forgiveness

6/19/06

· “TIMMY WILL FORGIVE YOU”

· All of us need forgiveness. And all of us need to forgive.

· I want to tell you the true story of a handsome young man named JOE. He grew up in a very large family. And even though he was one of the youngest in the family, his father made it very clear that Joe was his favorite. When the rest of the kids had to do chores or get jobs, Dad let Joe hang around the house and goof off. Joe didn’t get punished for things the other kids did get punished for. And to show his love for Joe, Dad would buy him special presents—things he didn’t give the other kids.

As you can imagine, this caused huge problems between Joe and the rest of the kids. Dad protected Joe, so there wasn’t much they could do about it, but their resentment grew over the years until Joe’s brothers hated him. Finally one day they got their chance. They caught Joe in an alley, and they beat him up. Some of Joe’s brothers wanted to kill him, but just as they were about to do that, a shady looking man came by who saw how handsome Joe was, and offered to buy Joe from his brothers.

They decided it would be kind of cool to actually make some money off of Joe, so instead of killing him, they sold him to this stranger, who took Joe to another country, and sold him there as a slave. But before they sold him, they took Joe’s jacket off of him, sliced it up with a knife, smeared Joe’s blood on it, and took it back to their father, to convince him that Joe had been mugged in an alley, and was dead.

Joe had been spoiled when he was growing up, but it didn’t take long living as a slave for Joe to grow up very quickly. And as he went through that process of changing and learning, he discovered that one of the things that gave him some stability and perspective in his life, was his faith in the God his father worshipped. Joe became passionate about his faith in God, and tried hard, even in his difficult situation, to live in a way that would please God.

The man who had bought Joe saw his integrity, and saw that he was smart. It seemed like everything Joe did prospered, so he gradually put him in charge of more and more of his business and his investments, and because of Joe’s integrity and intelligence, he became richer and richer. And as Joe’s master watched him succeed and make him more and more wealthy, he gave Joe more trust and more privileges. Joe’s life was starting to look up.

But the master’s wife was jealous of the trust her husband was giving Joe, and she accused him of a crime he hadn’t committed. Joe’s owner believed his wife, and had Joe thrown into prison.

Even though prison life was rough, Joe continued to live with integrity and honesty, and he stood out so clearly from the people around him that the prison officials put him in charge of the other prisoners.

This is going to sound like a fairy tale, but it is a true story—one day Joe was cleared of the false charges against him, and because of the abilities he had and the integrity that was obvious to everyone around him, the king of the country he was in asked him to come and run the country. Joe moved from his prison cell to become second-in-command of the entire country.

· If you know the Bible at all, you have probably recognized the story I am telling—it is the story of Joseph.

· Can you imagine how hurtful it must be to have your own family sell you into slavery? Can you imagine the bitterness and the anger that would build up inside of you every time you thought about what had happened? Can you imagine how often you would think about it?

· But the amazing thing about this story is that Joseph wasn’t bitter or angry. He was able to adjust to what had happened to him and get on with his life.

· Genesis 41:51 (NIV) Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh (which means “forget”) and said, "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household."

· How could Joseph do this? How could he forgive what his brothers had done to him, let alone forget it?

· Here’s the secret. We see it in another story about his life.

· After Joseph becomes the second ruler of the land of Egypt, he brings his family to live with him there, because there is a famine that is strangling the whole world, and Joseph can take care of his family in Egypt.

One day their father dies. And Joseph’s brothers are panicked. They believe that the only reason why Joseph has not taken revenge on them is because he doesn’t want to hurt their father. But now that Dad is dead, nothing stands between them and Joseph’s revenge.

So they get together and they come up with a plan: they will tell Joseph that Dad’s dying wish was that Joseph forgive them for what they did to him so many years ago.

When they come to Joseph with this story, the Bible tells us that Joseph begins to weep. And this is what he says to his brothers:

· Genesis 50:19-20 (NIV) “Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

· Joseph was able to forgive his brothers because he knew God was in control of this world.

· All of us need forgiveness. And all of us need to forgive.

· But it’s hard to forgive when someone has hurt you.

CONC:

· In his book. LEE: THE LAST YEARS, Charles Bracelen Flood tells how after the Civil War, Robert E. Lee visited a Kentucky lady who took him to the remains of a grand old tree in front of her house. There she bitterly cried that its limbs and trunk had been destroyed by Federal artillery fire. She looked to Lee for a word condemning the North or at least sympathizing with her loss. After a brief silence, Lee said, “Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it.”

· BOW.

· Some of you here are living your life with an old mangled tree in your front yard. Someone has wronged you or hurt you, and you just have never been able to find the strength to forgive them and get on with your life.

· I know how that feels. I have gone through times of terrible hurt in my life.

· But the fact is, folks, it’s your yard the tree is in. The guy who destroyed it has moved on, and it doesn’t bother him at all. You are the one who are paying the price for your unforgiveness.

· Colossians 3:13 (NCV) Get along with each other, and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you.

· Is there someone you need to forgive this morning? Can I PRAY for you?

· Here’s the other side of the coin: there are some of you who need to be forgiven for something you have done.

· You know there is a problem. You know that you need to ask God to forgive you for your sin.

· Is this the day when you need to be reconciled to God?

· 1 John 1:9 (NIV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

· Maybe you have never had a relationship with God. It’s not as hard as you might think: REV. 3:20.