Grace

Introduction

What is God doing in your life?

that can be a hard question to answer, though we want it right away when we are going through hard times.

in the good times… oh, the Lord is blessing me that is what He is doing

This must mean that we are in the end times.

I must be right where I am supposed to be and doing good…

what about the hard times… can we say the same thing.

I know things are tough but but God is doing something… I may not know what…

really, we look at what God is doing, very selfishly

here is what God is doing, because here is what I feel, or have received

God is working out his master plan… His masterpiece.

Today… Grace

and we think that this is really what we want…

If i am happy and things go my way, I am doing the right thing

If I am depressed and things are not going how I want then I am not doing what I should

we use terms like red flags, closed doors and God told me as if we must know the plan of God fully before we act

How many times do you think Joseph thought, “well the door closed on that dream,”?

Today… Grace

Do we really understand what Grace is?

Sure, most can give me a quote that you have heard in a bible study or sermon about unmerited favor, but few can point to it in their life

I know that God gives grace, but I am not feeling it

tell the Joseph story up to this point

Joseph could no longer keep his composure in front of all his attendants, so he called out, “Send everyone away from me!” No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers. 2 But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and also Pharaoh’s household heard it. 3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But they could not answer him because they were terrified in his presence.

4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please, come near me,” and they came near. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt. 5 And now don’t be grieved or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. 7 God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

9 “Return quickly to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay. 10 You can settle in the land of Goshen and be near me—you, your children, and your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and all you have. 11 There I will sustain you, for there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you, your household, and everything you have will become destitute.” ’ 12 Look! Your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin can see that I’m the one speaking to you. 13 Tell my father about all my glory in Egypt and about all you have seen. And bring my father here quickly.”

14 Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder. 15 Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept, and afterward his brothers talked with him.

What Joseph Learned

In the entire Joseph story, we never hear Joseph talk to God, or God talking to Joseph

It would be so much easier if God would have told Joseph what was going to happen like he did Abraham

But we do get to see the 17 year old boy telling his family the dreams he had transform into the 30 something man leading the country of Egypt

we can see how he leads, how he interacts with his brothers that have been reunited with him

What we see from Joseph

Forgiveness

And now don’t be grieved or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life.

this goes against what we desire to see

we want justice, we want revenge!

We talked last week about , “vengeance is mine says the Lord.”

We are like Jonah… tell brief version of Jonah

but that is easier said than done because of our self righteousness

Joseph had been humbled by the 13 years in bondage, and understood that it was God doing something in him, through him, but for God

we think God is doing something in us, through us, and for us…

because we think the world revolves around us

For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. 18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.

For everything was created by him,

in heaven and on earth,

the visible and the invisible,

whether thrones or dominions

or rulers or authorities—

all things have been created through him and for him.

17 He is before all things,

and by him all things hold together.

18 He is also the head of the body, the church;

he is the beginning,

the firstborn from the dead,

so that he might come to have

first place in everything.

When we understand that it revolves around God, that God is the center and that we are forgiven people, then we can forgive

forgiven people forgive people

the more you understand what you have been forgiven for, the more you forgive others

Understanding that God is in control

Forgiveness

this removes the selfishness from us

Understanding that there is a much bigger plan to what we can see even in our own lives

this removes the selfishness from us

this goes from what is happening in my life

to what is God doing in the world

moves us to how can we be involved in God’s plan and not God in my plan

God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

What the Brothers Learned

I am convinced that the reason Joseph made his brothers go back to Canaan for Benjamin was to test them

He did not trust them that everyone was ok back home

Bring him here

who can blame him… this is not untrusting of God, but rather being wise in the world

We can even say that from what we have seen they have not learned much…

they had felt some guilt

they were sure they were being punished because of what they did to Joseph

they blamed each other

Reuben, I told you not to kill the boy…

But through this process we see that they had begun to understand sacrificial love

When they were in prison by Joseph, they did what evil does… they accuse and point fingers

we are being punished for what we did, the blood is on our hands

Reuben said, I told you not to harm the boy!

But notice the change in attitude about one favored son to the next

Judah… let’s sell Joseph and get some money

take my life, not Benjamin’s

 “So if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us—his life is wrapped up with the boy’s life—31 when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hairs of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow. 32 Your servant became accountable to my father for the boy, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will always bear the guilt for sinning against you, my father.’ 33 Now please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave, in place of the boy. Let him go back with his brothers. 34 For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father.”

30 “So if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us—his life is wrapped up with the boy’s life—31 when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hairs of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow. 32 Your servant became accountable to my father for the boy, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will always bear the guilt for sinning against you, my father.’ 33 Now please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave, in place of the boy. Let him go back with his brothers. 34 For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father.”

We must allow room for God to change people… another way of saying it is, we must accept the change that God does in the lives of fellow sinners.

we cannot live as though our lives are the only ones that God can change

when Joseph sees the sacrificial act of the one who sold him, he could not contain his emotions any longer

Joseph could no longer keep his composure in front of all his attendants, so he called out, “Send everyone away from me!” No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers.

Through this, his brothers learned what Grace is… What forgiveness is… What God is like

this is what happens when we forgive.

it is good for our souls to let go of the hurt and bitterness

it is also a testimony of who God is and what his forgiveness looks like, something that I am sure they understood better after this day

What We Have Learned

I am convinced that we cannot help ourselves live out a works theology

and we think that this is really what we want…

If i am happy and things go my way, I am doing the right thing

If I am depressed and things are not going how I want then I am not doing what I should

we use terms like red flags, closed doors and God told me as if we must know the plan of God fully before we act

How many times do you think Joseph thought, “well the door closed on that dream,”?

I have seen so many ministries start up…

smooth… we are pumped

hit a rough spot.... God wanted me to quit

illustration of swimming up stream

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?

We look at grace wrong because our view of the Kingdom of God is so small

when it comes to giving grace… and receiving grace it comes down to this verse

meaning that we look at the blip of time, the mist, the breath that our lives add up to and think that it is the most important time in history.

Am I in the place of God…

Who am I to hold judgment on anyone

I cannot demand fairness for somebodies else’s sin while I beg for mine to be forgotten

this is the battle that has been going on since the Garden of Eden

Joseph said, “Am I in the place of God?” Satan said, “You will be like God.”

that is our desire, to be God… to be worshipped and to be judge, jury and executioner

I pray, through this story of Joseph, through this passage, that we have learned it is far better for us that we are not