The Gift of Mercy
In today’s Gospel, Jesus calls us to embrace mercy as God does, teaching that true transformation comes from forgiveness and radical generosity. The story of Joseph exemplifies this teaching, as he offers mercy to his brothers despite their betrayal, leading to healing and renewal. Through embracing truth and extending mercy, we too are invited to break from the past, offering hope for transformation in ourselves and others.
The Glimpses of Grace podcast is a ministry of Grace Episcopal Church in Gainesville, Georgia. We are passionate about supporting the spiritual growth of souls, and we hope these sermons and conversations meet you where you are and enrich your soul as we all continue to make meaning in the world today.
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Transcript
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus continues his Sermon on the Plain.
Last week, he began by teaching his disciples about the beatitudes and woes.
This week, his focus shifts to mercy.
On a level place, Jesus gathers the weary, the wandering, and the wounded
and teaches the community—urging them to be merciful as God is merciful.
Year after year, generation after generation,
humanity repeats its ancient refrain: the thirst for power,
the hunger for more,
the grasping, the hoarding, the building of walls.
We take as others are emptied.
We seek vengeance when we have been wronged.
We cry for justice but clench our fists.
And yet, God does not forget us.
Instead, Jesus teaches of an inverted, an upturned kingdom.
A world where God offers the possibility of turning away from the way things are and stepping into a completely transformed life.
A life of radical generosity, servant leadership, forgiveness.
Sounds simple, right?
But it’s not. We’re human.
To turn toward mercy is a journey toward transformation.
It is repentance—the turning of heart and mind.
Thankfully we have stories that we come to week after week—
stories in which we see ourselves in the experiences of characters like us.
And today, we turn to Joseph.
It’s a story many of us know well.
Joseph’s story reads like a novel…
it’s no wonder Andrew Lloyd Webber has found much success with his musical.
I was a little younger than Fletcher and Finley when I first saw
‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’
and I’ve performed in the musical three times since then.
Originally a 15-minute cantata written for a school,
Webber and Rice tell the story of Joseph using a variety of musical styles
and in a campy, and often humorous, fashion.
The musical plays to the imagination and delights families.
Yet, Joseph’s story is one of real human suffering:
jealous brothers, a grieving father, and a man unjustly imprisoned.
Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than them.
His dreams intensified their hatred and jealousy.
So they sold Joseph to Ishmaelites, made a profit while eliminating him,
and led Jacob to believe Joseph was devoured by a wild animal.
Joseph was enslaved.
Once in Egypt, he was purchased by Potiphar who, with time,
entrusted Joseph with all he had.
But Potiphar’s wife, following several failed advances toward Joseph,
insisted that Joseph was the one who made the advances.
In response to this false charge, Potiphar was enraged.
Joseph was imprisoned.
But we read, “The Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love.”
It is in prison that Joseph interprets the dreams of the
Pharaoh’s baker and cupbearer.
Years later, when the Pharaoh needed his dreams interpreted,
the cupbearer remembered Joseph.
Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams as God’s warning of severe famine
and he proposed a plan of action.
Impressed by Joseph’s wisdom, the Pharaoh appointed him over all of Egypt.
From this position of power, Joseph countered the famine and encountered his brothers.
It is at this point in the story that we find ourselves this morning.
After testing his brothers, Joseph realizes that his brothers have grown.
The entire narrative moves toward this moment:
Joseph had been enslaved. Joseph had been imprisoned.
Joseph had been dehumanized by his brothers…left for dead.
But the dead one is alive.
The abandoned one has returned in power.
The dream has been realized.
“I am Joseph. Come near,” he simply says. His brothers cannot respond.
At a young age, they used their power to crush Joseph’s dreams.
Like their ancestors, who deceived and stole birthrights,
they too had profited at the expense of another.
Certainly, the brothers feared that in Joseph’s new position of power
he could easily retaliate.
But in an intimate gesture, Joseph clears the room,
makes space for just him and his brothers, and beckons them to come near. He breaks with the past.
He invites his brothers to put the past behind them.
Joseph opens to them a new future.
He does this by engaging the truth:
“Yes, I am your brother. Yes, you sold me into Egypt.
Yes, you are suffering, our father is suffering, I have suffered.
Yes, you are likely angry with yourselves due to past actions.
But God has been at work in these unfortunate but very human actions.”
Joseph is merciful as God is merciful.
He releases his brothers from a cycle of fear and suffering.
His father no longer has to grieve.
And Joseph has no need to triumph over his family.
The whole of Israel is brought to a new moment.
Joseph’s journey points to what Jesus teaches.
Joseph is a victim of his brothers’ hate, cursing, and abuse.
They literally take away (and soil) his coat. But in prison, he prays.
In his position of power, his brothers come begging, and he provides.
He sheds tears out of love for his brothers.
And through Joseph, his family is gifted new life.
Who has done you wrong?
In what ways are you suffering from wrongs you have done?
Perhaps you need to show some loving kindness and forgiveness to yourself?
Forgiveness doesn’t undo what has been done.
Forgiveness doesn’t erase the pain that comes from suffering.
The past cannot be changed.
But hearts and minds can.
None of us has fully grown.
Being human is dynamic and unfinished.
I don’t think we ever reach a moment in which we realize:
Ok. I’m finished, complete, I am now merciful.
We’re on a journey of becoming.
And Joseph’s journey mirrors ours.
This morning we see Joseph near the end of his story.
We see the product of change…the person he is becoming,
the people his brothers are becoming in the moment of reunion.
In those moments of lying awake in bed reviewing what could have been,
what shouldn’t have been said, or what we had hoped to have done,
we too can break from the past.
By embracing truth and extending mercy—to others and to ourselves—
we offer the gift of hope: hope for renewal, hope that tomorrow brings change,
and hope that we may recognize transformation in one another.
A hope that whispers, “Come near.”