HELP!

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28; Matthew 14:22-33

… In our genealogical time chart in the bulletin, we move to Joseph today. We could easily say the dysfunction in the family continues. Jacob (also called Israel) has 2 wives, sisters Leah and Rachel, and their primary maids Zilpah and Bilhah are slave wives to Jacob. All the women except Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel have given birth to sons. Rachel, as the pattern in Genesis has shown, is barren until finally she gives birth. Her sons Joseph and Benjamin are Jacob’s favorites, and are picked on by their older half-brothers.

Joseph has the gift of interpreting dreams, and he does so within his family. The brothers are angry – jealous, even – with Joseph’s bragging interpretation of his dreams. They see an opportunity to get rid of him – and he ends up being sold to traveling Ishmaelites. You may recall that the Ishmaelites are descendants of Abraham through Hagar. The Israelites and the Ishmaelites are cousins! … Before long, Joseph is a slave in Egypt.

I’d like you to imagine that you are Joseph, and you have just been ripped away from your family and taken by force to Egypt. What are you feeling? Anger, fear, longing, regret. As you are dragged off, your hands reach out for home, for rescue. Joseph will have many adventures before he is rejoined with his family.

 … Peter often speaks before he thinks through what he is saying. Jesus has gone off to pray, and the disciples are fishing, earning a living for their families. They go out at night to bring the fresh catch to the market in the early hours of the morning. This night, a storm comes up. I have been on the Sea of Galilee in a storm, and it gets pretty wild in a tourist boat built for 50. In a wooden fishing boat built for 12, it must have been terrifying.

In the middle of this storm, Jesus approaches the boat by walking on top of the water. I imagine him rising and dipping along with the waves. The disciples are sure the being approaching them is supernatural – and definitely not good news for them. But then Jesus calls out to them, and now Peter thinks if Jesus can walk on water, he wants to do that too. So, Jesus invites him. Peter starts out with great confidence, then looks around, sees the waves rising and dipping, and suddenly, he is under water, reaching up to Jesus. “Save me!” he calls, terrified.

… I see a common theme here between these two readings; Joseph reaching out for his brothers as he is dragged away from them, and Peter reaching up for Jesus, terrified of the storm threatening to drown him. We know that Jesus reaches down to catch Peter and draw him up out of the water. And we know that God goes with Joseph into his years in Egypt. In the midst of their fear and panic, they reach out in faith that God will help them.

We cry out to God when we realize that our circumstances are greater than anything human power can fix.

 

 ·       It was late September last year when Hurricane Ian hit southeastern Florida, and all is not well there, yet.

·       It’s been a year and a half since Russia invaded Ukraine, this time.  

·       There are heat index warnings over much of the US and Europe.

·       Florida’s coral reefs are dying because of high water temperatures.

·       Inflation has driven prices higher for almost everything.

·       Refugees are dying at our borders, for many reasons.

… My friend J is tiny woman. She suffers from several chronic health challenges, and now, she has been diagnosed with several cancers. She whispered this news to me a week or two before telling her pastor. I suspect she told me in part because I am a “girl”.

But more, she told me this because she covets my prayers. She knows I will call on God regularly to heal her, because I want her to know that I and hundreds of others trust in God to be with her as she endures these new health challenges. And, we all believe that God does have the power to heal her. I will be among the many reaching our hands to God, asking for help.

… I imagine we all have experienced moments, or days, or years, when we felt fear and panic. We reached out hands to Jesus to save us. Sometimes we knew immediately, like Peter, that Jesus was there to save him. On other occasions, it may have been a long time before we were sure of God’s presence. Joseph went through a lot in Egypt before seeing his family again.

People everywhere are reaching out their hands for help today. We as individuals cannot fix everything, but we can be Jesus’ hands and heart when people reach out for help. Through many agencies, including Lutheran Disaster Response, assistance was sent to Ft Myers Beach, which is still recovering from Hurricane Ian. We continue to pray for the people of Ukraine and Russia, that their leaders will find a way to peaceful resolution of that conflict. And we pray fervently that there will finally be a fair solution to the problem of migration and immigration at our borders.

… This week, I invite you to consider when you have asked for help, and what kind of help you received. Was it human or divine assistance? Was it just the right assistance? Pay attention this week also to those requesting assistance. As they reach out, are you offering them the help they need? Are you God’s hands and voice in our world, our community, today? Amen