Brothers and Sisters in Christ, this morning God’s Word speak to us about forgiveness of our enemies. We are called to be still before the LORD, wait patiently for him, and not fret ourselves over those who prosper in the way, carrying out evil devices.
Our Epistle reading from 1 Corinthians continued from where it left off last Sunday, speaking about Christ’s work of redemption and his resurrection. The reason for forgiving our enemies is wrapped up with Christ’s resurrection and the renewal of the world that we await. 24Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
St. Paul writes about the order of things, first Christ’s resurrection came, then ours will come, and then part of God’s plan is the destruction of all of the enemies of God’s kingdom. There is nothing in this order about us destroying the enemies of God’s kingdom. In fact, those we think are enemies, by the power of the Holy Spirit can become people like Paul, former enemies of Christ Jesus who have been called to God’s kingdom.
We all have been enemies of God. On account of our human nature, before Baptism our condition was enmity with God. Because of the power of Christ’s resurrection, we have been reconciled to God, we have been brought near to God through the cross. By the power of Christ’s Resurrection God’s Word can change us and change the lives of our enemies.
Without Christ’s Resurrection, there would be no point in loving our enemies. If Christ is not raised then loving your enemies is only a character virtue so that you can feel good about yourself. But if it is only for this life that we have hope, we might as well get even with enemies instead of loving them.
We know that it is not only for this live that we have hope. We know that God will vindicate us against those who do evil to us. But it is still difficult for us to grasp how long term plans of the Lord to triumph over evil apply to us today. It is hard to be patient, it is honestly against our human nature to want to love our enemies.
We may struggle to love our enemies, thinking to ourselves that the evil will be punished in time, so why does it matter about how we live now? ‘So what’ if we find distaste for enemies. What if I hold hate in my heart toward enemies? We are already sinners anyways- right?
27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.
Jesus speaks these words to his followers and to us. We could hear this as a condemnation of the hate we hold in our hearts. These could be heard as words of law that cut us down. Indeed, one of he costs of hatred toward enemies is that it leads us on a path of self righteousness. If we are so convinced of how bad our enemies are, then we are also going to be convincing ourselves about how good and righteous we are by contrast- and then we are like pharisees- trusting in ourselves and thanking God we are not like those people who violate God’s law.
To us who struggle with the temptation to lift ourselves up by putting others down, Jesus’ teaching can also be heard as words of life. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
There is a reward in living with love toward your enemies. This way of love releases you from bitterness and envy and the sorrow of accusing your brother of wrongdoing. Freedom is found in forgiveness of enemies because our forgiveness of enemies aligns us with the loving heart of our merciful Father. We are sons of the Most High not through righteous indignation of evils in the world, but through forgiveness, through the freedom of the gospel.
Our Old testament Reading from Genesis illustrates the freedom there is in forgiving our enemies. At the time of our reading Joseph has the power to either give food to his brothers who betrayed him or the power to make them go hungry. Joseph was second in power only to Pharaoh, so that at his word his brothers could either live or die.
Joseph was not only living for this life. With his brothers arrival in Egypt seeking food reserves in a time of draught, Joseph could see God’s plan for him more clearly than ever. Through his position of power earned through misfortune after misfortune, he was now able to bless the family that would give rise to the Lord’s chosen people. He was able to see firsthand how the actions of enemies were used by the Lord for good.
Joseph was his father’s favorite son, and this contributed to his brothers envy and hatred of him. And things became worse because Joseph shared with his brothers a dream about them decreasing and even his brothers bowing down to him. His dream was correct about his future power, but it was not an easy thing for his brothers to accept, on account of the lord’s blessing to Joseph, his enemies grew.
After his bondage to slavery Joseph was working as a servant in an Egyptian’s home, Potiphar. On account of his righteousness and favor with God, Joseph caught the attention of Potiphar’s wife. He did not return the attention, choosing honor and character over comfort or desires. Because she did not like being turned down, she lied and destroyed Joseph’s reputation and had him imprisoned. Joseph could easily identify her as his enemy.
And then after interpreting a dream in prison and helping someone return to Pharoah’s service, is help is forgotten. And so he sat in the dark prison day after day month after month, year after year. All because of his brothers and because of Potiphar’s wife, and even because of the neglect of someone who could have told Pharaoh about his gift for seeing the future.
And then one day hope is restored. Pharaoh is standing before him, needing his gift to interpret a disturbing dream. And then Joseph is in charge of managing the abundance of the present in preparation for the hardship to come that he has seen in a dream.
And soon the day comes when Joseph is face to face with his brothers and after time has passed they have seen how God has rescued Joseph from the evil that they did to him. They wonder if they now will be punished for their past sins. It is what they deserve after all. Instead Joseph assures them he will take care of them. “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” God sent Joseph to preserve life, not take it away.
God has a plan for you as well. Just like Joseph forgave his brothers and did not choose to punish them, so also does he withhold the punishment we deserve, but instead forgives and blesses eternally.
And because he blesses us with this life giving forgiveness You have the opportunity to turn evil into good.
Today more than ever we face much evil in the world we live in. Public discourse today speaks a dividing line between those who follow Christian values and those who do not. We are scoffed at and held in derision in the public forum for our beliefs. Standing up for the cause of the unborn, affirming God’s design for marriage and the creation of male and female as distinctly different and complementary to one another are Biblical teachings that are met with hatred and scoffing.
You have the opportunity to be like Joseph and wait in hope for the Lord’s promises to come to fruition, you have the opportunity to be like Jesus who prayed, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.”
God’s plan for you is to be merciful as the Father is merciful. Seek opportunities to be merciful to those in your life, to those who pit themselves against you or who have wronged you or hurt you or hurt someone close to you. Show this love and mercy because this is Jesus’ good and perfect will for you. Amen.