Anxiety and Thanksgiving cannot occupy the same space

 

Read Psalm 100

 

All at once, the past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was a tense moment.

Did you hear about the claustrophobic astronaut? He just needed a little space!

 Have you heard this one? The safest place that you can be is in the will of God. More on that later.

Have you ever tried that thing where you pat your head and rub your belly? Maybe it’s the other way around. Most of us can do this for a few seconds and then we go into this Mambo dance sort of thing with arms flailing.

I know very few people who can do this. I can’t say all. You might have to train your whole life to do this for 5 minutes. Some try and try but still can’t get it in sync.

In practicality, most really can’t do both. I will have to say that my data on this is minimal and might not survive the law of small numbers test. C’mon, it just doesn’t come up in conversation that much.

Then why did you put us through that quasi montage of patting and rubbing?

Fair enough. Now try being anxious and thankful at the same time.

Now try being anxious and thankful at the same time.

Somebody is saying, “I can do that. I do it all the time!”  The odds makers in Vegas love people like that. That preacher is not telling me what I can and can’t do.

You are correct. I am saying that you should try this for yourself. Those self-discovered epiphanies carry more weight in your life choices anyway. Give it a try.

Some like those who are dead set to do the patting and rubbing will put this to the test. I’ll show that preacher. I’ll be anxious and thankful at the same time. I will show him.

And you can do both with an extreme amount of effort and maybe then you can juxtapose the two for a very short time—a very short time until they repel like same poled magnets.

The return on that investment of effort is sort of like paying for a 14 bedroom 9 ½ bath, 4 garage, two swimming pool with indoor and outdoor hot tubs dream home—mansion—and getting a 1966 Ford Esquire station wagon with who knows how many miles as the odometer does register anymore, it sometimes (2-3 times as year) might start with a jump, the windows are frozen down in the winter and up in the summer with no air conditioning, there’s no power steering fluid as the receptacle won’t hold it, and oh by the way, what you are paying for is a 2 hour rental of this beauty. That was also my college car for 2 years.

For those who are practiced in the art and science of thinking and can run consequences and sequels through their minds as they contemplate harboring anxiety and thanksgiving in the same place, you know how this comes out. Some of you may have to do the exercise this week.

Others have eyes to see that those two—anxiety and thanksgiving—don’t play together. It’s one or the other, or as in the ancient Spence household, it was one or tuther.

Some of you will have to try this yourselves, but I am going to proffer this without waiting for your exercise. You can’t be anxious and thankful at the same time.

You can’t be anxious and thankful at the same time!

Rick Warren—the Purpose Driven Life author and Saddleback church pastor—says if you can worry, you can pray.  You can worry and pray at the same time, but your prayers would lack trust.

It’s like telling God, “I think I got myself into something this time that’s bigger than you are.”

God told me many times in his word not to worry or be anxious.

Do you ever wonder if God uses any of our modern terms to explain things? I don’t think he does. He calls pastors and teachers to do this. Since Jeremiah took the potter and the clay, let’s try something nautical.

Have you ever been on a big ship?  Let’s get some nautical basics.  Hold up your left hand. That’s port. Now hold up your right. That’s starboard.

The rear of the ship is aft. The front is fore. That’s easy.

Where the ship comes to a point in the front, usually a few decks, that’s called the bow.  This is the “I’m the king of the world” spot on the ship. It’s the forward-most point of a ship, right?

Actually, not. OK, all I can see in front of me is the ocean and the air, not a ship.

That does not mean it’s not there. Has anyone ever heard of the bulbous bow? It’s a forward projecting, generally cylindrical part of the ship that protrudes from the ship.

I have never seen that. That’s because it’s underwater. It makes breaking waves much easier as the ship moves forward.

That’s cool, but if you think we are going to general quarters or holding a man overboard drill, you’ve got another thing coming. What’s this got to do with thanksgiving?

There is a group of people in the church universal that often serves as the bulbous bow  for the body.  He is talking about the session, right?

Yes, but they are only a small part of it. I am talking about you and every other faithful servant of God who continues to gather in the assembly. We often make it easier for the rest of the church to come home—at least we should, and if you have been sleeping through the past few decades, many of those who have received the free gift of God have rejected the counsel of Hebrews and do not continue to gather.

Why is this important for us? We know those who do not gather are missing fellowship and assurance, and so much more. They are less disposed to discipleship. They are disobedient unto the Lord. We get that. We need to invite people to come and worship the Lord.

Why is this important for us? The lost need good news, but those saved by grace who do not gather need something else. What?

A stronger argument? More facts and figures? More snacks between services? More time to think it over.  A Connex box? If it actually is a Connex box, I have been the worst stumbling block ever! But that’s not it.

How about provocation?  We are supposed to provoke the disconnected. In our modern world, we have tried to emasculate this word and consider it a bad thing. If you provoke someone, you might cause a fight.  That’s what we have been indoctrinated to think. Let’s go to the verse right before the one that tells us not to stop gathering.

We will go with the New International Version first.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Now the King James Version.

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

And now we go to the Revised Standard Version.

and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

In earlier times, the word provoke meant to call forth. It could be to call forth thinking, action, confession, creativity, and, yes, anger. If you go to the original language, you get παροξυσμός, paroxusmos (par-ox-oos-mos').

We are to be people of action, not just for ourselves, but for the body of Christ as a whole. Here, specifically, the Bible talks about prompting, provoking, stirring up, or lighting a fire for those who have their salvation, but are not putting the word of the Lord into practice.

Why would they want to gather and worship God if what they see is worry and anxiety from those who are faithful in gathering? But, but, but… We have struggles too.

Yes, we do. We also have instructions. These are the same instructions other believers have, but who do not avail themselves of the iron sharpens iron establishment that we do.  Don’t worry. Be anxious for nothing. Take courage, Jesus has overcome the world.

We have challenges in the interrogative straight from Jesus. Who can add a single hour to our lives by worrying?

Let’s get to some scripture.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. That’s from the NIV

Here’s the King James Version.

Rejoice evermore.

Pray without ceasing.

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

I looked at a bunch. I even did the Amplified Bible this time. It’s like scripture, commentary, and a message. That which is dynamic to the point of going beyond the strict translation is usually encapsulated in braces or brackets.

Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

People should see thanksgiving in us. We who faithfully attend should be the most thankful people on the planet. These three translations vary somewhat but are very close in one thing.

This is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

What is his will? We always rejoice. We are always praying. We give thanks to God regardless of our circumstances. I like Horatio Spafford’s words; the Lord has regarded my helpless estate and shed his own blood for my soul.

Yes, sometimes we feel helpless, but in that helplessness, we give thanks. Why?

This is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

It’s one of those, because God said so, sort of deals. Be thankful all the time. That’s impossible. For us alone it is, but with God it is not.

But what about when we lose a loved one? What about when a loved one or anyone dies in war? What about those that we have lost?  Really, God, you want me to be thankful for that?

I know the stages of loss—denial, anger, bargaining, and acceptance. They don’t always come in that order, can be repeated, and move at a different pace for each person.  Thanksgiving is not one of the stages of loss…

But it should be in every stage.

This brings me to Memorial Day and a quote from George Patton. Yes, I went with an army guy this time. I’m weaning you off of Marine Corps analogies.

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived."

We can always be thankful. But I said that we couldn’t do that on our own, only with God. That’s still correct, but who is receiving this message? To whom am I speaking?

I am most certainly talking to those who have professed Jesus as Lord and have the Spirit of God living within you. God is not only for you; he lives within you, and you can be thankful in all circumstances.

We can be thankful in all circumstances!

Much of the time, we view living the Christian life as striving for the unattainable. God said to do it this way, and we are striving to get as close as we can to the mark, knowing full well that our reach truly exceeds our grasp.

Except for rejoice always, pray all the time, and be thankful, whatever your lot in life is at the time. Be thankful in all circumstances.

This is God’s will for your life. So, for the rest of this month, I challenge you to provoke people who do not gather in the assembly of God’s people but who have professed Jesus is Lord, to come into the assembly and  love, serve, and worship their Lord.

But how? We have tried everything. Food giveaways. Trunk or Treat. Words on the wall. We haven’t done smoke coming out of the vents, yet. Please hold off a month on that one if you do try it.

How do we provoke, inspire, prompt, stir up, call forth or otherwise get those keeping company with the twin pagan gods of Apathy and Ambivalence to come into the assembly and worship with you and other believers? What will provoke them to action?

Thanksgiving!

People already see your serving the Lord. Do they see thanksgiving in you while you serve?  Do they? But, but, but, how can I be thankful when…

My boss is terrible. Be thankful. Your boss might stink, but you can be thankful you have a job.

The rent is past due. But you haven’t been evicted. The government’s laws and regulations give you some relief. Be thankful you are not on the street.

My kids are driving me crazy. Stop letting them drive. OK, they are metaphorically driving you crazy. I got it. Give thanks that you have children. They are a blessing, and as a bonus, you get to watch your grandchildren drive your own kids crazy. Be thankful that you have kids.

Maybe I can see that a little. I don’t know. None of these covers every situation and circumstance.

But this one does.

If you are not thankful, you are not living in the will of God.

You can’t say that! Who gave you that authority? You have got to retract that one!

You are right. I can’t say that on my own authority, but Paul can and he did.  If we live in the will of God, we will be thankful. Paul said:

This is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

Let me read that again, taking out the parts where Paul stuttered.

This is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus

If you believe that the safest place you can be is in the will of God, and that thanksgiving sits well at the center of that will, then when you are not thankful, you are not living in the will of God.

For those who want to hold on to your old selves, your comfort zones, your hate, your bitterness, your preferences in which your own understanding supplants the will of God, you are not living in the will of God.

OK, I can see that. I can’t be unforgiving or walk around with hate in my heart. I get that.

Good! Now add not being thankful to that list of things that are not in the will of God for you.

OK. I get it. May we wrap this up now?

Not without an action step towards thankfulness. This will be easy. You can pick up from where it ends as you live going forward. Let’s say Psalm 100 together. My subhead says: A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

   Worship the Lord with gladness;

    come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

    and his courts with praise;

    give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

 Be thankful all of the time. Be in the will of God. Give thanks in every circumstance. This is doing things God’s way.

Amen.

Psalm 23 through the lens of John 16:33

  

Read Psalm 23

Psalm 23

John 16:33

 

Jesus told his disciples that they would have trouble in the world. There were no ifs, ands, or buts; you will have trouble.

There are no buts, but there is a constructive “but God” statement that follows this promise of trouble.

But I have overcome the world.

Jesus has overcome the world.

God has overcome all that troubles us.

Do you remember what Jesus told the disciples before he told them they would have trouble?

He said that what he was about to tell them was so that in whatever their circumstance, they could have peace.

Some of you who were awake when the scripture was read aloud might have noted that it was Psalm 23, and I have been talking about Jesus’s words in John’s gospel. It’s good to notice things like that, but I am not off track.

We will look momentarily at Psalm 23 through the lens of the promise of trouble in the world. Keep the Psalm itself intact as a go-to psalm when you need assurance. Rest in these verses when you need to, but for now, let’s look at this short piece of poetic scripture focusing on trouble, adversity, conflict, and even enemies.

Still, keep the psalm intact as a go-to psalm of assurance.

The Lord is my shepherd. That should be the beginning of most of our affirmations. The Lord is God. The Lord is good. The Lord is love. The Lord is sovereign. The Lord is my Savior. The Lord is my friend.

But most of all, he is my shepherd and in this light, he cares for my every need. The shepherd does not survey the sheep to see how they feel about a stroll through the pasture, or some time to rest, or even when it’s time for a haircut.

The shepherd knows what is best for the sheep, and he acts accordingly. The sheep, given the opportunity, might have voted for another course of action.

But the shepherd knows what the sheep need. Our Shepherd knows what we need, and he provides.

Is it provision? Is it safety? Is it rest? Is it something else?

Green pastures and still waters are provision given in peace. Most of us long for this sort of peace. We sometimes think we can get there on our own, but this sort of peace can only come from one who has the power and authority to protect us.

Green pastures and still waters are peace and provision. The lion lies down with the lamb sort of stuff.

God’s peace will even penetrate your soul. He restores at the core level.

The Lord will reset you to factory settings. He will give you a taste of Eden even in this world gone crazy.

But it’s not all about our peace. That would just be selfish, narcissistic, and all about me. It’s also about righteousness. Peace without righteousness is the world’s selling point. Satisfy yourself.

The world’s sales pitch is that it can gratify all of your wants, which it disguises as needs.

The psalmist notes that this righteousness is the path that the Lord has set for us.  A couple of psalms later, we come to some familiar words.

Show me your ways, Lord,

teach me your paths.

 He leads me in the path of righteousness! God is showing me and teaching me his way. Do you remember God’s way and everything else?

Many of the psalms that we know ask for protection and provision. That’s human nature. The psalmist knows to cry out to the Lord if you need these things.

Many of the psalms are about being rescued from our enemies. We know the world is more than we can handle alone. We cry out to the Lord.

Many of the psalms recount the mighty acts of God. Sometimes, our human spirit, our soul, our very being needs assurance. We see what the Lord has done and trust that he will continue to reign sovereign for eternity.

Some of the psalms ask for what we need to stay in step with God. He leads me in the path of righteousness because that’s who he is.  The Lord is righteous, and all things considered, we should go his way.

Too often, we are rocking out with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks singing Go Your Own Way, when we should be keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus and going his way. Or for you old timers, you are singing I did it my way with Frank Sinatra.

Let’s get to the nitty-gritty.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

The translations that I checked did not capitalize the valley of the shadow of death, so I’m comfortable with taking this one as metaphorical and not necessarily geographical. It could be any really, really tough set of circumstances in our lives, not just a place on a map.

We know figurative language—even Jesus used it. We have mountaintop experiences—highs. We have down in the valley experiences—lows.  We know what it means to be in the valley.

Read your commentaries, and you will find some interesting twists, but I am confident that the shadow of death applies to all of us, not just a select few living in the vicinity of David’s Israel.

Back in the day, I might have misquoted this verse to read because I am the biggest, badest… You know the spiel. And while there are still bad guys in the world, it’s one that you hope your enemies take note of, but not the assurance promised in the psalm. Now we just say, and find out… That’s the only part that makes it into Sunday’s message.

The psalmist notes that we are without fear not because of who we are or what we can do alone, but because of God.  We don’t fear because God’s got this.

God’s got this!

Specifically, today we do not fear because God’s grace is enough for me. I have already won the ultimate victory. All the world can take from me is my life in this body.

Whether we live or we die today, the Lord is with us. We will not be afraid. His rod and his staff comfort me.

Here is the really cool part. God prepares a table for us right in front of our enemy.

Yes, we are provisioned when we rest beside the still waters. We are comforted in the places we expect comfort—green pastures.

We are also provisioned and comforted when we are face-to-face with the enemy. God says ‘Watch this.” I am going to prepare a really good meal for you, and your enemies will just have to watch.

Do you remember God telling Gideon to keep sending warriors home? The victory would surely be in the hands of the Lord and not superior numbers.

God’s got this!

The psalmist tells us to let God show his stuff in our lives from time to time. Let him prepare a table for us right in front of our enemies.

Once we do that, we might just have eyes to see that the Lord is provisioning us generously all the time, even when we think we don’t have much, or enough, or can’t survive the day.

We will begin to see God at work more and more in every situation. He’s been there all along, but now we might just get to see him at work.

Thou anointest my head with oil.

Right in front of your enemies, God says, “I choose him.” He says, “My favor is upon her.”

God tells everyone, “This one’s with me.”

My cup runneth over.

Really? I’m praying daily that I make it through the day and the psalmist has the audacity to think I have enough.  I get by each day, but this image of whatever is in the cup overflowing is a bit much.

We need to go back to those eyes to see. Can we see beyond our immediate struggles—the trouble that we were promised—to what is in store?

Can we say with sincerity, “Your grace is enough?”

If we look at what is promised and compare it to what is in store for us, we will see as Paul did centuries later, that this present suffering is nothing compared to what is to come.

We have already won. Jesus won the victory. Our cups are more than filled, even if they seem a little dry at the moment.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

This is more than favor in front of our enemies. It is more than a place to rest. It is more than provision. This is an identity.

We are people who now keep company with goodness and mercy. It’s not that we just receive these things from the Lord; we now become these things. We are people known as followers of Jesus by our love.

We are all about putting a smile on God’s face. We do that when we do things God’s Way and forsake the everything else.

We do that when we show mercy to our brothers and sisters. And we have a home with the Lord, and that’s forever.

Jesus told his followers that he left them to go and prepare a place for them. We will be with the Lord forever.

You can now say with certainty, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

You will have trouble in the world. You will know peace in heaven.

But in between the times of hardship and the eternal bliss that we anticipate, we have Psalm 23 to affirm to us that God’s got this.

Recite the psalm as you walk or drive or do the dishes.

Say it before you take on the troubles of the day. Be strengthened and affirmed that you are secure in God’s way, regardless of what the world throws at you.

So how do we wrap up this most familiar of the psalms?

Start your day with:

·       Thank you, Lord. Add whatever specifics are on your hearts and minds.

·       Say out loud: Your grace is enough for me.

·       Begin reciting Psalm 23 and go for as long as you can. You might even pick it up later in the day. It’s not just for breakfast anymore.

Now go have a good day. Bring glory to God. Produce good fruit for God, his kingdom, and the body of Christ.

Go into the world with certainty that God’s got this. Be encouraged and affirmed that even in the midst of trouble—even when the enemy is at the gates—God’s got this.

Know that the Lord is your shepherd and do your best to know his voice. The answers you seek come in the words of your Shepherd, who also happens to be your Lord, Savior, Redeemer, Priest, Elohim, Jehovah, El Shaddai, God Almighty, and your Friend.

The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.

God’s got this.

Amen.

People see what we as Christians esteem and who we love

 

Read Genesis 50

We take a brief excursion into the end of the first book of the Bible. It’s a big book, and we spent a year going through it.  We will look at the first part here.

It begins in the beginning. God told Adam to bring the creation into order and make it productive.

It doesn’t take long to get to sin and murder, and people turning away from the God who created them.

Then we get a big flood as God rebaselines the world.

Once the water receded enough, people were once again sent into the world to subdue it. During this time, God selected one people by whom to show the world how to live.  They were the Hebrew people. We mostly call them Jews these days and going back to the Babylonian Captivity.

These people were blessed to be a blessing, and through these people would come the Savior of the world.  He would come in the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom we also know as Israel.

This last part of Genesis deals with the death of Jacob. It would be a mundane story if it were not for Jacob’s sons. They were not without fault.

And you know the story of how much of the world was saved from famine because of what God did with the rather dastardly act of the brothers. Yes, they sold Joseph into slavery, but eventually that lands him as the second in command in Egypt and possibly the most powerful man in the world at that time.

Joseph saved everyone. Joseph brought his family into Egypt and cared for them. It’s a good story worth reading again but for now we go to the death of Jacob—Israel.

Let’s pick up with verse 1 in chapter 50..

Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him, and kissed him.  And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.  Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

 

Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying,  ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.’ ”

 

And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

 

So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen.  And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering.

 

Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim [the mourning of Egypt], which is beyond the Jordan.

 

So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.

 We will get to the what you intended for evil, God used for good in the next service. For now,  note two things.

First, Joseph saved everyone’s bacon, but the Pharoah and the Egyptians revered Joseph’s father. They didn’t really know him, but they knew Joseph and that was enough.

Second, those observing different aspects of this funeral and the logistics behind it noted the Egyptians' reverence for whomever this service was for. They noted that this was a big deal.

From these, we should note today that people are watching. Some have a clue as to what Christianity is and others don’t, but most are watching us.

What do we revere?

Who do we revere?

What would people see if they looked at us during the funeral of a loved one?

In Joseph’s time, the surrounding people saw grief and mourning. Jacob was an important man, for sure. That’s what the bystanders saw.

What would they see today from us?

Will they see celebration? Hope? Joy?

Or do we only mourn?

People who wish they had hope watch the people of hope.  People are watching you. We are people of hope.

What are they looking at or for? How about:

·       Did we help the least of these? Yeah, count on that being on the observer’s list.

·       Do we walk by on the other side of the road when someone needs help? That’s a big-ticket disqualifier.

·       Did we feed and clothe those who don’t have much of anything?

People will note all of those, but they will also note how we deal with death. Do we only mourn, or do we believe the promise of eternal life?

How do we deal with suffering? We just spent some time with that one. Are we still joyful as we go through our trials?

Are we forgiving? What good is it if we say we will live for eternity, but we won’t do the one thing that Jesus noted with some sternness? As your Father in heaven forgave you, you must forgive each other. Don’t mess this one up.

How do we react to the death of a loved one, suffering, and being wronged by someone?

Are we drawing people closer to God, or are we stumbling blocks for those who are lost or disconnected?

Keep feeding the hungry. Keep inviting the lost to know Christ. Keep inviting the disconnected to come home. Keep praying for those who just can’t seem to catch a break.

But know with certainty that how we respond to death, suffering, and being wronged is surely an asset or detriment to fulfilling our commission. Are we different from the world?

Let’s make it an asset. Let’s take Paul’s words as we consider Joseph’s actions.

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

We have zeal as we serve the Lord. We have hope. We are on fire when we serve the Lord.

We are joyful, patient, and faithful as we wait upon the Lord.

That’s what people should see.  The attraction to modern Christianity shouldn’t be the words on the wall or smoke coming out of the vents during the first couple of songs. It should be the very lives of those who follow Jesus.

Your life is a testimony—one way or another—your life registers with others. They may not know your needs, struggles, or desires, but they see your choices. They see your actions.  They see your attitude in victory and struggle. The people who see you regularly see how you handle life as a follower of Christ.

Your life is a testimony.

We still share words of life with others. There’s no getting off the hook with that one, nor should there be.

Understand this. Your words carry the veracity that people see in your life. Your testimony is whether or not you believe what you say you do. Is there fidelity between your words and your actions?

People should see what we are doing as we serve the Lord and want what we have. That will prompt people to seek God. That will bring glory to God.

Amen.

 

Forgive the Unforgiveable

 

Read Genesis 50

We take a brief excursion into the end of the first book of the Bible. It’s a big book, and we spent a year going through it.

It begins in the beginning. God told Adam to bring the creation into order and make it productive.

It doesn’t take long to get to sin and murder, and people turning away from the God who created them.

Then we get a big flood as God rebaselined the world.

People were once again sent into the world to subdue it. During this time, God selected one people by whom to show the world how to know God and live his way.  They were the Hebrew people. We mostly call them Jews these days and going back to the Babylonian Captivity.

These people were blessed to be a blessing, and through these people would come the Savior of the world.  He would come in the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom we also know as Israel.

This last part of Genesis deals with the death of Jacob. It would be a mundane story if it were not for Jacob’s sons. They were not without fault.

So much so that most of them were going to kill Joseph, probably because he was his father’s favorite. C’mon, it’s not your fault that you’re the favorite.

But his brothers found him out in the fields on his way to them and they threw him in a pit while they decided what to do with him. As it turned out, there were traders headed to Egypt and Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery.

Then they came up with a story for Dad. They didn’t say what happened, but realized that forensics were much to speak of back in the day, so they slapped a little animal blood on Joseph’s already colorful coat and handed it to Jacob.

So most of Joseph’s brothers had seized him, imprisoned him, sold him into slavery, or been a part of the cover up. There were no clean hands here, except perhaps for Benjaman.

Joseph went to work in Potiphar’s household and soon was running it. After Potiphar’s wife didn’t get what she wanted out of this young, healthy man, she set him up and Potiphar didn’t have much choice but to send him to prison, the main one that was where all of the political prisoners and those imprisoned at the whim of the sovereign were kept.

It wasn’t long and Joseph was running the joint. Eventually, what surely prompted all of his problems would get him out of prison.

Joseph had his own, and he eventually interpreted the dreams of others. Much earlier, he had one which seemed to mean that his whole family would bow down to him. That didn’t go over well with his older siblings.

But finally, Joseph came out of prison to interpret the Pharaoh’s dream, and the news wasn’t good.

Famine was coming and nobody knew what to do. The Pharaoh appointed Joseph to manage the crises. He did. He did it very well. He saved a lot of lives, including those of his own family.

But now, Jacob was dead and Joseph was the most powerful man in the world. And his brothers were worried.

Now that Dad’s gone, there is no way that Joseph is not going to pay us back for what we did to him.  There ain’t no way he can let that go.

But what happened? What actually happened?

The brothers hemmed and hawed over what to do and sent a humble message to Joseph. Joseph was heartbroken that his brothers feared him and his potential anger.

When they met in person about this, Joseph asked: Am I in the place of God?

Translation: Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, and I am not God. Joseph, for all he had been put through —starting with his brothers throwing him into a pit until they sold him —knew that revenge was not his.

If his brothers needed to be punished, that was 100% in God’s ballpark.

Joseph did not minimize his brothers' sins. He knew full well that they had gone well beyond brotherly fun into shameful, despicable actions.

What his brothers had done to him was unforgivable.

It was unforgivable!

And Joseph forgave them. Not only did he forgive them, but he did it as if there was no choice involved. He recognized full well how his brothers had sinned against him, and surely their father, and surely God; and yet, he forgave them.

It wasn’t really a choice. Joseph saw what God was doing through him and took this imprisonment stuff, this falsely accused stuff, this denied having some fun in his youthful days stuff, and just being betrayed by his own brother stuff, and moved it from the GET EVEN category to the COST OF DOING BUSINESS category.

There was no decision to be made. He forgave his brothers. God was at work here even in their evil intentions.

Joseph made two incredibly wise observations.

1.    I am not God, and only God gets to judge or condemn.

2.    Though I would not have written the script this way, I can see how many lives are being saved.

Joseph knew God’s place and his own place. God was and is sovereign. Joseph’s place was obedience, service, and trust.

If punishment was due his brothers, it would come at God’s hand, not his own. Realize that Joseph had saved the world’s bacon, and he could have gotten away with just about anything he wanted. He could have had his brothers skinned alive, beheaded, or made to watch Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance.

Joseph forgave the unforgivable.

Joseph trusted that the good he was doing was worth the price he had paid. Joseph trusted God to be God and that he was God’s humble servant.

Joseph didn’t have to figure out who the Potter was and who got the role of the clay. Long before Jeremiah penned similar words, Joseph knew who was Sovereign.

Know that Joseph was very good at everything he did, but he never put himself in the place of God, like we often do.

Yeah, right?  When? When do we put ourselves in the place of God?

Whenever we don’t forgive, that’s when.

Remember what Jesus reiterated at the end of the Lord’s Prayer?  He said that you have to get this forgiveness stuff right. There is no wiggle room here, nor should there be.

For us to truly put our Master’s words into practice, we must forgive not only the minor trespass, but the unforgivable one as well.

Not to forgive is not to trust God. That dog don’t hunt.

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. When the Jewish leaders and the Roman governor dealt with Jesus and nailed him to a cross, Jesus asked his Father in heaven to forgive the people who did this because they didn’t have a clue what they were doing.

Jesus, hanging on the cross, forgave those who were responsible for the torture that the Son of God would endure a bit longer.

Jesus forgave the unforgivable.

God has forgiven our sins.

We are forgiven.

How can we claim to be any different from the ungodly, unbelieving world if we cannot forgive? How? Really?

The answer is that we cannot. We are just like the pagans who do fine in the tit-for-tat business, but don’t understand the mercy, grace, or generosity of the Lord.

The pagan world, gentile world, ungodly world still knows love and forgiveness, but it’s all give and take. It’s all a part of the secular negotiation that is life among the godless.

Are we different from those who do not know God?

You know that I’ve got to go here. Where?

The plank-in-the-eye obstacle to modern Christianity is to acknowledge God, acknowledge Jesus died for our sins, and acknowledge that God’s own Spirit lives within us, and then live unchanged lives because we hold our own understanding in such high esteem.

Joseph did not have Christ’s sacrifice. That was yet to come. He did not have the Spirit of God as we know the Spirit today. But Joseph knew that he could not live an ordinary life. He belonged to God and God put him on an incredible journey. That journey saved many lives.

Long before Paul noted that he considered the present suffering of his time insignificant to what was to come, Joseph saw that his hardships saved lives. He was uniquely prepared to do what he did. He had gifts from God that he put into practice, and everywhere he went, he was putting things in order and producing good fruit.

So, this morning, I have taken you to the end of the beginning. At the end of the first book of the Bible, we see Joseph forgiving the unforgivable.

It wasn’t like his brothers hid his coat. That would be mean.

It wasn’t like they abandoned him in a hole in the wilderness. That would just be hateful.

It wasn’t like they photobombed his phone. That would just be brothers being brothers.

They sold him into slavery to people headed out of the country. Joseph was as good as dead to his older brothers. How could they redeem him even if they changed their minds? What was done was done.

In the scale of one human abusing another, selling your own into slavery has to peg out the meter. Yes, it has competitors, as far as the bad things we do to each other go, but this one definitely falls into the unforgivable category.

And Joseph forgave his brothers, took care of them, and loved those who, by all rights, should have made themselves lifelong enemies.

Joseph forgave the unforgivable.

He looked at the situation and noted, “What you intended for evil, God used for good.”

I’m sure that Joseph would not have scripted his life this way, but he saw with his own eyes what God was doing through him. In that perspective, the wrongs against him paled in significance. In these ancient times, Joseph was the savior of much of the known world.

But evil is evil!

What was unmistakably evil is still evil, but God used it to save so many lives. How could Joseph not forgive? How could he not redeem his brothers? How could he not be governed by love?

Joseph forgave the unforgivable.

And so must we.

Our sins have been forgiven, and God didn’t pick and choose which ones to forgive. He didn’t say, “Oh, that one’s an exception. That one is just too horrendous. No way that I am forgiving that.” God forgave them all, even those that we consider unforgivable.

Whether God has a taxonomy of sin or not is a good Bible study. There is scripture to make this more challenging than it might seem, but as far as we are concerned, all of our sins are forgiven, regardless of what categorization we give them.

God has forgiven all of our sins.

And so must we forgive those who sinned against us in any way, even if we think it unforgivable.

Joseph trusted that God knew best how to use him, use his talents, use his life to bring glory to his name.

And so must we.

And so must we.

Amen.