Then ​the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings…
~Exodus 3:7
 
For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
~Matthew 16:26
 
Hebrew.
 
What is in a name? The very first time the term “Hebrew” is introduced in the Bible, it comes abruptly, with no explanation, just as its companion Abram.
 
There are stories of an identified underclass in the Ancient Near East known as Hapiru. According to Anthony Bartlett in his book Signs of Change, the Hapiru were “’a loosely defined, inferior social class composed of shifting and shifty population elements without secure ties to settled communities.’ Constant warfare, displaced peasantry, disinherited clans, refugees, scattered warriors: this creates the perfect conditions for outlaws, mercenaries, indentured labor, slaves.”
 
It all seems a little unsavory, until Bartlett (p. 32) says it plainly: “the people who will become Israel are drawn sociologically from the disenfranchised underclass of the ancient near-eastern world known as Hapiru.”
 
That catches us, perhaps all the more when we realize that this is the crew—unsavory or not—Yahweh chooses a relationship with: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6).
 
It is not about power—political or otherwise—then. It is about relationship, about steadfast love--hesed. This is the I Am who I Am Moses and ultimately Moses’ Hebrew people re-encounter in the beginning of their journey to emancipation.
 
That there are political implications to this as well as spiritual ones, there should be no surprise—not for Pharaoh, not for the seat of the Roman Empire ensconced, according to Matthew's narrative, in Caesarea Phillipi. Not for Moses, and not for Peter who cannot unseat this way of power from his expectations for Jesus. And Jesus’ own response to Peter may suggest Jesus is fully aware of the temptations of power that create rivalries and tear us apart.
 
Here comes a defining moment for the way of this God known in Yahweh, known in Jesus. And known in those who would want to become followers, who want to save their lives. Who do we say Jesus is?
 
Enter into worship this Sunday morning at 10:00am in-person or online.
 
 
Readings: Exodus 3:1-15 † Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26 † Romans 12:9-21 † Matthew 16:21-28
 
About the Art: A photograph of an arrangement of leaves from an Euonymus alatus, or “Burning Bush.” Schumacher, Joe. Burning Bush, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt University Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://act.library.vanderbilt.edu/artworks/55954 [retrieved August 19, 2026]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jschumacher/6386697855.

Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
~Exodus 1:8
 
Pharaoh’s daughter said to [the child’s mother], “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.”
~Exodus 2:9
 
The origin story of Moses drips with delicious, revolutionary irony. The children of Israel who settled in Egypt under Joseph’s forgiving invitation have prospered. Egypt has been blessed too. But the new king is afraid anyway. Pharaoh’s fear, as fear often does in the context of an unchecked and excessively powerful empire, sanctions violence in the name of domination: Forced labor, institutionalized discrimination, even genocide. And, per usual, those attempts produce tragically inevitable suffering and fail spectacularly in the stated goal. Note the concern as the new Egyptian king names it in Exodus 1:10:  
 
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.”
 
How did that go for them?
 
Uninterested in the lessons of Joseph or the logic of non-violence, the king creates a roadmap for the very thing he wanted to avoid. Ironic indeed. Yet God is God and God blesses. The Egyptian empire’s attempts to eliminate the threat create the conditions for the tutelage of Moses, it’s eventual conqueror—and his biological mother falls upon an unexpected social safety net to help her in raising him!
 
The current US administration is not the first empire, in other words, to start a fight that ends up in chaos and, at least in part, strengthens the perceived enemy.
 
Jesus brings his disciples to Caesarea Philippi, a regional capital of the Roman Empire to offer a similar lesson about the (il)logic of politics-as-usual that will play out over two Sundays. They are beginning to understand who Jesus really is, but it will take time for this good news to unfold for them as it does for those of us with ears to hear.
 
Enter into worship. Sunday, 10:00am, in-person or online.
 
Readings: Exodus 1:8-2:10 † Psalm 124 † Romans 12:1-8 † Matthew 16:13-20
 
About the Art: Who Do You Say That I Am. Composite Graphic, 2026. 

Nevertheless they persisted…
 
There are at least three important models for faith in this week’s stories. In Matthew there is, of course, Jesus who listens, learns, and changes. Our tradition may find these to be unfamiliar actions for Jesus, but this kind of relational generosity should be no surprise, even if his initial response to the Canaanite woman leaves much to be desired.
 
There’s the woman. Persistent. Tenacious. Humble. Powerful. Full of faith! Her commitment to seek help for those who are powerless to do so themselves puts us on notice for what we are both called to do and capable of doing. To our astonishment, the woman chooses engagement, persistence, and non-violence. Her family is saved, and even Jesus is changed.
 
Joseph should raise our level of astonishment even further. His jealous brothers turned on him. Their cruelty was monstrous, even murderous were it not for Reuben’s intervention (Genesis 37:21). We could imagine Joseph, drawing on his considerable political and personal power, leaning into his desire for revenge in the seemingly endless human cycle of rivalry, retaliation, and regret. Joseph chooses forgiveness. And, for the moment and for the sake of the generations of Israel and Egypt alike, peace reigns.
 
Do you believe the same could be true in our time?
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings: Genesis 45:1-15 † Psalm 133 † Romans 11:1-5, 29-32 † Matthew 15:21-28
 
About the Art: Watanabe, Sadao, 1913-1996. Woman of Canaan, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57538 [retrieved August 6, 2023]. Original source: https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/woman-canaan-26809.

As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
~Romans 10:15b
 
[Jesus] said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.
~Matthew 14:29
 
How beautiful are the feet of those who carry good news… Sit with that for a moment.
 
That there is good news to bring is worth remembering, isn’t it? Sometimes we can get weighted down by cares and concerns that fill our packs. Dead weight, you might say. When you’re making a long hike, the trick is to not bring more than you need—to pack the essentials and little more. There are plenty of distractions to slow you down. You don’t need to add to them. There’s already enough to pull us under without adding more.
 
Peter seems to know a little something about that.
 
What is the good news, as Jesus lays it out, as the scriptures announce it in their various forms? Who is affected by it and how? How would you articulate it to someone genuinely wanting to know? Attending the question might help to lighten that pack of what slows us down.
 
We welcome to worship Rev. Scott Lumsden this Sunday—a familiar and welcome face for many of us. Scott is the Co-Executive Presbyter for Seattle Presbytery…and a hiking buddy of Scott Anderson’s. You just may hear a story or two from the trail along with some good news!
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings: Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 † Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b † Romans 10:5-15 † Matthew 14:22-33
 
About the Art: Tanner, Henry Ossawa, 1859-1937. Disciples See Christ Walking on the Water, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt University Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://act.library.vanderbilt.edu/artworks/55904 [retrieved August 5, 2026]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Ossawa_Tanner,_The_Disciples_See_Christ_Walking_on_the_Water,_c._1907.jpg. 

Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.
~Genesis 32:29
 
…he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.
~Matthew 14:14
 
What goes around comes around. Until it doesn’t. There’s something unexpected going on with the God who occupies this week’s stories. Perhaps the better term is apocalyptic—an inbreaking of something new, something counter to what typically comes around.
 
Consider Jacob—this heel-grabber, this wrestler, this opportunist who has burned bridges wherever he has gone. On the eve of a meeting with his brother who, last he knew, wanted to kill him, Jacob is no doubt terrified. And he is wrestling with some demons—or maybe with God. Jacob doesn’t win, but he doesn’t exactly lose either. He should be annihilated. Instead he leaves limping and blessed with a new name.
 
The familiar story of the feeding of the 5000 (Matthew 14) happens on the heels an all-too-familiar cycle of rivalry, retaliation, and regret. Herod loses his head about the threat John the Baptist poses to his administration, but it is John who makes the literal sacrifice in Herod’s rule of terror and intimidation. Jesus retreats to “a deserted place” to try to make sense of it all. But the crowds who follow clamoring for some hope make privacy impossible.
 
We can imagine the fear and anxiety we might feel, and the need for a break for Jesus. The disciples are little help. They see nothing but scarcity. Rather than retaliate for the impossible situation he is presented with, Jesus makes a different kind of sacrifice. Compassion. He blesses what little resources are evident. He calls the disciples to action. And there is enough. There is more than enough. The economy of God is again demonstrated to be one of plenty, one that breaks out of destructive cycles and introduces a generous future of possibility and newness.
 
Scarcity is a learned behavior. So too is the generosity of non-retaliation, compassion, and non-violence and the abundance it can produce. Which sounds better to you? Which are you learning? Which are you choosing?
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings: Genesis 32:22-31 † Psalm 17:1-7, 15 † Romans 9:1-5 † Matthew 14:13-21
 
About the Art: Moyers, Mike. Israel, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57141 [retrieved July 20, 2026]. Original source: Mike Moyers, https://www.mikemoyersfineart.com/.