Sermonette: March 6, 2023

Greetings dear friends in Christ.

This story is well known. Joseph is his father's favorite. He is spoiled and rubs it in to his older brothers. They are working with the family flocks while Joseph wears fancy clothes and jewelry, gifts from his father. Naturally they are resentful and as things progress, they at first choose to kill him but end up opting to sell him into slavery to a passing caravan on its way to Egypt. There, Joseph climbs the ladder of success and becomes a trusted employee of the Pharoah. He was second in command with only the Pharoah outranking him. Joseph pretty much ran everything. Joseph, through God's inspiration, knows of the coming drought and has planned accordingly. Egypt has grain on hand to sell. His brothers come to buy grain and they meet Joseph but do not recognize him.

In writing about how Joseph reacts to seeing his brothers, it dawns on me that I'm writing an Old Testament message, but the message is also coming from a passage from Luke. “Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who abuse you.” What we know as “The Golden Rule.” Joseph is dealing with his brothers in Egypt exactly how Jesus commanded his followers to do in Luke's gospel. He not only forgives them, he doesn't even blame them for their actions. He has them go home and bring the whole family with them to Egypt, and he gives them prime real estate on which to settle and tells them not to worry, he will provide for them. Wow.

This story epitomizes what it means to be a Christian. It tells us in no uncertain terms what is expected of us. I think it is one of the most difficult things we must do in obedience to God. To forgive, to continue to love others no matter how badly we've been wronged. We pray in our Lord's prayer, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. How can we expect God's forgiveness if we fail to forgive others. This story of Joseph is in the book of Genesis. I only hit a few high points. It is a great story and I encourage you to read the whole story. Amen.