A Lesson in Forgiveness

The title of our sermon today is A Lesson in Forgiveness. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to open them. Back to Luke, Luke 11, Luke 11, and verse 4. This will introduce our topic today. And, of course, in turning to this particular Scripture, we arrive once again at the section which contains the model prayer. The example prayer that Jesus Christ gives to His disciples who had asked how to pray, and we find the small section of prayer here regarding forgiveness. Luke 11, verse 4, Christ says we should pray this. We should pray this to the Father. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

Let's stop there. So, this is what we ought to pray. This is what we ought to request from our Heavenly Father. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

Quite a lot said, just in one small sentence here. And, you know, just prior we noticed last time that Christ reminds us of how important it is to seek from God our most bare necessities.

I will not be singing to you today, so I just want to quell your worries in that way. Okay, request our bare necessities physically there in verse 3. Request and pray for daily bread. That's our daily physical need in necessity in life. And then likewise here, we see we should also pray for our daily primary spiritual necessity. This is the bare necessity spiritually here. Namely, forgiveness. Forgiveness of ourselves, forgiveness of others. Again, forgiveness is a matter of daily necessity. And that makes sense, because in preparation for this, if you do any cursory glance in the psychology world of the unhappiness or the trapped feelings that men and women have in society, whether they're religious or irreligious, what you actually find is studies show that countless numbers in our society, they attribute their unhappiness back to one singular root.

This singular root comes up most often, and it's the root of forgiveness. Forgiveness, where perhaps men and women have not experienced genuine forgiveness from others, or in turn, they themselves remain unwilling to extend forgiveness to others who seek it from them. So, whether in the inability to receive it or to grant it, men and women's lives can be held trapped in this way. And in many cases, they maybe have never understood at the root of those trapped and unhappy feelings is this whole issue of forgiveness.

So, when you look at these first two requests here in the daily model prayer, that of daily bread and daily forgiveness, we could say, and I found this quote, you know, I love a good quote, I found this quote, quote, forgiveness is as indispensable to our soul as food is for the body. All right, that's pretty good. Forgiveness is in is as indispensable to our soul as food is for the body. Again, forgiveness is our spiritual daily bread. We need it.

And those of us who have committed our lives to God, entered into that relationship, responded to that call. I got to tell you, these matters of forgiveness are some of the most difficult matters in our lives sometimes. And in a study like this, we can take a number of approaches.

We can go through the countless scriptures that speak to forgiveness, and they are countless. Or what I find sometimes helpful is to look in Scripture and see if you can find the topic as it's lived out in the many recordings of God's people that we have in Scripture. And when you think of this whole matter of forgiveness, there is perhaps one individual and one occurrence that may come to mind. And in thinking about forgiveness, the most direct aspect or direct way in which this is lived out can be seen in and through the life of Joseph.

Some of you may have thought about that, and Joseph's forgiveness of his brothers. Why explore forgiveness in and through the life of Joseph? Well, I think I can say with confidence, it's simply because in that story of Joseph's forgiveness of his brothers, we in fact discover one of the most dramatic lessons of forgiveness in all the Bible. So this is what we're going to look at today. We're going to take a look at this whole matter of forgiveness in and through the life and experience of Joseph.

So if you have your Bibles, turn with me to Genesis 37. This is where it all begins for Joseph. Genesis 37 and beginning in verse 1. This is where essentially Joseph's story begins, leading to a dramatic moment of forgiveness. And as you turn there, let me just fill in a little bit of the story here in the context. Here in Genesis 37, we have a 17-year-old Joseph, and he's dreaming some pretty impressive dreams. And we discover he's going to be wearing a pretty snazzy coat, but those dreams and that coat are all going to be the means by which to cause extreme jealousy to arise in his brothers, his siblings, so much so it's going to lead to a pretty horrific event.

Here in Genesis 37, let's look at verse 3 and 4 here. We're first going to read about that snazzy coat here. Genesis 37 verse 3, now Israel also named Jacob, that's Joseph's father, now Israel loved Joseph more than all his other children, and it was because he was the son of his old age. So, Joseph was born to Israel or Jacob when he was old. Also, his father, Israel, made him a tunic, made Joseph a tunic of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

Okay, so we have the coat and also added to their jealousy here. Joseph would actually be given a dream from God, in fact, a couple of dreams from God. And as we go forward in the story, Joseph shares these dreams, perhaps unwisely, with his brothers. Here it is, verse 5 through 11 here.

Verse 5 through 11, now Joseph had a dream and he told it to his brothers and they hated him even more. So he said to them, Please hear this dream which I have dreamed. So Joseph speaking to his brothers. There we were. So here he's building it up, binding sheaves in the field. And behold, my sheep arose and also stood upright. And indeed, your sheep stood all around and bowed down to my sheep. He says, and his brothers said to him, Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us? So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Verse 9. Oh man, then he dreamed another dream. And he told it to his brothers and said, Look, I have dreamed another dream. If the first one wasn't a real kicker for you. And this time, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down to me.

So he told it to his father and his brothers. And his father, the one who loved him, rebuked him and said to him, What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers in fact, indeed come and bow down to the earth before you? And his brothers envied him, and his father kept the matter in mind. So let's stop there. So as you can imagine, if any of you have siblings, this created within the brothers just this very high level of jealousy and resentments here and hatred, quite honestly. So much so they had been to conspiring how to deal with their brother. Whenever the opportunity arose, and one opportunity did arise, when Joseph's father sent Joseph to his brothers out in the field to check on them. So this was their opportunity to deal with this young dreamer here. And there it is, chapter 37 here, second half of verse 17. Second half of verse 17, Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan.

But, verse 18, when they saw him afar off, even before he came near, they conspired against him to kill him. Let that sink in a little bit. I've had some real knockout drag out of fights with my brothers, if I'm thinking back, but it never arose to this level. You know, this amount of animosity here, they stooped to this level here. Here comes dad's favorite dreamer boy, you know. Let's conspire, and they conspired to kill him. And they conspired to throw him in a pit, a cistern of sorts, where inevitably a fierce animal would come and devour him, no doubt. However, through God's protective providence, there was a group of Midianite slave traders that came, and so the plan to kill Joseph was changed. It was altered. If you go down to verse 28, verse 28 here, then Midianite traders passed by, verse 28. So the brothers pulled Joseph and lifted him up out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver.

And they, the slave traders, took Joseph to Egypt. Let's stop there. So pulled him up, 20 shekels, that's almost next to nothing there. Not a lot amount of money. Sold him to these slave traders. He ends up on the the slave block in Egypt and sold into slavery in that way.

And for the next 22 years of his life, there he remained in slavery. 22 years. So if you do the calculation here, 17 plus 22, you know, let's see.

I shouldn't have put myself in this position. Let's see. 27, 37, carry the one. So he's somewhere close to 40 years old. 40 years old here.

And it would be after those 22 years that he would now come face to face again with his brothers.

We know the story. I encourage you to read the story sometime. During those 22 years, lots of occurrences happened. Very difficult for Joseph. He's up and down. God's with him during it, but he, incredible difficulty he experiences there in and out of bondage. Lots of time to think about it all, I'm sure. You know, think about his actions. Think about his brothers, the sorrow, the anger, the remaining faithful in God. And at the end of those 22 years, if we fast forward, God in his providential care raises him up, and not only raises him up out of the pit and in jail, but raises him up all the way to second in command of Egypt. Only second to Pharaoh. So 22 years later, here's Joseph, second in command of all of Egypt. And now, he's going to come face to face with his brothers, setting up this incredible display of forgiveness. What do you think happened after all these years? Well, it's recorded for us wonderfully just a few chapters forward in chapter 45. So if you'd like to turn there forward, chapter 45, let's read of this dramatic encounter. What we're going to see this divine example of forgiveness after 22 years, Joseph's going to reveal himself to his brothers. So his brothers are before him now. Picture the scene, chapter 45, beginning in verse 1.

They haven't yet recognized Joseph, and so we're we're entering into this this moment here. Then Joseph, at this moment, seeing his brothers before him, chapter 45, verse 1, Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out to the the group which was in this room, make everyone go out for me. So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and he wept aloud. And the Egyptians in the house of Pharaoh heard it. That's how loud his weeping was. Verse 3. Then Joseph said to his brother, brothers, I am Joseph. Does my father still live?

But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. And Joseph says to his brothers, please come near to me. So they came near. And then he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. And I can almost imagine him taking off the royal garb as he's saying this. But now, brothers, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourself, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years, these last two years of famine, have been in the land, and there's still five years in which there will be neither plowing or harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now, it was not you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and Lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout the land of Egypt. Verse 9, Hurry, and go up to my father and say to him, thus says your son Joseph, God has made me Lord of all Egypt, come down to me, do not tarry, you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, you shall be near to me, you and your children, and your children's children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you lest you and your household and all that you have come into poverty, for there's still five years of famine. Verse 12, And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that my mouth that speaks to you. So you should tell my father of all the glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen, and you shall hurry and bring my father down here. And when he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept and Benjamin wept on his neck, moreover Joseph kissed all of his brothers and wept over them. And after that his brothers talked with him. Stop there.

Incredible! One of the most dramatic passages in all of scripture. And, you know, I don't know what parts of this, you know, was most impactful to you. I think of this phrase, please come to me, you know. That's a dramatic phrase there. Come to me. And I, you begin to think about the contrast between this scene and the scene which preceded this, the contrast between what his brothers did some 22 years earlier. Here Joseph says, come to me when his brothers did everything to get him as far away from them as possible.

Verse 22 here, he gives to his brothers garments and money. In contrast, his evil brothers tore his clothes off and sold him for money.

And in verse 23, he gives to them carts loaded of good things. It says, 10 donkeys loaded with good things of Egypt there, loaded with grain, bread, food for his father for the journey there. So, good things, provisions, clothing, cash. And maybe the most impactful thing that Joseph gives to them at this moment is comforting counsel or comforting words. Look at verse 24. So, he sent his brothers away, verse 24, and they departed and he said to them as they departed, see that you do not become troubled along the way. Wow! See, did you not become troubled along the way as you travel back to my father? So, what's happening here? Well, it's an illustration of a forgiving heart, albeit a dramatic illustration of a forgiving heart here. I've got another quote for you. Full of quotes today. I found this one. It's pretty good. Quote, it has been said, to give evil in response to good is devilish. To give good in response to good is human. To give good in response to evil is divine. That's pretty good. You know, to give good in response, to give evil in response to good, that's devilish. Good in response to good, that's human. But to give good in response of evil is divine. And here in Genesis 45, we have this expression of divinity. That's what's happening here. This is supernatural here.

And you think, how did Joseph grab on to this divinity, this divine perspective here? And I think it's shown in his response to his brothers that we just read. He knew that, just in spite of it all, God's grace was being poured out onto him. There at the end of verse five, he says, for God sent me before you to preserve life. In verse seven, God sent me before you to preserve posterity for you in the earth to save your lives by a great deliverance, he says. That's grace. He's expressing, and it's almost like I know he's listening to his own words, in a sense. You know, it's all coming to him in this one dramatic moment. Wait, God sent me here, and God was with me all those 22 years. Grace, grace, grace. I'm the recipient of grace here, and I didn't act the way I should have acted, and I perhaps was deserving to stay in that pit, but now grace has been brought me out. God did this, and I want you to be thinking about these parts of the model prayer. You know, forgive me, and then I'm going to forgive everyone else.

This is what's happening in Joseph's life. He had received grace, and then he's able to express this incredible divinity from himself in that way, and this is what we deal with. You know, let's bring this to our hearts and minds today. I don't know how I would have responded with this. You know, I know if you're like me, boy, you respond in a in a un-divine way, and you have that moment, and you just you feel the lowest of low. You know, even if physically it might have been justified, you know, you were harmed. You were done wrong against. You know, listen, listen, you stuck it to me for 22 years. I haven't seen Dad this whole time.

I haven't even been able to speak my own language.

You took my youth away. I was 17 years old. I was at the very pinnacle beginning of my life. All of my dreams, all of my plans to date, and I had my eye on that one pretty girl, you know, I wanted to marry her. You know, what was going through his mind?

You took that away from me.

And so now, I'm going to take those things away from you, and you're going down into the pit, and you might not even survive on your way to there. And in fact, none of you are going to come out of it. We'll put you down there for 22 years, and then we'll see, you know.

How would we have responded in all of our humanity, you know? But again, incredibly, when you look at this story, you don't see any of that here. And again, verse 4, please come near to me. Please come near to me. The invitation to come near here.

I would not have been the first one to step up, you know. I wouldn't have wanted to get within swinging distance, you know. Who knows what would have happened? Who knows what would have happened? But that's not here.

I would have grabbed my brother, you know, take him, you know.

They could have never anticipated what would now unfold. Verse 4 again, come near to me. I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold in Egypt. Verse 5, but now, you know, do not be grieved with yourself or anger with yourselves. Because you sold me here. Because it was God who sent me before you to preserve life.

Can you imagine this?

And they would have just been mystified. Mystified not only that, you know, underneath this garb, this royal Egyptian garb as their brother, they were speechless. But even more mystified, he not only revealed himself in that way, but he revealed himself in tenderness. He revealed himself in grace here. He kisses them and wept over them. I got to tell you, this is dramatic. It's dramatic. And he revolutionizes their life with his forgiveness. And I got to tell you today, this is the one aspect of our walk with Jesus Christ, which has the potential to revolutionize and change lives today. Forgiveness. Forgiveness.

And what we're seeing here, it is just, it's the plan of salvation. Often, grace and forgiveness comes before the change in the individual that you're forgiving.

And it's grace and forgiveness, which is the catalyst, the means by which to bring that individual to the repentance they perhaps need to come to. This is the story of salvation. While we were still sinners, Christ gave his life for us. And it is based on that undeserved love that then we say, Father, I want to honor that which I didn't deserve. And I give my life to you. And I give my life to become like the one who's forgiving me.

And so in that way, in Joseph, we see Jesus Christ. This is the picture of Jesus Christ himself. This is the, we see the example of Jesus Christ. Just as Joseph revolutionized the lives of his brothers through forgiveness, Jesus Christ revolutionizes the lives of the spiritual brothers and sisters through his forgiveness of us. And so when we are uttering and participating in this part of the model prayer, forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who's indebted to us. You understand that there is so much to these words. And before you say these words or follow this pattern, I want you to know what you're saying. What you're doing is you're participating by saying these words, forgive me as I forgive others. You're participating in the plan of salvation. This is a divine act in which we're participating in when we come to this part of the prayer, of the model prayer.

And when you look at this picture of Joseph and his brothers, in one aspect, we are the brothers, right? We are kneeled on our faces, so undeserving of forgiveness, and there's nothing we can do to pay him back all those years. There's nothing. And we come and bend a knee, needing, seeking forgiveness and grace.

Who in one aspect were the brothers, but it doesn't stop there. Because in another aspect of this story, we are then Joseph. We are to then step into the role and the example that Jesus Christ showed for us. We're his representatives. And so then the forgiven become the forgiving. Okay? The forgiven become the forgiving.

That's the two parts of this model prayer here.

So that's what this is all about. Forgive us our sins, and then, propelled by that grace, we then forgive everyone who's indebted to us.

And this is the great impact that the true church will make in this in this world. We're supposed to, as we are forgiven, we're supposed to be the forgiving people.

Jesus Christ has forgiven us, and in the same way, we then allow that grace to flow through us here. You know, so, you know, the brothers see the carts, the clothes, the silver, the council, they hear the council, they're just mystified by it all. Genuine forgiveness in it all. And this is the illustration of what God's people are called to participate in. It's a higher calling of forgiveness.

And this is really one of the major themes in all the Bible, and it's a major theme in which Jesus Christ taught as well. One of the most direct places that Jesus Christ teaches us is in a parable, and I think we'd be remiss not to at least turn to this parable because it deals with all these issues that we've been talking about today. The parable is found in Matthew 18, so if you'd like to turn there. This parable given from Jesus in Matthew 18 initiated by Peter, this conversation, is quite remarkable, and we see this whole process played out in Jesus's words and how we, his people, are to participate in this activity, the forgiven, or to participate in forgiving, and it's found here in Matthew 18. We'll begin in verse 21 where this whole issue of forgiveness comes up by Peter. Matthew 18 verse 21, Peter came to Jesus and said, Matthew 18 verse 21, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times there? You know, I think Peter might have been feeling good at this point. You know, I know Jesus, I'm not just supposed to forgive once. I mean, that would be ridiculous. So I'm thinking maybe seven might be a good, you know, number here. Well, Jesus responds to verse 22. Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven.

So, you know, forgiveness, Peter, it's not a matter of calculation. It's, you know, there was no way Joseph, you know, the brothers could ever come to any kind of calculation, you know, they could have never paid back Joseph. So not seven times, but 70 times seven. Now, I couldn't even add 22 years to 17 earlier. So I wrote this down just to make sure I would get it. 70 times seven? 490. 490. Now, I know some of you mathematicians out there have already calculated this, and you've already thought of a few people that are in the 300s, and you're thinking, okay, I'm sure they'll get there by the end of the year, you know. No, it's not about 490. It's not about 491. This is the picture of forgiveness in an unlimited level here. Unlimited level. And just to reiterate that point, Jesus now says, Peter, let me tell you a parable. I just want you to really get this. And we have the parable beginning in verse 23. We won't go through this, but yeah, there in verse 23, the kingdom of heaven, Jesus says, is like a king who wanted to settle accounts. And then you have the story before you here. Wonderful, insightful story regarding forgiveness. Let me just give you the brief summary here. A servant owes an insurmountable amount.

He throws himself before the mercy of his master. That's in verse 26. The servant therefore fell down before him saying, Master, have patience with me. I will repay you all.

But moved with compassion, verse 27, the master of that servant moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt. It's all gone, he says. Yes. Credible display of passion and forgiveness. It's all gone. An unpayable debt. It's all forgiven.

But then the story turns ugly here. Beginning in verse 28, the forgiven servant, that forgiven servant goes out, went out and found one of his fellow servants, verse 28, who owed him a hundred denarii, very payable to pay back. And he laid hands on him, took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what you owe. So as the story goes, the servant, his servant can't pay him back.

The the forgiven servant chokes him for a while, figures, well, I better not kill him because then I'll definitely not get the money, and ends up throwing him in in jail for the the hundred denarii that he owes. So in summary, despite the fact that he had been forgiven, an insurmountable, unpayable debt, he still goes and chokes someone who owes him a few bucks. Can you imagine? Well, if we're honest with ourselves, I think we all can't imagine.

Let's forget about the money for a moment. In Christ, we have been forgiven an insurmountable, unpayable debt, right? So question, are you going to choke your brother or sister for the few offenses against you?

Look at verse 32 and 33. Verse 32 and 33. Then his master, the original one, after he had called him and said to him, you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.

Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you? You know, this is the part of the model prayer here, right? So every time you say this part, this example part of the model prayer, I want you to think about this parable. I want you to think about Joseph and his brothers. I mean, this is wicked. I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?

So this is the lesson here. This is the illustration of Joseph.

So let me give it to you as in few words as I can. All right, here it is. The forgiven sinner, prompted by gratitude, must always do everything in their power to forgive who has ever offended against them. That's it.

I'll repeat that. The forgiven sinner, prompted by gratitude, that's why we do what we do. It's all we're we don't we don't do what we do. We're not here observing the fourth commandment for any other reason than we're responding to grace. And we're so have so much gratitude. We look in the Bible and we say, how can I love you back? I don't deserve what I've received. How can I love you back? And then we dedicate ourselves to honoring that individual who's bestowed such grace upon us. So it's prompted by gratitude. The forgiven sinner, prompted by gratitude, must always do everything in their power to forgive whoever has offended against them. And you must do everything to bring about complete reconciliation, just as Jesus Christ has brought us complete reconciliation.

So here before Passover, if you have made that commitment through baptism, received the God's Holy Spirit, here it is. If you are thinking of a brother or sister to whom you do not have complete reconciliation with, make this your top priority. It is life and death, honestly. And the reason I put everything in your power, what you will find is sometimes it's a process, and complete reconciliation just doesn't come to fruition. There's value in the fact that there is a process in bringing about reconciliation, but I want you to feel the weight of Scripture to do everything in your power to start that conversation, to invite to that coffee, you know, to sit across from the individual, to write a letter, whatever it may be, start the process of reconciliation. Why? Because you are a servant who's being prompted by gratitude to do this, and you want to be able to pray this part of the prayer and mean it, and mean it.

Well, one or two words of application before we work to a conclusion today. If you have come to God in response to the wonder of His invitation, of come to Me, I know some of you thought about that, you know, that's a picture of Jesus Christ. When Joseph said to his brothers, come to Me, that's a picture of Jesus Christ inviting us to have a relationship with His Father, we received that call, come to Me, you know, and if you've been on the receiving end of that invitation, I want you to understand it's your, then have the opportunity to have undeserved forgiveness applied to your life, have it mean something in your life, to know that you've been forgiven. Don't take it lightly. We know the cost of that, but be confident. Through Jesus, through God the Father, through Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven. You can pray this part of the prayer and be confident. Don't let pass sin weight you down. You can raise your head, you can get off your knees if you're able to kneel and go forward a forgiven servant, but that's not it. There's a second part here.

That forgiven servant will be in the proper posture, then, to be involved in this revolutionary act of forgiving others. And today, I want you to answer the call of Scripture and engage in genuine soul-searching, gut-wrenching process of forgiving another who has committed an offense against you. I want you to begin to participate in this complete act of divinity, which is what it is. God will help you with that.

I want to conclude with a part of a song. I keep my promise. I'm not going to sing it to you.

It's very poetic. I think it summarizes everything we've talked about today. This is a song from the 1960s, Rosamond Perkalots, titled, Forgive Our Sins As We Forgive.

And I think it really captures all that we've said today.

Father, Father, forgive our sins as we forgive. You taught us, Lord, to pray. But you alone can grant us grace to live the words we say.

How can your pardon reach and bless the unforgiving heart that broods on wrong and will not let old bitterness depart? In blazing light your cross reveals the truth we dimly knew. How small the debts men owe to us. How great our debt to you.

So, Lord, cleanse the depths within our souls and bid resentment cease.

Then, reconcile to God and man, our lives will spread your peace.