The Hardest Thing

by Pastor Kathy Barlow-Westmoreland

This week's focus scripture is Genesis 50:15-21.

The story in Hebrew literature goes like this…Joseph, having traveled back home when his father was near death, stayed until he died. At the burial of Jacob, Joseph makes a side trip to the pit into which he had been thrown as a child. The pit where his brothers discarded him as yesterday’s garbage, so filled with jealousy and hatred of him. The pit where he would be found and sold into slavery. It was where his life as Jacob’s favored son ended, and a long journey of both suffering and abundance would start. A gaping hole in the earth…a memory of trauma and grief, of being betrayed by those who are to be bound to you not only by blood but by love of family. Imagine the memories of fear and despair, the relived moments of lostness and hopelessness, of believing he would never see his father again. It was criminal what his brothers had done. And he saw the gash in the earth that marked that moment. What is he thinking? Does he still harbor the desire for revenge? Is there still hatred in his heart for those who sought his destruction?

We have also gaping holes in the earth that marks a moment when our lives changed forever, some more than others. And for the past ten years we have come to those pits where criminals sought to do us in as a people. We have seen them first as places of death and destruction, then slowly, bit by bit, they have begun to change. But for many years, we could stand at them and remember- the lives that were lost, the bravery and compassion of many, the vulnerability under which we would always live. They are like the pit to Joseph, a reminder of what hatred, jealousy and fear can do, the destruction it can wreak, in a matter of moments. There are other places- a hole in the wall of the Pentagon, a gash in the earth in Shanksville, PA. All are places where we can stand and remember the deep pain and loss.

The brothers need Joseph now. Their father is dead, there is a famine in their land. Joseph has returned to Egypt. They now send word that they repent of what they have done. They cannot bring themselves to face him in person. They seek his forgiveness, but recognize they have no right to it. They do not address themselves as his brothers, but as servants of the God of your father. In fact they quote their father-“please forgive the crime your brothers committed when they wronged you.” Forgive the crime. A strong word and yet very true. They would not appeal to the brother relationship, for it had been forfeited they day they threw him into that pit. Instead they appealed to Joseph’s respect and love for their father, and the faith that unites them. The faith that unites them.

Upon hearing this message Joseph weeps. Why does he weep? Because they still do not trust him? Perhaps he weeps because he has already forgiven them. Confession for Joseph is not necessary- for he has moved on. His life through all its twists and turns has been redeemed, so much so, that he is in a position to now save their lives. He is able to see how God took this crime and turned it into good, not just for himself, but to save the lives of many. He is able to see how God has been at work, even in this tragic, cruel act of betrayal. And thus he had already forgiven them.

And so, they come in person, bowing down, ready to be made his slaves. But Joseph will have none of it- it is God who condemns, God who judges, and he will be put himself in the place of God. He seeks to take away their fear with love and forgiveness. He promises to care for them and their children. And their hearts were touched by this undeserved act of grace.

The pit was no longer a place of horror and grief and pain. It is the place where God took Joseph by the hand and led him on a path where his life would save many others, including the very ones who had sought to kill him.

Today in Shanksville, PA, at the Pentegon and in New York City, there are many Josephs traveling to the pit where their lives were torn apart. And in each of those places the remains of destruction and hatred have been replaced with new life- newly planted trees and gardens, flowing water, tributes to those whose lives saved so many others.

And while we are not physically there- many of us are there today in spirit. We will watch ceremonies on TV or the internet, read the words spoken or hear the stories on the radio. It will be our own journey to the pit where we were all thrown ten years ago. And we will have the same decision to make as Joseph did. Yes, they meant to do us harm and in one sense they succeeded. But God has been at work to turn it into a redeeming act, that will save lives, that will bring hearts together, that will enable us to care for one another.
But only if we do what Joseph did- see God at work in the world and lives around us. Look for God in our neighbors. Seek to be the presence of God in the world. According to Joseph and our Savior Jesus Christ, there is no other option than forgiveness. We do not forget, for the lives lost were precious. But neither will we be enslaved to the hatred and fear that drove others to such criminal and destructive acts.

And there is plenty of forgiveness that needs to be given and received. This week I listened to the story of a young woman who was 13 at the time of the attacks. She wore the head covering of her Islamic faith- until shortly after 9/11. She is a second generation American, but classmates bullied and tormented her- telling her to go back where she came from. A grown man on a street corner pulled her head covering off of her- a young girl attacked by an adult. Through the years she has found her own path to forgiveness, seeking to understand white Christian American fear of something they did not understand. We did not understand that terror is no more a part of the way of Islam than it is part of the way Jesus. We would not listen to the voices that tried to tell us that. The media did little to give voice to the faithful Muslim community. Even without our asking it, this young woman has forgiven those who sought to do her harm.

Ten years have gone by and just now the gaping wounds in the earth are being transformed into places of peace and hope. There is no time like now for us to follow the way of our Savior who taught us to forgive not seven times, but seventy times seven.
Is it easy? No…in fact it is the hardest thing. But it is the only way to life for us. Otherwise we will have died to our own unforgiveness, the lives lost ten years ago will have indeed died in vain. The way to true freedom is the way of love, the way of forgiveness. “You plotted evil against me”, Joseph said, “but God turned it into good, in order to preserve the lives of many people who are alive today because of what happened.”

God is turning into good, if we will but also follow that holy path. Amen.

St. John's Westminster Union Church
1085 Neeb Rd. Cincinnati, Ohio 45233
(513) 347-4613