Reunion

 

Reunion

 

Genesis 45:3-11, 15

Joseph forgives his brothers 

 

45:3 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.

 

45:4 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.

 

45:5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

 

45:6 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.

 

45:7 God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive for you many survivors.

 

45:8 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.

 

45:9 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 delay.

 

45:10 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.

 

45:11 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.'

 

45:15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them, and after that his brothers talked with him.

 

This is NOT a reunion Joseph’s brothers were either expecting nor desiring. As we know from the story, their jealousy of Joseph and his special treatment by their father led to their selling him into slavery in Egypt, and faking his death to lie to their father, Jacob. Now, here they were, hoping to garner some food from the stores of Egypt because of famine in their land, and who do they meet, but their old “bro.” I’m guessing that once they recognized who this was, they were ready for the stockades themselves. In the vernacular, “We’re screwed!”

 

That Jacob, the father, had played favorites never helped the situation, back in the day. Jacob—one not known as having much discretion—had pulled the wool over so many peoples’ eyes in his life that it took an actual “wrestling match” with God to get serious. Unfortunately, when it came to child-rearing, he hadn’t learned much. Joseph was a gifted lad, indeed, but to shower him with gifts and praise in front of his siblings certainly helped percolate the eventual bad deed, on their part. The “coat of many colors” of the story’s fame, is more symbolic, than anything else. It’s a convenient story element or “shortcut” communicating dad’s favoritism, AND standing for how public Jacob was with it. Every loving parent has played the “favorite” card as a technique in parenting as a means of encouraging a child, but never overtly, and certainly never in front of any siblings, as this would be both stupid and cruel. Telling a child privately that there is something about them that you particularly are proud of can be quite uplifting, especially to a child who may be waning in self-confidence. Using the old “Why can’t you be more like your brother (or sister)?” is moving in the wrong direction, though. Jacob goes way beyond that. Sure, as a “man of God,” Jacob may have detected that Joseph had the “Prophet’s gift” on him, especially in the way he could interpret dreams and such, but rubbing Joseph’s brothers’ noses in it set the stage for Joseph’s exile to Egypt. Jacob, by the way, was one of those “Godly scoundrels” in the Bible, like David. While I like that God demonstrates time and time again that God can use anybody to advance the cause of the Divine Commonwealth, I do sort of question why so many of the “heroes” of the Bible have such a checkered past. We should remember that this history was largely written by men, and for whatever reason, many members of my gender LIKE the “scoundrels” and get excited when they “do good.” Note that even the Bible history is soft on the repercussions of their sin, to some degree. David sends Uriah the Hittite to his death on the battlefield so he can claim Bathsheba, and we don’t really hear much about how much pain that must have caused Uriah’s family, or even how it affected Bathsheba, because the story is all about David. 

 

Joseph was no paragon of humility, either. He parades his “coat of many colors” around his brothers, which includes bragging about the self-aggrandizing dreams he is having. In this, Joseph sounds much like the proverbial “chip off the old block,” as humility was never one of Jacob’s traits, either. (After all, he WRESTLES WITH GOD and complains that God CHEATED!) 

 

All good biblical stories are about redemption, aren’t they? I’m not one that gets excited about stories centering on judgment or retribution, as these don’t build community, though certain acts of law and enforcement may be necessary to maintain it. Some people like the apocalyptic stories we find smattered throughout the scriptures, but usually for the wrong reasons. Their original intent was to offer a persecuted, down-trodden peoples hope that God IS in charge, ultimately. Modern “fans” of it, though, often find fascination in the “fulfilment of prophecy” or see “justice” in the Second Coming, believing that Jesus will return to judge and “get even” with bad actors. I am not convinced that this is at all what is going to happen, as we believe in a forgiving, redeeming God, not one that “exists” to slam those whose path has taken them away from the divine will. Thankfully, the Joseph story in this text is truly one of forgiveness and redemption!

 

The brothers experience these values when they find themselves before the brother they sold into slavery over their jealousy. Joseph offers them redemption as a kind of “Christ” figure, acting out what Jesus would someday exclaim from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Joseph’s version was, “What you meant for evil, God meant for good,” meaning that Joseph’s ultimate “salvation” of Egypt, using his prophetic gift during the time of drought, also led to his reunion with his brothers, where he saved them and his father, too. 

 

I referred to Joseph as a “Christ figure,” meaning that he is the key redemptive element in this story. However, Joseph finds his own redemption here, too. Think of it—he could have decided to lock up his brothers and punish them for what they did to him, when they presented themselves unexpectedly before him in Egypt. The same people who get off on the “Second Coming” stuff might have liked it, had Joseph used his power and position to get even. But Joseph takes the high ground, forgiving his brothers, rejoicing in his reunion with them, offering the “What you meant for evil…” theological lesson, and literally saving them from starvation. Joseph chooses the better way. And while he does take a bit of a brief ego trip—referring to himself as the “Lord of Egypt”—he survives as a humble servant of the Most High God, and a loving sibling to his brothers.

 

The story may also serve as our own “reunion” with the values Jesus taught us, namely the aforementioned forgiveness and redemption. We are called to the “ministry of reconciliation,” in the words of the Apostle Paul, not as “enforcers” of God’s anger over the stumbling of our neighbors. Remember the parable Jesus told about the guy who owes his master a huge sum of money? During a jubilee year, the master forgives the man the great debt. However, rather than paying it forward, the forgiven man goes out and finds a poor schlepp who owes him a few dollars and DEMANDS that he repay it immediately, under the threat of being thrown into debtor’s prison. When the master hears of this, he has the man brought before him again, and he revokes his own pardon of him, telling his servants to “throw him into the outer darkness.” We have been warned about carrying grudges and relishing in retribution. 

 

We are also reminded yet again that God forgives and redeems us in Jesus Christ, and we must now choose how to pay it forward in our own lives. The story of Joseph and his brothers is yet another reminder of just who God is, and how the genuine people of God are to respond to our own redemption. Our final “reunion” is with our own conscience. May we, like Joseph, choose the better way to behave! Amen.