Welcome to Mountain View Church. My name is Byron, and I'm the Filipino pastor. Before we begin, I would like to invite you to connect with us by visiting our site at mountainview.church slash connect, or you can text connect at 867-322-8001. Or if you are in-house, you can fill in the connect card and give it to our welcome desk. If you have children, I encourage you to bring your children to our Base Camp Children's Program, either 9.30 or 11 a.m. every Sunday. Or you can download the lessons online at mountainview.church.basecamp. We have also a program for your teenagers, the Mountain View Youth Group, every Sunday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. For more info, visit mountainview.church.youth.
If you have Filipino friends and relatives, please invite them to come every Sunday at 3 p.m. for our Tagalog worship service. As we continue with our nine-week series, Called by God, last Sunday we learned the story of the first person called by God, Abraham, which was called to renounce. Today, we are now on the second person called by God, Joseph, called to lit up. We will now read our passage for today after this short video.
Hi, my name is Aaron, and I'll be reading Genesis chapter 50, verses 15 through 21.
For am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. So do not fear. I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. Leading up is very hard, especially if the people who hurt us are the people that we trusted most. Have you been betrayed? Have you been plotted upon or conspired upon by people whom you thought are on your side? It's easy to say forgive and forget to other people.
But the reality is, if it is us who is the victim, it is hard. The hurts can go beyond families, false rumors, bullying, cruel comments online. People are selfishly used, friendships, abused, or trust betrayed. Some of us may bear scars from our past, bitterness, anger, or desire to get heaven somehow. My friend, if you experience that, you are not alone. And you are not the first.
There was a person who was betrayed and plotted against by the people who shared tent with him, the people he shared his private life, and even the people he thought he could lean on. And this person is Joseph. Now today, let us dig on how did Joseph let up his past heartaches and pain and choose forgiveness. How did he manage to forgive? Let's start by knowing Joseph. Joseph was the 11th son of Jacob.
His first son through his favored wife, Rachel. As a 17-year-old boy, he always brought some bad report about his brothers to their father, Jacob. Or we just call him a tattletail boy. Do you like tattletail people? Of course not. Right? That's exactly what Joseph's brother felt. Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons. And even made Joseph a robe of many colors to show his love. Imagine.
Then your brothers will see that you have a robe of many colors. Joseph's brothers knew their father loved Joseph more than them, which caused them to hate him. And you know what? To make the matters worse, Joseph began telling his brothers, You know, in my dream, you will all bow down to me, including mom and dad. In other words, in his younger years, Joseph is a tattletale and not so humble. Sounds familiar? His brothers hated him more and plotted against him.
They wanted to kill him, but eventually decided to sell him into slavery. And he was taken to Egypt, where he served in the house of Potiphar, a slave. Now my question is, if you were Joseph, what might be inside your heart? What might be your feelings towards your brothers? Maybe you will wish that they will experience what you are experiencing now? Or maybe your prayer will be like this, Lord, I entrust them to you.
But in your mind, hopefully, Lord, some lion will attack them or maybe fall from their horses. That's you and me. That's us. But how about Joseph? We cannot imagine the pain and bitterness that he felt. And we could not blame him if he harbored hatred toward his brothers. Yet God was in control. And the Bible said, God was with Joseph in Egypt. He never left Joseph on his ups and downs in life. And you know, my friend, my brethren,
Because of God's provision, he got out of prison to become the most powerful man in Egypt, second to Pharaoh himself. His father and brothers came to Egypt to escape a famine. And after many dramas, they were reconciled. You know why? Because Joseph chose to forgive them and be reconciled with them. They all stayed in Egypt because they were prospering. Joseph's father, Jacob, he lived 17 years in Egypt.
before he died of old age. And it is here where we pick up our story. In Genesis 50, verse 15, when Joseph's brothers had seen that their father was dead, they said, what if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him? You know, my friend, the brothers remembered what they had done to Joseph. We all know that Joseph has already forgiven them.
But still, they were concerned about what he might do to get even with them. And they say, Joseph had done nothing when his father was alive because it literally might have killed Jacob if he had done something to his brothers. But now Jacob is dead. And the brothers, they are desperate in their fear of what might Joseph do to them. See, this is a scenario of people not accepting the forgiveness given to them.
They remain slave to guilt and fear. They can never move on. And again, they try to fabricate a lie so that Joseph cannot harm them. In Genesis chapter 50, verse 16 to 17, it says, these are what the brothers did. They sent instructions to Joseph saying, your father commanded us before he died, saying, this is what you shall say to Joseph.
Please forgive, I beg you, the offense of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong. And now, please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father. Do you really believe that Jacob will say that to them? Probably not. Why would he say to them? Why not tell directly to Joseph? But I'm sure Joseph is wise. He could see what they were doing, that they are doing some ploy or plan.
They were still lying and manipulating. And you know what happened? When Joseph got their message, he wept. Joseph cried. I believe he wept because he saw his brother's helpless spiritual condition. Imagine, he already forgave them with a sincere heart. And they won't believe his sincerity. They are still slaves to their guilt and fear. And the worst thing is they made another sin of lying just to manipulate Joseph so that he will not take revenge.
How will Joseph respond? How will he respond? The brothers come and kneel before him. We are your slaves, they say. You know, when we are watching movie series and we say that, I mean, we saw that the main character after so many episodes of being miserable, and this particular episode, he has now the capacity to take revenge. What will you feel? Excited, right? That finally the main character can take his revenge. How would you respond?
In a similar situation, if you could see someone who has hurt you, now coming to you, trying to avoid payback, how would you respond? Will you feel the old anger, distrust, or resentment and think of the years that you have endured it? And now that person, those people are at your mercy and in front of you. How will you respond? What will you say and what will you do? Maybe for me, I'll just take my revenge to them.
But Joseph has one goal. He has one goal. He wants to put this behind them. He wants to let up and build a better relationship with them. How does Joseph get beyond the hurts of the past? How can we get beyond the pain, the resentment, the disappointment, the rage, the coldness that is part of our relationship with some people who hurt us? How can we go beyond those pain? My brothers and sisters, I want to share to you two things that Joseph knew.
These are the keys to letting up and moving on. In verse 19 of Genesis chapter 50, it says there's, am I in the place of God? And in verse 20, this is the other key, God intended it for good. Those are also the keys for us to get past the hurt. So, key number one, am I in the place of God? Joseph asked, meaning am I the person to punish for wrongdoing? No.
It's not me, it's God alone knows the hearts. It is God's role to judge and to maintain justice in the world, not us. For that reason, the Apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 12, verse 17 to 19, Do not repay anyone evil for evil. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath. For it is written, it is mine to avenge. I will repay, says the Lord.
It is mine to avenge. I will repay. So you see, if we can't leave judgment of God, we are relieved of our need to judge. Isn't it freedom? We are free. We don't have to judge people because it's God's job. So Joseph is telling them, when they say, am I in God's place? He don't want to judge them. But he said that it's God's job. So don't try to do God's job. But of course,
Every one of us, we have a role in holding people accountable. Parents, they represent God. Yeah, you represent God. And they hold their children accountable. People in positions of authority such as law enforcement, teachers, or supervisors at work have a responsibility to judge and determine consequences for wrong actions. Every one of us also share a God-given responsibility to protect the less powerful and take a stand for right and uphold justice.
That is not personal vengeance, however. We must trust God to avenge offenses against us. If indeed those offenses need to be avenged, that is for God to decide. In His justice and mercy, if we can get to the point of trusting God to deal with the sins of others, it will relieve us the responsibility of having to fix everyone. Yes, as I've said, there is freedom in that. Not only freedom, it will also protect us from the evil of revenge. Joseph said, do not fear.
For am I in the place of God? Do not fear him because he was not in the place of God. That's what Joseph meant. He told his brothers not to fear him. So he had no need to respond in anger or revenge. But instead, fear God. He's telling his brothers to humble themselves before God and to seek his forgiveness. So that's one key that Joseph has shared to us.
that we are not to judge. So we can move forward, we can let up our past pains and our past heartaches if we let God do His job. And the second thing Joseph said, this will bring peace to the painful memories and even to the memories of his brothers so that they will have peace of mind, so that they will be released from their guilt and from their fear. And the second key is, Joseph said, God intended it for good. So you see?
Through his brothers' hatred, betrayal, and manipulation that resulted in Joseph's sufferings and miserable life, God saved their family and Egypt from starvation. And not only that, God preserved his covenant with Abraham. He has a covenant with Abraham that would result in the salvation of many. Joseph did not blame God on the actions of his brothers, but he did not ignore or excuse the evil of what they did. He told them, as for you, you meant evil against me.
He had to be truthful about the harm and hurt before he could deal with it. Joseph was making a statement about what God is able to do. And this is what God was able to do. But God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. Imagine, if all these evil things that sent Joseph to Egypt and even to prison did not happen, the chosen people of God will die in hunger and his promise to Abraham will not be fulfilled.
We can see that even the cruelty that led to the death of Jesus was for our good. He was crucified. That's for our good and for the good of the world. And you see, to those who hurt and crucify Him, Jesus still forgives. He said, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. My friends, my brothers, my sisters, some of you may be carrying a load of hurt. And you may think, I don't know how any good can come out what happened to me. But by the help of the Holy Spirit,
actively pursue whatever you know might bring good from it. If Joseph had ignored his brothers after forgiving them, it would have been quite fair of him as his revenge. But what did he do? He did not stop from there. In verse 21, he said, Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
Why? Why did Joseph do that? Because Joseph experienced God's provision and he wanted to extend it. He was motivated to do the same in bringing good to the evil that they do to him. What can we do for the good of everyone? Both the one who has hurt us and ourselves, what can we do to them? Even our enemies, what can we do to them? Jesus tells us in Luke 6, verse 27 and 28, Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you. Pray for them. If we do, we might see them as God sees them. Sinners like us, hurting from what evil has done to them. And perhaps, they even rebel against God. But they need our prayers. They need our prayers, my brothers and sisters. So again, we have to love them, bless them, desire the best for them.
Do good, because by doing good may involve confrontation, honest words. Even if your word will hurt them, but if it's an honest and a brotherly rebuke, because you love them, you have to rebuke them. It's an honest word. And if you are hurt, express your hurt. It may involve giving what we can, kindness, encouragement, and hope. If it is possible, we can try to rebuild the relationship. Try to rebuild the relationship.
Paul said in Romans 12, verse 18, and it is for us, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all, meaning you live peacefully with everyone. So again, how can we let up and handle our hurts? How can we move forward after our heartaches? Or how can we be able to forgive? Just stick on Joseph's words. Am I in the place of God? It works a lot better when we let God handle what He wants to handle.
And second, God intends it for good. Whatever evil things that happen to you because of other people, God intends it for good. We have a God who can bring good out of evil. We must allow him to begin his work in us. My brothers and sisters, let God work in our lives. Let him work in us. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for the life of Joseph.
We thank you, Lord, that behind his pain, behind his heartaches, he still managed, Lord, to forgive. Joseph is still able to let up, Lord. Lord, we want that. We want to do the same. When people hurt us, when people mock us, when people insult us, Lord, we pray, empower us. By the power of your Holy Spirit, Lord, give us the strength to overcome the pain, to overcome the hurt.
Lord, because we know, Lord, that we are not in your place. You are in control and you are the God who judge. And we also pray, Lord, that we know everything that happened to us, even if it is evil, you will make something that will make it good. That's why, Lord, we pray that we're able to forgive others. We're able to let up on our past hurts. We thank you and we praise you in Jesus' name.
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