Reconciliation

August 19^th, 2019          “Reconciliation”     Rev. Heather Jepsen

Summer Sermon Series: Dreaming with Joseph

Genesis 45

         This morning is the final installment in our summer sermon series, “Dreaming with Joseph”.  It has been a long and arduous journey for Joseph, our hero.  His story began as the favorite son of his father Jacob.  Blessed with the gift of a special robe, Joseph was despised by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt.

         Joseph spent over a dozen years as a captive in a foreign land, first as a slave and later as a prison inmate.  Joseph was able to interpret dreams and help people, but it would be years before his talent was recognized. 

         Finally, when Pharaoh has a dream in need of interpretation, Joseph has an opportunity to lift himself out of a life of suffering.  By interpreting Pharaoh’s dream correctly, and offering a solution for the coming years of famine, Joseph wins Pharaoh’s trust and rises to power within the Egyptian empire.

         After his time of success and building a life for himself in Egypt, including a wife and children, the pain of Joseph’s past returns.  The famine has spread to the land of Canaan and Joseph’s brothers, who had left him for dead, are suddenly before him asking for grain.

         A lot of back and forth ensues, as Joseph puts the brothers through a series of tests.  Rather than an attempt to be cruel, or to get back at his brothers for their wrong doing, Joseph’s tests aim to remind the brothers of the sins of their past.  He seeks to make them vulnerable, he wants the make them aware of their guilt, and he tries to remind them of what they had done to him so many years ago.  Joseph wants to know if these brothers have changed their ways and if family reconciliation is truly possible.

         When we left the story last week, Benjamin, the youngest son and new favorite of Jacob, was in danger of being held captive in Egypt as a slave.  Joseph’s older brother Judah made an impassioned speech begging for the life of Benjamin.  In a complete 180 from where our story began, this son who allowed the near death and slavery of his brother now offers his own life in the place of his father’s new favorite.  What remains to be seen is how Joseph will respond.  Let’s find out . . .

         (Read Genesis 45:1-3)

         Joseph can keep his identity a secret no more.  He sends all the officials and guards from the room and when it is just him and his brothers he reveals his true identity.  He is overcome by emotion and weeps so loudly that everyone around can hear the commotion. 

         Rather than be overjoyed that their brother is alive, the 11 sons of Jacob are very upset.  They are stunned into silence and dismayed by this revelation.  Joseph is in power over the land of Egypt and has their very lives in his hands.  After they left him for dead, how can they expect him to do anything else of them?  They all stand condemned.  Joseph knows their sin and Joseph has the power to execute them all if he so desires.  The brothers are understandably terrified.

         (Read Genesis 45:4-15)

         Joseph seeks to bridge the gap between his position of power and his brother’s position of weakness.  He asks them to come closer, to look closely at his face.  He asks them to see and believe that he is their true brother, a fellow son of Israel. 

         Joseph offers the brothers forgiveness and reconciliation.  He tells them not to be angry or upset.  Even though they did wrong in selling him into slavery, God has used the situation to preserve life.  Through Joseph’s presence in Egypt, God has been able to secure the life of the family of Israel, as well as the life of the Egyptian people.  Joseph claims that without his presence, everyone would have perished in the years of famine.  But because God sent him to Egypt, then God has been able to preserve life through Joseph’s actions. 

         Joseph tells his brothers to go and retrieve their father Jacob, as well as their families and households.  Joseph will provide a life for the family of Israel within Egypt.  Joseph is again overcome by emotion and weeps with his brother Benjamin.  The other brothers talk with him, but a bit of tension remains.  Finding out that your dead brother is alive will take more time to absorb.

         (Read Genesis 45:16-24)

         News spreads throughout the kingdom that these men are Joseph’s brothers.  Pharaoh reiterates the promise of a life spent safely in Egypt and the men are sent away with gifts and provisions to aid the family’s journey.  Joseph makes a gift of clothing to the brothers, which signifies the reunification of the family.  Remember it was clothing (Joseph’s fancy robe) that led to the family’s distress and now clothing becomes a symbol of their reconciliation.

         Joseph warns the brothers not to argue on the way back home.  We know from our past chapters that Joseph is a good judge of character and able to read people’s emotions well.  Joseph knows that all is not well with the brothers and they will be tempted to blame each other and rehash their guilt.  They also may be in fear of accepting this offer; perhaps Joseph is not to be trusted and still seeks to lure them into a trap of revenge.

         (Read Genesis 45:25-28)

         When the brothers arrive back in the land of Canaan and tell their father what has happened, he at first does not believe them.  He has spent over 20 years believing that Joseph is dead, it is not a belief he will let go of easily.  But when he sees the gifts that the brothers have returned with he allows hope to fill his heart.  He is eager to go into Egypt and see his lost son once again before he dies.

         There are several chapters left in the telling of Joseph’s story but we will leave our sermon series here.  You are welcome to finish reading the book of Genesis on your own and I encourage you to do so.  In the remaining chapters, God appears to Jacob and promises him safety, and all the people of Israel are brought down into the land of Egypt.  After living 17 years in Egypt, Jacob the patriarch finally dies, but not before he reverses the blessing order of Joseph’s sons, an echo of his own stolen birthright. 

Despite his attempt at reconciliation, tension remains between Joseph and his brothers.  When Jacob dies, the brothers again expect Joseph’s wrath and fear for their lives.  It is not until the final chapter of Genesis that we get our most favorite line from Joseph’s story.  As the brothers bow before him and offer themselves up as slaves to his mercy, Joseph says “Do not be afraid!  Am I in the place of God?  Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.” 

Joseph dies an old man in Egypt, but the text hints at the story to come.  Even though the Israelites are now in Egypt’s land, Joseph remembers the promise of God to bring them into their own land, the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Joseph is embalmed in the Egyptian style and the stage is set for the next chapter, Exodus.

 Throughout our summer sermon series, we have tried to find places where our own lives intersect with Joseph’s story.  From finding God’s presence in dark places, to using our own natural gifts to further the work of God in the world, this has been a rich series.  Last week we considered ourselves in the position of Joseph’s brothers, recognizing our need to admit our sin and repent in order to receive reconciliation.  This week I want us to imagine ourselves in Joseph’s position.  Would we be able to forgive the brothers who left us for dead?  Would we be able to see the hand of God in a life that was mostly suffering?  It is hard to say.

We all know that forgiveness is important, especially within the bonds of family.  It is within our family that we are most vulnerable, and the wounds of family betrayal can cut the deepest.  But we also know that we need family to survive.  If someone has wronged us and then admits their wrong, then we need to be willing to forgive.  It is the only way healing can happen for the one who has been hurt and the one who caused the pain.

Jesus makes the importance of forgiveness clear when he encourages us in the Lord’s Prayer to ask for God to “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”  Our ability to receive God’s forgiveness is directly connected with our ability to offer forgiveness to others.  Even more difficult than admitting our sin can be the letting go of the sins of others.  This is a deep and challenging aspect of our faith and one that requires a lifetime of diligent effort.

What about Joseph’s claim that God was acting through all his negative experiences?  “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good.”  This can be a really challenging lesson for us as believers.  Through all his years of suffering Joseph has seen the hand of God.  He believes that if he had not been put into Egypt that his family would have died from the famine, and he is probably correct in that belief.  So did God cause Joseph’s suffering in order to enable the saving of life?   

The questions here are of providence and autonomy.  If God made it all happen, including the brothers leaving him for dead, then no one has any free will.  But if God took a negative situation and made it into a positive one, then both God and people are acting as free agents.  This makes the most sense to me.  God and people act together in this world, and in the story of Joseph, God acts to preserve life.

What about in our own lives?  Is this an “everything happens for a reason” story?  Maybe.  When we face suffering, it is often tempting to find redeeming qualities in our hardship.  We don’t want to go so far as to say that God causes suffering in order to bring about good or to “teach us a lesson”.  God did not cause Joseph’s suffering.  But we can say that God often finds a way to preserve human life despite our negative experiences.  In Joseph’s story, God takes a negative and makes a positive not only for Joseph’s family but for the whole people of the region.  In our own stories, we can also often witness the power of God to make a negative into a positive.  God is always acting to preserve life.

And so our summer sermon series comes to an end.  It has been a road of suffering and hardship for Joseph but he has witnessed the hand of God throughout his journey.  So too, when we review our own life stories, we can often see the working of God in our midst.  Even in our darkest days, God is moving behind the scenes, trying to preserve life.  May the story of Joseph encourage us to be faithful, and may it remind us of the power of forgiveness.  Thank God for this inspiring patriarch, Joseph son of Israel.  Amen.