Moving the Chains toward Gratitude: Tackle Resentment

It is definitely football season!  The end of the Jaguars’ game on Sunday was a stunning 57-yard field goal by Cam Little.  It was the only chance for the Jaguars to win, and it was a spectacular moment.  In the elation at the end of the game, Cam Little was being carried on the shoulders by his teammates and he did a simple gesture of pointing one finger on each hand to the sky and lifting his eyes to the heavens.  There was no doubt, he was thankful to God for the success of the moment.  Our new series is Moving the Chains toward Gratitude, 2^nd Half.  We did a series with this title in 2023, but this is the second half after a 3- year halftime!  Gratitude is increasingly difficult.  There are so many forces that rob us of thankfulness.  Yet, gratitude is at the basis of the Christian life.  When we run low on giving thanks, then we are not as effective as believers.  A lack of gratitude should be a warning sign for our hearts and minds.  Our first sermon in this 2^nd half is Tackle Resentment.  Resentment and gratitude are mutually exclusive.  They also have an inverse relationship: when we are high in resentment, we are low in gratitude.  Our playbook for this first sermon is Genesis 50:12-22.  This is a familiar moment in the life of Joseph who was sold into slavery by brothers, jailed in Egypt for several years, and then, becomes the second most powerful person in the nation of Egypt, but now his father has died and his brothers fear his retribution for what they have done.  His response to them is filled with grace and gratitude.  This moment is a spectacular and unexpected ending!  Was something wrong with Joseph?  Did he just ignore the pain and hardship they had caused?  No, not at all.  He was able to move from resentment to redemption.  You may be struggling today with a load of resentment, but take heart, this story in Joseph’s life leads us to a living God who exchanges the ashes of our broken life for the beauty of love and grace.  We pray that as you read Genesis 50:12-22 you will experience this exchange, and you can joyfully lift your hands and eyes to heavens for all God has done for you.  

Genesis 50:12-22: So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them: ¹³ They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. ¹⁴ After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father. ¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” ¹⁶ So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ¹⁷ ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. ¹⁸ His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ²¹ So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. ²² Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years. (NIV)