Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Jesus and Peter walking on the water. I know I already talked about the movie Bruce Almighty last week, but I can’t help but think of the scene where God, played by Morgan Freeman, walks on water with Bruce, played by Jim Carrey, while he explains to Bruce the rules when handing over his divine powers. The rules are, he cannot tell anyone he is God. And, he cannot mess with free will. Those rules prove to be more challenging than he expects later on. Contrary to the gospel story today, Bruce manages not to fall in the water, although there is a moment when it looks a little sketchy. And, contrary to the story today, that conversation takes place in broad daylight.
In the gospel story today, the disciples find themselves in a very dangerous situation. They are in a boat in the Sea of Galilee, which is a good sized lake, 13 miles long and 8 miles wide, hence the name “Sea.” The wind picks up, the boat is being battered by waves. And it is the middle of the night. Anyone who has been on a boat knows that you bring your boat into harbor at night, you don’t go out in the middle of a giant sea, especially during a storm. Jesus had ordered them to go to the other side, but they were going upwind, so it was taking them literally all night, given the size of the sea. And, frankly, Jesus seems to be taking his sweet time praying by himself. On the one hand, this is a great example of self-care, as I imagine the whole multiplying the loaves and fish must have exhausted him. I can imagine him perhaps having a little snoring being involved with his prayers on the mountain. On the other hand, he seems to be leaving his disciples hanging. Perhaps the wind awakened him early in the morning, and he suspected that his disciples were in trouble, and went out to meet them on the lake, walking on water. Of course, they are terrified, thinking he is a ghost. He reassures them, telling them not to be afraid. Then Peter asks Jesus to command him to come to him on the water, which Jesus does. At first it goes well, but then Peter gets scared by the wind, starting to sink and crying for help. Jesus catches Peter, saying, “you of little faith, why did you doubt?” This seems a little harsh for me- I think it was rather brave of Peter even to try walking on water in a storm in the middle of a sea in the early morning. The Jesus I know and love is not the Jesus who makes us feel guilty, ashamed, and afraid. He is the one who loves us unconditionally. In any case, Jesus and Peter get back in the boat, the wind stops, and the disciples worship Jesus, saying, “truly you are the Son of God.”
I think one important take-away from this story is that God is a great artist with an incredible imagination, weaving together the tapestry of our lives. Our lives include pain and dark nights of the soul. Our lives include metaphorical, and sometimes physical, storms, where we feel battered and windswept. Our lives sometimes include sleepless nights. While God doesn’t cause pain, God, in God’s unlimited imagination, uses those experiences to help us learn and grow and to prepare us for future challenges and opportunities. From our limited human perspective, it is sometimes difficult to understand why we go through certain painful experiences. But from God’s infinitely creative perspective, there is always a silver lining to every storm cloud. There is always an opportunity to learn. And there is always some gift in every challenge we go through.
I’m sure Joseph was having trouble understanding why his brothers would want to try to kill him. It would have been hard to understand what good could come from that. An important part of the story we skipped today was Joseph telling his brothers of a dream in which they would all bow down to him, with even the sun, moon and stars bowing down to him. So their anger towards Joseph was not entirely unprovoked, and not purely due to their father Jacob’s favoritism towards Joseph. Nevertheless, God worked through Reuben, and then Judah, to convince the brothers not to kill him, but rather to throw him into a pit, and then to sell him as a slave to the caravan of Midianite traders.
Next week we’re going to read the end of the story, but spoiler alert, in case you don’t remember the end of the Joseph story, I’m going to give it away now. They take Joseph’s long robe, Jacob’s gift to him, and dip it in the blood of a slaughtered goat and show it to their father, tricking him into thinking Jacob was eaten by a wild animal and causing him to mourn greatly. Meanwhile, the Midianites had sold Joseph to Potiphar, the captain of the pharaoh’s guard. Potiphar noticed that God was with Joseph and everything prospered in Joseph’s hands, so he left Joseph in charge of his house. Joseph was handsome, and Potiphar’s wife told him to lie with her. But he refused her, since she was Potiphar’s wife, despite her insistence. One day, when he again refused her, she falsely accused him of trying to rape her, first to the servants, then to Potiphar. He became enraged, putting Joseph in prison. But he found favor with the chief jailer, who committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners. He correctly interpreted dreams for the Pharoah’s cupbearer and baker, and then for Pharoah himself, that there will be seven good years of harvest, then seven years of famine. Pharaoh was pleased, and raised Joseph to second-in-command of the whole kingdom. They stored away food during the seven good years. Then the famine came, and his family came asking for food. Joseph gives them a hard time, but eventually reveals who he is, and,despite their terror, he reassures them of his support, sending for his father and his whole family who join him in Egypt.
God raised Joseph from the pit to the palace. In God’s infinite creativity, God took the evil intentions of Joseph’s brothers and used it to lift up Joseph to power to save the kingdom from famine. As Joseph says at the end of Genesis, when his brothers approach him in fear after their father dies, worried he might still bear a grudge, Joseph says, “Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” God, the infinitely creative artist, takes the pain, the evil intentions, the dark nights of the soul, the nights of boats rocking precariously on the stormy seas, and God uses those experiences to help us grow and learn, and to provide some kind of unexpected gift. From our limited human perspective, many times it doesn’t make sense. Joseph could have easily had the “poor me” syndrome many times. “Why did my brothers try to kill me or sell me into slavery? Why did Potiphar’s wife slander me? Why was I sent to jail? Why did the cupbearer forget about me?” But, instead, he trusted God. And, out of Joseph’s suffering and imprisonment, God lifted Joseph up and placed him in charge of the palace. There was always something to learn, and always a surprise gift.
When we enter our dark nights of the soul, our stormy seas on the boat, when we start sinking into the water in the sea in the middle of the night, or when it feels like we are imprisoned, may we remember that God’s got us. Not only will God’s hand catch us. God, in God’s infinite creativity, will imagine up a way for that painful experience to teach us some kind of important lesson and help us grow in some important way. The silver lining is always there. There is always some gift that God provides from that experience. God’s imagination is greater than we could ever imagine. It will make sense later. For now, may we listen, trust, and obey, that God’s kin-dom come, God’s will be done, on earth as in heaven. Amen.
