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EVERY DAY IS A WINDING ROAD THE ART OF FORGIVING GENESIS 45:1-15 (PLAY CARDBOARD TESTIMONIES VIDEO YOUTUBE) It feels

s great to be forgiven doesnt it? You mess up, you realize the pain youve caused someone else, you come before them and they say, I forgive you. Its indescribable. Theres such freedom, such joy and life in forgiveness. But what about the other side of the equation? When someone has done us wrong. When we experience at the pain at the hand of someone else and the onus is on us to forgive? Sometimes thats not so easy. As we think about forgiveness today we see that the actions of Joseph as we read in Genesis 45:1-15 reveal three things about Forgiveness: the ACTION OF FORGIVENESS, the REASON FOR FORGIVENESS and the BASIS of FORGIVENESS. Think with me first of all about THE ACTION OF FORGIVENESS. What does Joseph do? I mean come on, this is his moment. His murderous brothers are finally standing in front of him, no one else is in the room, Joseph is in a place of power to do whatever he may like and would totally get away with it. Words that come to mind are revenge, vengeance, getting even. And the brothers expect this. Notice when Joseph reveals himself verse 3 tells us, But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. Notice how Joseph acts. 4"Come over here," he said. So they came closer. Joseph is inviting his brothers to get intimate, to come up close, to look into his eyes and see that it is really him. Then Joseph says. "I am Joseph, your brother whom you sold into Egypt. 5But don't be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it. He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. If we believe that Josephs experience is placed in the Bible as an example to help us through the difficult, painful even relationally devastating experiences of life then what do we learn? That forgiveness is about actions. Josephs brothers expect the hammer. Joseph extends mercy and grace. He had the power to bring judgment but instead, in this moment he even takes away the blame. Now most of us are pragmatists and this doesnt seem too pragmatic. But before we talk about the nature of forgiveness and the basis of forgiveness I want you to sit for a minute with the action of forgiveness. Jesus put forgiveness into perspective when he talked about prayer. He said, and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. (Matthew 6:12) Extending forgiveness is one of the most Christ like things we do. Its wrapped up in our identities as followers of Jesus. Its tied to the very essence of the relationship we experience with God. Joseph reveals that forgiveness is an action, not a feeling. Let me just reinforce this with one of the most powerful human examples I have heard. Some of you are familiar with Corrie ten Boom who lived during WWII. She writes, It was at a church service in Munich, Germany, that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, my sisters painblanched face.

As the church was emptying, he came up to me. How grateful I am for your message. To think that, as you say, [God] has washed my sins away! His hand thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side. Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me, and help me to forgive him. I tried to smile; I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer: Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness. As I took the mans hand, the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. I want you to hear that because our natural response is, I could never do that. But we can talk about forgiveness all we want and even say its a good thing. But forgiveness is meaningless unless it becomes an action. Before we get to the question I think were probably all asking HOW CAN I POSSIBLY ACT LIKE THAT, I want you to think with me about THE NATURE OF FORGIVENES. Remember how Joseph responded to his brothers? 5But don't be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it. He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. Really? Wow? Dont be angry with yourselvesfor God did it. At first glance that sounds pretty messed up. Should you really go around and tell people who have done terrible things to you not to feel responsible because of what we call the Sovereignty of God? There are two important things being communicated here that touch on the NATURE OF FORGIVENESS AND THE BASIS OF FORGIVENESS. As we think about the NATURE OF FORGIVENESS dont forget that as Joseph observed and tested his brothers he heard their confession and remorse for what they had done. He knew that they had experienced a change of heart. This in no way changes the necessity of extending forgiveness. In other words were not been taught to only forgive when there is a change of heart, confession and remorse. But it does change how we forgive. Again in other words it isnt good to take away someones responsibility for their actions. I want us to be really careful here. This becomes even more clear later when we read what is probably the central truth of Josephs life when his brothers later revert back to their default of fear. This is so central to understanding forgiveness so please look at it with me. In chapter 50 we read, 15 When Josephs brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him? 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly. Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father. When their message came to him, Joseph wept. 18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. We are your slaves, they said. 19 But Joseph said to them, Dont be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, dont be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

Two things here. First Josephs brothers are wondering is he holding a grudge? Has he really forgiven us? And how did Joseph respond? He wept. Why did he weep? I dont think that Joseph really cared about what his brothers thought of him. He was the second in charge of all of Egypt. I think he wept because he was sad that his brothers were living in fear instead of the joy of being forgiven. But notice what Joseph says to them, Dont be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Joseph says, You intended to harm me. Its not like it never happened. Let just say this out loud forgiveness doesnt mean: Forgetting Joseph did name one of his sons Manassah which literally means causing to forget. But this forgetting wasnt in the sense of never remembering. Joseph remembered so that when his brothers arrived on the scene he tested them but he forgot the bitterness, the pain and it wasnt consuming his life. Reconciliation: reconciliation takes two people but you can forgive without reconciliation. Sometimes we want to wait to forgive until we believe the relationship will be restored and that may not happen. Condoning: forgiveness does not necessarily excuse bad or hurtful behavior. In fact to forgive someone means that we first of all have to assign blame. We have to admit this happened and it hurt or damaged. Dismissing: forgiveness involves taking an offense seriously, not passing it off as inconsequential or insignificant. So heres the question. What is the BASIS OF SUCH FORGIVENESS? Joseph said, 5But don't be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it. He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This is a message in itself but lets just ask where does the ability to forgive in such a way come from? Frankly this isnt human stuff. If you feel this is impossible you are exactly right. Josephs ability to forgive is only present through his confidence and faith in God and in Gods ability to make something beautiful out of something horrific. As weve said through this series on Joseph, he points to Jesus like no other Old Testament figure. Jesus not only taught on forgiveness he acted with forgiveness. Literally on the Cross Jesus prayed for those who had tortured him and were crucifying him, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. Do you realize the magnitude of what Jesus is saying. Yes He is dying for the sin of all of humanity. He suffers, He bleeds, He dies so that you and I can experience Gods forgiveness and grace and be forgiven and adopted as children of God. But this forgiveness goes beyond even that understanding because here is Jesus suffering and dying and in the act hes actually praying to the Father to forgive the cruelty of the ones hes dying for. Just let this sit in your mind for a moment. Someone gives their life for you and how do you feel? Eternally grateful? Thankful beyond words? Jesus dies for us and through his death and resurrection doing what we could never do for ourselves and yet we curse him, we beat him and we crucify him. Jesus says Im dying for you. Oh, okay let me whip you some more. What am I saying is that the basis of forgiveness, the power of forgiveness, the very will to act forgivingly is anchored in the enormity of the fact that He has forgiven us at the very worst point of who we are. When you begin to see that. When youve experienced it youre changed. And that awesome reality of what Jesus has

done for you is the catalyst to empower you to to act with forgiveness in both the lightest but most horrible of lifes circumstance. If youre finding it impossible to forgive let me ask you do you know Jesus and do you understand the depth of his forgiveness for you? If you cant forgive let me encourage you to stop thinking about the offense but instead dwell on what Jesus did, what he suffered and what He forgave so that you could be literally set free from the power of sin and the grave.

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