Sermon for 7/10/22: Fourth Sunday After Trinity

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Greatness

Genesis 50:15-21

 

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

 

How do you measure greatness? What is your standard? Do you examine the sports reports? Do you look for greatness in the lives of those who have achieved high office in the country, the community, or even the Church? Can you measure greatness by popularity or good grades in school, by a job or salary earned? Do you measure greatness by academic degrees or impressive sounding titles? When you consider the twisted standards by which we tend to measure greatness, if you reflect on the struggle any undertake to attain greatness—in which even Christians are sometimes engaged—there surely can be no doubt that we have much to learn about how to measure true greatness.

“When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, ‘It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil we did to him.’” They remembered all too well their plotting to get rid of Joseph all those years ago. It had been impossible to tolerate the seeming favoritism their father had showed to Joseph. How could they forget the plans they had spun from their jealous minds; the deep hole, the plot to kill him, and the final compromise to sell him to those traveling merchantmen? The intervening years had done nothing to dim their guilty memories. They remembered it all. There was no greatness to be measured that day.

With their father gone, and Joseph with so much power, anything might happen. Perhaps Joseph would now even the score. The paralyzing fear that grips them is the bitter tragedy of evil and the high cost of sin. And isn’t it still that way for us? Our evil, our misdeeds, our harshness with others, our deliberate deceiving of ourselves and others, our scheming and our unholy plans that turn to dust and ashes—how frequently they come home to roost. And when they do, fear seizes our hearts.

The brothers, terrified for their lives, fall on their knees before Joseph. This whimpering, this twisting of arms, this persuasion by pressure and intimidation: this is not the measure of greatness. You must look to Joseph for that greatness, where the text says, “And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.” It may seem like a strange measure of greatness, because we have allowed ourselves to be persuaded that real men should never cry. Tears are the measure of weakness in those who are too soft for their own good.

Joseph wept, even as our Savior wept at the death of Lazarus. What need is there to suppress and hide honest feelings? Does God expect us to live in a world of make believe as though we were unaffected by life and death, by joy and sorrow, by pain and well-being? The Scriptures speak about your life as a child of God who lives by faith. “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice!” St. Paul wrote to the Philippians. And in his letter to the Romans, He offered this advice: “Weep with those that weep.”

Perhaps the most evident measure of greatness in Joseph is his readiness to forgive. He opens wide the door of reconciliation to his brothers by a genuine word of forgiveness that he speaks to the hearts of his brothers: “Do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” How different this world’s history might have been if more men and women, more children and young people, would have been willing to speak kindly, to offer words of forgiveness to others. So often, however, our pride, maybe even a desire to hurt, keeps us from speaking such good words to wounded hearts of our families, friends, and neighbors.

The life of our Lord Jesus Christ was, and continues to be, a demonstration of real greatness. He forgave those who wronged Him, whose hearts were troubled because of their own foolishness. Even from the cross, in spite of all the pain and agony, His first word was a word of forgiveness. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Today it is the same cheering word He still speaks to our worried hearts and guilty consciences. “Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven.”

How do you measure greatness? It is always a pertinent question for preachers and teachers, for parents and children, for men and women, for old and young. It’s a meaningful question at all times, especially given the many confusing standards people want to use. Those to whom God has given newness of faith and life in Christ have eyes that can see the smallness of people for what it is, but who refuse to be made small by it. If you are looking for greatness, look for it not in those who are great by the standards of this corrupt world; look for it in those who possess the mind of Christ: who are not undone by adversity, but trust in the God whose judgments are right and who triumphs over evil. This God, who forgives so much, is the One who, through His Holy Spirit, creates in us the readiness also to forgive, just as He did in Joseph. That is the measure of greatness. May it please God that others would see that greatness in us. In the name of the Father and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.