Genesis 41:55-57,42:5-7,17-24
Matthew 10:1-7

How wonderful of God, I think, to make Joseph's brothers sin the
hinge of their own salvation - not to mention, of the world they knew.
Joseph hears the Brother's talk and has to leave because he is so
moved. "We saw his misery of soul when he begged our mercy and we did
not listen to him and now his misery has come home to us". The perfect
revenge, years in the making and the shaping is yet to be exposed.

It is a classic "Utu". Here, because of Joseph's tease they experience
the misery that they saw before but did not understand because they
had never felt it. All this is very moving. But we mustn't use it to
blind ourselves from the story. Trouble is, you know, it's the Bible,
so we think that the story has only one message, and even more sadly,
think that it means the heroes are always good. Well, I don't think
so. Like any other tease there is a cruel intent in Joseph. Okay - it
is a tease because in the end, if they do what he thinks they'll do,
everything will end up lovely. Meanwhile the brothers have recognized
their own grievous sin, which is good, isn't it? I would be surprised
if that repentance were a sudden solitary thing though, the passage
has the feel of a wrong much chewed on over the years. And then
there's the extra pain for Joseph's father. As usual God's behaviour
is so much better than ours. There's a large part of us, maybe, that
rejoices to see Joseph get his own back, maybe though we can just
imagine that young man lazing about in fine garments while we work in
the hot son, having dreams of the day when we'll all be falling down
in front of him saying "Wow, what a great person you are".

Speaking of which, when we look at the gospel we see a list of names.
It looks like a throwaway, a bit to sketch Jesus with a charming group
of adoring Apostles before we plunge into the next important thing.
What strikes me is a sense of these being real people, like Joseph's
brothers, jostling a bit, blaming each other for this and that, Jesus
giving them powers and limiting the field of their endeavours. But
suddenly I find myself thinking of this lot descending on our Lady's
home, and what she might say. Or perhaps her Mother, Saint Anne.
"Jesus dear, do you have to bring this lot here? Your mother has to
live with her neighbours, and how am I to explain to James' mother
that you are taking her boys into company like this, and I can't like
the look of that Zealot boy, he's next step to a terrorist, looking
round corners, and then there's Judas, I wouldn't be surprised if he
wasn't armed you know? Goodness me, you must be breaking your Mother's
heart young man. Do you have to have parties with tax collectors? Have
you seen the way those roman soldiers salute when Matthew walks by?
What will the neighbours think.. " Well, it's a fantasy, that's true.
But don't let's miss the fact that from this distance we have a kind
of romantic vision of simple men, bluff and honest, peacefully fishing
on the sea of Galilee. Think about the most peaceful simple person you
know. Actually, that would be a young man called Stephen, who has
learning difficulties and a wonderfully close relationship with our
Lord Jesus. Good exercise though. Think about your friends, try to
choose - say four - who fit the romantic vision of the disciples. Now,
think about how many of your friends really are disciples, think about
their struggles, their longings, their place with the official church.
How simple and romantic are they?

Real people. Hard to come back to think about the readings I guess.
But now, I'm beginning to get a bit excited, and I'm wondering how I
could have missed this. You know how hard it is to forgive people?
I've always thought that the thing God did, was to wipe out the sin
completely, as if it never was. That somehow we were to forgive people
that we didn't even cling on to the thought of our own grace in
forgiveness. That if we asked God to wipe their slate, somehow our
slate was wiped too. It's the ultimate helplessness. The power of
Roman crucifixion was that it made a living human being into a cross,
the soft warm reality of a round, real human being, becomes a square
peg. With the resurrection God is saying, the worst you can do is as
nothing. I come before the throne of grace completely empty of
history, of blame, of the things that shaped me and the wrongs I
overcame.

But that's not true is it? That's to take away the miracle of the
forgiver, and the gift of their grace. That is to make us truly
helpless, and helpless I suspect, in the wrong way. That is not what
happened to Joseph's brothers and father. The brothers would not have
hated Joseph half so much if their Father hadn't loved one of them
inappropriately, behaving as if the others didn't exist - Joseph
himself was no innocent. So what God did (whatever His perfect plan
was) was to take all these imperfect behaviours and make them the
hinge by which their world was saved. What they did affected history.
Egypt's Pharoah owned the land, the people and everything in it. Why?
Because they sold themselves and their land to the Pharoah for grain,
when Joseph took control in Egypt. Archeologists marvel at how much
Egyptian culture permeated Israel's religion. It seems to me possible
that the Israelites influenced Egypt likewise. But the amazing thing
is, not just the forgiveness, for the brothers never quite believed in
that; and it is not that the evil they did was wiped out never to be
thought of again, because we're still thinking about it today. No, it
is that their weakness, and their downright evil was made into the
hinge of their own salvation.

So now, look at the Apostles again. The very worst that they did was
not wiped out. The weakness that they suffered became the hinge of
their salvation. I have this vivid mental picture of Judas in despair,
maybe even thinking that there could be no forgiveness for him. The
other Apostles were certainly not going to forgive him. But Jesus?

Well, Jesus says that these things must happen. They do happen.They
may not have been God's perfect will, but He certainly didn't waste
time lamenting that, neither did He waste the heroism and the will of
those who messed up. But it will be better not to be born than to be
one of those through whom it happens. Who brought the Apostles down,
by whom were they tempted? Does He not understand our weakness and our
sin, who suffered the same weakness, and worse, suffered from our sin?
Still suffers from our attempts to make Him fit our own pre-measured
ideas of holiness and forgiveness?

He who told us to pray for those who despitefully use us and to bless
those who curse us, will He not do as He requires us to do? Ah, and
how much more will He do and be for Judas Iscariot. For He leans over
the one He loved and chose and says, "Judas, I forgive you, and to
prove my forgiveness I will never wipe out your sin. No. Of your sin,
my beloved, I will make your salvation. Indeed, by your sin, I will
redeem the world".