He was the subject of a 1975 Bob Dylan song. There was a movie of his life released in 1999. This high school drop out wrote an autobiography that was read by hundreds of thousands. Gunshots pierced the night in Paterson, New Jersey on June 17, 1966. Two men and one woman lay dead. Later two black men were stopped driving a white Dodge. They were accused, but both passed lie detector tests. There was no time for them to dispose of their weapons and change clothes between the murders and their arrest. Both men were later indicted, tried and convicted. Both men were sentenced to life terms in prison. A key witness confessed he had been pressured to lie on the witness stand. In 1976, the New Jersey Supreme Court overturned the conviction. In the second trial, the key witness again lied. The result was another conviction. One was paroled in 1981. Nine more years would pass, when in 1985 a Federal Court stepped in freed the other man. He had been a rising star in the boxing world, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. He was quoted as saying, "If I wasn’t able to get rid of that hate, then my opponents would have won. They would have been able to take far more than the 20 years that they took from me in prison."
I do not know if “Hurricane” Carter is a Christian or not, but his story and attitude can certainly teach something about holding a grudge. He could have allowed anger and bitterness to destroy him. Many have done that, but “Hurricane” saw past his circumstances.
Anger and bitterness can never accomplish anything positive.
Let’s take a look at another story. Joe was daddy’s boy. He always got the best clothes and wasn’t required to work as hard as his brothers. One day when the brothers were out in the pasture, dad sent Joe out to check on them. Jealousy raged in the hearts of the brothers. They schemed to kill Joe, but one of the brothers contrived a plan to sell Joe to a roaming band of traders. They told dad that Joe was dead. For years, Joe languished in a foreign land. He was falsely accused of rape and imprisoned. No one would have blamed him for becoming angry or bitter with his lot in life. God had plans, big plans, for Joe. Joe worked his way up the ranks of the government of the land. Some twenty-two years after his brothers exiled him, there they were on his doorstep begging for food because there was a severe famine throughout that area of the world. His brothers were unaware that it was their long lost brother that held their lives in his hand. Joe had the power to have his brothers put to death, no questions asked. Joe tested his brothers. He had missed over two decades of family life with his dad and brothers. He desired to renew his acquaintance with his brothers.
Turn with me to Genesis 45:
This story illustrates three things for us to look at tonight: God has a divine plan, We don’t always understand God’s plan, and Reconciliation is something that should be sought.
God has a divine plan.
Joseph’s brothers were trying to get rid of a problem, namely their irritating brother. He had been the favorite of their dad, and he flaunted it. They saw an opportunity to get rid of him and their jealousy at the same time. God, however, was using this extreme case of sibling rivalry as the chance to save his people and preserve His covenant with them. God had promised Joseph’s great-grandfather, Abraham, that the land of Canaan would be his and his descendants. At first glance, this seems an odd way to preserve God’s people. Attempted murder, selling someone into slavery, and lying to cover it all up? On top of that, his boss’ wife falsely accused Joseph and he winds up in prison. Are these ways to carry out God’s plan?
Joseph, through a series of events, managed to work his way up the ranks of the Egyptian government. Pharaoh had two dreams related to the coming famine. He charged Joseph with preparing the land for famine. But wait, the Egyptians aren’t God’s covenant people. Egypt had the resources and organization to prepare for the famine. The land of Canaan had no such organization or resources.
Joseph’s family heard about the food supply in Egypt. Jacob sent 10 of his remaining 11 sons to Egypt, where they encountered their long forgotten brother; only they didn’t realize it was Joseph. Joseph tests his brothers to see if they have changed. When he discovers they are not the jealous characters he remembered, he is overcome by emotion and breaks down and reveals himself to his brothers.
Joseph’s brothers are afraid of him and with good reason. Joseph could have severely punished them. He counsels them (in verse 5), “Do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” Joseph came to understand God’s plan through the years. Had he not been in his position in Egypt, his family would have been lost. He invited his whole family to live in Egypt because “Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.”
Looking back it’s easy to see God’s plan, but it’s not always easy to see it when we are in the midst of difficult circumstances.
We don’t always understand God’s plan
The evil that Joseph’s brother perpetrated against him could not stand in the way of God’s plan to preserve His people and the covenant with them. The brothers did not set out to thwart God’s plan they were merely trying to get rid of their annoying little brother. But the evil that they did preserved God’s plan. Joseph acknowledges this when he says (in verses 7 and 8), “But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.” Despite their best efforts to get rid of their brother, it was their brother who saved their lives. Isn’t that ironic? The one they had tried to get rid of saved their lives. Peter denied Jesus, but Jesus ultimately saved Peter. Peter’s disobedience couldn’t thwart God’s plan of salvation. Joseph’s brothers’ evil couldn’t thwart God’s plan of salvation. They didn’t understand what they were doing in the larger picture.
God pushes ahead despite our best efforts to the contrary. God’s plan will be activated no matter what. God had made a covenant with Abraham, and the actions of a few renegade brothers blinded by the rage of sibling rivalry would not stop it.
God sees the whole picture, where we only manage to see a small fraction of it. No doubt when Joseph was bouncing down the road in the wagon of that traveling caravan he couldn’t see God’s plan at that time. It was only after years in Egypt that he understood what God was doing with him and through him. He knew at that point, after twenty plus years, what God’s plan was.
When I was fourteen, my parents moved to Kansas City. I had no idea what God had in store for my life and me at that time. We attended a Church that we had encountered through a VBS at our previous Church a year earlier. Three years later our new Church took a Work & Witness trip to Ecuador, where they met a group of Nazarene college students on a summer missions trip. One of the students was moving to the Kansas City area, and the team invited her to Church. She attended the Church, and two years later we were married. My parent’s decision to move to Kansas City had nothing to do with finding me a wife; I was only 14! God’s plan was bigger than they saw at the time.
Whenever plans get messed up or we don’t understand where God is leading. People sometimes get angry and feelings get hurt. These are unfortunate side effects, but we have to deal with them.
Reconciliation is something that should be sought
Joseph would have been well within his rights to put his brothers to death when he saw them. But he did not allow the wrongs of the past to fester in his heart. No doubt Joseph was angry when he was first sold, but he did not hold onto it.
Joseph was willing to reconcile with his brothers, but he first tested them to see if they had a change of heart. Joseph was not just going to let them waltz back into his life without knowing they had changed. The brothers had run roughshod over Joseph’s life, and needed to show loyalty to him and God. Joseph was not the only one who had changed after twenty years. The brothers had come to realize their mistake. They knew they had wronged their brother. When Joseph first revealed himself to them they were speechless. Verse three says, “But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.” They fully expected to be punished for their crime. One part of reconciliation is understanding the consequences of divisive actions.
If Joseph had held a grudge, there would have been no chance of reconciliation. With a grudge, he would likely have repaid his brothers for their actions. Instead, he chose not to hold onto his anger. He didn’t know he would ever see them again. After their initial reaction of fear, he asked them to come close and proceeded to lay out his plan for saving the family.
A few years ago a young Korean, after graduating from the Seoul National University, came to the United State to study at the University of Pennsylvania. On his way to mail a letter one evening he was stopped by a gang of eleven delinquent teenagers, looking for some money. They wanted sixty-five cents each to get into a dance. The Korean boy had no money so the teenagers beat him to death. The murder shocked Philadelphia. Most citizens felt that the severest punishment would be too good for the culprits. But on the other side of the world the parents of the Korean lad viewed the tragedy differently. Their letter to Philadelphia authorities stirred hearts everywhere. In it they said they were establishing a fund to be used for the religious, educational, vocational, and social guidance of the teenagers who killed their son.
The letter also said, “Our family has met together and we have decided to petition that the most generous treatment possible within the laws of your government be given to those who have committed this criminal action.”
Who would have blamed the parents for calling for the maximum sentence? Their interest was in the welfare of teenagers who had made a terrible decision.
We cannot hang on to anger or hurt feelings.
Conclusion
God’s has a plan. We don’t always understand it. God wants us to seek reconciliation. How do we work our way through these things? It is a matter of ultimate faith in God. We need to be so completely sold out to God that there is no doubt he has control of our lives.
If you have something that is gnawing on your insides, let it go. Seek reconciliation with the person. Most problems are the result of some miscommunication. Even if it was malicious, as in the case of Joseph, God desires us to seek reconciliation.
We may try to seek reconciliation, but the other party wants no part of it. Well we have tried, but we can’t let their refusal to reconcile become another issue. Our arms should always be open, never crossed.
Let God’s love invade your life to the point where that is the basis for all of your decisions. God may use an unfortunate turn of events for His purpose of salvation.
