Jesu Juva
“Paving Our Way and Having Our Backs”
Text: Genesis 45:3-15; Luke 6:27-38; 1 Corinthians 15:21-26, 30-42
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
The story of Joseph - just a small bit of which we heard in the Old Testament reading today - is an amazing story. Most of his brothers hated him and wanted to kill him. Instead, they decide to sell him to some foreigners headed down to Egypt. Make a little coin off their then, still, teenage brother. In Egypt, he is purchased as a house slave, and serves his master Potiphar until he is falsely accused of sexual misconduct with his master’s wife, at which time he is thrown into prison. There he becomes kind of the head prisoner, charged with overseeing the other prisoners, until finally, being able to interpret the Pharaoh’s dreams he is pulled out of prison and made second in command of all Egypt. It was a meteoric rise. A real rags to riches story. But it took a long time to get there.
So when Joseph is finally re-connected with his brothers - who, remember, started all this with their hatred! - you could hardly blame him if he took a little revenge. Or a LOT of revenge! And he was in a position to do so. No one would have questioned him. A golden opportunity for a little payback. But he doesn’t. Instead, he loves his enemies. Does good to those who hate him. He blesses those who cursed him. And he does not demand back what had been taken away from him. And we marvel at Joseph for this. How could he?
Joseph’s brothers, meanwhile, continue to live with their guilty consciences. For as soon as things start to go sideways for them, they immediately assume God is getting them back for what they had done. First thing on their mind. Divine payback for their heinous sin. So when Joseph finally reveals himself to his brothers - for up until now they didn’t recognize him after so many years, after he had grown into a man and looked like an Egyptian - they are horrified, terrified. It said dismayed in the reading we heard today, but that’s not strong enough a word. They are completely at their brother’s mercy, and they expect the worst.
And I would even go so far as to say they wanted the worst. They wanted Joseph to hate them back and get revenge, so then they would be even. It was what they deserved. And then, they would feel better about themselves, hate themselves a little less for what they had done, once they were paid back for what they had done. . . . But this? No, don’t be nice to us Joseph! Now how can we set things right? Now how can we ever be even?
They couldn’t, of course. And if left there, like that, with them being evil and their brother being good, things probably would have continued to deteriorate with his brothers. They would have continued to feel guilty, and in their guilt would have continued hating their brother for not paying them back and leaving them there to stew in their guilt, and maybe hating him even more for acting so much better than them and thinking he was better than them. That was part of the reason why they hated him in the first place! The rift would only grow wider.
Unless it was not really about Joseph . . . and not really about them. Unless it was God who paved the way for him to be there, and God who had his back while there. That’s why he survived the journey. That’s why he survived the false allegations against him. That’s why he rose to the top in prison, and why he rose to second in command of all Egypt. And if the psalms had been written, perhaps Joseph would have quoted the one that said: This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes (Psalm 118:23). More on that in a bit.
But since the Lord had paved the way for him to be there, and had his back while he was there, since the Lord was in charge, that set Joseph free. That’s why he could do what he did. And that’s why his brothers could accept what he did. He was free to love and forgive and do good to his brothers. To not worry about getting even, but to marvel at what the Lord had done and was accomplishing through him.
And so it is with us. Those things Jesus said to us today, that we saw in Joseph, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you, turn the other cheek, don’t demand repayment or seek revenge . . . how can we do those things? They seem, with very few exceptions perhaps, impossible. You won’t get ahead in this world by being that way. You’ll be taken advantage of. You have to look out for yourself, get even yourself, save yourself.
OR . . . recognize, as Joseph did, that the LORD is in charge. That the Lord is paving the way forward for you, and that He also has your back. Knowing that set Joseph free. Free to live not as a slave to sin, to his sinful urges and desires, perhaps for a little payback and revenge; but free to live differently. Free to love and forgive and do good. Free to do not just what sinners do, but more. And better. Free in Christ to be, as Jesus said, merciful, even as your Father in heaven is merciful.
The Apostle Paul was a little more blunt about it today when he said, Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. Don’t go on living as if God wasn’t merciful, as if Christ hadn’t come, as if His death and resurrection doesn’t matter, as if you’re the same as everyone else, even those who have no knowledge of God. You’re not! You’re different. So live different. Don’t keep doing what your sinful nature tells you to do, and so be a slave to it. Live free from that, because you are. Free like Joseph, who knew that God both paved his way and had his back.
Now, admittedly, that throws our sinful human ecosystem out of whack! Our world which runs and thrives on things being and getting even. You get me a gift, I have to get you a gift! You hit me, I hit you. You hate me, I hate you. And then Jesus comes and throws everything out of whack! He didn’t hit, He wouldn’t hate, He freely gave and loved and forgave those who could never pay Him back . . . and the scales went like this! And like with Joseph’s brothers, that just made things worse to those who wanted even. To those who thought we have to make things even with God and built their whole careers on it. So they had to kick Jesus off the scales, get rid of Him, crucify Him. They had to look out for themselves, save themselves.
Except it didn’t work. Sin never works. It doesn’t make things better. If you think so, you’ve just bought into satan’s lies.
Now, do you remember the psalm I quoted earlier, that I said I’d get back to? Here it is (in context): The stone that the builders rejected - Jesus, who they rejected, kicked off the scales, crucified! has become the cornerstone.This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. So now This is the day that the Lord has made; - and new day! - let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:22-24).
So Jesus paved the way for us first and foremost by going through death and the grave, and then rising from death, becoming the cornerstone of the Church and of our lives. Joseph was a little picture of that; a foreshadowing. He was dead and buried to his brothers, but then alive to them again. And in so doing - by the Lord’s doing - gave them a new day and a new life to live. And he wanted them to rejoice and be glad with him in it.
And just as Jesus paved the way for us through sin, death, and the grave, we have now a new life to live with Him also having our backs. He is before us and He is behind us, which sets us free to live without fear, and to do and be those things that He described today. Loving our enemies, doing good to those who hate us, blessing those who curse us, praying for those who abuse us, turning the other cheek, and giving without expecting anything in return. Not living like everyone else, because you’re not like everyone else! You are a baptized child of God. To rejoice and be glad in HIM.
But Joseph did more than welcome and forgive his brothers, although that would have been enough, right? He then also gave them a home, a place to live, and fed them. The only food there was, to sustain them. And we see in this, too, Jesus. For He hasn’t just forgiven us and saved us, although that would have been enough, right? He has also given us a home - first here, in His Church, and then ultimately with Him in His kingdom. And He feeds us with the only food that can sustain us through this world and life - His Body and Blood. That’s why God sent Joseph to Egypt and why the Father sent His Son into our world - to save, to feed, and give us a new life and a new home.
But if Joseph is a little picture, a foreshadowing of Jesus for us, He is also a little picture, a foreshadowing of what we can be in Jesus. Loving and forgiving and doing good. Not hating or striking back, but tipping the scales and upsetting the balance of those who are trying to save themselves. So that seeing things out of whack, they, too, turn to the only one who can save us. The one who goes before us and has our back. The one who is both God and man. Not because we have to do these things, but because in Jesus, we can. We are set free.
And then Jesus ends His words here for us today with a promise.
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
Now, those words, taken out of context, have been thrown in Christian faces these days, by people saying don’t judge me! You can’t judge me - Jesus said so! As if for Jesus, anything and everything goes. That’s not what those words mean. We can, of course, and we must confess what is right and wrong, what is true and false. But at the same time, staying in our lane, and like Joseph, entrusting all things to God. The God who goes before us and has our backs. He will do what is good and right, now and in the end. We don’t have all the facts. We don’t know the future. We don’t know His plans. So we trust. And when we do all those things that upset the scales today - when we love and pray and forgive and do good, when we don’t repay evil for evil - we do so knowing that - as Jesus promised today - we can’t out-give God. He has done and will do for us far more than we could ever do for others. And far more than we could ever get for ourselves.
That’s the truth Joseph finally realized. I don’t know how long it took him to get there, maybe it was when he finally got out of prison and put at the top of the pile. Ah ha! But maybe it was earlier, and such knowledge sustained him through all those difficult times. We’re not told. But for us, for you, whether you’re at the top or if you’re still at the bottom, it good to know that your heavenly Father goes before you, your Saviour Jesus has your back, and by His Spirit you have a home and the food you need.So come now to our Lord’s Table. He has nothing but good for you.
For This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad - and do good! - in it!
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment