Earlier this summer I preached a sermon series on some of the classic Sunday School stories found in Scripture. One of those stories was about Joseph and his brothers. In that story Joseph, who had become a powerful prince of Egypt and his brothers, who had come to Egypt seeking relief from a famine were reunited. The reunion was, at first, tense. The brothers were understandably worried Joseph was going to get revenge on them for selling him into slavery and telling their father he had been mauled to death by a wild animal. But instead of seeking revenge, Joseph forgave his brothers. The story ends with Joseph throwing his arms around his brothers, embracing them, and kissing them… At least that is where we ended the story earlier this summer.
Today, in our Old Testament lesson, we discovered there was more to this story then we first thought. It has been seventeen years since Joseph forgave his brothers and yet the guilt of what they had done to Joseph still haunted the brothers. They said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?”[1] It broke Joseph’s heart to realize, after all these years, his brothers were still burdened by the guilt of what they had done to him. Though I doubt it surprised Joseph. Joseph knew as well as you and me how difficult it is to scrub the stain of guilt from one’s soul.
Even after repentance has been sought and forgiveness has been given, guilt often leaves a residue on the soul. Guilt is like soap scum in a glass shower. For quite some time now, my poor wife has been waging war against soap scum in our shower. She has scrubbed with a variety of chemical concoctions (to the point I told her she needs to start wearing a hazmat suit when she is cleaning). Further, she has ordered me to squeegee every drop of moisture from the glass every single time I use the shower. As a result, the glass walls in our shower are crystal clear. That is until you turn the shower on, and the glass starts to steam up. That is when mysteriously, inexplicable, and to the frantic frustration of my dear wife the soap scum reappears. Guilt is like soap scum. You can go days, months, years thinking it is gone but then life steams up and mysteriously, inexplicably, and frustratingly guilt reappears.
After 17 years the residue of guilt still clung to Joseph’s brothers. Which is why as the story of Joseph and his brothers concludes we see Joseph graciously assuring and reassuring his brothers that they had been forgiven. Because guilt has a nasty tendency of also reappearing in the lives of our brothers and sisters, there is a need for us to be just as gracious with them as Joseph was with his brothers. Which is why, still today, God wants His church to be full of gracious people. In our second lesson from Ephesians 4:29-5:2 we learn how to be the gracious people God wants us to be.
In his letter to the Ephesians there is no specific problem or persecution Paul is addressing. Rather, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is meant to build up and strengthen the faith of the believers in Ephesus. In the first half of the letter Paul describes how, even when we were dead in transgressions, by God’s grace we become members of the church. In the second half of the letter Paul describes how the members of God’s church are to behave. Our section is from the second half of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, and, in this section, we are encouraged to behave graciously.
Paul encourages graciousness in these verses by reminding us of the grace that has been given to us. In 5:1 Paul reminds us that we are “dearly loved children” of God. To explain how sinners such as ourselves became the dearly loved children of God Paul points us to Jesus. In 5:2 he tells us “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Jesus “gave Himself up for us”; He voluntarily left the glories of heaven for the lowliness of earth so that He could live among us as one of us, but, unlike us, He lived His life in perfect obedience to our heavenly Father’s will. Then Jesus allowed Himself to be sacrificed in our place; He allowed His blood to be spilled so that the price of our adoption would be paid in full. Because Jesus gave Himself and sacrificed Himself, we become the dearly loved Children of God.
In 4:32 Paul explains why Jesus was willing to give Himself and Sacrifice Himself for us. There Paul tells us “in Christ God forgave you”. The word “forgave” does more than communicate the result of Jesus’ actions, it also explains the reason of His actions. The word in Greek is χαριζόμενοι. It is the same word that Paul used in Ephesians 2:8. Only there instead of translating the word as “forgive” we translated it as “grace”; we translated “it is by grace you have been saved”. I think it is helpful to see the connection between forgiveness and grace because it reminds us that there was nothing we did to earn forgiveness, and there is nothing about us that deserves forgiveness. Our forgiveness is a result of the unearned and undeserved love of our God.
The reason we are the dearly loved children of God is because our God is gracious. But even after you have been reminded how and why you became a dearly loved child of God; guilt tries to shake your confidence. Guilt likes to dig up sin from your past and ask, ‘Are you sure; are you sure that this thing you have done or had left undone is forgiven?’ ‘Are you sure, because it was bad; that thing you did hurt other people, it brought shame to your family, it left a scar on your soul’. ‘Are you sure, what you did was deliberately disobedient, it was an act of blatant insubordination, it was a direct violation against His holy will, are you sure, are you sure God forgave you?’
When the residue of guilt begins to show itself in your life, it is important to be reminded of God’s graciousness. Because of God’s graciousness, in 4:30 Paul is able to declare by the Holy Spirit “you were sealed for the day of redemption”. For those who live in God’s grace, there is nothing that can break that seal. For those who live in God’s grace there is no transgression, no trespass, no sin, no thing, no one, no angel in heaven, nor demon in hell that can break the seal of your redemption. So “yes”, you can confidently declare, “yes guilt, I am sure!” “I am sure I have been forgiven!” “I am sure that I am a dearly loved child of God!” “I am sure, because my God is gracious.”
God’s graciousness assures and reassures us of our salvation, and it also effects the way we live our lives. In Ephesians 5:2 Paul encourages the recipients of God’s grace to “live a life of love”. A more awkward but more descriptive translation of these words encourages us to “walk around” in God’s grace. Take a leisurely stroll through the pages of scripture, meander through the promise of the gospels, wander around in the undeserved love of your God and it will change the way you live your life. It will change your heart. Slowly (perhaps more slowly than you would like) but surely you who walk around in God’s grace tend to have less bitterness, rage, and anger filling your hearts. And when your heart is emptied of these things, unwholesome talk, slander, and malice are less and less likely to spew from your mouths. In other words, the more time you spend walking around in God’s grace the more gracious you become.
And the more gracious you become the more gracious you can be, to and for other people. Paul encourages us to be gracious to other people. In verse 29 he encourages us to speak “29 what is helpful for building others us according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” And then in verse 32 Paul builds on and expands that thought telling us to “32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.” We are to be as gracious to others as God has been gracious to us. Because you see, struggling with guilt is not something you alone have in common with Joseph’s brothers. The residue of guilt does not just cling to you, it clings to all of humanity. It clings to the person sitting next to you and the pastor standing before you. It clings to your children; it clings to your parents. It clings to your friends and neighbors. It clings to your classmates and coworkers. It clings to the waitress taking your order, the mechanic changing your oil, the clerk at the store. Like soap scum on a shower door, the residue of guilt is not always clearly evident in the lives of others, but, you know from personal experience, the residue of guilt is always there, and it is haunting them with the same unsettling question that has so often haunted you…“are you sure?”.
The residue of guilt clings to the people around you. They are in desperate need of your graciousness. They need your words of encouragement. They need your kindness. They need your compassion. And, above all, they need to be assured and reassured that, in Christ, they are the dearly loved children of our gracious God.
You have a gracious God Who gave Himself for you and He allowed Himself to be sacrificed for you. Because of His unearned and undeserved love, you have been forgiven. Your gracious God has sealed your redemption with an unbreakable seal. I assure you and reassure you, in Christ, you are a dearly loved child of God. I encourage you dearly loved children of God to walk around in that grace and become more gracious yourselves, so that you can be gracious to others. That is what God wants for and from you and me; that’s what God wants for and from His church because that is what you and I and everyone else so desperately need. Let us pray our gracious God fill His church full of gracious people and let us pray He starts with you and me. Amen.
[1] Genesis 50:15