Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

Do you have a story of forgiveness? Of course you do, we all do. There are those we could tell, stories of an awesome act of forgiveness which has been told to you, that you have heard of, maybe even as a sermon illustration. Who knows if it is a really good story you might have heard it more than once as a part of the sermon. If the story is good enough that would be the sermon, like the Amish who forgave the shooter who killed several at the school at Nickel Mines and cared for his widow after he had killed himself. 

I love to talk about forgiveness. It is such an important topic, no not topic, gift which we have been given to us. Make no mistake to be on the receiving end of forgiveness is a most amazing gifts. To know that the burden of sin which I keep piling on myself each day does not accrue endlessly, causing total despair, killing me with its weight, that is amazingly good news, the best of all news. You are forgiven. I love getting to declare that word to you each week. I love to proclaim the promise which Jesus speaks as he lifts the cup of wine. This cup is the new covenant in my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.

Receiving forgiveness from those with whom you share life, is that not also a sweet and precious gift? Do you have a story of forgiveness? We all do. We live in a world where things get broken, relationships especially get broken. We are far too good at doing damage to each other, wounding, breaking that precious gift of relationship, sinning. Forgiveness is how we live with each other, and keep living with each other despite the wounds which sin inflicts on each other. In the same way God's forgiveness removes that burden of sin from me, forgiving each other removes those burden which we start to carry around, like Joseph and his brothers. Joseph knew. 

Joseph knew and so he forgave his brothers. Joseph knew that to forgive is to live free in the present and hopeful about the future, while to not forgive is to be dragged down and kept captive by the past. Forgiveness is life. Sure he had power, authority, second in all of Egypt to only Pharaoh. Joseph was responsible for saving the lives of who knows how many people. There was food during the famine because his brothers had sold him into slavery. Jealous of the favored son, the dreamer, his brothers thought of killing him but then just sold him and told Jacob he had been killed by wild beasts. 

Joseph ends up in Egypt, falsely accused of assaulting the wife of his master and thrown into prison. While there he interprets a couple of dreams for fellow inmates and asks to be remembered. He isn't once the cupbearer is restored to his station. Then pharaoh has those dreams about fat and skinny cows and full and blighted heads of grain. Then the cupbearer remembers and Joseph is called. Seven good years and then seven bad years are the interpretation God gives to Joseph which is related to pharaoh. Grain is stored, ready and waiting for the famine when it comes. God had used this awful act by his brothers to bring good to so many people. 

Joseph's family is also struck by the famine and head to Egypt to buy grain. They have to deal with Joseph whom they don't recognize. Grain is sold, but the money is returned to the brothers. This is a great story, found toward the end of Genesis starting at about chapter 37. Joseph after a couple more twists and turns Joseph reveals who he is and there is a joyous reunion. Then father Israel dies and the sons wonder if the forgiveness will stand. It does. Joseph will not be bound by the past but lives in the present and hopes for the future. Joseph probably struggled with forgiving his brothers. He was human after all, but I wonder if he hadn't forgiven them already. When Joseph reveals himself to them, chapter 45, it is before they have a chance to ask or say anything other than to be shocked. “5 And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 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. 7 God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.” Sounds like forgiveness has happened already. Joseph also knows and confesses in what was read today, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? 20 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.” They were already forgiven and forgiven again because they needed to hear those words again. 

That's one of the things we get wrong about forgiveness. Somehow we think the other must apologize, confess, ask for it if it is to be given. Forgiveness can be and should be given without any requirement. If someone has to apologize before I forgive them, am I not letting them still be in control. If Joseph had held on to the wrong done to him by his brothers for all those years what sort of person would he have been? How bitter, how mean spirited would he have been picking at old wounds, letting his anger simmer? That is not a stew you want to be cooking. Forgiveness sets free. Forgiveness sets free the one who forgives and it doesn't matter what the other does. When I choose to no longer plot revenge, when I no longer continue to gnaw at old injuries and plot a method of payback, I am set free. To forgive is to live free in the present and hopeful about the future, while to not forgive is to be dragged down and kept captive by the past. Forgiveness is life.

The one who owed millions of bucks but could not forgive, he was trapped. He was in prison long before he was thrown into prison. I know I have shared the quote before, to not forgive is like drinking poison and waiting for the other to die. The only one you are hurting is your self. The other may not know or even care what was done. Yeah, and I am saying all of this like it is an easy thing. It is not. I know. It is and can be way hard to forgive the other who has done something horrible, totally betrayed, totally broken trust, wounded in a deep way that no other could. Still to be free of that past wounding there is the gift of forgiveness. Hard, indeed, and sometimes the prayer will be for God to forgive them until you can. There is an old book by Edna Hong with a great title. Forgiveness is a Work as Well As A Grace. Sometimes it is so much work we can hardly bear it to forgive. It is work that rewards though, most certainly it rewards.

Then it is good to remember. It is good to ponder, to consider. How great is my debt? In this parable which Jesus tells I know exactly who I am, the one with the astronomical debt. Hopefully my response to being forgiven is a little bit better. Ever owe a debt? How does it feel to pay off that debt? What if you couldn't pay it off? What if there was absolutely no way to repay? Then there can only be grace and forgiveness. The old definition for grace is getting far more than we deserve. The first debtor, he receives so much more than he expects or could ever deserve when the king pronounces his debt as forgiven. Our debt to God can never be repaid. There is no paying back for the sins we have committed. Grace comes, forgiveness comes, Jesus comes to die to show God's great love and to declare our forgiveness. 

You are forgiven. It is given to you totally, completely, freely. There is no earning it. There is no winning it. There is no deserving it. You are forgiven by the grace of God with absolutely no requirements, no conditions. How will you live then? How will you respond then? You are set free by the gift of forgiveness so that you can repent. You are set free by the gift of forgiveness so that you can turn to God and live the ways of God. Luther talks often about the waters of baptism. They wash away sin, make new and clean. As you repent you return to the waters of baptism, to the promise of forgiveness, receiving the promise of forgiveness which has been made and will be enacted as often as you need it, whenever you need it for whatever reason you may need it. You are forgiven. 

How to respond then, what does God expect of those who are redeemed, washed clean, made new in the waters of baptism? Maybe we can remember that word Paul writes in Romans. We do not live to ourselves and we do not die to ourselves. Life is not a solo act. It is meant to be in community. It is lived with all those other messy humans with whom we share life. Forgiveness makes that possible. Forgiveness is necessary for it to be possible. It is how those deep wounds must be dealt with, the minor wounds also, if there is to be healing. Forgiveness is how God heals us and our relationship with God. That is a very good lesson to learn, to live. To forgive is to live free in the present and hopeful about the future, while to not forgive is to be dragged down and kept captive by the past. Forgiveness is life. You are forgiven. Life is yours.