Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
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Original Manuscript:
I'd like to share with you the story of a young man. He came from a large family. Well, most of the family was his step brothers, all older than him. They were a farming family from a small rural area. Every day his brothers would get up, like dutiful sons, and do the farm work.
This young man, however, was different. He slept in and got there late. When he did come out and work, all he would do is tattle on which of his brothers didn't do their work right, or even on those who did do their work right. And he was his father's favorite, so his dad always believed him.
Well, one day this young man's brothers had put in a hard day's work and there was still no sign of their brother anywhere. And they were fed up, they were fed up with his tattling, with his laziness, with him. So, when he did finally show up, they threw him in a ditch by the side of the road. They planned on leaving him there, until a group of really bad men came by, and they offered the brothers money to take him away and do with him as they pleased.
In case you haven't realized it, this is the story of Joseph, more or less, the story we hear the tail end of today in Genesis.
And yeah, Joseph's brothers did a terrible thing to him. But Joseph wasn't that good of a person either, even though we do often sympathize with him.
Joseph learned a lot of hard lessons on the way. He ended up imprisoned, while a slave in Egypt, for something he didn't do. But Joseph had the gift of interpreting dreams, which led him to Pharaoh's house. His interpretation of Pharaoh's dream helped save the country from famine. It set Joseph up as the second most powerful man in the land of Egypt.
It helped Joseph be the salvation for his family. The famine hit the lands outside Egypt too, and Jacob, Joseph's father, sent his other sons to Egypt to see if they could get some aid in their affliction.
Joseph could have sent his brother's away. He could have left them for dead. He could have gotten revenge on them. And Joseph does mess with them a little bit. He does wrestle with his feelings of anger towards them. But in the end, he does what we hear him do today. He reveals himself to his brothers. He offers them a chance for reconciliation.
Joseph's brothers are obviously afraid. They already knew what they did was wrong. They know they deserve punishment. But Joseph says something to them, and he says something similar to them again in Genesis 50:20 after they are again afraid because their father has died. Joseph says to them "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good."
This is the crux of the Gospel, as well as our Gospel reading this morning. What Joseph has done is to love his enemies, to do good to those who hated, abused, and cursed him. What Joseph has done is offer forgiveness.
Joseph has not judged because Joseph was at one point in the wrong too. Joseph is not a perfect person. He has a God-given gift, but he is deeply flawed, just as the rest of his family is and just as we all are. So he does not judge his brothers because he knows it is not his place to do so, but it is for God alone to give that judgement.
And most of all, Joseph knows that God can take the worst that can possibly happen and somehow use it for good. God took a heinous crime Joseph's brothers perpetrated against him and God redeemed it in order to save them all.
This is who God is. God is with us through the midst of it so much that even the worst things in our lives can be used for good, even though we might not know it, especially when we've just been thrown in the ditch. We might not live in a perfect world, but we do have a perfect God, and that God can redeem all things bad. God can even redeem all of our sins and make us whole. God can even forgive us.
What would the world be like if we followed Joseph's example or listened to the words of Jesus? What would the world be like if we let go of our anger, justified as it may be, and chose not to judge but to forgive? It is not an easy process to do so. It takes time, as Joseph clearly illustrates. But if we can forgive, if we can let go of our anger, then maybe, like Joseph, we can end up saving the lives of others. Maybe if we can bring ourselves to forgive, we can help our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as He heals this world and makes us just a little bit more whole. Maybe we can be the tools God uses to bring about redemption.