Trinity 4 2019

Genesis 50:15-21

July 14, 2019

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

One of the greatest comebacks in all of the Bible is that of Joseph.  It’s a classic riches to rags to greater riches story.  As a young man he was a favorite of his father, Jacob.  Apparently, Jacob did little to hide his favoritism, even giving this son of his old age an expensive coat of many colors. It comes as no surprise that his brothers did not like this much, and it didn’t help things that Joseph had dreams about his brothers bowing down to him.  It could have been handled in a better way, but his brothers, filled with jealousy attempted to murder him, sold him into slavery, and made their father think he was dead.  Not a good example of brotherly love.

And it comes as no surprise either that these same brothers are rightly scared silly upon learning that Joseph had become the number 2 guy in all of Egypt, the major superpower of the world during this time. And now their father had recently died, and they fear that he was the only thing holding back Joseph’s anger and revenge over his earlier mistreatment.  They did a horrible thing, an evil thing, and they rightly feared punishment. They deserved harsh judgement for selling their brother into slavery out of their jealousy and letting their parents think that Joseph was dead.

With shrewdness and in true repentance, they send a message to Joseph.  It is especially important.  Not only do they repeat the commands of their father and their obedience to him, but they confess their sin and plead for Joseph’s forgiveness.  They don’t sugar coat their evil acts and they don’t make excuses.  They are fellow servants of God, and God of Israel their father. They don’t assume the rights of brothers, but rather that of humility and servanthood. 

Their attitude and approach illustrate something very important.  As someone once said, we should be ashamed of our sin but never of our repentance over sin. A sinner should not abandon his confidence in the mercy of God. A righteous man should not be proud. For as the Psalmist says, “the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him and in those who hope in His mercy” (Ps. 147:11). He hates those who are proud and presumptuous, and He loves those in whom fear still retains some hope and confidence, not in ourselves but in the mercy of God.”^[1]

Joseph’s brothers don’t doubt that God has forgiven their sins, but they are uncertain about their brother.  And isn’t this just the way that we act too.  Too often the fear of punishment and the doubts concerning forgiveness prevent us from confessing our sins to one another and receiving absolution. I know God forgives me, but I’m not so sure that you will.

The answer of Joseph gives answer to this and points to the mercy of God and the mercy that God’s people are to have. “If you consider me a servant of God, do not think I intend to oppose Him. If God has forgiven you, why should you have doubts against me? For I am not above God.” He does not want them to deny or forget their sins and their plans to murder hm.  But he points to the mercy of God, who turned their worst thoughts and intentions to his advantage and the greatest good. 

We should fear God’s wrath and judgment, for we have done evil in His sight. And He hates sin.  Yet He still gives this promise that you who fall shall not despair. God forbids sin and evil, but after sin has been committed and His Law accuses and terrifies the sinner, as it apparent in Joseph’s brothers, then He does not want death to rule, for He does not want the death of sinners, but “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather than he should turn from his way and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23)

Servants of God, children of Israel, turn from your sinful ways and live.  Repent of your sin and your evil in thought, word, and deed. Run for refuge in Christ the Savior, who does not want the death of sinner, who does not want sin and does nothing for the sake of sin, He offers grace and salvation. As we heard last week in the Gospel, that there is great joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.

This is the joy of Joseph, and of his brothers. In faith, Joseph forgives their sins and he directs attention to the God of all mercy. “Your meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.”  St. Paul says the same in Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” Augustine says in his book, City of God, God is so good that He does not permit evil to be done unless He can draw great good from it.” (City of God, Book XIV, ch 27). Sometimes that means that we undergo suffering for the sake of Christ.  You can, and will, as a Christian suffer unjustly.  Joseph certainly did.  Even while he was imprisoned, forgotten, betrayed, the Lord was faithful through it all. 

By means of Joseph’s elevation, he was able to save many lives, to bring his people to safety in a time of drought, to establish them in safety.  But their material prosperity in Egypt was not God’s ultimate blessing for them. The coming gift was the Lord Himself, was His presence with His people, was their deliverance from famine, through slavery, and into the promised land.  But even this pales in comparison to that which is points, in the visitation of God’s Messiah and the final deliverance from all evil.

We see how this foreshadows Christ.  Jesus bases His mercy upon the Father, who sent Jesus in the world to save sinners. The evil intentions of those who crucified Him were used by God to bring about the greatest good. To elevate Christ upon the cross so that all might see and believe in the Son of God crucified for the forgiveness of sins. By God’s mercy you are free from God’s wrath.  God causes good to result from evil, not that He wants evil to be done, but His goodness and mercy is so great in our evil that He forgives sin where there is repentance.  Ultimately, God delivers us from the last enemy, that of death, to bring us into His very presence by the power of Jesus’ resurrection.

Because of this, you cannot condemn another repentant sinner.  God will judge the person who does not want to forgive his neighbor, who refuses to be reconciled to him, who does not ask forgiveness from the one who he has sinned against, those who remained hardened against others. For by God’s mercy, all your sins are forgiven, and the sins of the whole world.  God is just. To the merciful, He shows mercy. To the good, He is good. To the reconcilers, He is reconciled.  To the generous, He is generous, for as Jesus says, “For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38). “If you forgive, you have this comfort and assurance, that you are forgiven in heaven. This is not because of your forgiving. For God forgives freely and without condition, out of pure grace, because He has so promised, as the Gospel teaches. But God says this in order that He may establish forgiveness as our confirmation and assurance, as a sign alongside the promise” (LC III 95-96).

May we always be quick to forgive, slow to condemn. Quick to give mercy, slow to anger. And may the Lord forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Amen.