Although I never did it before coming up here, I really enjoy the Sunday we bless the backpacks. I mean, it’s our way of reminding the kids in our community that they’re not going back to school alone. Not only is God with them, but so are we. And for that reason, well, it’s really special, at least it is for me.
But I’ll tell you, personally, I have another reason for liking this day so much. You see, it really marks the beginning of something new, doesn’t it? I mean, we’re looking at a new school year, something that was really important for me when I was teaching and had a daughter at home. And it marks what I think you could call the threshold of Fall, which, although the calendar says it begins on September 23, we all know it really kicks off in five days. And for someone who absolutely hates two words, “hot” and “humid,” this seasonal change is a big deal. But of course, for me, the biggest deal of all is something that started yesterday, and I’m talking about what they’re calling week zero of the college football season. I only wish I’d have been able to watch FIU play Louisiana Tech last night. Yes sir, today is a day for beginnings.
But of course, if things are beginning, well, other things are ending, right? I mean, for our young people, days free from homework and pop quizzes are over. And as Jake shared last week before the Bible study, the sun is now setting before 8:00, which means summer is on it’s way out. And the time I spend putting together the slides for the sermon without some game playing in the background with my phone on mute, well, stick a fork in it, that’s also done. You see, for all these things, we’ve reached the end of the proverbial rope.
But of course, that’s not all, because this morning we’re tying up the sermon series we started back in mid-June entitled
The Patriarchs: Encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. And you know something, in the last ten weeks, I think that’s exactly what we’ve done. I mean, we’ve considered the nature of God as shown in his relationship with father and son and grandson and of course, great grandson. And last week, we started coming in for landing by talking about Joseph, the son of Jacob and Rachel, and by considering how God might help us when we encounter situations that we didn’t choose and just don’t want. Now that was last Sunday.
And this morning, we’re going to put a ribbon on this series by looking at another story about Joseph and his brothers, but one that’s radically different from the first one, because it doesn’t deal with what they did to him when they sold him to a hairy bunch of Ishmaelites, but rather what he did to them, namely how he forgave them for what they’d done. Now that’s going to be our focus this morning. And we’re going to approach it by, first, discussing how he was able to do that with those ten siblings who treated him horribly and then second, taking what we learned from the story of Joseph forgiving his brothers and applying it to ourselves. Now, that’s the game plan for the next ten minutes or so.
And it starts with the story itself. You see, when we take a hard look at what happened in Genesis 45:1-15, I think it’s pretty clear that it was faith in God that enabled Joseph to forgive his brothers. For example, just think about what happened to him. I’m telling you, based on what was written in Genesis, even his brothers knew they’d done something wrong. Just listen to how the story begins:
Since Joseph could no longer control his feelings in front of his servants, he sent them out of the room. When he was alone with his brothers, he told them, “I am Joseph.” Then he cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him and told about it in the king’s palace.
Joseph asked his brothers if his father was still alive, but they were too frightened to answer. [Genesis 45:1-3, CEV]
You see, when Joseph revealed his identity, something his brothers didn’t realize because he was a really big fish in a huge Egyptian pond; I’ll tell you, when Joseph did that, man, they were afraid, weren’t they? And why wouldn’t they have been. Remember, as we talked about last week, they threw him down a well and then sold him as a slave. And to make it even worse, his time as a slave hadn’t exactly been “milk and honey,” something that we know but they didn’t. My gosh, they’d absolutely destroyed the life he’d known, separating him from the father whom he loved and denying him the chance to meet Benjamin, his only full-brother who was born after the Ishmaelites had sold him to Potiphar. Joseph had every reason to hate his brothers, didn’t he? And since he now had the power to take action, he could certainly have made ten heads roll.
But it’s amazing; that’s not what Joseph did. Instead, it was his faith in God that enabled him to forgive the very people who’d done him wrong. Just listen:
Joseph told them to come closer to him, and when they did, he said:
Yes, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt. Don't worry or blame yourselves for what you did. God is the one who sent me ahead of you to save lives.
There has already been a famine for two years, and for five more years no one will plow fields or harvest grain. But God sent me on ahead of you to keep your families alive and to save you in this wonderful way. After all, you weren’t really the ones who sent me here–it was God. He made me the highest official in the king's court and placed me over all Egypt. [Genesis 45:4-8, CEV]
Now that’s what it says. You see, even though he had suffered because of what his brothers had done, Joseph still had faith in God, didn’t he? He trusted that, in spite of his situation, which included cooling his heels in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, God was always with him. As a matter of fact, he even believed that God had used him, an ex-slave, not only to save Egypt during a famine he’d predicted but also to save his own family in Canaan, because under his leadership, Egypt was able to feed the world. You see, even though their intent was evil, Joseph believed that God had turned this evil into something good; therefore, he could forgive his brothers.
And I’ll tell you, once that had been done, both Joseph and his brothers were now able to move into the future. Again, this is what it says in Genesis, and understand, Joseph is still speaking:
Now hurry back and tell my father that his son Joseph says, “God has made me ruler of Egypt. Come here as quickly as you can. You will live near me in the region of Goshen with your children and grandchildren, as well as with your sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else you own. I will take care of you there during the next five years of famine. But if you don't come, you and your family and your animals will starve to death.”
All of you, including my brother Benjamin, can tell by what I have said that I really am Joseph. Tell my father about my great power here in Egypt and about everything you have seen. Hurry and bring him here.
Joseph and Benjamin hugged each other and started crying. Joseph was still crying as he kissed each of his other brothers. After this, they started talking with Joseph. [Genesis 45:1-15, CEV]
And that’s how the story ended, with the family together again, moving from Canaan to Egypt and setting us up for something even bigger that’ll happen in a little bit, and I’m talking about when “many years later a new king came to power [who]...did not know what Joseph had done for Egypt,” [Exodus 1:8, CEV] a man named Moses would lead the children of Israel back to the promised land. You see, all this would happen because faith enabled Joseph to forgive his brothers.
And I’ll tell you, it can do the same thing for us. You see, just like it did for Joseph, faith can also enable us to forgive others. Of course, forgiving others, well, that wouldn’t be necessary if we all got along and we all treated one another fairly and we all just sat around the campfire singing “kumbaya.” But I think we all know that’s not the way it is. No, there’s a lot of injustice and unfairness in our world and let’s get real, people aren’t very loving and kind to one another, and you don’t have to encounter a Karen or a Kevin to know that. Life can be tough. And I’ll tell you, if this sort of thing has never happened to you, count yourself lucky. No, at some time or another, I think we’ve all felt at least a little bit bruised and battered. And that applies to Christians just like it does everyone else. In fact, according to Scripture, we should even expect it. I mean, just listen to what the Psalmist wrote:
I praise you, God!
Don't keep silent.
Destructive and deceitful lies
are told about me,
and hateful things are said
for no reason.
I had pity and prayed
for my enemies,
but their words to me
were harsh and cruel.
For being friendly and kind,
they paid me back
with meanness and hatred. [Psalm 109:1-5, CEV]
And according the Apostle Peter,
You don't gain anything by being punished for some wrong you have done. But God will bless you, if you have to suffer for doing something good. After all, God chose you to suffer as you follow in the footsteps of Christ, who set an example by suffering for you.
Christ did not sin
or ever tell a lie. [1 Peter 2:20-22, CEV]
Now that’s what was written; therefore, I think I’m pretty safe in saying, based on what’s happened in our lives, most of us have some very good reasons for carrying around a few genuine grudges and a few justifiable resentments. But if we’re not careful, we can hold on to these animosities so tightly that bitterness can absolutely control our lives.
But it doesn’t have to. It didn’t control Joseph, and it doesn’t have to control us either. Why? Because, just like it did for him, faith can enable us to forgive, and I’m talking about forgiving those who have treated us much worse than we deserve. You see, we can have faith in God. And we can trust that, no matter where we go or what happens to us, we are never alone, because God is always close. And we can believe that God is constantly working through us even when we don’t realize it’s happening. As a matter of fact, like Joseph, we may not understand what’s actually going on until most of the story has already been written. You see, whether we accept it or not, God is in control, and he’s working with and through us in ways we may not even be able to comprehend. And I’ll tell you, I think that’s what James was getting at, when he wrote this:
My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. You know you learn to endure by having your faith tested. But you must learn to endure everything, so you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything. [James 1:2-4, CEV]
And I believe this business about faith was the reason Apostle Paul could say this to the Romans:
But that's not all! We gladly suffer, because we know that suffering helps us to endure. And endurance builds character, which gives us a hope that will never disappoint us. All of this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with his love. [Romans 5:3-5, CEV]
Of course, let me be clear; I realize that suffering can have a profound impact on our lives. And I recognize that, to a certain extent, we may never be able to put all injustice and all abuse nearly behind us as though they never happened. I’m not saying that at all. I know there are things we may never be able to forget. But that doesn’t mean we can’t forgive, something that’s possible when we trust and believe and have faith in God.
And when it does, when faith enables us to forgive, now we can do the same kind of thing Joseph did when he forgave his brothers; we can move forward. We can move forward, past a lot of the garbage we’ve had to endure. We can move forward into the future over which God has ultimate control. And we can move forward together with those men and women we’ve been able to forgive. You see, while grudges and resentments and animosity can isolate us, forgiveness can bring us together. And I’ll tell you, together is a heck of a lot better than alone. It’s like it says in Ecclesiastes:
You are better having a friend than to be all alone, because then you will get more enjoyment out of what you earn. If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble. If you sleep alone, you won't have anyone to keep you warm on a cold night. Someone might be able to beat up one of you, but not both of you. As the saying goes, “A rope made from three strands of cord is hard to break.” [Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, CEV]
And according to the one who wrote the letter to the Hebrews:
We should keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful and to do helpful things. Some people have given up the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord's coming is getting closer. [Hebrew 10:24-25, CEV]
I’ll tell you, when I let go of the past, we’re able to move into the future. And that’s possible, because, just like it did for Joseph, faith can enable us to forgive others.
And with that, we end this series on the Patriarchs: Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. And next week, we’ll start looking at the work of the Holy Spirit. But before we totally shift our attention to other things, you know, like homework and cooler, less humid weather and of course, football; let’s pause and remember the one who chose Abram and who made promises to Abraham and Sarah, the one who told Abraham to send away Ishmael and who used Isaac to test Abraham’s faith, the one who found a wife for Isaac and who chose Jacob to carry the promise, the one who appeared in a dream in Bethel and who was working behind the scenes with Jacob and Leah and Rachel, the one who wrestled with Jacob on the other side of the Jabbok and who was with Joseph when his brothers threw him in a well, and of course, the one who enabled Joseph to forgive those who’d treated him with such cruelty. In other words, before we start doing other things, let’s remember the God who loves us, the one we encountered as we looked at the patriarchs.
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