In worship this weekend, I referred to the story of Joseph reuniting with his brothers. It had been years since they sold him into slavery. A lot had happened in Joseph's life. The highest of highs and the lowest of lows fill his story. When he could no longer contain himself, the trap he designed turned into a family reunion. My comment was that our weekly gatherings are somewhat of a reunion as well. We've had ups and downs during the week. Sometimes, we even hurt each other. But God still draws us together.
I kept thinking about the line in the hymn Come, Share the Lord: Finding our forgiveness here, we, in turn, forgive all wrong.
Forgiveness is hard, isn't it? We aren't always sure we can offer forgiveness to someone who has betrayed us. And we don't know if those we've wronged want to forgive us.
There's another family reunion in the Bible worth remembering. Jacob meeting Esau is one of my favorite stories in scripture. Some of those same insecurities and doubts we have are in it. In Genesis 32, Jacob prayed that God would save him from Esau. That's because, years before, Jacob cheated Esau. Things have turned out well enough for Jacob so far since. But what of Esau?
Surely after all these years he had been simmering over what happened. Jacob was always the more tricky one while Esau was more built to battle. Now, Jacob worried all that anger would come at him full force.
But it did not.
Esau told Jacob, "Let us be on our way. I'll accompany you."
Of course, we don't know what brought Esau to that moment. How long was he upset at his brother? Did being victimized challenge his perception of himself? How much did he look back at that day Jacob cheated him? How was he able to keep what happened between them in the past?
What I do know is that our weekly family reunions reinforce to me the joy of forgiveness and reconciliation. With the Spirit's help, God's family teaches me how to love more and more. Every reunion, in some way, is a taste of the complete forgiveness God wants us to have.
Stay blessed...john | 
No comments:
Post a Comment