8/18/19 Genesis 45:1-15 “The Sin of Not Forgiving”

16 Aug 8/18/19 Genesis 45:1-15 “The Sin of Not Forgiving”

8/18/19    Genesis 45:1-15      “The Sin of Not Forgiving”

This will be our last look at Genesis in our series this summer.  I hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed doing it.  Every week when I do my research for the week’s sermon I learn a few more little tidbits that help me to understand the big picture.  I try to pass on these things to you as I would like you to focus on the big picture also. The small picture is important and we need to look at that also.  But, and especially when we look at the Old Testament, we need to keep the big picture in mind and how it ties into the New Testament and present times.  Today we will be taking a look at how Joseph forgave and maybe there is a lesson here as to how we are to forgive others.

Wesley Bishop tells the story that happened many years ago of a young Korean who came to this country to study at the University of Pennsylvania after graduating from Seoul National University in Korea.  One evening as he was on his way to mail a letter he was stopped by a gang of 11 delinquent teenagers who were looking for some money.  They wanted $.65 each to get into a dance.  That’s how many years ago this happened-$.65.  Anyway this poor fellow had no money on him and the teenagers beat him to death.  It was a shocking murder for the people of Philadelphia.  Most of the citizens were outraged and wanted the severest punishment for the culprits.  But the parents of the Korean lad, who were on the other side of the world, viewed this a little differently.  They sent a letter to the Philadelphia authorities that stirred hearts everywhere.  They were going to establish a fund to be used for the religious, educational, vocational, and social guidance of the teenagers who killed their son.  They had also decided to ask for the most generous treatment possible within the laws of our government to be given to the ones who committed this terrible crime.

This is the kind of story we hear about every once in a while.  A few years back there was a young person killed by a drunk driver in the Moorhead area.  Later the mother had forgiven the person who was charged in this killing and they traveled together putting on programs that were against drunk driving.

Forgiveness!  It is a tough concept to understand and an even tougher one to follow.  But this is exactly what the Korean parents did, the mother in Moorhead did and Joseph did in today’s reading.  I want to recap some of the highlights or lowlights of Joseph’s life.  If you remember, he was the favored son of his father Jacob or Israel.  His brothers had hated him and had sold him to a passing caravan as a slave.  Joseph had worked well for his new master, Potiphar.  But Potiphar’s wife had tried to seduce him and Joseph was tossed into prison and forgotten.  He had interpreted dreams trying to get out of prison and was forgotten again.  Finally he was released and he became the second in command in Egypt.  He was the prime minister in our terms.  If you think about it, this was a real turn around for someone who had been in prison.  The headline should read “From Convict to Prime Minister!”

So the life of Joseph had been full of real ups and some real downs.  Finally, his brothers had shown up on Joseph’s doorstep asking for food so they could survive.  Do you remember last week how I painted the picture of Joseph not being as bad a man as we sometimes want him to be?  I also said that he had his faults.  One of his faults might be that it took Joseph a while before he could reveal himself to his brothers.

We need to put ourselves in his sandals here for a moment.  His brothers had wanted him dead.  Instead he had been sold as a slave.  He had been in prison.  He had struggled to survive.  And now suddenly, these very brothers who had caused all of his trouble were standing before him practically begging for food.  Joseph played with them by sending them back home.  He had planted a silver cup in Benjamin’s sack of grain.  He had done a lot of things just to make their lives a little miserable while at the same time he gave them food.  It may not have been the right thing to do but it was very human.

The text prior to this doesn’t really tell us much about why Joseph did the things he did.  I think that one of the reasons was that he was just shocked to see them.  After all it had been 22 years since they had sold him as a slave.  And now suddenly, out of the clear blue, they are standing in front of him.  And I think that he reacts by using the defense mechanism of not recognizing them.  He probably really doesn’t quite know how to react.  I guess that would be understandable.

I think that this happens to us once in a while.  I’m not just talking about forgiveness here.  I think that, first of all, Joseph is showing us how to be patient.  How many times do things come up that require our immediate attention?  For me, I don’t do well under pressure.  Or should I say that I don’t do well under artificial pressure.  What I mean is that if a tornado is bearing down on me, I would probably make the right decision and I would pray that God was with me.  But if someone comes up to me and needs an answer right now as to how to get a program going by Christmas, chances are I will not do as well.  I will do much better if you give me a day or so to pray about it.  I have talked about this type of thing many times and here we have Joseph showing us.  It is always better to take everything we do to God and get advice from the real expert.  However, in an emergency, rely on your gut feelings that God is directing you.  I know for a fact that God loves each and every person here today, and the Holy Spirit will guide you through any situation if you just ask.  The key is to ask!

And now we finally come to the Scripture we read today.  Joseph is finally ready to reveal himself to his brothers.  So Joseph has taken some time to figure out that this is the right thing to do and now it is the brothers turn to be shocked into silence.  Think about this, they had thought that Joseph was long dead and gone.  They probably hadn’t thought much about him for 22 years.  Or maybe they thought a lot about him in their guilt.

Either way Joseph has decided to forgive his brothers.  Notice that he doesn’t come right out and say I forgive you.  Rather he embraces them and weeps in front of them.  This has been a real struggle for Joseph.  This is the third time he weeps in these last couple of chapters.  He says I am your brother, the one you sold into slavery.  He has made peace with them and now it is up to the brothers to make peace with themselves!

This is one of the tough parts of forgiveness.  We feel that we have to go to someone and tell them or we have to, in some way, do something face to face.  And these are good ways of forgiving.  But what happens when the person is in another part of the country or worse yet, is dead?  There are many circumstances where this may be the situation.  If you are in a situation like this do not despair.

Joseph shows us the way.  Forgiveness is a matter between you and God and not between you and someone you hurt or who hurt you.  Look at what Joseph says in verse 8, “it was not you who sent me here, but God.”  Now we can read this in ways that aren’t quite correct.  God did not put the evil in the brother’s hearts to sell Joseph into slavery.  God did not make Potiphar’s wife try to seduce him and then have him thrown into jail.  God doesn’t do things like that because God is good, and these things are evil.  It is the evil Satan who directs all evil in this world.  God will never dish out evil!

But what God will do and what the Almighty loves to do is to make the best out of every situation and that goes for Joseph and us.  God loves you so much that when you mess up, God will give you another chance to get back on the right path.  God is a God of many chances and I thank and praise Him for that because I have needed many chances.

We can see this in our own lives.  How many times do you have to go to the casino before God quits loving you?  How often do you have to say vicious things or gossip behind someone’s back before God quits loving you?  It doesn’t matter what you do, God will continue to love you and care for you.  This is why I mentioned confession last week and I mention it quite often.  You need to be aware of your sins and keep bringing them to God, through Jesus Christ.  This is the plan that is set up for us and if we use it, then good things will follow.  The main problem with many people in this country today is that they want to define sin.  But this is wrong!  God defines sin and you cannot change that.  These people who think they can define sin will be in for a big, big surprise when they finally meet Jesus face to face.

Now I hope that you can begin to see that forgiveness is between you and God.  This makes it unconditional.  With God there are no conditions on forgiveness.  If we leave it up to us, then we will end up by putting conditions on it.  As the Garth Brooks song says, “We buried the hatchet, but left the handle sticking out.”  There is some insight there.  Too often we will say something to the effect that, “I will forgive you if you do this.” Or “I will forgive you if you quit doing that.”  This will not work.

Notice that Joseph didn’t ask or expect anything from the brothers.  He just put it out there and forgave them.  Through God, he had already forgiven them.  By the time he was doing these outward motions, the forgiveness was already done.  God does the work.  God is in charge.

We have all known people who have tried forgiveness on their own or worse yet, they just don’t forgive.  You know people like this who are bitter and resentful of others.  You know someone who has let the sin of not forgiving ruin their lives.  And if we listen to what our culture tells us, then we are in big trouble.  Our culture doesn’t want us to forgive, but it wants us to seek revenge.  If you just open the newspaper, you can read about this every day.  I think the main goal of modern news is to stir up hate in everyone but that is a little off topic.

Anyway, it should become rather obvious that it isn’t what someone else does to you that ruin your life.  Rather it is what you do to yourself by not forgiving that ruins your life.  You have all seen this and I’ve seen some of this first-hand.

I knew a couple quite well where the wife had a severe gambling problem.  The wife had secretly gone through all of the savings and money available, the children’s savings and $100,000 on credit cards.  This is one of the reasons why I am so against gambling.  Gambling ruins lives.  I don’t care if you can handle it.  There are many who can’t and I don’t think it is morally right that the state should set up something that is so terribly, terribly wrong.  And this too is a whole other sermon.  Anyway the husband could have wallowed in anger and resentment.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, he was angry.  But he had to let it go because he had to raise two children.  And he didn’t get a chance to forgive his wife because she died.  But he did forgive her through Jesus Christ.  And it is because of this forgiveness between God and him that he is who he is today.  Otherwise, he would be just another bitter, broken man that no one likes.

The choice is really yours.  You can either accept the plan of God or you can go it alone and mess it up.  This week I would like you to assess your situation.  Where are you in terms of forgiveness?  I know that some of you have had hard times like we all do.  I also know that some of you have given it to God and moved on.  But I also know that many times we have hung onto some of these bitter feelings.  And I don’t blame you for that either.  When we have been badly hurt, these are very hard feelings to let go.  So I would like those of you who can identify an area that needs forgiveness, to take the matter to God, through Jesus Christ.  Jesus wants a dialogue with you and He loves you so much that He will help you.  I doubt that you will be able to come back next week and tell me that everything is ok.  Forgiveness generally takes some time.  But you might be able to come back and tell me next month or next year that all is well.

Hopefully, we have seen a little of the big picture as we have talked about Joseph and forgiveness today.  Forgiveness is a part of our lives that we often neglect.  Remember this in your prayer life.  Also remember that Jesus died for Joseph and his brothers.  He died for the people that you have not forgiven.  He also died for you.  But he rose again to take away Satan’s grip on you.  And Satan loves to grab you with revenge and bitterness and non-forgiveness.  Jesus has given you a way out.  Go to him because He loves you so much that He will help you work your way through any problem.  It is His love that makes the world go round if you just follow his instructions.  Go to him and you will never regret it.  Thank you Jesus for first loving us.  Let’s pray.