Sermon for Feb. 23, 2025
Epiphany 7 C
Luke 6:27-38; Genesis 45:1-11,15
Rev. Karl-John N. Stone
Today’s scripture readings hold up such a high standard of ethics that it seems we couldn’t possibly live up to them. Maybe we wouldn’t even want to try, in the first place, because they run so counter-cultural to the prevailing ways of the world. Let’s take a closer look.
The Old Testament reading, from Genesis 45, is near the conclusion of the great saga of the family of Jacob and his 12 sons. The whole story goes from Genesis chapter 37 to 50, but I’ll try to sum it up in a nutshell. It starts with Joseph “being 17 years old and shepherding the flock with his brothers” in the land of Canaan. His father Jacob “loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made Joseph a beautiful coat of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all of them, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.”
Now, despite his privileged status—or maybe because of it—Joseph was immature, arrogant, and kept doing things to alienate his brothers and make them angry—beyond angry! When they are all out in the middle of nowhere shepherding their flocks, they make a plot to kill Joseph—until a more profitable idea comes to mind, when some desert nomads pass by with their camels. They sell him for 20 pieces of silver, the nomads take him to Egypt and sell him into slavery, and the brothers make up a story to tell their dad, about Joseph being killed and eaten by wild animals.
Joseph loses his family, status, culture, and freedom. After many years of slavery and even prison, Joseph came to the attention of the Pharoah, who recognizes his abilities and keeps trusting Joseph with more and more responsibility. He becomes Pharoah’s right hand man!
Many years later there is a famine in Canaan, so Joseph’s brothers travel back and forth to Egypt many times in search of food, where they must bargain with Joseph, whom they don’t recognize—but Joseph recognizes them! Joseph uses his power and their vulnerability to extract a little revenge, falsely accusing his brothers of being spies and thieves, framing them with planted “evidence”, and driving them into a state of fear and panic.
Finally we come to today’s reading in Genesis 45, and we see that despite his attempts at revenge, that revenge does not bring healing. “Joseph could no longer control himself…and he wept so loudly…that the household of Pharaoh heard it.” Unable to keep up the charade any longer, Joseph reveals his true identity, telling his brothers: “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” And his brothers who once “could not speak peaceable to him”—well, they are not relieved that their long-lost brother is still alive. Instead they can’t even speak at all, they are so terrified of what he might do to them.
But how Joseph responds next is even more difficult than giving them the punishment they know they deserve. First, he holds them accountable, saying “I am the one you sold into slavery in Egypt.” Then he asks them to take responsibility by talking to their father, where they’ll need to confess their evil deeds. Joseph is basically saying to them that rather than punish you now for the sins of their past, the requirements of justice can be fulfilled if you demonstrate humility, integrity, and character in the present.
And perhaps most difficult of all (and this shows how far he’s matured both spiritually and emotionally) Joseph chooses the path of grace. He will repay their betrayal with blessing. He says, “I invite you to move from Canaan and live near me—you, your children, and your children’s children, and your flocks and your herds—none of you will come to poverty.” Joseph realizes that settling the score against his brothers would ultimately benefit no one, and hurt everyone. He would be letting the pain and trauma of the past win and still control his future, instead of being healed. If he gave his brothers what they really deserved, then all of his brothers’ wives and children and grandchildren—including his dear father—who were all innocent, would end up suffering in the famine and dying right along with the brothers. Joseph decided that he didn’t want the kind of suffering he endured to be visited upon anyone else. Starting right now he would begin a new way of life, based in forgiveness, grace, and love rather than revenge, grievance, and punishment.
Even more than that, he was able to look back in hindsight through the eyes of faith and see the presence and power of God at work—even in his worst moments—as he learned to recognize the truth that evil does not limit God’s power to do good. As Christians, we know this power most profoundly through the cross and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ—that God is able to grow the fruits of goodness and salvation out of the seeds of evil planted in the soil of pain and trauma.
It’s hard for us to trust that this is true, and it even took Joseph most of his life to learn how to accept it, and be able to forgive his brothers. Not to forget what they did, because he never forgot, but (with God’s help) to forgive and find new life—to begin a new way of blessing, rather than repeating the old cycles of lying, revenge, and violence that are easy to get stuck in.
This way of blessing is the way of heaven—and opening up this way is what Jesus does for us and for the world. We hear him in Luke 6 today, continuing from where he left off last week, and teaching a way of blessing that seems impossible. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you…Do to others as you would have them do to you…Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful”, and so on. Now, Jesus is not saying that if you’re being abused or having evil directed at you, that you should just put up with it and be a doormat. If you are being harmed, you should seek support and safety, whether that’s from church or any other place or person where you might find help. But he is saying that, with the help of God, we can choose to react to the sins directed against us in the way of Jesus—that way, the pain and trauma don’t need have power over us anymore, and true healing and salvation can begin.
Through faith in Christ, and following his way, we can begin breaking apart the cycles of revenge, violence, and trauma that have plagued humanity from before the time of Joseph, until the present day. We can’t undo the past, but through faith in Christ we can live in the present differently. We can choose to love people as neighbors whom we can build a future with, rather than seek to destroy those whom we regard as enemies, which only serves to destroy ourselves in the process, as well. By faith, we can resist evil by staying true to the values of self-giving love and forgiveness that Christ himself first gave us, from the cross. As impossible as the way of Christ might seem—and apart from God’s presence it is impossible—it’s a way we can grow into, day by day, week by week, coming before Christ in honesty, humility, and faith over a lifetime—seeking his healing and salvation for our lives, and for all who are vulnerable or suffering.
Will you trust the power of God, like Joseph? Will you follow the way of blessing, like Jesus? Will you hand over to him, not only your hopes and dreams, but also the sins and pain and fears and suffering of your life and of the world? Jesus is with us. Jesus is with you; and he’s ready to carry it all. The measure you give to him will be the measure you get back in grace—an immeasurable gift to break the cycles of revenge and hatred and replace them with a way of blessing. Amen.