Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers Gen 45:1-15 – 2024/9/1

September 1, 2024

Anything but Ordinary
“Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers”
Genesis 45: 1-15

Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl

Genesis 15: 1-15

Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

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 delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there, since there are five more years of famine to come, so that you and your household and all that you have will not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them, and after that his brothers talked with him.

 

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Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers Gen 45:1-15

I had thought of preaching a very different sermon today, a sermon of forgiveness, a sermon of reconciliation, a sermon of a family reunited. And please hear me say that this sermon does still have all those elements but not like I had planned, not like I had assumed. What I mean by this is that the artwork connected to this text from this series is titled, “Reconciled”. And the artist goes on to describe how Joseph forgives his brothers, how selfless Joseph is in that moment, how wonderful it is to have this family together again.

Yes, to all that and no to all that. What I realized after coming back to this text is that nowhere in our text does it say Joseph forgave his brothers. I know, right?! I thought so too! But no words of forgiveness are given. No words of reconciliation. Only Joseph saying to his brothers what they intended for evil, God transformed for good. But nowhere in this text does Joseph speak of forgiveness. Nowhere does Joseph speak of reconciliation. 

We assume Joseph forgives given his reaction. We assume Joseph forgives because he hugs his brothers. We assume Joseph forgives because he invites his family to come to Egypt so that he can take care of them because there are five more years of famine. But in reality, there are no words of forgiveness.

In looking at this text, I think on some level, our assumptions are correct to a certain degree. We read Joseph’s reactions in a certain way because maybe at some point, we reacted in the same way when damaged relationships were restored. We read Joseph’s reaction in a certain way because for generations we have been taught that is what Joseph does. We read Joseph’s reaction in a certain way because this act of reconciliation ties up this horrible story with a nice clean ending, with a nice clean bow, with a nice clean message…If Joseph can forgive his brothers, shouldn’t you forgive those who wronged you as well? We read Joseph’s reaction in a certain way because it allows us to leave this place feeling good about ourselves in this world. It gives us hope for the future, for the possibilities of reconciliation, of healing and wholeness.

And like I said, on some level, yes to all that and still…no to all that meaning there is more to this text than what we first assumed. Because when we look at this text, what we see is that Joseph’s mourning, Joseph’s crying is in reaction to hearing that his father is still alive. In the chapter before this one, Judah, the very one whose idea it was to sell Joseph into slavery, Judah explains how they can’t leave Benjamin in Egypt when they return home because it would destroy their father who had already lost one son. When Joseph hears the news that his father is still alive, he breaks down in tears, so much so that he commands everyone to leave him. As readers, like I said, we are then told that Joseph tells his brothers that what they had deemed for bad, God transformed for good. Yet, nowhere in this speech, does Joseph ever use the word forgiveness, ever use the word reconciliation, ever say to his brothers, “We are all good now.”

Which for me begs a larger question…why are we so quick to assume forgiveness in this circumstance when it is never given? Especially when a few chapters later, if it is supposed to be all good with the brothers, they worry that Joseph is going to retaliate against them after Jacob dies. 

So maybe it is time we actually look at what is happening in this text rather than just what we assume. Because when we do, we realize that forgiveness doesn’t come for Joseph and his brothers until a few chapters after this one. And the ironic thing is that forgiveness comes about because of a plea made by Jacob of all people. Maybe this plea for forgiveness and reconciliation comes because Jacob has finally reconciled with his brother after some time, after some work on their relationship, after some maturing on both their parts. Maybe this please for his children to reconcile comes about because Jacob finally understands the importance of family connection and doesn’t want to pass the dysfunction on to another generation. I’m not sure I have the answer to the why behind Jacob’s actions, but I am grateful that he does make the plea.

Because Jacob’s plea for his family to reconcile, to forgive shows us as people of faith that it is not enough to want forgiveness. It is not even enough to want to give forgiveness. What Jacob’s plea shows us as people of faith is that forgiveness, that reconciliation takes time. It takes relationship. It takes maturity. It takes both sides coming to the realization that something is broken. 

But instead, too many times, we say we forgive people and expect a quick fix to all our problems when in reality, all that it does is slap some lipstick on a pig and does not really deal with the issue at hand.

Now please don’t hear me say that there is this expectation that forgiveness can be given or shared in every circumstance. I am not saying every relationship can be repaired through forgiveness. I fully admit that there are times, there are people whom we need to walk away from for the sake of our mental health. Please hear me say setting boundaries is not a bad thing.

What I am also saying is that maybe just maybe it is time we as people of faith change our conversation about forgiveness meaning that for generations, we have taught, we have preached, we have made people feel bad for not being able to practice this idea that we should just forgive and forget. We have made people think that forgiveness, that reconciliation is as easy as ripping off a Band-Aid, that in order for us to have healing and wholeness, we don’t need to acknowledge the ways we have hurt others, we don’t need to acknowledge the ways we are hurt.  All I’m saying is that for generations this way of understanding forgiveness hasn’t helped. 

So maybe, just maybe it is time we invite this family to join us in our conversations about forgiveness, to invite this family to join us in our conversations about being in relationship with one another, about being in community with one another, knowing that they didn’t always get it right, but they at least had someone who understood what was possible when we do the hard work of reconciling with one another. Because maybe, just maybe it is a place to start, the realization that relationships are messy. Relationships are complicated. That there are no quick fixes when it comes to forgiveness, when it comes to reconciliation. That yes it is hard work but as people of faith, we know that God is there leading us through the process, that when we make mistakes and missteps, we hold to the promise that ultimately love will overcome any hurt and hate, we hold to the promise of the one who showed us what is possible when life giving, life transforming healing and wholeness abounds for all of God’s people.

As people of faith, we hold to the hope of God’s Beloved Community coming to fruition here on Earth, because our God, our God who is anything but ordinary, showed us, continues to show us the beauty, the humbling grace, the life giving power of what can happen when we as people of faith live out the promise of healing and wholeness in all we do and say.  May it be so. Amen.

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