Proper 15A/Ordinary 20A/Pentecost +9
Zion Church, Wappingers Falls
The Reverend Dr. Deborah Dresser
It is lovely to be with you this morning in this beautiful worship space. By introduction I am Deborah Dresser, recently retired from a 14 year pastorate in Newburgh New York, just across the Hudson. I continue to live in Newburgh with my family.
Last Sunday, however, I was not here in New York but rather in France during which time we celebrated a family reunion. During that time I visited Chartres Cathedral, a most extraordinary Medieval cathedral southwest of Paris, known for it beauty, especially in stained glass, and its important place in church history.
In the nave of Chartres there is laid in stone a labyrinth that has been, throughout the ages a place of meditation and pilgrimage. Undoubtedly many of you know the shape and meaning of labyrinths so bear with me if this is old news. A labyrinth is a path set within a circle. It has one place to start and finish and the center of the labyrinth is the goal—the destination. One walks the path of the labyrinth but not in a straight line but a continuum of swings that take you from one side of the circle to the other. Just as you think you have arrived, the path propels you in another direction. The beauty of the labyrinth is that no matter how far-a-field you think you have gone, you will arrive at the center eventually and retracing your steps you will leave the labyrinth as you began—well, maybe not spiritually.
Every Friday at Chartres the great tarp that covers the labyrinth is drawn back so that pilgrims, tourists, curiosity seekers can walk the labyrinth. Some do so with in quiet, prayerful attention to the movement of the body and soul. Others, teenagers who there under the sufferance of their parents, race to the center and back again, and casual observers chatting with one another as they move along–there are lots of people with different agendas, doing their own thing on the labyrinth. And, that’s life.
Now the labyrinth bears some resemblance to the maze in that it is a contained set of paths within a defined shape. However, there is a significant difference between the labyrinth and the maze. The maze is created to trick you. It is a creation of paths all of which—but one—come to a dead end. Often the paths of the maze are made of high hedges that you can not readily see over—all to further confuse you. This is just the point, the maze is game of trickery; it is meant to confound.
The point of the maze is to get lost; the point of the labyrinth is to be found. The path of the labyrinth is dependable and will get you to the arrival place if you just trust the path. In spiritual language the labyrinth is a metaphor for our life journey in God. The path is what leads us to God; the path at the same time is itself God leading us to the place of God’s purpose for ourselves.
The Biblical story is all about journeys that like the labyrinth are marked with twists and turns. The stories in the biblical journeys literally take individuals and families into new lands, crisscrossing geography, encountering hardship and disappointment, as well as joy and accomplishment. And while many of the stories, at certain points, sound very maze-like, God’s people are not caught in dead ends but in God’s movement toward life.
Throughout the summer months we have been hearing the stories of the first great family saga in the Book of Genesis--Abraham and Isaac and Jacob the patriarchs of the three world religions, first Judaism, then Christianity and finally Islam. Their saga begins with Abraham being called into a new land with God’s promise of eternal blessing and a great and numerous family. But from there it all gets pretty messy. Promises seem to be broken, husband betrays wife, brother schemes against brother—well, you just wonder where God is in all of this family stuff!
In the scene that we read today, Joseph takes center stage. Joseph is the great grandson of Abraham and the last of the twelve sons of Jacob. Why Joseph is the favorite son of Jacob is not entirely clear—but he is. Remember the famous dream coat of many colors that the father gives to the favored son (actually it was a long-sleeved coat to connote superiority); you can just imagine how that goes down with his eleven brothers.
In fact they throw him down into a well in the desert and leave him there to die. To make a very long story short, Joseph is picked up by a caravan and sold into Egyptian slavery where he makes his mark by interpreting dreams.
Now Pharaoh is given to disturbing dreams and hearing about Joseph summons him to interpret a particular dream. This dream is a warning that a seven-year famine will ravish the land. So it is that Joseph organizes the Egyptians to store their grain against the coming famine—for their own use and with enough to sell to people beyond the Egyptian boarders (for a profit, of course). Sold into slavery, Joseph has now become a rich and respected man with a great deal of power.
His brothers back in Canaan suffering from the famine leave their ailing father and come to Egypt looking for food. Not knowing that their youngest brother is the chief Egyptian steward, they throw themselves on his benevolence.
You have to relish this moment. Joseph has them just where he wants them—in the clutches of his mercy. This could be a supreme moment of retaliation but no—listen to what Joseph says through his tears of pent up yearning for his family.
And now, do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life…God sent me here before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth…So it was not you who sent me here, but God.
Rather than resorting to that dead-end place of revenge, Joseph recognizes that God has been with him on his journey all along. He looks back on the rejection he suffered at the hands of his family and sees the hand of God working for himself and all of God’s people. He’s able to look upon the horrendous experience of being sold as a slave and subsequently exploited and plunged into jail – as God moving mightily to save His people and all the people of that corner of the world from famine.
What the story of Joseph exemplifies for us is the idea that regardless of the trials and discomfort that we endure, God promises to be with us through it all. And, our experience is that even out of evil, good can emerge, perhaps not on our timetable but in God’s time.
We hold onto that idea because our faith is rooted in the journey of our Lord. The fulfillment of Jesus did not come without cost. There were shocking moments of betrayal, misunderstanding, unexpected challenges—emotional and physical pain. In our faith journey that mirrors that of Jesus we are reminded ever year that there is no resurrection without the cross.
Our story follows the biblical path – not of dead ends but a path of faith that is in and of the risen Lord. However much our path is characterized by twists and turns and surprises it is nevertheless glued to the promise that God is with us and that our journey takes us to the place where God’s love reigns.
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The Reverend Deborah Dresser
Deborah Dresser is a priest in the Diocese of New York since 1985. Most recently she served as Priest-in-Charge of St. George’s Church in Newburgh from 1996, retiring in 2010. Before coming to Newburgh, she headed in a multi-parish configuration in Rockland County. Prior to that position she was the Assistant Rector of Grace Church, White Plains. Mother Dresser holds a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and a Doctor of Ministry from New York Theological Seminary. She also holds a certificate of accreditation in spiritual direction from the Center of Spiritual Direction, Bronx, NY.
Before being called into ordained ministry, Mother Dresser was a graphic artist (pre-computerization) and continues today executing design work for not-for-profit organizations. She is the Vice President of the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, a humanitarian NGO that supports Palestinian Christians through our sister Episcopal Church in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. She is also active in the promotion of chamber music through the Newburgh Chamber Music organization. And finally, she continues to be active in Episco-Build, a consortium of Episcopal parishes in the Region that partner with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh—an organization that she founded.
Deborah and her husband, Bob (retired priest), live in Newburgh with their two noisy corgis. They have four daughters—all married with children—making a lively family that unfortunately does not live next door.
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