at and say, in reality, it's one of the best things that ever happened because God used that situation? God didn't like what happened. He didn't agree with the sin that was being committed against you, but if we open up our eyes of faith and we see how God uses every situation, uses the good and the bad to bring about, if we're looking to forgive another person, if right now you've got something that's standing between you and someone else that you know, can you open up your eyes of faith and can you see how God is using even that situation, that God is even using the sin that was committed against you to work out His plans in your life?

Maybe that makes it a little bit easier then to go the second step, and that is to open up your hearts. Open up your hearts to forgive that other person. Open up your heart to show love to that other person. I know it seems impossible depending upon the circumstances, depending upon maybe the words that were spoken, the actions that were done against you. You may say to yourself as long as you never see them again, as long as you don't come in contact with them, you can live with that. To actually reach out to them, to actually forgive them, to show them that you care about them, it may seem impossible to open up your hearts to them, then consider this. Consider how God has opened up His heart to you. Maybe the first place to begin if we're going to open up our hearts to others is to see how God opened up His heart to us. Colossians 3:13 says, "Forgive one another as God has forgiven you." Paul reminds us that maybe the first thing that needs to come to our mind is our relationship with God and how God has forgiven us, to call to mind how we have messed up our relationship with God, the times that we've betrayed Him, the times that we've tried to lie to Him, the times that we've turned our back on Him, the times that we've caused Him so much hurt and pain, as we've done the exact opposite of what He's wanted us to do. And yet, how has God responded to you? God has opened up His heart to you because He wants to restore that relationship with you. In fact, God tells us that no matter what we've done, no matter what we'll do in the future, that nothing in all of creation can take His love away from us. God says that He opened up His heart for us, and He opened it up and showed His love. He showed His love by sending His son into the world. God was so concerned about restoring our relationship with Him, God was so concerned in showing forgiveness to you that He would sacrifice His son upon the cross, that Jesus would willingly go to His death so that He could offer you forgiveness, so that He could show you His love. God opened up His heart to you, and now He asks you to open up your heart to one another. Open up your heart and show love and forgiveness. For God knows that when we open up our hearts, relationships are restored, that hurts are healed.

Joseph could have sat in bitterness for the rest of his life. He could have let it just fester in his heart. He could have taken revenge upon his brothers and maybe that would have satisfied a little bit of him, but there would always be that rough spot, there'd always be that scar there, that pain and that agony and that separation that he would have to experience from his brothers and from his father, too. But Joseph opened up his heart. He opened up his heart, and he gained his whole family back. What would happen if you opened up your heart? What could you gain back? Who could you gain back in your life if we open up our heart as God opened up His heart to us?

And then we need to open up our mouths. We need to open up our mouths and convey that forgiveness and not just once or twice but to continually reassure the person that indeed our forgiveness is sincere, that our love is real. If you look at what happens with Joseph and his brothers… his brothers, rightfully so, are a little bit suspicious when Joseph says, "All is well. I forgive you. I understand what God is doing here. Now go get Dad and bring the whole clan back." You can understand his brothers just standing on the sidelines saying, "He's setting us up for something." They remembered back of all the things they did to Joseph, and they thought certainly Joseph is going to have some revenge upon them. Joseph I'm sure had to continuously remind them that he was sincere. In fact, scripture records for us two instances when he had to do that. One when he sent them back to get his father and then, seventeen years later, the brothers still don't believe that Joseph could have forgiven them because, seventeen years later, their father dies and so they come up to Joseph and they say, "Listen, Joseph, by the way, Dad, before he left this world, said remember to forgive your brothers, okay?" Dad didn't say that. They were so worried that Joseph wasn't sincere, and Joseph was so hurt that they couldn't believe him; but he kept reassuring them. He kept telling them of his forgiveness and his love.

I suppose it's not all that different for you and me in our relationship with God. Can we ever stop hearing of God's forgiveness and love for us? Are there not times that you doubt that God could forgive you, when it seems like you've stepped over the line, when you've done the one thing you said you'd never do? Aren't there times when you really question could God really forgive you for that? Don't you need to hear again and again that He does forgive you, that He does love you? The same is true for the people that you forgive. The same is true for the people that you show love to. We need to open up our mouths, and we need to put into words our forgiveness and our love for them, to show them through our actions that we're sincere. And it may not be a one-time event. It may have to happen again and again.

Joseph, by opening up his eyes, by opening up his heart, by opening up his mouth, the relationship with his brothers and him was restored, the hurt in his heart was healed. There are so many relationships that you and I can restore, and there are so many hurts that can be healed. Open up your eyes and see God at work. Open up your hearts and show forgiveness and love, and open up your mouths and let them know. Amen.

Copyright 2003 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church