Year A Proper 15 14 August 2011
Genesis 45: 1-15 Psalm 133 Romans 11: 1-2a, 29-32 Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
Our readings continue from last week and we hear more of the story of Joseph and his brothers. This week we find that Joseph has become ruler under Pharaoh in Egypt and his identity is revealed to his brothers.
Can you imagine the emotions of the brothers? They sold this powerful man as a slave when he was just a boy. He now has the power of life and death over them. I’m guessing that they were somewhat apprehensive.
The theme that runs through all of our readings is about acceptance and rejection. Joseph had been rejected by his brothers. What would his reaction be towards them? What would your reaction be? We often have our own experiences of rejection and we have a choice in how we respond.
Most recently I had an experience of a friend who needed to make some changes in their life - changes in how they were controlling in their relationship. This person set about with counselling and seemed to be trying to make amends. A third person commented that a person like this will never change. Wow! That is kind of harsh. If that is true then the logical consequence means that this person should never be in a relationship because they have failed as a person. In fact, most of us if judged just as harshly, would find ourselves similarly rejected.
As a society we have moved from being Christian minded, second chance giving and merciful to being judgmental. With the crimes that have come from church leaders the society no longer looks to the church to give messages of forgiveness and even within the church there is a sense of demanding that “pound of flesh” instead of responding with mercy. It would have been quite reasonable for Joseph to have ordered his brothers executed for their crime.
To put this story of Joseph in another way, it is similar to those stories we hear about someone being abused as a child and then taking the abuser to court many years later. We hear of this happening all the time and we all approve. We hear of priests being taken to court for dealing indecently with children and we are horrified, though we don’t even know the facts – only the accusations. It has been brought to my knowledge that some of these men are advised to plead guilty to the lesser charges so that they can avoid jail – EVEN though they are innocent. YET we pass judgement without knowledge and without mercy.
As Christians we have been so busy trying to support victims that we’ve forgotten to preach the message of mercy and forgiveness. Without mercy and forgiveness for others our own sins are not forgiven.
We seem to have this idea that some sins are little and some are big, but here is an analogy to try to explain... Imagine that each commandment is like a link in a chain and that chain is holding back a ferocious beast. Some of the links are seemingly big and some are seemingly small. Whether a small link or large one is broken, the result is the same.... the beast is free. The Bible tells us that the wages for sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.
Joseph was abused. His brothers wanted to kill him but didn’t really want to do it themselves. They certainly wished him dead and I expect they presumed he would have soon perished as a slave, otherwise when their guilty consciences caught up with them they would have gone looking for Joseph to rescue him.
What is Joseph’s reaction to his brothers after all this? He doesn’t immediately embrace them – He is genuinely hurt and grieving. With the gift of faith Joseph understands that God’s hand is in the situation.
Genesis 45:4-7 “Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.”
What is our reaction to harm done to us? It isn’t that we allow ourselves to be mistreated – we must not. And we must not allow others to be mistreated either. Where is God in all of this?
It is hard to forgive when we have been hurt. But to take an extreme example, do you remember the shooting at Columbine? It was a school where two students murdered 13 students and another couple were shot but managed to survive. There were others who survived by “playing dead” and plenty who witnessed the horror and so the story unfolds through these witnesses of the awful cruelty. Those who were targeted were Christians, sports jocks and black people. The diary of Rachel Scott has become quite famous as the amazing Christian girl who seemed to know that she was about to give her life for God. How can these people, capable of such cruelty and hatred be forgiven?
Here is the story of a Columbine survivor:
“Despite the trauma and years that have passed, Mark Taylor still vividly remembers the day he was shot as many as 13 times outside Columbine High School.
On Tuesday, Taylor recalled standing outside the school, enjoying a nice spring day with friends when a bullet slammed into his leg. In the next second, he saw a bullet slam into the face of a friend, and then he felt several bullets rip into his own chest.
"I was stunned," he said. "I wasn't quite sure what had happened. I could see out of the side of my eyes the gunmen go over and shoot Rachel Scott."
Taylor wants to be a pastor. And a book he's written has spiritual overtones. It's called "I Asked, God Answered ... a Columbine miracle."
Taylor, now 22, recounts the horror of that day and a recovery that has required multiple surgeries, an initial hospital stay of two months and the anguish of having tubes thrust down his throat and tubes placed in his side.
"The horror of what I went through in the hospital, I can't even put in words," said Taylor, who was shot by Eric Harris on April 20, 1999.
But the book is about forgiveness. He has forgiven shooters Harris and Dylan Klebold and their families. He has talked to gang members and Vietnam veterans about forgiveness. He said he especially remembers the Vietnam vets who have spent 30 years blaming the government for the friends they lost. Some have thanked him for the message.
"After hearing me on forgiveness and healing, it was able to help them," he said.”
From the website: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4785612
We know that God calls each of us into a relationship with him and that requires each of us to freely admit our sinfulness and need for a saviour.
Romans 11:29-31 “for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. ”
Joseph’s brothers were made aware of their very great sin, but then they were shown mercy. They were brought back into unity with their brother and their lives were saved. In fact their lives were blessed because of their relationship with Joseph. Our Psalm this week is Psalm 133 and speaks about the blessing of God that flows when His people live in unity. I suspect that we are not living in blessing of this unity in the body of Christ because we are not reaching out with mercy to each other, understanding that love covers a multitude of sin. Instead we judge and “reject” each other due to theological differences. If we are rejecting one another in this way over such matters, imagine how far we are from the attitude of Joseph who, though a victim, forgave his abusers.... even before they asked his forgiveness.
Our Gospel reading tells the story of a Canaanite woman. She was a reject in the society of which Jesus was a part. Jesus would have been considered unclean just for speaking with her. Jesus had just finished telling the Pharisees that it wasn’t things on the outside that make you unclean but from the attitudes of the heart.... such as the community’s attitude toward this woman. Jesus speaks out that prejudice by saying, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24). The woman does not argue this fact but begs for mercy but stating that even the dogs eat the children’s crumbs from the table. But her words she show great faith – she was “clean” – In comparison, the Pharisees by their words showed they were lacking faith and “unclean”.
It seems that those who are in touch with their fallibility are those who are accepted by God. And the reason is simple: it is because those who know their failings can repent and accept the mercy of God.
Our readings show the rejection of Joseph, and the rejection of the Canaanite woman, but through forgiveness Joseph accepted his brothers and the Canaanite woman was accepted by Jesus because she revealed her faith in God – she called out, not to Jesus as a mere man, but by the title, “Son of David”. This woman was rejected by others in that area and by the people to which Jesus belonged, but she didn’t let that rejection keep her from requesting the blessing of God.
Is our own hurt and rejection keeping us from the full blessing of God? Forgiveness is not easy – it is divine. But we need to agree with God that we need to forgive. In the body of Christ we need to truly love – and that also is divine.
Psalm 133 “1 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.”
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