You Intended, God Accomplished - September 17, 2017 - Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 19) - Text: Genesis 50:15-21

Our text for today reminds us of what a great God we do have. Maybe you have heard someone say, or maybe you have said it yourself, “God allows bad things to happen to us so that we are strengthened in our faith.” After the past two weeks of Harvey and Irma we might perhaps have wondered about bad things happening in our own lives. There has always been and always will be the question of why do bad things happen? Do bad things just happen? Does God make bad things happen? Job and his friends attempted to tackle the problem of evil in the world. There are times in the Bible when we do read of God causing bad to happen. Although we may never fully understand the evil in this world I do believe we can say that God allows bad things to happen as a result of the fact that we live in a sin filled world and it is sin in our world which causes the evil with which we have to live. With that said, our text shows us a God who goes beyond just strengthening us through our trials. I believe we have a God who also works through our trials to bring out the best for us through all the evil that is happening in our sin filled world. Francis Pieper in Christian Dogmatics says it this way, “Concerning the concurrence of God in the actions of moral beings (men and angels) we must distinguish between good and evil actions. As to evil actions, Scripture, ... tells us ... 3) that when they occur, they must serve His good purposes, as when Joseph was sold into Egypt (Gen. 50:20).” In other words, God always works the best out for us in any and all circumstances, according to what He knows is best for us even if we may not see it right at that time. Let us get to our text and see what it says.
 

The background of our text is that Jacob had just passed away and the twelve brothers had taken him to the promised land in order to bury Him. Now we come to the fear of the eleven brothers who had sold Joseph into slavery. We read verses fifteen and sixteen, “15When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, ‘It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.’ 16So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, ‘Your father gave this command before he died’” (v. 15-16).
 

There are several possible reasons why the brothers were afraid of Joseph. One reason is that they may not have truly repented for selling Joseph into slavery. Another reason is that they did not believe that Joseph had truly forgiven them. Maybe he just said he forgave them because their father was still alive. Another reason for their fear could have been that their father made them repent because they were not truly repentant. This is like when we as parents make our children lie. Did you know we make our children lie? When one child hurts the other what do we say? We tell them, “Tell your brother your sorry.” They may not be sorry and probably right then they are not sorry. And so they say, “Sorry” (said rather unwillingly). Anyway, all of these reasons show their lack of true repentance as well as their lack of faith that their sins were forgiven. If they were not truly repentant and if they do not believe they are forgiven, then they have refused true forgiveness and they should feel guilty and afraid.
 

They were no different than we are today. They feared human vengeance more than they feared God. How often do we get that gut wrenching feeling when we know, or at least feel like, we have done something that we should not have done, which is our conscience telling us we have done something we should not have done? We tend to be more afraid of the people involved, what they might think of us, than any fear of God and what He might do to us. Our fear makes us forget our need to repent and be given forgiveness from Him.
 

Our text tells us that the father died. At this point the brothers wanted to “fix” the problem. And here is the question about which we are not sure. Did the brothers make up the story about Jacob asking Joseph’s forgiveness, or did Jacob really do so? That question I believe is the minor question. The real question, the question behind the question is, was this a true confession or more deception? It would appear that Jacob had heard Joseph’s words of forgiveness to his brothers and believed it was true, thus for him it was a shut case. It would appear this way because Jacob says nothing about any of the past events in his blessings on his sons. Which means that the “fear” lies in the brothers, that they had not truly repented and that they had refused Joseph’s earlier forgiveness.
 

Now the brothers face the issue with a true confession. We read verses seventeen and eighteen, “17Say to Joseph, ‘Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you. And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.’ Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, ‘Behold, we are your servants.’” (v.17-18).
 

This time the brothers were truly repentant. This time they acknowledge that what they did to their brother was wrong, was sin and they are seeking his forgiveness. And this time they believed and they received forgiveness. For all these years they had been letting this sin fester within themselves. Now they were ready to make things right.
 

This time the brothers did not go through their father. They did not have to ask for forgiveness. This time they came on their own to their brother Joseph to ask him for his forgiveness.
 

This time they let God “fix” the problem. They realized that they had not been truly repentant and with out that repentance they had not received God’s forgiveness. Now they come to Joseph, and they stand before him and before God to ask for and to be given forgiveness.
 

And with true confession comes true absolution. We read verse nineteen through twenty-one, “19But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.’ Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them” (v. 19-21).
 

Joseph hears the brothers confession and immediately speaks words of God’s forgiveness. What else could he do? Certainly he was surprised at his brothers, that they were so slow in being given the forgiveness which had been given so many years ago. And notice, even though their confession years earlier may not have been sincere, and may have even been coerced, Joseph had still forgiven them. In our Gospel lesson for this morning Jesus reminds us that we are to forgive unconditionally, even if there is no sincerity of confession. Then the onus is not on the one forgiving but on the one confessing.
 

Joseph knew that God worked out the best through the wrong of this brothers. The brothers just did not get it. Joseph never put himself in the place of God, but he did understand what God was doing with him in his life. Joseph could see quite well the good and great things God had and was working through the bad things that had happened to him through his brothers.
    Joseph tried to explain all these things to his brothers and he spoke words of encouragement to them. He also promised to continue to provide for them and their children. A sure sign of complete forgiveness is shown by his actions.
 

Now, let us go back and have another look at verse twenty and twenty-one (20-21). Ever since the creation of the world and the fall of Satan, the devil has been searching for ways to get rid of Jesus. Everything he does he does to harm Jesus. For us that means that he continually tempts us to harm Jesus, with our thoughts, words and deeds. Working through the crowd in Jerusalem the devil urged them to ask to have Jesus put on a cross. Daily the devil tempts us through our thoughts, words, and actions to put Jesus on the cross. Yes, according to our sinful nature, everyday, everything we do is intended to harm Jesus.
 

But what we intend as evil, God uses for good. When it comes to Jesus death on the cross, that was not a good thing, at least it was not good for Jesus. Death was never a part of God’s plan. Death came as a result of sin. Because of sin, death entered into the world. The threat of the punishment of sin, the threat of death was upon us. However, what Satan intended as evil, to kill the Savior of the world, God used as good. God used Jesus’ death on the cross for our good, for our forgiveness. If Jesus had not died on the cross then we would be left to pay for our own sins, the cost of which is eternal spiritual death. If Jesus had not died on the cross we would still be in our sins. If Jesus had not died on the cross we would be lost, we would only be able look forward to eternal life in hell. And yet, every day, what we think, say and do whether intended or not, what we intend for evil, God uses for good. God used Jesus’ death to pay the eternal price for our sins, so that we do not have to pay it. God used Jesus’ death to earn eternal life in heaven for us so that we will not have to worry about not going to heaven.
 

When we sin, we are very much like the brothers of Joseph, we are afraid, or at least we should be. We are afraid when we are not repentant as well as when we refuse God’s forgiveness. Yet, our text reminds us that we do not need to fear, be afraid of the Lord because He provides for us. God turns the bad into good. In the New Testament that comes out in verses like Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Even though we live in a sin filled world, even though every inclination of our heart is evil all the time, even though we do sin, God has ultimate good planned for us in our lives. And we praise Him because He can and does work through the evils of this world and our own sin to bring good for us even if we may not see it at the time.
 

This week we are reminded of what a great God we do have, what a loving God we have, what a gift giving God we have, one who works the best out of the worst. And again this week we are reminded of the importance of confession and absolution. We are reminded of how important are the words we speak on Sunday morning, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8,9). And we are reminded of how wonderful and powerful are the words we hear when we hear “I forgive you all your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” When we hear those words of absolution then we know that we have exactly what these words say, forgiveness of sins. And with forgiveness we know we have life and salvation. Praise the Lord for His forgiveness and for His goodness. To Him be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.