Redemption and Release, a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Ray Pickett, LSPS Associate Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Old Testament, delivered on September 13, 2005, in Christ Chapel

Genesis 45:1-20; Matthew 6:7-15: Redemption and Release

Today's reading from Genesis is the climax of the amazing story of Joseph. It is, among other things, a story of favoritism, envy, abuse, deception, power, and international politics. It is the story of Jacob and his sons, and this family like every family is a dysfunctional family. It is the story of Israel, which like the story of every people is a tale about the end of the innocence. But seldom are we inclined to tell the story of our own families, our own people, with the sort of candor that characterizes the Joseph story. Middle class folks like ourselves are invested in a presentation of self, family, nation and church that is more triumphant than transparent, and that's how we want to read, or as the case may be misread, this story. If we could get away with it we would read the whole Bible as the story of God rescuing hapless and seemingly helpless folks like us from dire circumstances without figuring out and living into our own role in the drama of redemption.

Oh the irony, oh the honesty! But we can't handle the truth, or perhaps we don't want to. Let's give it a try shall we? In the introduction to the story of Jacob's family we learn that Jacob is a doting father who is not even discrete in favoring his youngest son Joseph: "now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his children because he was the son of his old age". And as an adolescent Joseph snitches on his brothers. Make no mistake about it; he is a "tattletale" and a "brownnoser". He is also a dreamer, and his dreams tend to highlight his own importance at the expense of his brothers. He is even God's favorite. What's to like about this guy if he is your brother? And brothers will be brothers, so out of envy and resentment these rascals aim to get rid of him.

It's easy enough to see what's going on here, and it's easy enough to appreciate that we have all been formed, or de-formed as the case may be, by incidents in which we have either acted or been acted upon out of raw emotions that should have been kept in check. Sometimes the scars we bear and the scars we inflict endure for many years and impede the quality of our lives. I assume that was the case with Joseph and his brothers. No one escapes childhood unscathed, including parents! We just grow up to create our own dysfunctional families, which in turn make up our dysfunctional churches, our dysfunctional society ... you get the picture. There is no one healthy, no not one. Who or what will stop all the craziness?

We would be remiss if we read this account of the reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers in terms of an "all things work together for the good" theology without considering what Joseph and his brothers did to contribute to their redemption and indeed the redemption of their people. Many years and a lot of water have passed under the bridge by the time Joseph's siblings find themselves standing before their long lost and now awesomely powerful brother trying to buy grain in a time of famine. Joseph is still a little cheeky in detaining Benjamin, Jacob's other favorite son. However, the scene depicted for us in today's reading says that with all of his brothers gathered before him he "could no longer control himself … and he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it …" But this emotional release was preceded by another kind of release.

Joseph released his brothers from their wrongdoing. He does remind them: "you sold me into Egypt". But he does not scold them or blame them; he does not try to make them feel guilty or ashamed. He asks for no confession of sin and issues no absolution. He desperately wants to allay their fears. By the same token, his older brother Judah has also grown up. He is no longer guided by the petty jealous and self indulgence that motivated him to get rid of Joseph. On the contrary, his only concern is for his father Jacob and his people. He is even willing to give his own life in exchange for that of his youngest brother Benjamin. Last but not least, Jacob has to release his other favorite son Benjamin from his protective eye in order for reconciliation and redemption to occur.

The task of reconciliation and redemption are no simple matter. A superficial reading of this episode in the life of Jacob/Israel would attribute the happy ending to Divine Providence. "Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people" Joseph tells his brothers in the last chapter of Genesis. But where is God in this story if not hidden beneath the behavior of these brothers who choose to release each other from the shared pain of the past for the sake of life. Their actions have become God's actions, and it is through them that God preserves life. Trust in "providence" is more like buying a lottery ticket. You hope against hope that you will win the jackpot, and you might, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. The God of this story is not the God of good fortune, but rather a God who acts to preserve life through ordinary yet courageous actions that are inconspicuously woven into God's life-giving purposes.

The Lord's Prayer in today's reading from the Gospel of Matthew also intimates a symbiotic relationship between God's activity and ours. The praying of this prayer looks to God to respond through the lives and practices of disciples. Prayer, too, has more to do with practice, with a way of life, than with manipulation or magic. To hallow God's name is to honor God in doing God's will, and what is God's will but to preserve life! Where life is being preserved, there is God! By asking God to give us our bread, the petition also asks God to ensure that others cooperate in, not hinder, this daily supply of what is necessary to live. But as in the Joseph story it is the practice of release that is featured in this prayer: "release us from our debts as we have also released our debtors". Notice the reciprocity between God's action and ours. Asking God for mercy means releasing others from their failed obligations to us -- be they financial, social, or emotional.

I know that the English versions of the Lord's Prayer says "forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven …", but the Greek word avfi,hmi literally means to let go, abandon, leave behind, to release from legal or moral obligation. Both the Old Testament lesson and the Gospel suggest that "releasing" or letting go is a practice at once both interpersonal and spiritual that enables us to participate and indeed contribute to the Divine drama of redemption! It seems to me to be a timely spiritual practice for a seminary community like ours at the start of a new academic year.

What better way to begin the year than by letting go of painful memories and past failures that impede us and others from enjoying God's abundant life? What about releasing one another from unrealistic expectations (does not include those on syllabi), tired labels, and constraining stereotypes? What is some of the baggage we bring to this place that we could let go of? What about letting go of things we cling to for a false sense of security? How about prejudices and presuppositions that hinder us from noticing God's redemptive activity in the most surprising places? And last but not least, I wonder if we could release God, and ourselves, from our agendas, our ideologies, and yes, even our theologies, which are a poor substitute for a relationship with the God of life who would free us from all that holds us captive -- if only we would let go -- and let each other go!