Genesis 45: 3-11, 15; Luke 6: 27-38
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
Feb 24, 2019
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.
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. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, “Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.”
And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him. - Genesis 45: 3-11, 15
Jesus said, 'But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’ - Luke 6: 27-38
It all started by making a judgment. Jacob had given his son, Joseph, the coat of many colors. Now, Jacob should have read the unwritten rule in the book of parenting, “Thou shalt not favor one child over the other(s).”
Jacob’s sons looked upon their brother Joseph with great disdain and jealousy. That judgment quickly seared into flames of hate (Genesis 37: 4, 5, 8).
As a result, Joseph was treated as an enemy by his brothers; he was thrown down in a pit, left for dead, and then sold into slavery. But the hatred didn’t stop there. The brothers ripped Joseph’s robe, dipped it in blood and told their father that his son was killed by a wild animal (Genesis 37: 23-24, 26-28, 31-34).
Many years had passed when Joseph saw his brothers again. The kingdom of the world would have whispered into Joseph’s ear with clenched teeth to “Pay them back for what they had done” (Proverbs 24:29).
In all that Joseph endured, his response was practically unthinkable as we read in the text today. Joseph looked into his brothers’ eyes and he loved them still. He forgave them. During Israel’s famine Joseph was made a great leader in Egypt; he provided for his brothers when they came to Egypt twice begging for food. He promised to provide for them in the future.
Joseph’s heart was focused on reconciliation not just for the brokenness within his own family but also for God’s people of Israel. Joseph made no bones about it – God had been at work in this whole situation.
Joseph’s story is not only an amazing story of forgiveness. But Joseph’s godly leadership points to the vision of God’s kingdom inaugurated in Jesus Christ. As Jesus stood before his disciples and all those who desired to follow him, he preached about the ethics of living in the kingdom of God.
Whenever words are repeated in Scripture, the Holy Spirit is saying, “Pay attention! This is important!” And twice Jesus says, “Love your enemies and do good, especially to those who hate you (Luke 6:27, 35).
Jesus is saying that within the kingdom of God there is no room for vengeance and revenge. Instead of keeping score and getting even, those who follow Christ are to take the high road to God’s kingdom.
God’s love always looks up; it never looks down. In times of human adversity, God’s love blesses and prays for those who are hostile (Luke 6:27-28). God’s love turns the other cheek when smacked with criticism. God’s love gives freely expecting nothing in return (Luke 6: 29-30, 38). God’s love forgives the unforgivable (Luke 6:37).
You and I have heard Jesus’ preaching from this passage of Luke summed up as “The Golden Rule” since childhood; “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Luke 6:31). The Golden Rule comes from the God’s Law in Leviticus: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18).
But the Golden Rule means nothing without putting Jesus’ words within the context of God’s grace and mercy.
My commentary on Christian ethics says, “Jesus’ ethic is an ethic of grace and the moral demands which he makes are both demands and possibilities which arise out of his understanding of God’s grace and mercy” [1].
The Golden Rule is a demand that is only made possible when it is held together with the standard of love; that standard is always God’s mercy. “God’s mercy serves as both a motive and a standard for human actions" [2]. Jesus said, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36).
Therefore, God’s mercy reinterprets the Golden Rule by the standard of God’s love. The standard of loving our enemies is this: Love your enemies and do good as God has already loved you and done good to you. Do unto others as God has already done unto you.
The Apostle Paul says that because of the condition of human sin you and I have been enemies of God and yet God loved us anyway by reconciling us through the death of his Son (Romans 5:10). Mercy is a gift of God that you and I do not deserve.
It was on the cross that Jesus looked into the face of his enemies and into the human condition of sin and loved humanity anyway.
Jesus blessed those who cursed him. He prayed for those who reviled and insulted him.
He turned the other cheek.
He let the soldiers take his tunic while he remained clothed in God’s vulnerability and faithfulness.
He prayed for God to forgive the ones who put him in the cross for they did not know what they were doing.
It is because of Jesus’ saving death and his rising to new life that we are now called children of God for God’s merciful love is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked alike (Luke 6:35).
You see, the character of God dictates that we practice the ethics of Jesus’ merciful love towards one another, just as Joseph did with his brothers. The world will know that we are disciples of Jesus Christ if we have love for one another (John 13:35).
Our assigned text is needed more than ever today for those that listen. The word “enemy” in the Greek means “one who responds with hostility.” You don’t have to look far to find interactions of hostility; just turn on the news, listen to the discord in the public sphere, look at our choice of words on social media when we disagree with judgments and condemnation.
We are called to be proclaimers of the kingdom of God. The standard of Jesus’ merciful love says that we do not have to accept the way the world is. Jesus is preaching to you and me to live more fully into the ethics of God’s kingdom.
We have our marching orders; if we call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ then we are to follow the Spirit’s lead and move the world toward what it ought to be.
John and James were two brothers who lived on adjoining farms and they fell into conflict. After 40 years of farming side by side, sharing machinery, and trading labor and goods, they had their first serious rift. All of the long collaboration fell apart.
It began with a small misunderstanding and it grew into a major difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of judging and condemning words followed by weeks of silence.
One morning there was a knock on John's door. He opened it to find a man with a carpenter's toolbox. "I'm looking for a few days work" he said. "Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there. Could I help you?"
"Yes," said John, the older brother. "I do have a job for you. Look across the creek at that farm. That's my neighbor, in fact, it's my younger brother, James. Last week there was a meadow between us and James took his bulldozer to the river levee and now there is a creek between us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I'll go him one better. See that pile of lumber curing by the barn? I want you to build me a fence -- an 8-foot fence -- so I won't need to see his place anymore. Cool him down, anyhow."
The carpenter said, "I think I understand the situation. Show me the nails and the post-hole digger and I'll be able to do a job that pleases you."
John had to go to town for supplies, so he helped the carpenter get the materials ready and then he was off for the day. The carpenter worked hard all that day measuring, sawing, nailing. About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job.
The farmer's eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped. There was no fence there at all. It was a bridge -- a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other!
A fine piece of work -- handrails and all -- and the neighbor, James, his younger brother, was coming across, his hand outstretched. "You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I've said and done."
The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other's hand.
They turned to see the carpenter hoist his toolbox on his shoulder. And John said, "No, wait! Stay a few days. I've a lot of other projects for you!"
"I'd love to stay on," the carpenter said, "but, I have many more bridges to build."
I want for you to think about your life in the past few weeks. With whom have you encountered hostility? Upon whom have you made a critical judgment? It might be a family member, a neighbor, a coworker, a complete stranger.
Our human tendency to keep score and get even with another’s hostility does not bring in the kingdom of God.
But I will tell you what does. There was a carpenter named Jesus, who is our Teacher, Lord, and Savior. By Jesus’ teachings and the Holy Spirit’s guidance, God’s mercy builds bridges of mutual forbearance, understanding, and forgiveness. God’s mercy is a bridge that urges us to meet in the middle and come closer to each other.
Mercy is key to loving our enemies and loving our neighbor as God has already loved us. Mercy makes it possible to take that first step in abiding in Jesus’ ethics of kingdom living. Because of Jesus Christ, mercy is the motivation and the standard of how we are to treat one another.
How will you live into the standard of God’s love this week? How is God’s Spirit nudging you to move the world a little closer towards the kingdom of God?
It’s all that easy and it’s all that hard.
In the name of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.
Sources Referenced:
[1] The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1986), p. 421.
[2] The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics, p. 381.
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