Pentecost 18 (NL3) John B. Valentine
Genesis 37:3-8, 17b-22, 26-34; 50:15-21 September 22, 2024

“GOOD NEWS IN THE BAD NEWS CHAIR”

Let me begin this message with a quotation .... a quotation from C.S. Lewis ... in his much-treasured tome Mere Christianity.

Lewis writes: “[I used to think] that chastity was the most unpopular of all the Christian virtues. But [that’s not] right… Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.”

Today is a day for us to play stare down with that truth.

That forgiveness is maybe both the most unpopular and the most fundamental of all the biblical virtues.

I mean ... forgiveness is at the very heart of the message and the gospel of Jesus ... is it not???

• “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
• “When someone strikes you on the cheek, turn the other cheek.”
• “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”
• “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Are those sayings not among the most recognizable of ALL the words which Jesus spoke??

And EACH of them ... in some way ... has to do with forgiveness.

Fact is ... forgiveness is at the very heart of the message and the mission which Jesus embodied in this world.

But it may also be our toughest hurdle.

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You see ... this morning’s Scripture lesson is from the book of Genesis.

It’s just a couple of snippets from the life story of a fellow named Joseph ... a story that ultimately centers around the idea of forgiveness ...

But in order to understand the role that forgiveness plays in that story ... we’re going to have to dive into it a bit deeper.

Now ... if I’m not mistaken ... while Bethany and I were off at a family wedding ... last week you folks looked at a story from the life of Abram ... Abraham ... father Abraham ... as it were.

And Pastor Pam reminded you that... even though Abraham and his wife Sarah had no kids ... that God promised them that some day ... one day ... their descendants would be as numerous as the stars.

And in between that text from last week and the texts for this week ....

• Sarah gives birth to one son ... Isaac ...

• And then Isaac and his wife Rebekah have two sons ... Esau and Jacob ...

• And then Jacob and his four wives have twelve sons ...

Reuben and Simeon and Levi ...
And Judah and Dan and Naphtali ...
And Gad and Asher and Issachar ...
And Zebulun and Joseph and Benjamin.

And you might say that its in Jacob and his family that we can really see how God’s promises first made to Abraham and Sarah really begin to take hold and be fulfilled.

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Now ... to be clear ... the book of Genesis is full of stories about brothers ...

• Cain and Abel ...
• Ishmael and Isaac ...
• Esau and Jacob ...
• Joseph and his brothers ...

And every one of those stories involves significant amounts of conflict.

So much so that this one famous Old Testament scholar who noted this thing he called “the problem of the brother” ... which points out how ... while it’s one thing to live in relationship with God ... difficult enough in and of itself ...

Adding brothers — and/or sisters — into the mix just complicates the heck out of things!

And so one of the questions that the Book of Genesis really raises ... or at least begs ... is that of “How does one live with God and with one’s siblings at one and the same time??”

Because dealing with our siblings sometimes brings out the worst in us ...

Be it envy and/or jealousy and/or favoritism or whatever ...

But from the first bit of sibling conflict in the Book of Genesis to the last ... it appears that God’s will is for brothers and sisters to turn from sin and selfishness and turn toward reconciliation and restoration of relationships.

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Anyhow ... at the start of this morning’s reading ... we’re introduced to Joseph ... the eleventh of twelve brothers ...

And the first thing the text notes is that Joseph was dad’s favorite ... even to the point of dear ol’ dad giving Joseph a coat such that none of the other brothers had ever had..

Oh ... trust me ... nothing exacerbates ol’ siblings rivalries like accusations of favoritism ...

To the end that at least ten of his brothers would really rather not be in the same room with him ... thank you very much!

But then ... so as to add insult to injury ... Joseph tells his brothers about a dream that he has ... the point of which is that all the brothers have to bow down and pay homage to Joseph!

Now adolescent boys are almost never cited as paragons of wisdom ... but you’d think that Joseph would at least be smart enough to keep his mouth shut in the face of a dream like that.

But ... no ....... Joseph goes and tells his brothers his dream ... and they hate him all the more!

Such that ... one day ... Joseph’s brothers ... actually decide to do him in!

Then we read just some snippets of the drama wherein:

• the brothers make their plan to kill Joseph ... and then
• at least one of the brothers gets cold feet ... and then
• they compromise on the idea of just selling Joseph off into slavery ... and then
• they take the fancy coat back to dad ... having smeared blood all over it ... and report that their little brother ... the ‘dreamer’ ... dad’s favorite ... has been killed.

Then there’s this big chunk of the story that we didn’t read ... wherein:

• Joseph is enslaved in Egypt ... and then
• Joseph gets thrown into prison ... and then
• Joseph becomes a trusted advisor of the Pharaoh ... and then
• Joseph becomes one of the most powerful people in the whole of the land of Egypt!

And then ... toward the end of the story ... Joseph is given opportunity to confront his brothers at long last ...

And they all realize that their collective goose is cooked.

But it’s at just that very moment that Joseph gets the so-called “problem of the brother” right for once ... and offers restoration and forgiveness and reconciliation.

And then ... right at the end of the Joseph story ... in the part that was the last part of what it was that we read ...

It says that after their father Jacob has died ... the brothers’ guilt gets the best of them ... and they begin to worry that maybe Joseph hasn’t really completely forgiven them after all ...

Their guilt hangs on even after they have been forgiven ...

And so the brothers cook up one last story ... saying “Your father ... YOUR FATHER ... gave this instruction before he died, ‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.”

But then Joseph does this amazing thing ... he weeps ... which I think we’re to take as a sign of the sincerity of his forgiveness ...

Which in turns gets his brothers to weep ... and probably sigh deep sighs of relief ...

And then we hear those unforgettable words that conclude the Joseph story:

"DO NOT BE AFRAID! AM I IN THE PLACE OF GOD? EVEN THOUGH YOU INTENDED TO DO HARM TO ME, GOD INTENDED IT FOR GOOD, IN ORDER TO PRESERVE A NUMEROUS PEOPLE, AS HE IS DOING TODAY. SO HAVE NO FEAR; I MYSELF WILL PROVIDE FOR YOU AND YOUR LITTLE ONES."

Joseph prefigures Jesus and embodies all those words about forgiveness:

• "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
• "When someone strikes you on the cheek, turn the other cheek."
• "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

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True story. It happened to yours truly ... a number of years ago now.

It was time to pay the piper ... time to face the music ... time to reap what I had sown.

After years of procrastination and excuse-making and avoidance ... I went to the dentist!

Now ... given my notoriously unhealthy diet ... my love of coffee straight-up ... and my aversion to the fine art of flossing at the time ...

I'd come to realize that I was about to know the truth ... and that the truth was going to be ugly ... to say the least.

Don't get me wrong ... I'm not fishing for your sympathy ...

I was fully aware of what gingivitis, periodontitis and halitosis can do ... I knew about proper dental care.

And

• I could have brushed after every meal instead of once a day ...
• I could have flossed once a day instead of once a season ...
• I could have used one of those high-tech-toothbrushes and ...
• I most certainly could have gone to the dentist ...

BUT I DIDN'T.

And so ... as I sheepishly entered the dentist's office that day ... I did so reconciled to the fact that bad news was on the way.

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Now ... you know how visits to the dentist's office go ...

• They began with a slew of x-rays ...
• Then there was that interminable prodding and poking and prying ...
• And finally the appearance of the dentist himself ... to render judgement and a verdict.

And that chair in which I was seated was most definitely the ‘bad news chair’.

I'd set myself up for this disaster ... and now it was time to harvest my rewards.

But then - to that fool of a pastor sitting in the ‘bad news chair’ .... came an altogether unexpected word.

The hygienist intimated to the dentist that things might not be so bad after all.

And then the dentist himself said "It looks like we're not gonna make any money off of you!" ...

And right then and there I would have shouted for joy right there ... had it not been for those needle-sharp gizmos which still filled my mouth.

I heard good news while expecting and most definitely deserving to hear bad news.

IT WAS GOOD NEWS IN THE BAD NEWS CHAIR!

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"GOOD NEWS IN THE BAD NEWS CHAIR."

• Hearing a word which brings relief to an anxious situation ...
• Hearing a word which brings hope in the midst of despair ...
• Hearing a word which brings joy to one filled with sorrow ...
• Hearing unexpected, undeserved words of grace ...

Good news in the bad news chair is what I heard in the dentist's office that day.

But more importantly ... isn’t "good news in the bad news chair" ... what Joseph’s brothers heard that day all those many days ago??.

• A word of forgiveness and restoration and reconciliation???
• A word of hope in a hopeless situation???
• An unexpected, undeserved, unmitigated word of grace???

Let’s be clear here ... folks.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is first and foremost good news for people sitting in the bad news chair.

The overarching message of Holy Scripture is good news in the bad news chair.

The promise of Holy Communion that you’re going to hear in just a few minutes ... “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sin” ... is good news in the bad news chair.

Hear that word ... know that promise ... let the good news of God free you from the bad news chair ...

And then let then let your lives and your living embody that great good news for others who are still sitting in the bad news chair.