Exodus 1:8-2:10 The Israelites Are Oppressed (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)
Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore, they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians subjected the Israelites to hard servitude and made their lives bitter with hard servitude in mortar and bricks and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and allowed the boys to live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
Birth and Youth of Moses
Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.
The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it.  When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

     Today’s reading is about an insecure, powerful man who becomes a danger to refugees. Israelites, also called Hebrews in this part of the Bible, have been in Egypt for a while. They are integrated into the community as neighbors. They came to Egypt as climate refugees fleeing a famine. Joseph, who had ended up in a place of power, despite his brothers’ attempts to destroy him, had opted to use his power to save the people who had wanted him gone. We should remember how Joseph chose mercy and care rather than retribution. He was able to save his family. Within the narrative, the descendants of Israel, the man, begin to become known not just as one family, but as a nation. That national identity is deeply shaped by living under and then escaping an insecure, powerful man who controls a nation capable of great violence.

     In her notes on the book of Exodus, Judith Sanderson talks about God’s purposes in liberating Israel. They are primarily relational. God will claim these people as God’s own (ch 6 vs 7). God will set them aside as a unique nation with particular relationship to God (19:5-6). God will also commit to dwell among them (29.46). The foundation of the covenant that will later be agreed upon in the wilderness is these acts of liberation and connection. According to Sanderson, because God offered liberation, the people will be expected to act in a particular way in response. Religious law and communal practice will be a response to the liberative acts described in the stories we call Exodus. Liberation begins in the actions of competent, dedicated women responding to actions of the violent, powerful man.

     In her book called Womanist Midrash, Dr. Wil Gafney notes that while undoubtedly countless women are among the Israelites, Exodus only names a handful of them. The first two are in our reading for today: Shifrah and Puah, the midwives. “Midwives are uniquely built for chaos,” is one of my favorite lines in Dr. Kimberly Russaw’s commentary on this text. “Midwives are uniquely built for chaos.” This might go for anyone who works in labor and delivery. Anything can happen at the hours leading up to, during, and the time shortly after birth. It is no small thing to carry life into the world. It is dangerous. It is exciting. It is hard, and it can be beautiful. The people who train to support those who are pregnant and the little ones they bring into this world train for chaos. They train for the harrowing and the awe-inspiring. They don’t usually train to cause harm, which is what the Pharoah demands of them.

     The disobedience of these two midwives likely feels familiar to any of us who are acquainted with people who have chosen not to comply with wicked demands. Within the story, we have a counter example to them: the taskmasters or overseers Pharoah appoints. In her commentary on this text, Mary Alice Mulligan points out how they clearly go along with the new oppressive treatment of the Israelites, apparently without question. Verse 13 says, “The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites.” This whole story could have been different had people chosen not to be cruel to their neighbors. We have seen what happens when neighbors opt for love and organizing over cruelty and fear-mongering. It’s powerful. It is too bad that the overseers opted to abandon the Israelites. We don’t have to make choices like they did.

     In her commentary, Russaw wrote, “Pharaoh commands the two who wake up every morning prepared to craft birth announcements to write obituaries.” Their orders are so clearly antithetical to their calling and training that, even with danger at hand, they disobey the ruler. They let the boys live and come up with a wild explanation that the Pharaoh believes (because he is foolish). “These Hebrew women are strong and get their babies born before we can even get there!” It appears that his order was to happen secretly, so the parents didn’t know what was happening. Dispatching a child that has been born would have gotten them more attention that Pharoah initially wanted. Their quick assessment of the kind of story that would work on him bought them time to save more kids and also have their own children.

     Those who use power for control will not always stop when initial attempts are thwarted. Once the midwives outsmart him, he shifts tactics and demands all Egyptians partake in violence, commanding people to throw any Hebrew babies that they learn are boys into the Nile. He wants to implicate not just an overseer class, but an entire nation in violence. Again, he found everyday people willing to do violence against their neighbors. Again, imagine how the story could have been different had the people stood up for their neighbors... had they come up with a smart plan... had they hidden children... had they helped people escape... had they joined up with the Hebrews and together overthrown the Pharoah. The story shows a majority populace largely willing to do harm in a way that I’ve seen several scholars describe as genocidal.

     While stories of the tactics of survival of oppressed people are not always shared outside of their circles of care for safety reasons, one story of the women in one family’s brilliance becomes a vital part of the history of the Hebrew people. A man and a woman marry and conceived a child. We learn in chapter 6 that their names are Amran and Jochebed, though they are unnamed in today’s scripture. Jochebed would go to extraordinary lengths to save her son. Dr. Gafney, in Womanist Midrash, notes that within her very name is a connection to her God. The first syllable, “yo” is the same as the beginning of the Hebrew word for their God. Gafney says that her name means something like “the honor or weightiness of God.” Given that she is a descendant of the refugees, born in Egypt, she has likely watched, in real time, the change of treatment of her people. What she saw and experienced made her committed to living a life beyond that which Pharoah planned for her.

     She opted to bear children, even under the shadow of violence. Her daughter Miriam, introduced in 2.4 and named in 15.2, would grow up seeing adults constructing meaningful lives despite the hatred from Pharoah. She would be inspired to help her mother save her baby brother born after common Egyptians were ordered to kill Hebrew baby boys. First, she hides and cares for the baby for three months. Can you imagine hiding a whole baby successfully for that long? Babies are so loud! But she does it successfully. But, she can’t hide him forever.

     Scripture does not tell us that she knew that someone would find the baby and take care of him. We could imagine that she knew that the Pharoah’s daughter frequented this part of the river. Or, maybe she knew of Egyptians who’d had mercy on babies they’d found. Wil Gafney points out that there had been a well-known story of a hero king of Assyria who was said to have been placed in a basket in the river by his own mother. He survived to become a leader. Whatever her inspiration or justification, Jochebed put the baby in a basket and Miriam kept an eye on him from a distance.

    Pharoah’s daughter is kinder than her father. She found a baby and opted to care for him, even though he was Hebrew and her father had ordered her to harm him. Miriam, smart as can be, pops out of the reeds where she’d been hiding and offers to find her a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. In this moment, Jochebed is restored to her son. We don’t know how long she had with him. Nursing can go on for a while- four, five, or six years. Did she get all of that time with him?  We don’t know if anyone but Jochebed and Miriam knew what their connection truly was.  We don’t even know what Amran thought about this. No men play any part in this story of salvation. Eventually, Jochebed turns her son, who is called Moses, over the princess to be raised as young prince, grandson of the murderous Pharoah.

     We don’t know when Moses learned the truth of his ancestry. Maybe he carried it with him from childhood. Kids can tell us the truth about who they are from a young age, if we listen. Jochebed could have worked every day to make sure he knew as much as he could soak up by her side.  Or, maybe his adopted mother told him the truth when she felt he was ready. We know she’s brave. Maybe she was that kind of brave. Or, maybe he heard it through gossip and conjecture. After all, the princess’s attendants saw him be drawn out of the water. However he comes to know this truth about himself, it will shape his whole life. It will become the foundation of his calling as an adult.

     When we read this story, it’s clear who the heroes are, and it’s clear that we are supposed to act like them. When told to do harm, they show us the correct response: let the vulnerable live. Do not follow wicked rules. Do not be a tool for the hateful. Use all of your wit and wisdom to outsmart the evil systems that surround you. When governments turn to fear-mongering to prop up their power, this story reminds us that 1) wicked and unserious leaders have been doing that for a long time and 2) it is possible to survive in spite of them. May we be the Midwives, the Mothers, and the Big Sisters who take the first steps towards God’s Liberation.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
​Sara M. Koenig: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-21/commentary-on-exodus-18-210-2
Kimberly Russaw: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-21/commentary-on-exodus-18-210
Wil Gafney, Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of Torah and the Throne. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017.
Judith Sanderson’s notes on Matthew in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001)
Mary Alice Mulligan, “Proper 16,” Preaching God’s Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year A featuring 22 New Holy Days for Justice (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013)

Matthew 15:10-28 Things That Defile (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)
 
Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand:  it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out into the sewer? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”

​Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.

    Last week, we talked about how Jesus seemed to be testing the disciples to see what they would do without him being physically with him. It was a hard test. It took everything they had, but they made it through the night, Peter’s water-walking escapades notwithstanding. At the end of the ordeal, they found themselves saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Something had changed within them overnight, and it made their faith stronger.

     In a commentary on last week’s text, Mitzi Smith notes that Jesus had changed within the story, too. I didn’t talk about her commentary last week, but it seems important to bring up this week. When talking about Matthew 14:22-33, Dr. Smith points out that Jesus’ time in the mountains at the beginning of the story is worth paying attention to. Though this story is not specific about what he does there, if his pattern for this time in the wilderness holds true, he likely spent the time there in prayer and away from the crowds who needed his help. It is after this time away, that the story tells us that Jesus’ power in manifest in dramatic ways in the story.

     First, he walks on water towards his friends. Remember, they think he’s a ghost. And, after Jesus and the disciples get to land, and the crowds find him, we learn that it is possible to simply touch his cloak and be healed. That is no small amount of power. Dr. Smith says, “After his time of self-care, Jesus is empowered from his head to the sole of his water-walking feet and at the fringe of his garment (14:34-36).” Smith notes while there are earlier stories of people touching Jesus’ clothes for healing, at this point, it hasn’t happened since chapter 9: 20-21.

     In that story, a desperate and faithful woman secretly reached out for Jesus in hopes that just touching him will heal her from years of constant bleeding. It worked. The people in chapter 14 are doing something similar, though they don’t feel like they have to hide their actions from Jesus. They feel empowered enough to reach right out. Healing comes through a rested and powerful Christ meeting faithful and empowered people who trust that his healing will be shared easily. That background sets the scene for today’s reading.
Today’s reading isn’t always preached all together. I could have had our reading simply read the argument between Jesus and the Pharisees in verses 10-20 or read only chapter 21 to chapter 28, the story of a new empowered woman looking to Jesus for healing. It is easy to split this chapter here based on who is interacting with Jesus and what they are talking about. I think when I’ve preached on this story before, I’ve just talked about the woman. This week, I’m glad I read about the argument with the Pharisees first because I think it helps explain some of Jesus’ initial reaction to the Canaanite woman and why their interaction is so powerful.

     According to Anderw Overman, verses 10-20 are part of a longer conversation about Jewish religious law. Jesus and the Pharisees both thought it was important to follow Jewish religious law as a sign of one’s covenant with God. As you know, few people argue more fiercely than people who both love something and disagree about it. Jesus (and many other Jewish people) argued that it was most important to honor the spirit intended behind the religious law, not just the exact wording. In the first part of chapter 15, they are talking about laws governing ritual purity, specifically around handwashing, and laws about food.

     Ultimately, Jesus’ foundational argument is that the thing that demonstrates most clearly your commitment to God is not exacting attention to purity rituals and food, but instead are your words and behaviors. Whatever goes into the mouth can be released to the sewer. Whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. If that which is your heart is good, your words and actions with usually be good. If evil intent is in your heart, your words and deeds will spread that out into the world. “These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.” He never says not to follow the purity codes. He does say do not argue about who is following them perfectly. That is not the most important part of their shared faith. Increasing the love and justice in the world is.

     Jesus says all of that and then proceeds to deny a faithful person healing because they don’t follow purity laws. That’s basically what happens in the next part of the story. Jesus left Jerusalem and the conversation with the Pharisees and has an encounter with a Canaanite woman in Tyre and Sidon, in Syria. The author of Matthew notes that she is Canaanite, according to Eunjung Lim in her commentary on this text, as a kind of shorthand to say “these people aren’t really supposed to be talking to each other because of ethnic, religious, and gender differences.” She is a member of Israel’s ancient enemy nation. She does not keep ritual purity codes. And, she is a woman who not related to Jesus or his disciples. Jesus has been taught his whole life not to hang out with the likes of her.

     This woman, however, like the bleeding woman before her and the empowered people Jesus met after the boat incident, is faithful. She is confident Jesus can heal her daughter. She also likely knows that he’s not supposed to spend time with her. She doesn’t care. She knows he can make things right. So, she approaches him with the greatest respect she can: “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” In her commentary on chapter 15, Mitzi Smith points on that in calling Jesus “Son of David,” this woman might not just be describing Jesus’ Jewishness and identity as Messiah. She might also be reminding him that three of David’s ancestors were Canaanite women: Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. These are also Jesus’ ancestors. In calling him “lord,” it is also an acknowledgement of his role as teacher and healer. And, she names clearly the suffering of her loved one. This action on its own is often enough to drive Jesus into action.

     It is not this time. In fact, he is deeply unkind to her in his response. This woman, who has demonstrated faith and respect for covenant in her works an action, the thing Jesus has said is most import in the argument right before this, is denied care because of her identity as one outside of religious covenant, a covenant which is made visible, in part, by keeping purity codes and eating food in a particular way. His disciples told him to run her off. He said to her face, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” She said, again, “Lord, help me.” He said, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” He called her and her suffering child a dog.

     Thank God this woman, like Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth, is faithful and brave. She’s gonna help her daughter. With that love in her heart, she puts these words into the world, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” In that moment, Jesus is changed. In that moment, he decided to practice what he had been preaching. He sees her for what she is: a powerful example of living a life rooted in love and keeping promises. And, this is basically what he has told his disciples to be. “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” While we don’t see the daughter in any of the story, the narrator tells us that she is instantly healed.

     Jesus is not the only one who has been caught not living up to his stated morals, or, at the very least, thinking too narrowly about his mission. He can actually offer love, healing, and connection beyond his own religious community. His own family line was an example of people who disrupted what Dr. Lim calls “entrenched social divisions.” Perhaps he just needed to be reminded that love and justice are needed in the whole world. May we be so quick to change our minds when shown that we aren’t practicing what we preach. And, when leaders we trust aren’t living up to their promises, may we be as bold as this woman in reminding them that grace is best shared with all who need it. Let us know that God means more for us than merely crumbs. May our actions and our words demonstrate our faith in that promise.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
Mitzi Smith on Matthew 14:22-33: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-19/commentary-on-matthew-1422-33
Mitzi Smith on Matthew 15:10-28: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-20/commentary-on-matthew-1510-20-21-28-4
J. Andrew Overman's note on Matthew in the The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001)
​Eunyung Lim: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-20/commentary-on-matthew-1510-20-21-28-7

Matthew 14:22-33 Jesus Walks on the Water (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. 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?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

     On a recent Friday night, I accidently called and woke up a Catholic priest at 10:30 pm. Now, I did not mean to call the priest directly, nor have I ever actually met this particular priest. I was just trying to help one of my oldest friends in the world verify that said priest had actually planned to officiate her mother’s funeral two days later. It turns out that I, a pastor, have had a lot more experience planning funerals than most non-clergy that I know. I wasn’t able to travel to Knoxville for the funeral because it was the same weekend we were leaving for Montreal, so I was trying to use my pastoral experience as best as I could to offer guidance and care from afar.

     What I was trying to do that late on a Friday was find out if the priest had left an emergency or weekend number on the church office voicemail. I don’t know if you know that we clergy do that sometimes, but we do. I’ve called a lot of pastors in my life, so I knew that. I decided to call the church office and listen to the message to see what it said. Well, in case you ever need to call Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, Tennessee in order to listen to the office answering machine, I would like to tell that you should not call them at 10:30 pm. Because, unlike our church, where you would reach the voicemail at that time of time, the pastors of that church have the office phone forwarded to their personal cell. They will politely and drowsily answer a call that comes that late. And, you will have to figure out what to say to that tired man.
I fumbled at first, professionally and personally embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you would answer. It is not an emergency, and I can call back tomorrow.” He kindly said, “Can I help you?” I decided to press on: “I am a friend of Pat Davenport’s family and I’m trying to help them finalize her arrangements.” He sleepily informed me that the associate pastor of the church was going to her graveside service. I said thank you and that her daughter would likely call with more logistic information on Saturday, and thanked him, again. He said “God bless you” and hung up the phone. I was left with the sense that he was kind and a good pastor.

     I left a voice note for Jennie explaining what happened, which was followed by a phone call (we are both night owls, unlike her mom’s priest). She laughed so hard about what had happened. As did her husband, who sent me a text, calling me “legendary.” Her sister appreciated the confirmation that they would, indeed, have a priest to bury their mom. She and the church admin talked more details on Saturday at a normal time of day. As Tasha and I began our travels, I learned that the senior pastor, who’d I’d woken up, officiated the funeral on Sunday, and the associate, the graveside on Monday. They were good pastors to my friends. And, I got to help my friends laugh a little at a very hard time even though I was so far away.

     In his commentary on this text, Arthur Van Seters talks about this portion of Matthew as giving us a view of the disciples evolving in their ministry. He reminds us that the original audience for this Gospel was a particular congregation that was being targeted for persecution. The author tells Jesus’ story in such a way to inspire them to persevere in the midst of hardship. Even Jesus’ direction to the disciples to get in the boat and go to the other side of the water might be considered its own test of their training and skills. As Van Seters says, “What would it be like for the disciples to venture out on their own?” Would they do the thing Jesus asked of them? How would they handle something unexpected?

     I bet that you’ve had your own deep end experiences... times when you have ostensibly got the skills to handle something, but it’s been thrust upon you in a way that you maybe didn’t expect or weren’t sure you could handle. My first on-call as a chaplain resident was the weekend that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. They brought some evacuees up from Louisiana to Knoxville, and since it was the weekend, I was the only chaplain in the whole big hospital that was also the main level 1 trauma center for the region. I did have back up if I needed it, and my supervisor came by to help me organize some clothing donations for the evacuees. That being said, though, for those 24 hours, it was mostly just me providing pastoral care for evacuees plus all of our regular patients.

     Zina Jaque, in her commentary on this text, talks about the boat adventure that Jesus compelled his friends to go on this way. “Jesus did not give the disciples a choice. He put them in that boat the way a teacher puts a test on your desk. You did not ask for it. You may not be ready for it. But it is here, and you are going to take it.” Take a moment to think about your deep end experiences. Did you feel confident that you had the skills? Did you feel like you had back up? Did you feel ready?

     To be fair to Jesus, some bad stuff had happened just before this story. A feckless and foolish king had killed his cousin John. John’s disciples had had to bury him and were still trying to figure out their next steps. While Jesus was still in mourning, he found himself surrounded by crowds of people needing help. The first story after John’s death is Jesus having compassion on these crowds of hungry people and feeding them. It’s the second of two stories about Jesus taking a little bit of food and using it to feed thousands of people. It is interesting that in that story, Jesus’ disciples are sure they don’t have enough to help everyone, and Jesus reminds them that they do. They have enough and more!

     Maybe that’s why he sent them across the water, especially in the wake of watching John’s disciples try to figure out what to do without him. Jesus knew that his disciples still needed to gain some confidence and experience. What happens when he goes out to greet them on the water is far more shocking that a priest answering a phone call at 10:30 at night.

     “It’s a ghost!” That’s what they say when they see him atop the water. This is actually a reasonable response from the disciples. It is reasonable to be afraid, especially if you’ve been stuck in a storm on the water all night and then also are maybe seeing your wholly human friend walk on water like some weird little lizard. Jesus, wholly divine, tells them, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter very much wants to not be afraid. And, he tries to take heart. And, he got scared anyway because he was doing something impossible in a terrifying situation.

     Thank God, like me and like you, he had back up. Jesus offered him a hand and kept him from sinking. Jesus’ next words can sound like a castigation, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Maybe it is, at least a little. But, maybe it’s also, “you could have done this,” or even “you didn’t have to do this, and when you tried, you got in over your head.” Jacque offers up that second interpretation in her commentary. Peter had tried to test Jesus back and wasn’t prepared for it. You see, Jesus had told them to go out into the boat. He hadn’t told them to walk on water. Peter decided to do that on his own. That, it turns out, was beyond his skills and training. He needed Jesus to help him out.

     Though they were terrified, the disciples in the boat had managed to survive the storm. They were also pretty relieved when it stopped when Peter and Jesus climbed back in the boat. It is at this moment that everyone who stayed in the boat says for the first time in the Gospel of Matthew, according to Zina Jaque, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Jacque also notes that this phrase is only spoken once more in this gospel: at the foot of the cross, by the centurion. For Jacque, these confessions are connected because the events that inspired them are connected. Each is a hardship Jesus compelled his followers to go through. Each has a miracle they don’t understand. I believe that making it through the first, helped them get through the second. And, I hope that the centurion was as inspired to live differently as the disciples were after their deep end experience.

     In a challenging season, I imagine that many of us will see ourselves in the disciples here, trying to do what Jesus said to do, but realizing that it’s really hard.... maybe even doing more than is asked of us and getting in over our heads. May we remember that a moment may be difficult, but that doesn’t mean that we aren’t exactly where Christ compelled us to go. And, may we ask for back up when we’ve tried something beyond our capacity. When, we’re asked, “Can I help you,” let us be brave enough to say yes, and press on to what we were called to do in the first place. In so doing, we will help the people we love and strangers alike.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:

Arthur Van Seters notes on Proper 14 in Preaching God's Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year A featuring 22 New Holy Days for Justice (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013)

Zina Jaque: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-19/commentary-on-matthew-1422-33-7

J. Andrew Overman's note on Matthew in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001)

Genesis 32:22-31 Jacob Wrestles at Peniel (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)
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. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.

Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans and have prevailed.”

hen Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.

So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, yet my life is preserved.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

     Tasha and I spent a week in Montreal and every day I walked to get a croissant for breakfast, usually pan au chocolat. It was glorious. I was usually greeted by one of two styles of kind people: someone who heard my accent and offered to switch to English or someone who slowed down their French to help me understand. This is not the first time I have traveled to a place where I am not fluent in the most common language, but it is always good to be reminded that there are many ways to encourage communication and welcome people who speak a different language than you. I also know that I was a tourist in a touristy area of a province where there is long and on-going tension around language, cultural heritage, and political sovereignty.  Decisions about when and if to speak English are more complex than having an impulse to simply and kindly help someone buy food from you. When I read about Jacob’s wrestling in our scripture for today, I think about Montreal, and the wrestling I was a part of in my brief visit there.

     I won’t pretend that I’ve become an expert on Montreal or Quebec after spending a week there. There are people in this church with family histories in Quebec who know far more than I do from their own lived experience. But, I saw some things in the city that I thought were interesting, especially knowing that in our own country, we are in the midst of significant tension about how to tell the history of a place and whose stories get told. Montreal is known as a city with a vibrant art scene and beautiful public art. In 2017, during the Montreal’s 375th anniversary celebration, the city unveiled a project called Cité Mémoire. It is a series of interactive projections around the city. If you have the app with the map on your phone, you can walk to the areas where the projections have been installed and use your phone to start the video which is displayed on a wall of a building. They projections are huge and hard to miss.

     I didn’t learn about the project until late in our trip after seeing a projection near where we stayed in Old Montreal. We rounded the corner while taking our dog Mikey on his last walk for night and saw a haunting image on the wall ahead of us. White figures with shadowed faces, including a child, are hovering over and pointing accusatorily at a terrified looking adult Black woman. As the white figures fade and flames begin to lick up the walls, the woman begins to run for her life.  As she runs, the image shifts and becomes a Black man, a baseball player, running hard between bases.

     A bit of internet searching helped me to learn who these people were. The woman is Marie-Josèphe Angélique, an enslaved woman tried and convicted in 1734 after being accused of setting a fire that burned a hospital and 45 homes. She maintained her innocence through her conviction until authorities began the torture prescribed as punishment. She, like many people, confessed in the midst of unspeakable pain. She was hanged and her remains burned, ashes scattered as a warning.

     I read in one article that, originally, her story was the only story in this part of the project and the film had more about her trial. However, at some point, by 2021, the artists had shortened it and added a connection to the ballplayer, Jackie Robinson to the visual narrative. Robinson played for the Montreal Royals, a farm team of the Brooklyn Dodgers. His first game was April 18th, 1946. The Dodgers sent him to the Royals to prepare for eventually playing in Brooklyn. Robinson, who would go on to be the first Black player in the major leagues, and his wife Rachel spoke of his time in Montreal largely positively from what I’ve read.

     Robinson faced persistent, hateful racism, especially from opposing fans in away games. But, Montreal largely embraced him as a player, and his family found a safe apartment to rent and good neighbors who supported them as they had their first child. The Montreal fans were excited to see how good Robinson was, and Black fans from other cities came to watch him play.  When Robinson wasn’t allowed to stay in the team hotel in three games of a championship series that took place in Jim Crow Kentucky, Montreal fans were angry about how poorly he was treated. Eventually, Mrs. Robinson would describe their year in Montreal as “almost blissful.” Though 15 of the 16 baseball clubs in Major League Baseball voted to prevent him from joining the Dodgers, the commissioner over-rode the vote. Robinson was allowed to begin playing with the Dodgers three days shy of a year from his debut in Montreal.

     I can understand the impulse to pair one pretty horrifying story from Montreal’s past with one far more celebratory. Of course, we’d want to see the progression of the ethos of the city, moving from an unfair trial of a captive Black woman to a protective celebration of a Black man over the course of 190 years. And, I also wonder, given that the original projection is right in the middle of bars and restaurants full of revelers nearly every night of the summer, maybe some people thought that the terror of the original piece was “bringing down the vibe” of a joyous part of the city. This is the challenge of the public memorial.

     How does one tell the hardest truths of a place while also speaking about that which is gracious and good? I think about this when I talk about the American Missionary Association. Our own Rev. Thurston co-founded it. I graduated from a wonderful school founded by AMA. They also ran terrible, violent residential schools and misappropriated funds raised by the Fisk University Jubilee Singers. This is part of my history that I wrestle with. It’s probably not the reason why my hip hurts sometimes, but it does weigh on me.

     I know from experience that telling a more complex story about a place, a person, an organization is challenging. We shouldn’t discount the fact that we may be changed by choosing to tell the story differently. Jacob was changed with his wrestling. His persistence garnered him a new name and an injury that changed how he moved through the world. He was so affected by what had happened to him, by the effort and effect of the wrestling, that he even gave the site of the wrestling a name, Penuel, “For I have seen God face to face, yet my life is preserved." I don’t know exactly what you are wrestling with right now, but I also know that there’s no shortage of things to be sorted out at this moment. Maybe this art that I’ve shared can serve as one example of what I think is a useful and good struggle. May you have the resilience you need to find your way to blessing on the other side. And, may you hang on as long as you need to to get the name that will carry you forth with God.

Resources consulted to write the sermon:
about Marie-Josèphe Angélique:

• https://canadianmysteries.ca/sites/angelique/accueil/indexen.html
• https://wams.nyhistory.org/life-story/marie-josephe-angelique/
• https://lejeuneinstitute.ca/marie-joseph-angelique-a-symbol-of-resistance-and-freedom/
• https://www.mcgill.ca/race-space/article/reading-group-contributions/placing-angelique

Jackie Robinson: https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jackie-robinson-and-the-montreal-royals
Cité Mémoire:

• https://www.montrealenhistoires.com/en/cite_memoire_montreal/
• https://www.montrealenhistoires.com/archives_en/