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“From Frenemy to Forgiveness”

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 & Genesis 45:1-15

The message for Sunday Worship on August 9th

Friends. Enemies.
Put them together and you get …
“Frenemies.”
A frenemy can be an enemy disguised as a friend. It can also be a close acquaintance who is a competitor or rival.

Think of Batman and Catwoman in DC Comics.

Think of Calvin and Dave CBS’s “The Neighborhood.”

Dwight Schrute and Jim Halpert in The Office.

Will Schuester and Sue Sylvester in Glee.

Frenemies.

These relationships can be mutually beneficial, but they are also highly competitive and saturated with risk and mistrust.

The Bible is filled with frenemies, starting with the book of Genesis. Think of Adam/Eve. Cain/Abel (they’re brothers and – one would think, ipso facto, friends – and yet one turns out to be the enemy of the other). Abram/Lot. Sarah/Hagar. Esau/Jacob. Jacob/Laban. Now Joseph/his brothers.

Notice how often these frenemies are members of the same family. Let’s be clear: “Genesis is a book about dysfunctional families.”

Amen to that.

In this week’s lesson from Genesis we have Jacob and his brothers. Talk about frenemies. The brothers hate Joseph so much they throw him in a pit. Then they think better of it, and sell him to Ishmaelites.

In the end Joseph forgives them. How does he get from being sold to forgiving? That’s what we’ll look at this Sunday.

See you then.