Overcome Evil With Good

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

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And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke, the sixth chapter.

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Jesus said, be merciful even as your father is merciful. Judge not and you will not be judged.

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Condemn not and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you.

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Good measure pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

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He also told in this parable, can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?

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A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who, when he is fully trained, will be like his teacher.

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So why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but you do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

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How can you say to your brother, brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?

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You hypocrite. First, take the log out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

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This is the gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus, hear the words again of the

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Apostle Paul from our epistle text. If your enemy is hungry, feed him.

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Say, what? Uh -huh. And if he's thirsty, you give him something to drink.

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For by so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

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Man, this is a, this is tough to swallow. This is not easy to take in.

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Consider this, it's, it's, when we talk about, like, suffering in the abstract, or persecution in the abstract, we might talk about what the saints are experiencing in Islamic countries, or in countries that are overtly hostile to the message of Christ.

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But enemies, they're a little closer to home for many of us.

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In fact, let me add to our readings today from the gospel of Matthew chapter 10.

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I'd like to read this since that we can talk about enemies in the concrete. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 10, starting at verse 16,

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Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents, and as innocent as doves.

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What kind of job is that? I mean, have you guys noticed that sheep and wolves don't get along, and that the wolves usually get the upper hand, and the sheep not so much?

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Okay, note that Christ is saying these things. He says, Beware then of men, for they will deliver you over to courts, they will flog you in their synagogues.

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What kind of church is that? You will be dragged before governors and kings for my name's sake, to bear witness before them, and to the

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Gentiles. And then when they deliver you over, don't be anxious about how you are to speak, or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.

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It is not you who speak, it's the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. And here it comes.

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Brother will deliver brother over to death, and father his child, and children will rise up against parents, and have them put to death.

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And you will be hated by all for my name's sake, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

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And then in verse 34, Jesus continues, Now do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.

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I have come not to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter -in -law against her mother -in -law, and a person's enemies will be those of his own household.

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Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

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Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it.

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Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. So now we can talk about enemies.

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Enemies, oftentimes, it's not the people out there. It's your own family members. It could be your mother.

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It could be your father. It could be your child. It could be your brother. It could be your sister. It could be your, well, daughter -in -law.

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It could be your son -in -law. Yeah, enmity for the sake of Christ is something that is a real thing.

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Now note, I got to put this aside for a second here. We're not talking about enmity as a result of you doing something stupid.

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We're not talking about the kind of enmity that because you're just a jerk to your family, your family doesn't want to have anything to do with you anymore.

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And if that's really what's happening, whoa, what a terrible witness for Christ you're being, right?

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That needs to be addressed in a different sermon. You know, there's one that Christ preaches, the

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Sermon on the Mount. He says, if your brother has something against you, you go to him, right? So if that's you, this is not your sermon.

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Your sermon's coming later in the summer. But we're talking about enemies as a result of being a

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Christian. And so what are we to do in the face of all of that? And you'll note that in this life, we oftentimes want justice.

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We want vengeance. We want for people to get what's coming to them because of the evil that they've made us suffer.

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That is not the way that Christ has called us to behave. And it's important to remember that the prophet

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Isaiah writes the words of Yahweh for us, where God reveals, he says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, declares

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Yahweh. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

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And so you'll note that everything in this world, because of sin, is backwards, upside -down, and inside -out.

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It's all wrong. And as a result of it, in this world, we are led to believe that evil is good, and that good is evil.

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And everything is backwards. But as Christians, our minds being transformed by the

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Word of God, us having been graciously and abundantly forgiven of our transgressions, the expectation that is clearly laid out for us as Christians, is that we do not act as God's agents of judgment.

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That is not our call. Instead, when people are putting on the brakes and persecuting us, or acting coolly towards us, or worse, becoming our enemies, even enemies within our own household, we have standing orders in light of the cross, and in light of how

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God's ways are higher than our ways, we are to act. We are always ambassadors of Christ.

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And as ambassadors, we give Jesus a bad name when we behave badly.

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Note that. So here's our standing orders. Bless those who persecute you.

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Are you kidding me? Bless. Do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice.

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Weep with those who weep. And then live in harmony with one another. Don't be haughty.

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Associate with the lowly. And never be wise in your own sight. And repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

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And if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

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Never avenge yourselves. Leave it to the wrath of God. It is written, vengeance is mine.

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I will repay, says the Lord. Note, you are not the agent of God's vengeance. God is. So in this life, between the cross and the ascension of Christ and his resurrection, and his return as ambassadors, we are ambassadors of the gospel.

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We are making an appeal to the world and those within our own households that they be reconciled to God because of Christ and what he has done for them.

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And so you'll note, if you want to talk about the pinnacle person who exemplifies overcoming evil with good, it is

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Christ. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Now some of you might be saying, you know, but you don't understand how cantankerous, how mean, how vicious my enemies are, how poorly they treat me.

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My family is a special case. Have you read the story of Joseph?

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Alright, now we live in a world and you'll note that one of the main features of like the Gen Z folks and the

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Millennials is that when they hear something they don't like, okay, and they're offended, cancel, cancel, cancel, right?

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When I was a kid, I kid you not, when I was a kid, if I were flipping channels on the television and I saw a program where somebody said something

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I didn't like, you know what I'd do? I'd change the channel and find something

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I did like, okay? But in the world we live in and the entitlement attitude, it's this crazy thing that's going on.

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Somebody says something that offends you, doesn't agree with, quote, your truth. What is that, by the way?

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Okay, they want to cancel you, de -platform you, you don't even have a right to a job, okay?

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I always think, man, I better behave as a pastor because if I'm ever drubbed out of the ministry, I can't imagine any

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HR department in any Fortune 500 company giving me a job after they look through my social media, okay?

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It ain't gonna happen. I've been effectively canceled by everybody except for the church already. But that being the case, in the ancient world, when they canceled you, it was a little more permanent, okay?

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It usually involved, well, a stone, a rock, a sword, some kind of blunt instrument, and at the end of being canceled, you weren't breathing anymore, right?

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But you'll note the cancel culture goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. And so here, let's see, let's talk about Joseph's dysfunctional family and his cancel brothers, right?

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If you know the story, Joseph is the son of, well, Israel's favorite wife.

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Why is he a polygamist? Not really, that was not something he set out to do. Talk about a screwed -up family, right?

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He had the hots for this woman. Oh, Rachel, what a beautiful young lady, a shepherdess, and he, every time he would see her, his heart would go pitter -patter, right?

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And so he offered to work for seven years for her father, for her hand in marriage.

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And of course, well, his father did the old switcheroo on the marriage night, and poor fellow, when he woke up in the morning after the wedding, well, he looked and, whoa!

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Okay, it wasn't the love of his life, it was her sister! What happened?

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What have you done to me, right? And so his father assured him, no big deal, we don't normally give the youngest in marriage first, it has to go oldest, so just finish out the marriage week with her, and then we'll give you the other one too, for another seven years, right?

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And this starts off really interestingly. Of course, the sister, who he wasn't setting out to marry, she starts conceiving and bearing children, while his love does not.

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And so what ends up happening is that she gives her husband, her maidservant, yeah, and so now he's got like three wives.

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And then the first girl stops conceiving, and so she gives him, and now he's got four wives, okay?

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And this is just a mess, okay? But finally, the love of his life conceives and bears a son, and guess who's the favorite of dad, right?

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And by this time, he's already had ten sons, you know, and so he's the 11th, but he's a young kid, and now his wife gives birth to his final son,

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Benjamin, and she dies in the process. And so dad plays favorites, and all the brothers hate

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Joseph, can't stand this kid, right? Then God intervenes, and God gives

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Joseph two prophetic dreams, and Joseph, like an idiot, shares those dreams with his family, right?

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You know, one has to wonder if he's uppity or not. And did I mention the coat of many colors that distinguished him among his brothers?

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Oh man, he got the best things ever. Okay, so he shares his prophetic dreams with his brothers about their sheaves bowing down to his sheep, and the stars, and the moon, and the sun bowing down to him, and his brothers said, that's it, canceled, we're gonna kill this kid, right?

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And so they waited just the perfect amount of time. They were off shepherding, off a long distance, and so dad sent

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Joseph to go check in on them, right? Of course, like a fool, he's wearing that coat of many colors.

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Who struts around in the Judean wilderness in one of those? Anyway, he's strutting around looking for his brothers, gives directions to where they are, they see him coming, that's it, he's dead, they're going to kill him, and they're going to, they're going to use goat blood to make it look like it was a wild animal that tore him up.

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It's just, it's beautiful, but one of their, one of the brothers prevails, says, let's not, let's not kill him, let's sell him into slavery instead.

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And so he's betrayed for pieces of silver, that sounds familiar, right? And he's sold into slavery.

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What a great family. Now, we all know how the story is supposed to end. If you're not familiar with how the story is supposed to end, according to the way the world thinks, just read

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The Count of Monte Cristo, okay? Edmond Dantes gets his revenge, and everybody's dead, and has justice exacted against him, but that's not what happens, okay?

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Joseph is now in slavery, and he's a really good slave. He, like, excels at slavery.

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Who knew, right? The Lord is with him, and he's the best slave ever. And then I always like to point this out, because of the anti -patriarchy people, that the very first recorded incident of workplace sexual harassment in all of human history, okay, takes place in, well,

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Joseph's workplace, and it was a woman who was, well, harassing him, okay?

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So we'll note that those sins go both ways, you know, the evil patriarchy and somehow women only being victims, that's a lie.

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It's a lie. We're all dead in trespasses and sins. And so what happens, she makes the moves on him, he says no.

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She makes the moves on him, he says no. And finally she entraps him, he has to run away, and she lies.

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And what happens to Joseph now? Prison. And I'm, I have this on good authority, that ancient

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Egyptian prisons are not the hygienic places that they are today, okay?

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And they're barely hygienic today, okay? Not a place you want to be, and he spends more than a decade there.

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And is he stewing on how he's going to get his revenge? Do y 'all remember like the second

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Star Trek movie with Khan, Ricardo Montalban? This is where we hear these important words.

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Revenge is a dish best served cold, right? This is what

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Joseph should be doing. His brothers are his enemies. But by some miraculous account, some miraculous thing,

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God takes Joseph from being in prison and now exalts him to being second in command of all of Egypt, after Pharaoh had two prophetic dreams regarding a coming, well, season of seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine.

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We know how the story goes. And well, the seven years of plenty came and went, the seven years of famine began, and guess who shows up in Egypt to buy grain?

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Because there's no grain anywhere else. Joseph's brothers. Right? This is how this is supposed to go.

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But the story doesn't go like that at all. Despite the evil that has been done to him, the suffering that he has been made to endure, the pain, the stenches, oh, all the different experiences of being a slave and then a prisoner in Egypt, all of that doesn't jade him, nor does it cause him to seek revenge against his brothers.

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And in chapter 45, after Joseph had put his brothers to the test, really for the legitimate reason of discovering whether or not they had done in his brother

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Benjamin, once he knew that he was safe and all was well with Benjamin, he finally makes himself known to his brothers.

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And it's one of the most amazing texts in all of scripture. In chapter 45, it reads,

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Joseph could not control himself. All of his brothers were invited to his home for a meal.

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And before all those who stood by him, he cried, make everyone go out from me. So no one stayed with him when

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Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud so the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.

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Joseph said to his brothers, and I love the Hebrew here, I am Joseph.

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Is my father still alive? No revenge.

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A tender moment. A moment where he's let down his guard.

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His brothers couldn't answer him. They were all dismayed at his presence. The thing they dreaded the most was now happening to them, but they weren't getting what they dreaded.

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Joseph said to his brothers, come near to me, please. So they came near. And he said,

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I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here.

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For God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and yet there are five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.

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God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.

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So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and Lord of all of his house, and the ruler all of the land of Egypt.

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Christ has sent us into the world as his ambassadors, and that's our job as well.

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And he has given us the task of proclaiming repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

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And you're going to note the parallels between Joseph and Jesus are profound. It says in John, the opening chapter of the

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Gospel of John, talking about Christ, the true light which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and yet the world did not know him.

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What a tragic thing. Our God comes to tabernacle with us, comes and joins humanity, is incarnate of the

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Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and he himself is born and grows to be a man, and we didn't even recognize

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God among us. I remember that song from the 1990s, the song goes, what if God was one of us?

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Just a slob like one of us. A stranger on the bus trying to find his way home. The reality is,

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I always found that particular song from the 90s to be eerily interesting, because Christ was, is one of us, and yet we did not recognize him.

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He was our brother in humanity. He came to his own. His own did not receive him, but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God.

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People who were born not of blood or the will of the flesh nor the will of man, but truly born of God.

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The word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen his glory. Glory is of the only Son from the

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Father, full of grace and truth. This is Christ. God the

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Father has sent him to us, and what did we do to him?

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And notice, I'm saying we're guilty of this all. We murdered him. What Joseph's brothers did not have the guts to do, we did to Jesus.

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We are responsible for putting him on the cross. Your sin and mine is what nailed him there.

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He came among us, and we said crucify him, and rather than selling him into slavery and making a profit of it, we killed him.

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And you're going to note then that God takes the murder of Christ, the most wicked and evil event in all of human history.

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We murder our own God, and what we intended for evil,

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God now has worked for our salvation so that we can be forgiven and pardoned.

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That's really what's going on in our Old Testament text when Joseph brothers saw that their father was dead.

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This is Israel. They thought that Joseph would hate them and pay back all the evil they had done to him.

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Listen to what happens here. In Israel, when he was still alive, his brothers couldn't believe that Joseph had actually forgiven them, and that he had overcome their evil with good.

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And so now that dad was dead, they sent a message to Joseph saying, you know, your father gave this command before he died.

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Say to Joseph, please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin because they did evil to you.

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They totally made that up, knowing full well that nobody can say no to the dying wishes of a patriarch, right?

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Your father's dying, and on his deathbed he says, it is my dying wish that you do this, right? So they're totally manipulating

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Joseph, but Joseph doesn't need to be manipulated. And so they beg, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the

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God of your father. And Joseph, as a result of this, he wept and he spoke to him. And his brothers, they came and they fell down before him and said, we are your slaves.

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But Joseph said to them, do not fear. Am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring about that many should be kept alive as they are today.

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So do not fear. I will provide for you and for your little ones. And so note those words of Joseph, those sounds so much like Christ.

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What we intended against Christ for evil has now been worked for our salvation.

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God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin, so that we might be the righteousness of God.

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And now we are the ambassadors of this good news that Christ died for our sins.

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And as ambassadors, we have been told by God that we have no right to vengeance.

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Vengeance belongs to God. Therefore, Christ tells us in our gospel text, be merciful even as your father is merciful.

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Judge not. It's not your job to put, condemn somebody to hell.

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That's what he's talking about here. It's not your job. You never know. Your enemy may repent and be forgiven just like you are.

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So do not judge. Condemn not and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.

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Give and it will be given to you. And so you'll note our epistle text makes sense then only in light of the gospel.

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Each and every one of us knowing that Christ has borne our sins in his body on the cross.

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We murdered him and he, rather than exacting vengeance, gives us eternal life all as a gift.

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And so as Christians, it makes sense then. The forgiven forgive, the loved loved, and the persecuted they do not persecute, they bless.

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So if your enemy is hungry, even if he's in your own household, feed him.

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If he's thirsty, even if he's in your own household, you give him something to drink.

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For if so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head. And just like Christ, just like Joseph before him, just like all that God does, do not be overcome by evil.

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Instead, overcome evil with good. So show mercy and peace and love and care for even those who hate your guts and wants you dead.

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That's exactly what Christ did because you were one who was born dead in trespasses and sins.

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And had you gone the way of the world and not been converted by the mighty hand of the Holy Spirit in the preached gospel and in the waters of baptism, you too would hate

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God and want him dead. But God has had mercy on you. He's forgiven you, given you a new heart in Christ.

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He has overcome your evil with good, and these are our marching orders. And I know they're not easy.

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You cannot do it in your own strength. It can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit who produces within you his fruit.

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So repent of your anger. Repent of your desire to seek vengeance and justice even against those who are your enemies in your own household.

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You have been loved well in Christ. Love well as well. Do not be overcome by evil.

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Overcome evil with good. In the name of Jesus, Amen. If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, you can do so by sending a tax free donation to Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

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Avenue NW, Oslo, MN 56744. And again that address is

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Kungsvinger Lutheran Church 15950 470th

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Avenue NW, Oslo, MN 56744. We thank you for your support.

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