Bible Tuesday for Pentecost 15, 2017

Genesis 50:15-21

Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?” 16So they approached Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this instruction before he died, 17‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, “We are here as your slaves.”19But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God?20Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. 21So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

Do you remember the story of Joseph and his 11 brothers? Jacob fell in love with Rachel, but on his wedding night in the pitch blackness of his tent, he consummated his marriage with the wrong woman! Jacob’s father-in-law sent into Jacob’s tent, Rachel’s older, unwed sister, Leah. Jacob was eventually allowed to marry Rachel but she was slow to conceive. Leah had several children by Jacob first, as did Leah’s slave and Rachel’s slave. Finally Rachel conceived Joseph, and many years later died while giving birth to Benjamin.

While Jacob should have favored his oldest son over all eleven others, he favored Joseph instead, which made his older brothers hate him. One ill-fated campout, Joseph’s brothers beat him and sold him into slavery. Joseph ended up serving Potiphar, and the local jailer, where Joseph used his God given gift to interpret dreams. This gift landed him in front of Pharaoh where he interpreted two dreams. Pharaoh was so impressed by Joseph’s dream interpretation that he made Joseph second in command of the kingdom of Egypt. In the service of Pharaoh, Joseph administered the gathering of food during bumper crops to be rationed in a several year drought. During the drought, many people came from all over to Egypt to buy food, even Joseph’s brothers. Joseph recognized his brothers but they did not recognize him. After a convoluted series of tricks Joseph played on his brothers, he finally revealed himself to them in the most moving moment of rapprochement in the Hebrew Scriptures. Joseph and his eleven brothers “cry on each other’s necks” and make peace. Joseph moves the whole family to Egypt to live in abundance and safety.

Then comes the above verses. Since the Joseph’s brothers still have not forgiven themselves for what they did to Joseph, they assume he has not truly forgiven them either. But Joseph speaks God’s words to his brothers. It is up to them whether or not they want to believe him.

Psalm 103:1-13

1Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

2Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits—

3who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,

4who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

5who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.

7He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.

8The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever.

10He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.

11For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

12as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.

13As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.

“nefesh” – This is the Hebrew word that is usually translated as “soul” but in the first verse of this psalm, it is also translated as “all that is within me”. The psalm is written in Hebrew more or less “Praise the Lord, oh my nefesh, and nefesh praise God’s holy name.” From the translation of this verse into English, we discern a fuller meaning of the word we most commonly read as “soul”. Soul is not some part of us that God takes to heaven, leaving the rest behind. No, Soul is “all that is within me.” Soul is our aspirations, our memory, our despair, our past-present-future, our imagination, our all. This psalm admonishes our all to praise God!

The psalm goes on to describe who God is and why God is worthy of our praise.

Verse 5 describes God fulfilling God’s covenant with the faithful. First, “God redeems your life from the Pit”. The Pit is the primordial nothingness from which God created all that exists. There is a strain of Judaism which did not believe in resurrection but rather that after life on earth, there is nothingness. This verse states that because God has promised it, God will redeem your life from nothingness even after you die.

Verse 8 uses legal language to describe God’s dedication to creation in the term “steadfast love”. This is to be interpreted not as a feeling but an action to keep up God’s end of the covenant God has made with us.

Sin- in Hebrew, this is a term from archery which means to miss the target.

Iniquity – continuation of sin without repentance

Transgression – intentionally choosing to sin, purposefully disregarding authority.

This psalm states that God removes all of the above evil from us.

Verse 13 is usually translated into English changing “compassion” to “pity”. While pity has a negative, condescending connotation to it, the actual meaning of the Hebrew word which is translated as “compassion” or “pity” does not. This Hebrew word translated literally is “wombly concern and love.” In other words, the psalmist is describing God is having motherly concern and protective instincts for her toddlers, who are in danger by their own naïve behavior.

Romans 14:1-12

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. 2Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. 3Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. 4Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. 5Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 6Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God. 7We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.11For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” 12So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

Those folks who lived in Rome at the time of St. Paul bought their food in market places, just as do city folks today. The meat was sacrificed to the gods and goddesses of the Roman pantheon, then sold in the markets. What Paul describes in the first verses of the above passage is that there is a debate within the Christian congregation in Rome about whether or not one could be a faithful follower of Jesus and still eat this meat. By Paul’s writing, we can deduce that he did not see a problem with eating meat previously offered to idols since idols are not real anyway. Yet, Paul addresses this issue not by stating his own opinion on the meat, but rather adjures the congregation to do what is best for all believers. It is not helpful that Paul labels those who refrain from eating this meat as “weak”, meaning “weak in faith,” but Paul’s point is still clear and liberating: “If we live, we live to the Lord and if we die, we die to the Lord.” In other words, it is between God and each believer to discern acts of personal piety.

Personal Piety – those activities and rituals, like making the sign of the cross on one’s self, which are outside of scripture, but which aid one in living faithfully. Personal piety does not include those sacraments commanded by Jesus, such as being baptized or receiving Holy Communion. However, some folks return to their seats from receiving Holy Communion and silently pray while others start looking for the Sending Hymn in their hymnals. The silent prayer is an act of personal piety, which is done, hopefully, not as a sign of superiority but as a personal aid in Christian living.

Matthew 18:21-35

Then Peter came and said to Jesus, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. 23“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ 34And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

“member of the church” – This is a really curious thing for Peter to say since there isn’t a “church” yet; “church” in English but “ecclesia” in Greek. “Ecclesia” means “the assembly,” “those assembled,” those gathered together for a particular purpose.” In Christianity, this Greek word came to mean both “congregation” and “church” as in “The Church,” that is “all the Baptized Faithful.”

Peter’s question suggests that he has previously believed that he had the ability to either refuse to forgive or the ability to impose a limit on his forgiveness. However, now that Peter has listened to Jesus’ teachings, he seems to be wondering if forgiveness needs to be extended a bit. Jesus’ parable firmly declares that forgiveness needs to be extended, not a bit, but to the moon and back and even more!!!

Jesus’ parable demands, “If God forgives you everything, what on earth are you doing withholding forgiveness from anyone for anything?!” An extremely hard question to answer!

In Hebrew understanding, the heart is the place of logical thinking, while the nose and the gut are the places of emotion. In the Hebrew scriptures, when we read in English, “God’s anger burned at the Israelites…” the Hebrew literally says, “God’s nose burned at the Israelites…” Therefore, when Jesus says, “forgive your brother or sister from your heart,” he isn’t just talking about feelings. Our feelings, our emotions, when used to their fullest advantage, inspire and fuel our actions. We proceed with the act of forgiveness because we feel sorrow and sense regret on the part of our transgressor. However, we may feel vengeful and spiteful, but we can override our emotions by forgiving, despite how we feel. Our forgiveness may need to be extended to folks who are not sorrowful, or who are not available to receive our forgiveness. We weren’t even born when Jesus forgave us from the cross! (“Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing!”)

A popular notion these days is expressed, “I didn’t forgive him/her for his/her sake. I forgave them for me.” What drivel!!!!!! No! As Jesus makes very clear in the above parable, we forgive because God first forgave us. If I forgive my dead grandfather for his sexual abuse of me, I don’t do it for me. My sin of holding a grudge against my grandfather is a sin against God which plays out in my family whenever we talk about my grandfather. That sin reverberates all over the place and negatively impacts all kinds of people. God demands that I forgive my grandfather because God has taught me how to forgive by forgiving me. If I do not forgive, that is a stumbling block that I put in front of myself in relation to God, and that I throw out in my family’s relationship with each other and me.

Forgiveness is not the same as the sentiment, “It’s okay. You didn’t mean to …” That is mitigation. Forgiveness is saying, “You did mean to hurt me and you did hurt me. This has negatively impacted our relationship. AND, I do not, nor will I, hold this against you. I may change how I relate to you so as to protect myself (if necessary) but I will not hold a grudge against you. I will not dredge this up in future disagreements. I will not savor the righteous indignation of this in the future. I forgive you to end this sin now.”