Series - Joseph’s Life in Egypt

Text – Genesis 50:15 - 21

Theme – You’ve Got the Power

Pastor Michael Jensen

St. Mark’s Lutheran Church

Watertown, Wisconsin

September 20, 23 & 24, 2000

God’s grace, mercy and peace be with you this day and always. That grace, mercy and peace is yours because of your wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This week we’re bringing to a close our sermon series on the life of Joseph. Let’s take a moment to recap what we’ve covered in the life of Joseph.

· He was the favored son of his father Jacob.

· His brothers hated him so they sold him into slavery.

· Because the LORD was with him he worked his way up to being second in command in Potiphar’s house.

· Potiphar’s wife lied about Joseph and he ended up in jail.

· In jail he worked his way up to being second in command to the warden.

· God had given Joseph the ability to interpret dreams and that got him out of jail when he was able to interpret the dream of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

· Because he was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, Pharaoh placed him in charge of all of Egypt.

· His brothers came to Egypt to look for grain during the great famine. This lead to a tear-filled reunion between Joseph and his father and his brothers.

Think about it. Joseph’s true life story had it all. There is the fall from favor. The rags to riches story line. The hero saving the people and the heart tugging family reunion. And, then tear-filled reunion. And if you and I were writing the script, that’s where you and I would end the story. That’s where we’d write, “And, they all lived happily ever after.”

But, that’s not where the true life story of Joseph ends. We still have the chapter of Joseph’s life about which we read in our lesson for today. That lesson is recorded for us in Genesis 50:15-21.

Genesis 50:15-21

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?”

So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.”

When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke tenderly to them.

Theme – You’ve Got the Power!

I. The Power of Vengeance

A. Joseph Had the Power of Vengeance Inside Him

Here we see that after the brothers were reunited, they didn’t live happily ever after. There was still fear, distrust, anger and resentment. You see, dad had died. That, of course, brought sadness, but it also brought fear.

Joseph’s brothers were afraid and with good reason. They were afraid that the only thing that had kept Joseph from taking vengeance out on them was their dear old dad. They were terrified because the brother they had treated so terribly was now second in command of Egypt. He had all the power and they knew he could use all his power to get even with the brothers who had sold him into slavery. He could make them slaves. He could have them tortured. He could have them executed right then and there. Joseph had all the power, all the power to seek vengeance.

And inside of him Joseph had powerful motivation to do just that. Think of why Joseph would have wanted to use his power to punish his brothers. Many years had passed, but the images of his brothers selling him into slavery had to most vivid.

We’ve all gone through traumatic experiences in our lives. For us the images of those traumatic events are still as vivid in our minds today as if they happened only yesterday. Now think what vivid images you would have forever burned in your memory if your brothers had sold you into slavery.

Inside of his heart and deep within the memory of his mind Joseph had all the motivation to carry out revenge upon his brothers.

ü Joseph could still vividly recall that fateful day when he went to visit his brothers as they tended their father’s flocks, but when he arrived he was ambushed.

ü Vivid still was the image of his brothers throwing him into that cistern.

ü He could no doubt painfully remember looking up from the bottom of that cistern and begging his brothers to let him out.

ü He could still hear their laughter and taunting: How’s daddy’s boy now! Not so high and mighty now!

ü He perhaps remembered every word of their conversation as he listened to his brothers plot his death.

ü And, after they decided to sell him into slavery, he no doubt remembered how his brothers became distant silhouettes on the horizon as he was carried farther away by the slave traders. And, as he was carried away, all he could hear was the distant, fading laughter of those brothers.

Yes, years later those images were still very real for Joseph and now he had all the power to seek revenge!

B. We’ve Got the Power of Vengeance in Us

Each of us has been done wrong by someone. Maybe it was just like Joseph; maybe you’ve been done wrong by someone close to you. Maybe it was a parent, a brother or sister, a close friend. And, it doesn’t matter if that person did you wrong a week ago, a year ago or 50 years ago, you still feel the pain and the hurt. The pain is so real even now that you want to stick it to him/her the way he/she stuck it to you. You want that person to hurt like you did. You want to make his/ her life miserable. You want to use all your power to tear down and destroy. And, you know it’s a real power to destroy, because you can feel it inside as it eats away at you. Yes. The power of revenge is real and we’ve all got it.

II. The Power of Forgiveness

A. Joseph Had the Power of Forgiveness

So, if the power of revenge is real and powerful, why didn’t Joseph use his power to seek revenge against his brothers? Joseph also had another very real power, the power to forgive, the power to heal and restore.

Joseph had the incredible power to forgive his brothers even though they had treated him so terribly. How? From where did such power come? Was it his love for Jacob, his father, and his desire to follow the will of his father? Did he forgive his brothers to please his dad by keeping peace in the family? No. Such forgiveness wouldn’t have been real and therefore wouldn’t have lasted. As soon as dad was gone, the forgiveness would have been gone.

Well, then maybe it was the warm and fond memories of his dear departed father that moved Joseph to keep peace in the family by not extracting punishment from his brothers? No. That wouldn’t bring a real and lasting forgiveness. Fond memories soon fade when faced with the pressures of daily living. No. If Joseph was to truly forgive his brother, the power wasn’t going to come from within. The power of forgiveness would have to come from outside of him.

B. We’ve Got the Power of Forgiveness

For you and me it’s the same. We can’t muster up the power to forgive people from inside. If we try to get the power to forgive from within ourselves, it’s not a true forgiveness. It’s forgiveness for selfish reasons and it won’t last.

Husbands and wives if you forgive each other . . .

ü to keep peace . . .to just stop the nagging . . .

ü because it beats the alternative of divorce . . .

ü so you can stay together until the kids are grown up. .

that’s not real forgiveness and it’s not lasting forgiveness.

Children, if you forgive your brother or sister . . .

ü because you’re tired of getting yelled at

ü because you’re sick of getting in trouble . . .

that’s not real forgiveness and it’s not lasting forgiveness.

For us also, the power of forgiveness, the power for a true and lasting forgiveness, needs to come from outside of us.

III. The Power of the Promise

A. Joseph Had the Power of the Promised Savior

So, from where did Joseph’s power to forgive come? His power to forgive was the power of the promise, the promise of the coming Savior, the coming Messiah.

Joseph knew that the LORD had promised a Savior would come from his own family. Joseph knew that his being in Egypt was not just to save many lives from death due to that terrible famine. He also knew that his family, the family of the promise, was being saved so the world’s Savior could be born. And, Joseph knew that the promised Savior was coming to forgive him his sins.

Joseph understood the serious nature of his sins. When you and I look at Joseph, we don’t see his many sins. We see a man who maybe was a bit arrogant as an adolescent, but who most of the time was empowered by the Holy Spirit to give the godly answer and do the godly thing. That’s because God hasn’t chosen to tell us all Joseph’s sins. So Joseph looks pretty good when we look at him.

But, that’s not how he looked to God and that’s not how Joseph saw himself. He knew his many sins. He knew that each and every one of his sins was all out rebellion and wickedness against his loving Creator God! And, Joseph was so very thankful that God was coming as his Savior to take away his sins. Knowing that God had forgiven his huge debt of sin, how could Joseph not forgive the sins of his brothers? That’s right. No matter how terribly Joseph’s brothers had treated him, Joseph knew that he had treated God more terribly. And, Joseph knew that no matter how terribly his brothers had treated him, the coming Savior loved those brothers and was coming to die for their sins, even their sins of selling him into slavery. Joseph’s power to forgive was the power of the promise, the power of the promised Savior!

B. We’ve Got the Power of Promised Savior Who Has Come - Jesus!

It’s the same for you and me. Your power to forgive the people around you does not come from within. The power for us to forgive is also the power of the promise.

Many people, even people close to us, do us wrong . . . treat us terribly. And when we think about . . . when we think how they treated us . . . when we think how they had no regard for us or for our families . . . when we think of how they stuck it to us, all we want to do is stick it to them. Yet, we know that there is a power from outside of us – the power of Christ’s forgiveness -- the power of the promise of Christ!

Just as it did for Joseph, the power of the promise of Christ and His forgiveness empowers us to forgive others. But you and are even more blessed than Joseph. Joseph only had the promise of the coming Savior. You and I have the power of the fulfilled promise of Christ. You and I can daily go to the Bible and read how Jesus fulfilled forgiveness. You and I can regularly receive Christ’s own body and blood in the Sacrament for the power of forgiveness - the power of our own forgiveness and the power to forgive others.

And, as we daily return to Calvary to see Christ fulfill the promise and purchase forgiveness, what do we see? We see Christ willingly stretch out His hands and allow those Roman soldiers to drive those nails through Him. We hear Him speak words of forgiveness. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!”

Now, think of who that is who was nailed to that cross. That was not just a man . . . not just a perfect man. That man was also God, the creator of the universe, the One with all power. He had all the power! He had all the power to carry out vengeance on his enemies who were treating Him so heinously. He could have lashed out against His accusers with a divine and just wrath. He had the power to stop the heartbeats of those Roman soldiers. He had all the power to tear down and destroy.

But, He didn’t. The One with all the power, God in the flesh, used all His power, not for vengeance, but for forgiveness. He used all His power to purchase forgiveness . . .your forgiveness . . .my forgiveness . . . the forgiveness of all people . . .the forgiveness of even our enemies . . .the forgiveness of even those who have treated us so terribly.

You and I know our many sins against our loving Creator. We know how many times we have turned our backs on Him, when He has only been good and kind to us. We know how many times we have stabbed Him in the back with our arrogance, pride and disobedience. We know the secret sins of our heads and hearts and how we have secretly offended our God. We have so many sins against God and even one act of disobedience against God deserved Him using all His power to cast us into hell. But, He didn’t. God used all His power to forgive us through the work of His Son.

Surely the power of God’s promise of forgiveness fulfilled in Christ . . . surely God forgiving all my sins, empowers me to forgive the relatively small debt of sin someone has committed against me. Because, it doesn’t matter how terribly someone has treated you or me, the way they treated us doesn’t compare with how you and I have treated God.

Still, it’s hard; it’s difficult for us weak sinners to forgive people who have treated us so badly. But, the promise of God’s forgiveness does empower us to make a start no matter how difficult it may be. It starts with us saying, “Lord, I’m having a hard time forgiving this person because of what he/she did to me. But, Lord, I know you died and rose for him/her also. I know you love this person too. Lord, I believe. Help, Thou, my unbelief!”

Then, once Christ’s promise of forgiveness for all causes us to realize that Christ dies for that person too, we can move toward speaking words of forgiveness and healing. We desire to speak words of forgiveness, because we know that not only did Christ die for that person, He also wants that person to know it. He wants that person to repent and trust in Him for forgiveness and eternal life.

But, look. Look at the further, amazing power of the promise. Look at the power of Christ’s forgiveness. Look at what it moved Joseph to do. The promise of the coming Savior didn’t just give him power to speak forgiveness to his brothers. He didn’t just say to his brothers, “Yah. You’re forgiven, but you better get out of my sight.” No. The promise of the coming Savior gave him the power to show forgiveness . . . to live forgiveness. He said to his brothers, “ ‘Don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.’ And he reassured them and spoke tenderly to them.”

That power to live forgiveness is your’s also. When you trust that Christ has forgiven the person who has wronged you . . .when you have been able to speak words of Christ’s forgiveness to a person who has hurt you , then the power of the promise becomes also the power to show forgiveness . . . to live together in forgiveness. It will empower you to treat each other with respect and love.

Conclusion

So, you’ve got the power. Yes. By nature, by sinful nature, you’ve got the power to seek revenge. We’ve all got the power to make other people’s lives miserable. Yet, in Christ, you have a greater power; not the power to destroy, but the power to build up, restore and heal. You’ve got the power of forgiveness. You’ve got the power of the promise.

That means that no matter how unhappy or unfulfilled our lives may seem in the eyes of this world, we do have lives in which we live happily ever after. We live here happily every after in the joy of forgiveness. And, because of the power of Christ’s forgiveness, we [and even believers who hurt us ] will live happily ever after in the perfection of heaven. Amen.