Transgressions Forgiven

Genesis 50:15-21

A dog trotted into a butcher’s shop one day, grabbed a roast off the counter and ran off with it.  The butcher immediately recognized the dog as belonging to a neighbor, who happened to be a lawyer. Incensed by the theft, the butcher called up his neighbor and said, “If your dog stole a roast from my butcher shop, would you be liable for the cost of the meat?” “Of course.  How much was the roast?” “$7.98.” A few days later, the butcher received a check in the mail for $7.98. Attached to it was an invoice that said, “Legal Consultation Service: $150.”

In a humorous way, that story points out the vindictive nature of the sinful human heart.  When someone hurts us, it is our natural tendency to want to get back at them, to make them pay, to take revenge for the wrongs we have suffered.  God’s heart, however, is completely different.  It is full of mercy and compassion, always slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness and forgiveness. 

We see a beautiful reflection of that in our Old Testament lesson for today, from the life of Joseph.  You will recall that at an early age, Joseph was hated by his brothers.  They were jealous of his many-colored coat.  They were jealous of their father’s favoritism towards him.  Above all, they were jealous of his special dreams from God.  They were so jealous that they wanted to get back at him, to get rid of him permanently, to kill him.  But Judah talked them into selling him into slavery in Egypt and telling their father, Jacob, that he was dead. 

In other words, they committed a horrendous crime, not only against man’s law, but also against God’s law, by their jealousy and hatred towards their brother.  Our text simply calls it a sin.  Yet, there is more to that word than meets the eye.  In the Old Testament it’s the same word that’s used, when a person is practicing throwing stones with his slingshot and misses the target.  That is God’s definition of sin – missing the mark of His righteousness, missing the high standard of His holiness.  And it’s the same thing you and I are guilty of.  Perhaps like Joseph’s brothers we are jealous of a family member, because they got something better, or envious of a neighbor’s success. Maybe someone made an unkind remark or did something hurtful, and we’re thinking of a good comeback or harboring a grudge, taking our frustrations out on others.  Even though it happened years ago, we still refuse to forgive them.  It maybe something as simple as losing our temper, snapping at our spouse, or taking the Lord’s name in vain.  But whatever it is, any time that you and I fail to hit the target of God’s Word, any time that we fail to do precisely what the Bible tells us to do letter for letter, then we are sinning.  And in God’s mind that is a criminal act; it constitutes a capital offense!

Evidently Joseph’s brothers understood that quite well, because in our text they seem pretty scared about it.  Their father Jacob had just passed away, and now that he was gone, they were worried that Joseph might unleash his revenge upon them.  Our text says:  “WHEN JOSEPH’S BROTHERS SAW THAT THEIR FATHER WAS DEAD, THE SAID, ‘IT MAY BE THAT JOSEPH WILL HATE US AND PAY US BACK FOR ALL THE EVIL WE DID TO HIM.’  SO THEY SENT A MESSAGE TO JOSEPH, SAYING, ‘YOUR FATHER GAVE THIS COMMAND BEFORE HE DIED, ‘SAY TO JOSEPH,  PLEASE FORGIVE THE TRANSGRESSION OF YOUR BROTHERS AND THEIR SIN, BECAUSE THEY DID EVIL TO YOU.’” 

Now, whether or not Jacob actually said that, we don’t know for sure, because Scripture doesn’t tell us.  However, the implication seems to be that he did not.  Apparently it was something that the brothers made up to get them out of their predicament.  Instead of simply trusting Joseph to forgive them, they tried to find their own way to get rid of sin.

Sadly my friends, it’s not a whole lot different from the way you and I often react.  Like those men, we too have committed sins against God and our brother.  But too often we add insult to injury by making up a story, an excuse to get ourselves out of it.  Instead of simply trusting God to forgive us, we try to find our own way to get rid of our sin.  For instance, we rationalize away our sin, as if it’s trivial.  Or on the hand, we try to do something good to cover up the bad.  Or maybe we even heap guilt upon ourselves in hopes that that will appease God’s anger.

Yet, God’s reaction to those tactics is much like Joseph’s reaction in our text.  Our text says that when Joseph received his brother’s message, he wept.  He cried bitterly to think that his brothers believed he would hold a grudge against them.  Surely God cries also, when we don’t trust Him enough to simply repent of our sin and ask for His forgiveness.  You see, God does not harbor a grudge against us.  He doesn’t want us to squirm in our guilt.  No, the purpose of guilt is simply to lead us to repentance.  God wants us to humbly confess our sin and then receive His abundant forgiveness.  He wants us to confide in Him for our salvation, to look to Him for redemption, instead of looking to ourselves.

We can see that clearly from the example of Joseph.  He’s what we call a type of Christ, a picture of what Jesus is like.  In spite of his brother’s lack of trust, he still forgave them.  Literally our text says that he lifted their transgressions off of them.  What a marvelous description of what God’s forgiveness is like.  He lifts the awesome weight of our sin and guilt off of us and throws it to the winds.  He takes that monkey off our back and removes it for good.  And He does it through His son Jesus Christ.  That’s the message of the cross – that for Jesus’ sake we are forgiven and free.  You see, at Calvary He took all our sins and offenses on His back, carried all our guilt and shame to the cross, where He disposed of it for good.  And He did it, so that we might be treated with kindness and love.  And that is exactly how God now treats us.  He treats us as if we had never committed the crime.  As a matter of fact, in its place He gives us a gift – the free gift of His forgiveness and salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.

Dear friends, that’s what we receive once again this morning at the Lord’s Table.  He has spread before us a wonderful banquet feast, where we taste of His eternal goodness.  For as we receive on our tongue the bread and wine, Jesus along with it feeds us with His very own saving body and blood – the body and blood He offered up on the cross to pay for all our sinful crimes.  In this Holy Supper, we not only receive the reassurance of God’s forgiveness, our transgressions actually are forgiven, obliterated, wiped out forever.  And we are exonerated of all our offenses in Jesus’ cleansing blood.  We’re not just given a stay of execution, the sentence is commuted, the death penalty is lifted off our head, and we are completely pardoned and set free.  Those are the precious gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation that Jesus lavishes upon us personally in this blessed sacrament.

And what is our God-given response to all of that?  Very simply, God’s miraculous forgiveness transforms our lives, so that we are enabled to treat others with the same kind of love and forgiveness that God treats us.  To forgive the guy, who is always making snide remarks at us, to forgive the lady, who thinks she’s better than us, to forgive the kid at school, who makes fun of us.  In short,  regardless of what our differences may be, to deal with one another in love and respect for Jesus sake.  That’s how we can respond to the miracle of God’s forgiveness, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

An 80-year-old couple were having problems remembering things, so they decided to go to their doctor to get checked out to make sure nothing was wrong with them. The doctor told them that they were just fine, but at their age they might want to start writing things down to help them remember. The couple decided to give it a try. Later that night while watching TV, the man got up from his chair and his wife asked, “Where are you going?” He replied, “To the kitchen.” She asked, “Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?” He replied, “Sure.” She then asked him, “Don’t you think you should write it down so you can remember it?” He said, “No, I can remember that.” She then said, “Well I would also like some strawberries on top. You had better write that down because I know you'll forget that.” He said, “I can remember that, you want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries.” She replied, “Well I also would like whipped cream on top. I know you will forget that so you better write it down.” With irritation in his voice, he said, “I don’t need to write that down! I can remember that.” He then fumed into the kitchen. After about 20 minutes he returned from the kitchen and handed her a plate of bacon and eggs. She stared at the plate for a moment and then said angrily, “I TOLD you to write it down! You forgot my toast!”

As we get older, I’m sure we can all relate to the problem of forgetfulness.  The amazing thing is that God can relate to it as well.  He who is omniscient and knows all things, chooses not only to forgiven our sins, but to forget them as well.  He does not write them down and hold them against us.  Instead He erases them in Jesus’ blood and remembers them no more.  That is the miracle of God’s forgiveness.  Having been forgiven by Him, may we be empowered by His Spirit to share that forgiveness with others, for His glory and praise.  Amen.