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Lectionary for Aug. 9, 2026
11th Sunday after Pentecost
1 Kings 19:9-18; Psalm 85:8-13;
Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33
They say that symmetry is tied to perceptions of beauty. Denzel Washington’s face is supposedly super symmetrical, which is why the actor is so good looking. A Tale of Two Cities grabs us immediately with: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.” And I’ve been moved to tears and laughter by James Acaster’s Repertoire in which episodes begin and end on the same note. Symmetry can surprise and delight as two or more things are brought into close relationship and provide echoed repetitions (though rarely exact copies). The lectionary passages this week offer symmetry with two stories that both end with kisses.
We read in the story of Elijah at Mount Horeb that the prophet has run away. Contrary to many a meme, the snack-and-a-nap reset approach doesn’t work. Elijah tries to die but is only strengthened to run further away from his calling. He is supposed to oppose the wicked leadership of Ahab and Jezebel as they dispossess the poor and lead Israel further into idolatry. An incredulous God twice asks Elijah, “What are you doing here?” (1 Kings 19:9, 13). You are supposed to be back up in Samaria critiquing idolatry!
Frankly, Elijah isn’t interested in his calling. “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away” (10, 14). In essence, Elijah says, “God, I have been faithful to the task and the people, but you and the people both have been faithless to me.”
Hearing Elija’s unwillingness to be moved, God sets up the prophet’s retirement plan. Elijah is to anoint three replacements to judge the people in his place. Yet, while allowing him to move toward ending his call, God still insists that Elijah is mistaken. Not all the people had been faithless. Indeed, God had reserved 7,000—a tiny number among the hundreds of thousands of citizens of the Northern Kingdom—who had not worshiped Baal or kissed his statue (1 Kings 19:18). Even amid all the turmoil with Elijah and Ahab, God witnessed who had saved their worship for God alone.
Scripture reflects that the response to not drowning was to confess that Jesus is God’s son and to kiss his hand.
Looking ahead several hundred years, Jesus sought, like Elijah, to get away from people. After Herod’s murder of his relative John the Baptizer, Jesus wanted solitude. He forced his disciples onto a boat and sent the well-fed crowd away while he stayed on the shore. At last, he could reflect and pray (and probably grieve) on his own.
But a big storm blew up. Depending on what manuscript you read, the disciples’ boat was either “in the middle of the sea” or “many stadia away from land.” The point was that they were blown off course and in danger of capsizing in one of the fierce storms that blow into the area.
Not having a boat of his own, Jesus walked on water to his frightened disciples. Recognizing Jesus, but not certain if his own eyes were believable, Peter asked for a demonstration of the living messiah’s power. Peter exited the boat on foot and stood among the waves—until his focus slipped from Jesus. Then Jesus immediately (“immediately shows up often in this passage—Jesus didn’t always move slowly) rescued Peter and stopped the wind.
The disciples in the ship all immediately confessed that Jesus was certainly God’s son. But they also did something else interesting. They prosekynesan. The New American Standard Bible and the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition translated that they “worshiped” him, which makes a lot of sense. But the roots of the word and other usage outside of the New Testament text indicated “to kiss a hand as if a dog licking a master” (remember this for next week too). I love a vivid word picture. Worshiping can look many ways. But to grab and kiss Jesus’ hand paints an intense image for me of the disciples’ response to his saving power in that moment. Scripture reflects that the response to not drowning was to confess that Jesus is God’s son and to kiss his hand.
So, a tale of two kisses. In a time of great idolatry and wicked political leadership, most Israelites kissed statues of Baal while only a few others refrained. In a time of great displays of Jesus’ power over nature, all his disciples kissed his hand in worship. Which hands do we kiss? The golden hands of idols that promise power and wealth or the nail-scarred hands that rescue us from sin and death?
