A Sermon for 9 Pentecost (RCL A) 8-14-2011
Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry
Title: Like the Dew of Hermon
My brothers and sisters in Christ: think for a moment about your family of origin, the household in which you grew up. What was it like? Was it a peaceful place, or was it full of strife and conflict?
Our families can provide us with an incalculable reservoir of strength throughout our lives.
The Psalmist spoke the truth when he said: “How good and pleasant it is when brethren live together in unity!”
But what is also the truth, and that which the psalmist failed to add, is how rare and surprising it is when siblings live together in unity!
If you are not familiar with the entire story of Joseph, I encourage you to sit down and read it sometime soon. It is a fantastic and a wonderful story, drawn across the second half of the book of Genesis, beginning in the 37th Chapter.
If you gathered with your brothers and sisters last week for worship, then you will recall that fact that Joseph was sold into slavery by his flesh-and-blood brothers who hated him, barely escaping being murdered by them due to the prudence of the oldest son, Rueben.
Today we heard the story of their eventual reunion, after a long and bewildering and surprising journey. By the guidance of the hand of Providence, Joseph has become the right-hand man of the Pharaoh of Egypt. Joseph now is one of the most powerful human beings on earth, and his brothers have unknowingly come to him in order to buy food from the Pharaoh during a time of severe famine.
As they ask and plead for help, they do not realize that the man before them is Joseph. How could they? The very thought would have been ridiculous, and impossible for them to suggest.
Joseph, however, knows exactly who they are. With great determination, and what we call a great poker face, he hides his emotions throughout their request for help. His youngest full brother, Benjamin, is there, and Joseph is overwhelmed by the sight of him. He concocts a covert plan to keep Benjamin behind, but his brothers undermine this by a stirring request to protect their elderly father from further heartache, which would surely occur if he were to lose yet another son.
Finally, Joseph can control himself no longer, and here we are given the account of the revelation of his true identity to his long-estranged brothers.
It is surprising to find the great foundational stories of the Bible littered with tales of such dysfunctional family systems, even to the point of attempted fratricide by those very men who were to become the fathers and name-sakes of the 12 great tribes of Israel!
As we consider what the scriptures teach us, it is clear that God intends for our natural families to be life-giving sources of strength and identity and support as we navigate this life on the paths of truth and goodness.
In one sense, the entire salvation narrative of the Bible is structured around the idea of family and tribal identity. The 12 sons of Jacob give birth to the 12 twelve tribes of Israel, who are to function as large extended families. This tribal/family identity retains its power even for the apostle Paul, who identifies himself with some obvious pride as “an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin” (Romans 11:2), that younger brother whom Joseph loved so much.
In Jesus Christ, we discover a way by which all people can enter into the family of Abraham and into the tribes of Israel through water and the Spirit, through faith and baptism into Christ.
The earliest Christian prayers that we have speak of Jesus as our elder brother and as the child of God who has redeemed all humanity.
Our very understanding of God as Trinity implies a type of family: three persons working and living together in complete harmony and unity.
Clearly, the concept of family is central to the Gospel and the entire plan of salvation.
But just as it is seen that families are intended to be communities of blessing and wisdom, so it is just as clearly seen in Scripture that these very same families are often likely to become sources of the deepest pain and anguish.
Consider once again the torture that Joseph had to endure at the hands of his own flesh-and-blood brothers, or the betrayal and tension we saw earlier this summer between Jacob and his brother Esau.
I am certain that there are a number of you here this morning who have likewise experienced betrayal and deep pain from members of your own family.
Thankfully, I have not had to endure anything like that from my own kin, but the challenge and struggle of being a family is fresh on my mind, since we arrived back in New Jersey just last night from two weeks of family vacation time in New Hampshire and in Canada.
First, there are all of the little things that are frustrating to deal with. One of our goals while in Ottawa, in Canada, was to bike on the vast network of beautiful bike trails all around the city there, following along the sides of the many rivers and canals. But then, our youngest daughter twisted her ankle, and one pedal on our oldest daughters bicycle fell off. So we had to change those plans.
Then of course, we have to deal with the incessant bickering and fighting, over everything from who sits in which seat, to who has done the most dishes and who gets to use which pillow when we’re camping, etc and etc.
Our son, Angus, suddenly loves to practice all of his wrestling holds on his sisters, who – of course – subsequently scream and cry for help. Our youngest daughter, Fiona, is still learning how to speak without use of her whiny voice, if you know what I mean. And when she is tired and does not get her way, she is quick to tell us just how much she hates us, even though she makes up for it later with a hug and a kiss and an apology.
And just trying to keep all of these people fed is a real challenge when traveling on the road.
But, at the very same time that we have to deal with all of the head-aches and stresses of family life, I know that there is a deep connection that is being built which is good and holy and life-giving.
When I listen to today’s story from the Gospel of Matthew of our Lord’s interaction with the Syrophoenician woman, what I sense is the love and devotion of a mother who is determined to find healing for her troubled daughter.
She is not one to passively accept what life sends her way. She is a mother who will fight to ensure a good future for her child.
This is the fruit of love. This kind of assiduous devotion is a true reflection of the God who is Love, the God who will not sit passively back and allow humanity to drift off into a chaotic and ill and violent future, but who fights and intervenes to open a way into a good future for all those who will embrace it.
Through the Gospel, this path of life is creating a new family of God, a new community of blessing among those who are reconciled to God and to one another through Christ.
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