On February 9, 1960, Adolf Coors III was kidnapped and held for ransom.  Seven months later his body was found on a remote hillside.  Adolf Coors IV, then fifteen years old, lost both his father and best friend.  For years young Coors hated Joseph Corbett, the man who was sentenced for the slaying.  Then in 1975 Adolf Coors became a Christian.  While he did all he could to be the best Christian he could, he just could not rid himself of his hatred for Corbett.  He prayed to God for help because he realized how his hatred was alienating him from God and others.  Then one day, young Coors visited the Canon City penitentiary and tried to talk with Corbett.  But he refused to see him.  So Coors left a Bible inscribed with this message:  "I'm sorry that we could not meet today.  As a Christian I feel summoned by our Lord to forgive you.  I do forgive you, and I ask you to forgive me for the hatred I've held in my heart for you."  Later young Coors said something nearly unbelievable.  He said, "Instead of hate, I now have a love for that man that only Christ could have given me."

          The Old Testament story of Joseph is one of the greatest stories of all literature.  It begins with family favoritism, moves to resentment and eventually attempted murder.  It's the story of cruelty and mercy, of famine and feast.  It has forgiveness in place of revenge, and love where there should have been hate.  Above all, it's a true story, telling us of God's grace and forgiveness which are indelibly linked.  Without God's grace, we cannot be forgiven;  without our forgiving each other, God's grace is given in vain.  But with grace comes the joy of forgiveness.

          Joseph was the apple of his father's eye.  He and his brother Benjamin were sons of Rachel, his father Jacob's favorite wife.  Jacob's other wives tolerated the old man's favoritism, but his sons didn't.  The ten brothers resented the attention lavished on this gentle son, and no matter how kind or good Joseph was to his brothers, their resentment turned to hatred.  Nothing he could do pleased them, so bitter were their feelings towards the one loved most by their father.

          As men will often do, old Jacob pined for his lost love and attached himself to her sons.  And as sons will often do, they fed their anger with the bitter poison of resentment until it hatched a plot of intrigue and death.  One day the brothers sold Joseph to traders bound for Egypt and told their father he was killed by a wild animal.  It was a cruel blow to all the innocent parties.

          But God's grace had everything covered.  Joseph became the favored slave to Potifar, Pharoah's Business Manager, and he fared well until Potifar's wife began lusting after him.  When he refused her advances, she accused him of rape and had him tossed into jail.  There again God's grace prevailed when Joseph became trustee.  That lasted 13 years until he was again falsely accused.  But this time the grace of God vaulted Joseph into most favored status when he was able to interpret Pharoah's dreams.  Then the former slave become the most powerful man in Egypt, second only to Pharoah himself.

          J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote of "good catastrophes", sudden joyous turns in the face of horrific and evil events.  He said when joy is snatched from the jaws of tragedy, it points to the true compassion of God.  He called Christ's death and resurrection the greatest "good catastrophe" of all.  It looked like Satan won, but he hadn't.  His Lord of the Rings books are based on good coming from evil, and that's the central theme of the story of Joseph.  When evil should have prevailed, it lost out.  When his brothers should have gotten their due, they didn't get it.  That's grace!  The brothers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.  That's grace!

          Back in my High School days I once got a tongue lashing from a teacher who accused me of talking in shop class.  He'd grabbed me by the shoulders and was giving me his dreaded "shake and shout" routine when someone next to me said, "But, Mr. Detamore, he wasn't talking;  it was someone else."  My teacher looked at him, then back at me and said, "Okay, Robert Tasler, remember this, because the next time you got it coming, you won't get it!"  That's grace!  When you got it coming, you don't get it.  Just like a Lutheran pastor friend of mine who was given a warning rather than a speeding citation because the Irish officer thought he was a priest.  That's grace!  When you got it coming, you don't get it.

          Last Thursday I walked out in the rainstorm to check my downspouts, and stayed mostly dry under my umbrella.  God's grace is an umbrella covering all who believe Jesus is the Savior.  That umbrella covers and protects all believers.  And it doesn't matter where you are under the umbrella - on the left side or the right side, in the very center, or on the outer edge with your big toe sticking out.  When you're under the umbrella of God's grace, you're safe for eternity.  Grace covers us entirely, because God loves us completely, no matter what.

          In today's Gospel reading, Peter asks Jesus how often he needs to forgive those who wrong him.  Three times seemed a fair guideline, so Peter generously doubles the average plus one.  But his question, "How many times shall I forgive?" is turned upside down by Jesus' parable which bids us instead to ask, "How many times have I been forgiven?"

          In the Lord's Prayer, Christ says as we have been forgiven, so we must also forgive.  The parable of the two debtors shows that the Kingdom of Heaven is different from all earthly institutions, even the visible church.  Our logic tells us we give people the number of chances we think they deserve, and after that they're out of luck.  But God's kingdom is built on grace, God's unmerited love for us.  It's not how much forgiveness we owe other sinners, it's how much we owe God who's forgiven us.  And forgiven, we pass it on.  "We love because He first loved us."  (1 John 4:19)

          If we've been forgiven much - and we all have! - then we can't withhold forgiveness.  If God can forgive a poor, miserable sinner like me, how in the world can I NOT forgive a poor, miserable sinner like you?  Am I greater than God?  Can I really withhold what I've freely been given?  As we have been forgiven, so we must also forgive.

          We Christians like to quibble over the "oughts" of life, don't we?  The "oughts" are all the things that should be and are usually applied to others, not ourselves.  ("He ought not have done that to me;  she ought to have been kinder;  the church ought not have quarrels;  he oughta know better;  they oughta not be doing that," etc.)  But when we quibble over the "oughts", we fail to grasp how our own sinfulness creates a wall between us and God.  That "Wall of Separation" phrase so often quoted from Pres. Jefferson is really a wall of separation between us and God!  It's between us and each other, too.  Sin doesn't just separate church and state, it separates everything!

          It's so tempting to see the wrongs done to us as mountains that cannot be leveled, while seeing our own sins as molehills that "oughta" be ignored.  (repeat that)  But Jesus' story shows us the debt we owe God is far greater than any wrongs others may have done to us.

          If I read things rightly, our nation will soon be in another war with Iraq, and this time I do hope they get it done right.  While I find nothing attractive in war, there are times when it is necessary to defeat the evil goals of evil people.  I don't think this one will be as neat and tidy as the last, but I do believe it's time to get rid of that gnawing threat to innocent people everywhere.  Whatever happens, or whenever it comes, may God protect our men and women in uniform!

          One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the evil that was going on.  He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out, so he called one of his best angels and sent it to Earth for a report.  When the angel returned, it told God, "Yes, it is bad on earth.  I figure it's about 95% bad and 5% good."  Well, God thought for a moment and thought maybe He'd better send down a second angel to get another point of view.  So He sent it to Earth to look around, but it had the same verdict.  "Yes, the Earth is in decline - 95% is bad and 5% is good."  God said, "This was not good!"  So he decided to send an Email to the 5% that were good.  He wanted to encourage them, give them a little something and help them keep going.  Do you know what that E-mail said?.....  Oh, you didn't get one either, huh?  Bummer!

          By grace we forgive.  When we come together and confess our sins, we publicly say we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.  What a joy, then, it is to hear the wonderful words of absolution:  "I forgive you your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."  With those words, we're free!  We're not just a trustee in jail, we're out!  In His mercy, God wipes our slates clean.  In His grace, we are made free, not to hog it all ourselves, but free to forgive others, just like we have been forgiven.

          By grace we forgive.  We forgive the sassy kid and bonehead at work and the liar and even the murderer.  We let go of our right to strike back and let God take care of justice.  In other words, we let go and let God.  And we commend to God's protective mercy those who must do what we cannot, our elected officials, our Armed Forces, our Fire Departments, and our Police Departments.  Yes, they are "our" people, for they are doing for us what we cannot.  Keep that in mind the next time you condemn a politician or cuss a cop.  God put them there for a good reason.

          Don't worry about evil in the world - get rid of some of it by forgiving someone who's hurt you.  Do yourself a favor today and forgive somebody.  Forgive that fathead at work.  After all, maybe someone there thinks of you the same way.  Forgive him and forget about it.  You'll be surprised how much better you'll feel.  By grace we forgive.  Amen!

Copyright © 2002 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.