In Jesus Holy Name September 21, 2008
Series: O.T. Challenges Redeemer
Genesis 42:1-9
“Forgiveness: It’s A God Thing! Pass It On”
Our series of messages through the book of Genesis remind us of real life events. We have followed the life of Joseph. He grew up in a dysfunctional family, six brothers, several sisters, several step mothers all wanting the love and acceptance of Jacob, their husband and father. Jacob’s bad habit of showing favoritism resulted in jealousy. The brothers of Joseph devised a scheme to sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt, and convince their father that Joseph was dead.
At the age of 17 he found himself sold as a slave to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s prison. In the course of time, we find that Joseph had risen to a position of responsibility in Potiphar’s house. God blessed his management. At the age of 27 Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of attempted sexual assault. Joseph was thrown into prison. He was unjustly imprisoned. It would have been easy to give into despair.
He was forgotten, left in prison. Until Pharaoh had a dream that no one could interpret. The cupbearer to the Pharaoh suddenly remembered a fellow prisoner who could interpret dreams. God gave Joseph the answer and Joseph was elevated to the position of Prime Minister. Joseph was 30 years old.
Eleven years go bye. A severe famine covers all of Egypt and Canaan. His backstabbing brothers came to Egypt and find themselves kneeling before Joseph wanting to buy grain. (read Genesis 42:1-9)
What would you do if you were Joseph? Are you the kind of person who holds a grudge? Do you; look for an opportunity for “pay back”? It is never easy to forget hurts that scar our souls and change our lives. Some say that the best cure for forgetting unjust hurts is a good case of Alzheimer’s.
There is another option. Imitate God. Offer Forgiveness.
In our gospel lesson last week Peter asked Jesus how many times we should forgive those who offend us, causing emotional harm, or hurt feelings. Jesus said, 70 X 7. Robert Hoyer in his book reflects upon this command of Jesus when he writes: “The primary act of faith is forgiving. It is the characteristic act of God, the Father of Jesus Christ. If we follow him in faith it is the first thing we do in our following. It is the one thing different we do in faith which we would not do if we had no faith. It is what we start with if we want to put meaning and purpose back into our lives.” Forgiving is an act of faith.
Simon Wiesenthal lost 89 relatives in Hitler’s death camps. He has devoted his life to fining Nazi criminals and bringing them to justice. He is often asked when he will give up. After all, he is hunting down men in their 70’s and 80’s for crimes committed half a century ago.
Wiesenthal answered by writing a book. The book begins with a true experience he had while he himself was a concentration camp prisoner. One day he was yanked out of a work detail and taken up a back stairway to a dark hospital room. A nurse led him into the room, and then left him alone with a figure wrapped in white, lying on a bed. The figure was a badly wounded German soldier, whose entire face was covered with bandages. His name was Karl.
With a trembling voice, the German made a kind of confession to Wiesenthal. He told how he had been brought up in a Nazi family, the fighting he had experienced on the Russian front and the brutal measures his S.S. unit had taken against Jews. And then he told of a terrible atrocity.
All the Jews in a town were herded into a wooden building that was then set on fire. Karl had taken an active part in the crime. Several times Wiesenthal tried to leave the room, but each time the ghost-like figure would reach out and beg him to stay. Finally, after 2 hours, Karl told Wiesenthal why he had been summoned.
The soldier had asked a nurse if any Jews still existed. If so, he wanted one brought to his room so he could clear his conscience. He then asked Wiesenthal…”I am left here with my guilt. I do not know who you are, I know only that you are a Jew and this is enough. I know that what I am asking is almost too much for you. But without your answer I cannot die in peace.” Karl asked for forgiveness for all the Jews he had killed. He asked for forgiveness, from a man who might soon die. Wiesenthal sat in silence for some time. He stared at the man’s bandaged face. At last, without saying a word, he stood up and left the room. He left the soldier in torment, unforgiven.
Had Simon Wiesenthal done the best he could? He himself seemed dissatisfied with his action. He went over it with his companions. He visited the dead soldier’s mother. In his book, he asks 32 rabbis, Christian theologians and secular philosophers to comment on it. “What would YOU have done?” is the question he posed.
Out of 32 people he asked the majority said he had done the right in leaving the soldier unforgiven. Only 6 said he had done wrong. Yet the Bible says we have the privilege of granting forgiveness to those who have wronged us.”
The story of Joseph gives us a model of forgiveness. The past had shattered Joseph’s ability to trust his brothers. In order to trust his brothers, Joseph needed to know and believe two things…that they were telling him the whole truth and that they were truly sorry for what they had done.
Let us begin to walk through the story in Genesis 42.
V 7 Even though Joseph recognizes his brothers he speaks the language of Egypt. His dress is Egyptian.
V 8-9 He remembers his dreams from 30 years before as his brothers bow before him.
V 14-17 Joseph needed to find out if his brothers had changed. He offers a test.
V 19-20
V 21-23
They admit that they are responsible for the wrong. Dr. David Seaman in “Healing for Damaged Emotions” writes: “the two primary causes for emotional stress are the failure to forgive and the failure to receive forgiveness.” (Victor books 1981)
V 24-28
43:1-9
v 15-19
v 26-33
44:1-2, 6-13
v 18 Why Judah? It was Judah whose idea it was to sell Joseph to the slave caravan. (Genesis 27:26-27)
V 33 We find Judah offering himself in exchange for Benjamin for the sake of their father.
When Judah offered himself the text tells us that Joseph “could no longer control himself”. His questions were answered. His Father was alive. His brothers had told the truth. Their hearts were changed.
V 45:1-3 (read)
Their response was silence. They had already experienced Egyptian prison. They had nothing more to say. They were unsure if Joseph still held a grudge.
V 4-8 & 12-14
Notice the two words. “But God.” “God sent me” here to Egypt. God had taken the evil intentions of his brothers and turned them to good. The life story of Joseph does not tell us that all things that happen are good, but that a sovereign God can work through circumstances to use them for good.
Joseph has given us a wonderful example of forgiveness. But don’t be fooled. Forgiveness is never easy. But it is the first thing we do if we follow Jesus.
Forgiveness is not overlooking the wrong. Joseph did not pretend that nothing ever happened.. Joseph clearly said, “you meant it for evil but God meant if for good.” (50:20) Joseph did not minimize the wrong they had done.
Forgiveness is not excusing the wrong.
Forgiveness is not finding excuses for the wrong that was done. What happened was not the result of a bad home environment, poverty or any other thing that society uses to excuse sin! Forgiveness is not minimizing the wrong. No where does Joseph say, “Boys, don’t worry about it, it was not that big of a deal!” Forgiveness never meant that Joseph had to minimize the pain of what had happened to him.
Forgiveness is not taking the blame for the wrong. Joseph did not say “Its ok boys I know it was my fault, I should never have worn my fancy robe of many colors into the field, I should never have told you about those dreams.” No matter what Joseph said or did, it did not excuse what his brother had done.
Extending forgiveness is hard. “It is never easy. I do not pretend to do it well, nor does anyone else I know. We have heard the words of Jesus.” We ourselves had experienced the forgiveness of God the Father at the cross of Jesus. We forgive others because we trust the words of Jesus to be true. When we forgive, our forgiveness may not change the one who harmed our emotions… but it will change us.
We can forgive others because we have been forgiven. The apostle Paul writes: “When you were dead in your sins,…God made you alive in Jesus. He forgave us all our sins having canceled the written code with its regulations… that stood opposed to us; he nailed our sins to the cross of Jesus.” (Col. 2:14ff) Think of that gift of grace…. All your sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, the punishment for broken commandments canceled and nailed to the cross of Jesus.
God is the only one who is powerful enough to bring a hundred times a hundred million galaxies into existence with a word. He is the only one organized enough to give His creation a rhythm which allows living things to reproduce and measure the passing of time. He is the only one who could create the infinite colors which are visible in the sunrise or sunset. He set the tones of songbirds; he created the forces of wind and wave, gravity and mathematics. He is the one who loves you and I so much that he came himself in the person of Jesus, to carry our sins to the cross and give us the gift of life and forgiveness.
Jesus was conceived of a virgin, to bring salvation to those who are held in the fear of death by Satan. The deaf were given the ability to hear how God wished to forgiven them. He spoke words of forgiveness to a paralyzed man and then healed his body to prove his point.
When Jesus hung on the cross, and the skies turned black, and Satan would have been dancing when Jesus breathed His last. Jesus died. Three days later, in blinding light he tossed aside death and hell, and emerged from His borrowed tomb. When the women came to the tomb, the angel simply announced…. “He is not here, He is risen just as the said.”
This is the good news. He was our substitute and we have been set free to forgive others as we have been forgiven. Forgiveness is a God thing… It is his gift. Pass it on.
