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“Back
Against the Wall”
August
17, 2008
Geneseo
United
Methodist
Church
Pastor
Craig Ferguson
Genesis 45:1-5, 14-15
Then
Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by
him, and he cried out, "Send everyone away from me." So no
one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard
it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.
3 Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph.
Is my father still alive?" But his brothers could not answer
him, so dismayed were they at his presence.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come
closer to me." And they came closer. He said, "I am your
brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.
5 And now do not be distressed, or angry with
yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to
preserve life.
14
Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, while Benjamin
wept upon his neck. 15
And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after
that his brothers talked with him.
Let me tell you a story of a family:
My father was a great man, actually he once told me that he wrestled with
God on a mountain top, oh, and he won by the way.
He said that God changed his name to Israel and promised to
make him into a great nation one day.
I always believed those stories, I believed that we were a
family chosen by God to tell the world about his love.
I remember one day I even had a dream that God would give me great
authority in the world, and that because of that authority that my
brothers would even bow to me. I
suppose now that sounds kind of arrogant, but I didn’t think about
it at the time. I shared
it with my brothers because I was so excited that God had revealed
his message to me.
That was when I found out how messed up our family was.
Bitterness, Anger, Jealousy found their way into my
brother’s hearts, and they attacked me.
I didn’t have time to think before they stuffed me in a
well and were going to leave me to die.
Can you imagine being sold into slavery by your own siblings?
I mean something like that has to cause some kind of
emotional trauma. But
for me I guess it was a better option than being left there to die.
At this point in my life I was beginning to wonder if all those stories
Dad used to tell me were real or not.
I had a hard time reconciling the fact that here I was a
slave.
In that moment I doubted that God was going to make me a great ruler some
day, and after that last encounter with my brothers, I really
doubted that my brothers would ever bow before me.
But the worst thing that went through my mind was all that anger.
I mean I burned with hatred for what my brothers had done.
They had no reason to treat me that way.
From that moment on I disowned my brothers, I decided I would have nothing
to do with them if I could not have vengeance upon them.
If God gave me the opportunity, I would sell them into
slavery, leave them in some dried up well, or kill them with my very
hands.
I had a long time to think about it you see.
The long journey, long years in service to Potiphar, long
years in jail for a crime I didn’t commit against his wife.
The injustice of it all.
Again and again I was beat down, every time I saw hope, it
was as if something else would knock me down.
It was all my brothers’ fault you see.
If they had not sold me into slavery, none of this would have
happened.
I forgot how many years I lay embittered and in pain from their act of
betrayal and abandonment. The
years had passed and the only thing I knew for sure was that God had
never left me, even in my anger he was there.
I continued to pray, and God continued to speak to me, to
bless me in both the good times and the bad.
I have to admit, I always had a hard time understanding why God would
allow me to be put into slavery, or into jail for a crime that was
not mine, but eventually my faith in God proved to be greater than
my situation. On that
day I went from being a slave in jail, to being the second in
command to the Pharaoh.
Let me just make a comment here.
Joseph was going through an awful lot of garbage in his life, probably
even more than most of us have experienced.
What I want to make sure that you see is that when he was at
the bottom of the bucket, when hope seemed lost, and he thought he
had been forgotten. God
picked him up and totally, radically changed his life.
He went from being a slave scum to being the Lord of the
land, and second in command of all Egypt.
When God changes a life, he doesn’t just put a little whipped cream on
top and say, “that looks better.”
No, when God takes a hold of us, we sit at the feet of God as
heirs, and co-heirs with Christ his son.
This is a radical transformation, from pauper to prince, from
slave to king, from sinner, to saved.
God is in the business of transformation, and has been for a
long time. God will
transform you today if you are ready to ask him.
Ok, but this is not my story to tell, Joseph…
Yea well anyway, I quickly forgot about all that bad stuff, I was so busy
with my new responsibilities. The
luxuries that came with it were pretty nice too.
But I realize now that I harbored those bitter feelings of
resentment deep in my heart. Sure
I had trusted God, and everything turned out just fine, but I never
had the opportunity to reconcile my relationship with my brothers.
Actually, I hoped and prayed that I would never have to face
that painful memory again.
I was comfortable with the fact that I had disowned my brothers, and that
I would never have to see them again.
If I just kept telling myself and all those around me that I
was an only child, I would never have to face the vengeance and
anger that I still wanted to see come upon their heads.
…
It was amazing how fast all of that rage filled my heart again when I saw
them walk into the room to ask me for food.
I recognized them immediately, their faces were etched into
my mind as anger pounded my heart all those years.
I treated them as strangers, I spoke harshly to them trying
to discern if my father and my younger brother Benjamin were still
alive, or if they had done away with him the same as they had to me.
How could I trust them after what they had done to me?
I knew in my heart that my feelings were wrong, and that God had even used
their injustice and act of resentment to bring me to Egypt and to
place me in power. I
knew that God had fulfilled my dream of so many years before when
they walked in the door and bowed at my feet, but I just could not
bring myself to tell them who I was.
I needed to know that they were sorry for what they had done,
I needed to know that they had changed their ways, I needed some
reason to forgive them.
I quickly devised a scheme that would get them back to Egypt with Benjamin
in tow. I had to test
them to see if they were telling the truth.
I have to admit, I wasn’t sure if they would ever come back.
I had put Simeon in prison in front of their very eyes, so
they knew that a lie would cost them the life of a brother.
But would they sacrifice Simeon’s life, or was Benjamin
dead already.
Those were a long couple of months that I waited for them to return, but I
knew they would eventually have to come back to me, after all, there
was no food to be had anywhere else, God would force them to
confront their sin once again. So
I waited.
I found in those months I had to do a lot of praying.
I had built up so much resentment and anger.
Even though it all turned out for good just like God
promised, I was hurt by their offense.
I was wounded by the way they had treated me, and the words I
heard them say. It was
as if they still rang in my ears, I could still hear their voices as
if I were in the well, and being sold by my own flesh and blood.
Who could do such a thing, and how could I forgive them?
Umm, Joseph, if you don’t mind, I would like to interrupt again.
(Like he has any choice, but Joseph came before Christ, so he
wouldn’t know this part anyway)
Just a note, that is exactly what God did with his own son.
He sent him to earth as a servant, a slave, to take our
place, and to bear the burden of sin for all humanity.
So just like Joseph bore the pain and burden of the sin of his brothers,
Christ bore the pain of our sins.
And just like Christ sacrificed as an act of forgiving us, so
God required Joseph to humble himself and forgive his brothers.
I am not saying that was easy, it was just what God wanted
him to do.
No, thanks for mentioning it, it was not easy.
I knew that was what God wanted me to do, I just did not know
if I could do it.
But when they walked in with Benjamin, I knew what I had to do.
Yes, I tested them one more time.
I had to see if they were willing to protect Benjamin, or if
his life was expendable to them.
When I saw their change of heart, I could no longer compose
myself, I could feel the forgiveness pouring out of me.
I sent my servants out and I wept bitterly in front of my
brothers. It is I
Joseph, I told them, only to see the color of their faces turn pale
white with fear and realization that they were now going to pay for
their sin so many years ago.
I had to assure them that my intentions were pure, and that my forgiveness
was from the heart. They
knew that they did not deserve it, but I knew that God commanded it.
It was that day that I finally felt free from pain that had lived in my
heart for so many years. When
I told them that they were forgiven, it was as if I had finally
emerged from the pit that they had first thrown me in.
All that time I had been captive to the hated that I had kept buried in my
heart. I did not keep my
tears silent that night. I
cried so loudly that whole house of Pharaoh heard my pain.
But it didn’t matter, because I was finally free.
Joseph’s story is a powerful one indeed.
His ability to forgive and be reconciled with his brothers
changed the face of two great nations, Egypt and Israel.
But most of all, it changed his heart, and it changed his
whole family, from a family with terrible and painful secrets to a
family that was reconciled and free from the pain of anger and
resentment.
Scripture tells us that we are forgiven only as we are able to forgive,
and that is exactly what Joseph experienced.
Today there are some of you who personally know the feelings that Joseph
had. You know them
because they are feelings you have harbored in your own heart.
They are feelings that you have held on to simply because you
can’t imagine letting go of them.
But they are feelings that are still holding you captive.
They are feelings that make you feel like you are suffocating
in a pit of pain and despair. And
they are feelings that will hold on to you as long as you let them.
But today is the day that I invite you to face those feelings.
Acknowledge the pain and the hurt that someone has inflicted
upon you. It may be a
pain from the distant past. It
may be a pain that is very recent and still raw.
It may be the pain of abuse, or it may be the pain of
neglect. It may be a
pain from a family member, or it may be a pain from a stranger.
It may have been intentional, or it may have been accidental.
Where ever your pain, anguish, hurt, and anger stem from I want you to
hear the good news that you can be set free from it today.
You can cast your burden upon Christ, you can experience
peace and joy in the face of your pain, and you can emerge from your
pain if you will allow yourself to forgive those who have harmed
you.
Did you hear that, freedom and peace does not come from vengeance, it
comes only in forgiveness.
Some of you might be feeling a great burden welling up in your soul today
from a hurt that you have been unable to forgive.
You may need to talk with God a little to know how to
forgive, and how to be reconciled.
I invite you during our closing song to prayerfully ask God how to
forgive. Ask him to
break your heart until you can finally let go of your pain.
The altar is open if you need to come forward to pray.
God is listening, and he already knows the pain you feel.
Or if you would like to speak with me after the service, I
will be here. If there
is someone you need to go and speak with, take that challenge
seriously. Whatever you
do I just ask that you don’t go home with unforgiveness in your
heart. Amen.
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