Our first reading today comes from the Book of Genesis. In Genesis, there is a thread running throughout the book on the theme of sibling rivalry. From the very first time there are siblings in the story, there is sibling rivalry. Cain and Abel both made their offerings to God, and God liked Abel’s more than Cain’s. This made Cain very jealous and angry at his brother, so he took him out in the field and killed him.
God was not very happy about that, so he confronted Cain. But he didn’t do it directly. He started with a simple question, “Where is your brother?” And Cain responded with that famous line, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” To which the unequivocal answer in Scripture is “YES!” We absolutely have a responsibility to other people.
The conversation goes one, and what is really surprising in this story is what God does not do. In this time when Genesis was being written, it would have been understood that the mete and right thing to do, the just thing to do, the moral thing to do, would have been to kill Cain in response. An eye for an eye—that is justice, a response that is at least as equal, and often more is even better. But God doesn’t do that. He does tell Cain there will be a consequence. The field in which he killed his brother will no longer be able to produce any food, so Cain is going to have to move. Cain becomes scared of this, worried that if he moves somewhere else they will kill him. And God said, no, I am still going to protect you. So not only does God not respond in kind, God still protects Cain. This is an interesting story about mercy and grace, the forgiveness that God offers. It tells us something important about the nature of God.
Let’s move on to the second sibling rivalry story in Genesis, that of Jacob and Esau, the twin sons of Isaac and Rebecca, the twin grandsons of Abraham and Sarah. This sibling rivalry began in the womb. It said it was like a war in there. Esau comes out first, so he gets tagged as the older brother. Jacob comes out second, so he is the younger brother, but he is holding on to the heel of his brother on the way out. The name Jacob means “to grab the heel.” Esau is big and burly and strong and hairy, a manly man kind of guy who likes to hunt. Jacob is slight and smooth, and likes to spend time at home, often with his mother. Esau is his dad’s favorite. Jacob is mom’s favorite.
By the way, parents, these stories are good object lessons as to why you should not have favorites.
So we can imagine that Esau’s part in the sibling rivalry is pretty physical, but Jacob’s is more cerebral. He has the brains while his brother has the brawn. Jacob ultimately tricks his brother out of both his inheritance and his blessing, which really upsets Esau, who decides he is going to kill Jacob. Jacob gets word of this, so he runs away.
Decades go by in which there are lots of twists and turns, but we are going to jump ahead to when the two of them unite again. Jacob and his family and servants are going one way, and he gets word that Esau is ahead of him coming towards him. Jacob is very afraid, because he remembers that his brother wants to kill him, and he knows his brother is bigger and stronger. So Jacob uses his brain and decides to send a few gifts ahead to see if he can smooth things over. Then he goes off by himself that night and ends up wrestling with God. They wrestle all night to a standstill, and God changes Jacob’s name to Israel, which means “the one who wrestles with God.” In this interaction, Jacob meets God and God blesses him.
The next morning Jacob gathers up his courage and goes to meet his brother. He is very nervous and starts bowing, but his brother gives him a big hug. They fall into each other’s shoulders and they weep. Jacob says, “to see your face is to see the face of God,” which he would know. In the midst of this reconciliation he sees the divine. This reconciliation doesn’t mean they get houses next to each other. It’s not a friendly relationship, but they are reconciled and keep on their separate ways.
The third story: Jacob’s son, Joseph, and his eleven brothers. These brothers have sibling rivalry because Joseph is his father’s favorite. Remember, parents: don’t have favorites. Jacob gives Joseph special gifts, like a nice coat with many colors, which Joesph likes to flaunt like a peacock. He liked to tattle on his brothers, telling his dad the things they were and weren’t doing. Jacob also had dreams, and in these dreams his brothers would bow down to him. He did not keep these dreams to himself, but he shared them. His brothers were livid. Joseph also had a dream where not only his brothers, but also his mom and dad were bowing down to him. That was like the proverbial straw, so the brothers decided to kill Joseph. At the last minute they change their minds and throw him down a pit. Then they see some slave traders and decide to sell Joseph into slavery. The brothers take the coat, rip it up, sacrifice one of the goats and soak the coat with the blood, and then go home to dad and tell him Joseph was killed by a wild animal.
Joseph goes to Egypt. Now there all kinds of twists and turns in which Joseph has a tough time, is enslaved, wrongly accused of a crime, is imprisoned, but ultimately ends up as second in charge of the entire country, second only to Pharoah.
The reason Joseph became so powerful is because he knows what is going to happen and how to solve the problem. There is going to be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Joseph figures out a plan to store grain during the seven years of plenty, so they can use it to survive the seven years of famine. Joseph is so successful that they are able to sell the surplus to people from foreign countries.
Jacob and his other sons get word of this, and Jacob instructs his sons to go to Egypt and buy grain. The brothers go to Egypt and buy the grain. The problem is that they have to buy it from Joseph.
There are more twists and turns that I won’t go into here. Joseph plays tricks on his brothers. Some people think that the tricks are a façade, but I think Joseph is seriously pondering whether or not he might enslave them or imprison them or maybe kill them. Ultimately, when Joseph has turned the screws on all his tricks, he decides to reveal himself. He tells them, I am Joseph, your brother, who you sold into slavery. How is dad? He tells them to go and get Jacob and return with him and all of their families. The brothers do that and settle in Egypt. Joseph introduces them to Pharoah who tells them of his admiration for Joseph, and because of that he gives them choice land. All is going well, and then Jacob dies.
This is where we pick up the reading in today’s lesson. The brothers realize that Joseph could have been keeping them alive only because of their father. And now that he is dead, Joseph is going to get his revenge. So they go to Joseph, and he says, don’t worry. That is all behind us. What you intended for evil, God intended for good. God was able to take that horrible thing that you did and transform it.
Three stories of sibling rivalry. Three stories that teach us so much about the nature of God and what God wants us to do in this world. Three stories of siblings who fight, as so many do, but ultimately the will of God is reconciliation. God is not a God of revenge or punishment. God is not a God of petty comeuppance. We have instead a God of grace, mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
That is a theme in these Genesis stories, and it is a thread all through the Hebrew Bible, and that is the thread of the nature of God that Jesus picks up on in his teachings as we see in today’s Gospel reading when Peter asks how many times must I forgive another member of the church, another sibling in Christ. Jesus says it is not seven times, but seven times seven times, or some versions have seventy time seven times, depending on the version of the story you are reading.
Jesus goes on to tell the parable of the man who received that forgiveness, but would not show it to someone else. Someone who received God’s forgiveness, but would not forgive another sibling in this world. This is God’s desire not just for actual siblings or siblings in the faith, but our common siblinghood with every single person. God desires mercy, not punishment. God desires forgiveness. God desires reconciliation. It is not easy, and why passages like this challenge us so much. But that is the work we are meant to do. That is what we are meant to keep trying to do. Why? Because ultimately we have a God of love who loves us, and loves our neighbor, and loves our enemies. As Genesis teaches us, every single person is made in the image of God, and is worthy of the dignity and respect that the image of God deserves. Not because of something they have done or not done, but just because of who God is and who God made us to be.
So, my friends, I encourage you to look at your own relationships, and to look at the grace and the mercy that God has provided you, and see how you can provide that to others.
AMEN.
