Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 23 February 2025.
• First Reading: Genesis 45: 3-11, 15 (Joseph reveals himself to his brothers)
• Epistle: 1 Corinthians 15: 35-38, 42-50 (The resurrection body)
• Gospel: Luke 6: 27-38 (Love for enemies)
There are times in life when we all feel we have been cheated. Not just in our feelings but in the real terms of life. Hopes disappointed, promises broken or only half kept, tales told and distorted in the process.
The image has become the reality and the perception, no matter how distorted, has become the basis for judgment. It does not matter what we said, it is how it was heard, half heard or completely misunderstood. The reality was what the spectator or hearer thought they saw or heard.
It did not matter that we were never able to explain ourselves, for the passing of twisted or evil judgment was pleasure in itself. It all became a spectator sport: and was never forgotten.
How could it be when a good rumour was worth 1000 words of truth.
And yet somehow in the midst of this, there is a different kind of power in play. It is the power to let go, to bounce back, to bend but not break, to be felled but not destroyed.
And that is what we see in the story of Joseph as he made up with his brothers.
He does not play down the fact of his sale as a slave and his exile in Egypt. He does not deny the betrayals of his brothers, even if some tried to moderate their collective resentment and malice. And to be truthful he had been something of a brat and a prig, clyping out on them to their father.
But there was more going on and in the midst of captivity and slavery, Joseph’s faith in God saw him through the worst of times and into a place of blessing not only for himself but also to be a blessing to his own brothers.
None of this would have been possible if he had spent his time nursing his anger and resentment, rehearsing in his mind the things done to him and the responses and actions he could or should have made.
That really would have devoured him, sucking him into a black hole of fury and hatred.
And yet there are political and social movements that have done exactly that.
Yet look also at what Jesus had to say about forgiveness.
None of it is about weakness. It is all about drawing a new kind of strength from Him. Whatever is done, can and should be received and turned around – stripped of its power and given a new authority of its own.
And this is not just about refusing to allow adverse times and relationships to undermine us. It is about engaging with a new kind of economy of God.
We are what we become and not just what we were. The measure that the Lord gives us is the measure that we are able to receive. And if our hearts are closed to Him then how else can He fill them?
If our minds are shut then how can He enlighten them? If our wills are locked then how can He use them? If our memories are sealed off to Him then how can He heal them?
So yes, the power to let go is a power to claim a new authority in life, a new kind of control.
St Paul gives this a new level of wonder as he writes to the Corinthian church about death.
The point is that death is far more than the ending of the breath and strength of our bodies.
What yields up the spirit in this world lays down what is of this world in order that it may receive what is prepared for the next.
What is perishable becomes eternal. What is carnal – fleshly – becomes spiritual.
What is ugly finds beauty; what is weak finds strength. The thing that was made for living and moving and working and renewing itself in this life is refitted and renewed for the things of heaven.
What had become ours and ours alone is now dedicated to the glory and majesty and wonder of God.
So yes, there are indeed heavenly bodies and God will meet us with the body He wants us to rejoice in, within the fulness of His eternal realm.
As we begin to look towards Lent, we also may begin to reflect.
Perhaps there are things that we can let go of? Relationships to be healed, memories to be surrendered without denying the events they hold within our lives up to this point.
Yet the more space we can make for Him, then the more space we dedicate to Him for His use and glory.
The more we can offer Him then the more He can use us to bless others – and that includes those who turned us against ourselves and against God.
This time is never a time for navel-gazing in anger or regret.
But it is a time to embrace a new kind of power and glory and wonder, which the Lord always wanted us to celebrate.
