Care for a little stroll on the water ?

PROPER 14 (19) - Tenth Sunday after Pentecost - Year A - August 13, 2017

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 and Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b  • Romans 10:5-15  • Matthew 14:22-33


Last week our Old Testament readings were about the story of Jacob wrestling for a blessing.  This week we have the story of Joseph, the favourite son, being sold by his brothers into slavery.  

After last week’s reflection, someone asked me, “Do you feel blessed? – Are you wrestling God for a blessing?”  A couple of things about this; Jacob didn’t know he was wrestling God, but the result of his wrestling was the realization that the blessing of God was what he valued most.  Also, Jacob was already blessed and chosen.  This did not mean that all would be easy and life would be “charmed”.

Anytime there is a recorded interaction between God and humans, there was a great significance involved, but I think we’d all be quiet surprised to find how often the purpose of the interaction was to comfort a person who was about to, or who had endured times of great stress.  Jacob had many interactions with God in his journey and this prepared him for all that was to come, assuring him of God’s favour, yet did that mean that his favourite son would always be by his side?

I’m guessing that no matter how sure Jacob was of God’s blessing, if someone had asked him, “Do you feel blessed?” He would probably have punched them out.

Life is a sometimes cruel interaction between the blessing of God, the consequence of living in a fallen world and the free will of evil people. At least this is how I make sense of the bad things that happen when we know that God loves us.

Jacob’s first born, Reuben, had in mind to rescue Joseph.  Reuben was the first born, yet obviously scared of his brothers, and so her sort to convince them of a better way rather than stand up to them.  These were the brothers who destroyed a whole town because its king slept with their sister – they were not men to be trifled with and they needed to learn a thing or two about being broken before God.  And that would happen later on – God had it under control, but it sure didn’t look like it.

These were the favoured and promised people of God who were incredibly fallible.  In our New Testament reading we have the story that follows from last week’s feeding of the multitude.  The disciples leave in a boat but Jesus needs some alone time and stays behind.  Then he comes out to them walking on the water.

Matthew 14: 26-31 “But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."
Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."
He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"
Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"”

I don’t believe anything that Jesus did was just because he could.  He had something to pass on to his disciples and to us.  The disciples declared him as the Son of God…. Just in case there was any doubt from the feeding of the multitude (insert sarcasm).

There is an important message from Jesus and it isn’t so much the “you of little faith,” part, But the “Do not be afraid,” part.
In all of this interaction there was good reason to be afraid and in the time to come there would be even more for the disciples to be afraid.

I can well imagine Jacob, on hearing of his son’s supposed death, calling out, “Lord, save me!”  I can imagine that he felt that God had deserted him and the blessing run dry.  I can imagine that Jacob felt he was sinking in sorrow and doubt.

But the good news about God is that His promise is greater than our failure and our doubt.

The reality of Peter’s situation suddenly presents itself with great force and he begins to sink.  He cries out to Jesus.  Jesus saves him.

We may be called to step out in faith, and walk on the waters of all kinds of trouble with our head held high and with unswerving faith in God – but even Saint Peter couldn’t keep that up for too long.  We might be brave for a while and then sink.  It is actually a reality of our humanity to be like this and to be overwhelmed by the actual reality of our situations.  We don’t necessarily feel the blessing of God that we know we should.  Will you condemn another Christian because they are honest about how they feel?

“Why do you doubt?”  - I don’t believe this was a scold, but more a question to reflect on.

When Jesus took Peter’s hand what he really did was that he physically and tangibly gave assistance.  That touch was the reminder that Peter had a friend in Jesus.  That physical touch brought him into a reality of comfort and assurance that was greater than the threat of the wind and waves around him.

When we see others in times of trouble, please don’t tell them that they need to have more faith.  That would be turning to focus on to judgment and failure…. In fact that would be to make those waves even bigger….

The author of the letter to the Romans was well acquainted with those who were judgemental and dealt with them by explaining the difference between the righteousness that comes from the law and from faith;

Romans 10:5-9 “Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that "the person who does these things will live by them."
But the righteousness that comes from faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).  But what does it say? "The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

You can have all the faith you want in a broken, brittle chair and it will still break when you sit on it.  But faith in God is not like a brittle chair and His blessing is a product of His grace.

Many people have criticized Peter, but he was the only one who even got out of the boat.  He had enough faith in Jesus to take a few steps…  He was extraordinary!

We need to be honest and reflect on what it is that makes us doubt.  We can learn much about ourselves this way and even possibly defeat some monsters.

Now…. Peter could have had all of the laws of God all in place and lived his life perfectly, but this would never be enough to stop the wind and waves.  In fact, the wind and waves didn’t stop – but that cry to Jesus to save him was all that Peter needed.

Free will is that thing that God respects.  In many ways, all of us are sinking.  The Good News is that Jesus has declared the way to God and salvation is open.  We can walk above the waves, (spiritually speaking) and all it takes is the recognition of who Jesus is and to cry out for him to save us.

What would you do to obtain a blessing?

Proper 13A/Ordinary 18A/Pentecost +9
August 6, 2017 

Life is a struggle.

Not only is life a struggle, but it seems that we can do our very best for years without seeing a great deal of success.  Then, sometimes there is an element of success but not in the ways that matter most to us. 

Our scripture readings for this week follow the highs and lows of this struggle.

Genesis 32:22 “The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.  He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.  Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.”

There is an important background information that isn’t read, but which we need to understand about the readings.  Jacob was travelling after finally breaking free from his deceitful father-in-law who had kept him emotionally manipulated into working for him for 14 years, and now he was about to encounter Esau.  Esau was Jacob’s twin brother who he had deceived, to the extent that Esau had wanted to kill Jacob.  Jacob was indeed having a major emotional and spiritual struggle.

Years of striving, knowing that he was the recipient of God’s promise to Abraham.  Years of injustice regardless of the promise.  Was he mistaken about the promise, or at least was he to be punished forever for his sins?  Was the promise of God to pass him by and go to his sons… or somehow by pass his lineage altogether???  These would surely have been some of his wrestling thoughts.

What happens next is a mysterious physical wrestle with an even more mysterious man.  This wrestle goes all through the night.  Jacob does not give in and the mysterious man “touches” Jacob’s hip so that it is hurt.  Still Jacob refuses to let the man go until the man blesses Jacob.  This is when Jacob realizes that he was wrestling God.

Jacob, in his early years, had been thinking that he had a plan to scheme and manipulate his life so that everything worked out according to his plans.  We all do this.  But I have to admit that nothing makes me more cranky than someone telling me about how I should have a 5 year plan, etc..  plan, organize, work and achieve.  Well guess what?  God seems often to “touch our hips”, and interrupt those plans.

Jacob was a man who was a master at manipulating life to make it work for himself.  Even with the knowledge that God had chosen him, he continued to aim at manipulating for his advantage, but in the meantime he was taught some hard lessons by being the recipient of deception and manipulation.  He needed to know that ultimately God was in control, and so his hip was hurt.  The place where Jacob found himself alone was the ford of Jabbok.  He had sent over all his family, servants and possessions. The mean of “Jabbok” is “to empty itself”.  Jacob had used all that he had, all his security in life and had emptied himself of it – sent it ahead where all was at the mercy of his brother.  At this point all that was left was himself.  He knew he was in the presence of God in that land as he had previous encounters with the spiritual realm in that land, and he came before God, no longer trusting in his wealth or even his health to save him.  He was broken, yet he persisted.  Perhaps most importantly he asked for a blessing.

When we read our Gospel we find that Jesus has gone to be alone.   His desire is not fulfilled, as his alone time is invaded by 5000 men and these are accompanied by an unnumbered amount of women and children.   Talk about extremes!  Can you imagine this for yourself?  Maybe if you are a celebrity being followed by the Media and crowds, but for most of us this is incomprehensible.  I can only imagine how overwhelming this would be.

Jesus has compassion on the crowd and spends time with them.  As the day draws on the disciples realize these people need to be fed, and all they have is a few fish and loaves.  Jesus blesses these and the crowds are miraculously fed.  This is the extent to which a blessing from God can effect a situation.

It seems to me that we humans are naturally inclined to think a bit like a computer… “if this - then that”.   In this thinking, we ultimately plan to manipulate life such that we get our desired outcome.  This is all good and logical it but can be a major stumbling block and we see this referred to in our 2^nd reading from Romans 9:4-5 “They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”

In this reading the author laments that so many of God’s chosen people reject him.  Jesus was often in trouble with the “church” people because he seemed to break God’s laws.  These people were zealous to earn God’s favour and they disciplined their lives such that they followed God’s laws, because in our “if this, then that” mentality, it would have to follow that they had God’s favour.  But so often we find ourselves like Jacob, faced with the consequences of our mistakes and lost.

The law of God actually became a stumbling block to the “church” people of Jesus time.  They put their faith in the system of earning God’s acceptance, and therefore they needed to empty themselves of all these “bargaining chips” before they would be able to accept the amazing blessing of God’s grace.

There is one thing that Jacob desired for all of his life, and that is the blessing of God.  In his early life he manipulated to obtain it, and if we are like the Pharisees of Jesus time, we will manipulate to obtain it also.  We will reason that if we do certain things we will earn God’s blessing.  While the desire for God’s blessing is admirable, the manipulation is not and it will be a stumbling block to receiving the blessing.  However, in every situation, those who came before God empty of every justification, these were blessed.

I believe that if we are open with God about how we feel, whether happy or sad, hurt or angry, then we become Israel also… we struggle with God and with God we receive blessings.  It is possible that the greatest moment of honesty in Jacob’s life was this one that we read in his wrestling.  He had fully understood the gravity of his situation in angering his brother, and the full extent and consequence of his manipulation.  In this moment of honesty with God is when the blessing is truly given.

For those in the time of Jesus, the people desiring a relationship with God, followed Jesus out to a remote place.  They made their comfort and food a secondary need compared to the richness of his blessing. 

What does it mean to us to have God’s blessing?  Do we have enough comfort that we don’t really care?  Are we like the Pharisees who say, “I keep the Sabbath holy, and all the commandments, therefore I earn God’s blessing”? 

To truly receive the blessing of God we need to come before him with nothing.  None of our past good, none of our peer accolades, none of our wealth and good deeds – but come before him in desperate knowledge that all else is amounts to nothing. In the very least it means we need to be honest and realize our need for him.

If nothing else, these readings should show us that the blessing of God is not a mere kind sentiment after a sneeze, but an exorbitant, extreme overflow of the goodness that God delights to bestow on his people.

In this moment of blessing, Jacob is called “Israel”.  He is given, not only the assurance of his life being spared from his brother, but he is given an amazing promise of destiny and marked as a great nation.  From a couple of fish and a few loaves, multitudes are fed with baskets full left over.  The blessing of God is an exorbitant and extreme. 

How much regard do we have for the blessing of God?