Sermon: “Sent to Sea by Jesus”

 Paramus Congregational Church, & Paramus Presbyterian Church

August 11, 2002, Pentecost 12 Year A

Scripture: Paul’s letter to the Romans 10:5-15         The Gospel of Matthew 14:22-33

Sermon:    “Sent to Sea by Jesus”        Reverend Edgar S. Welty

           

            “Why are you making us get in this boat?” might have asked Jesus’ disciples.  We, too, might have many questions we might ask about today’s gospel passage.  Why did Jesus not let his disciples wait until morning?  How did the disciples feel when, soon they found themselves in the midst of a storm?  Why does Jesus walking on the water, frighten them?  Why does God still send the faithful into tempests?  How do we when we are in the midst of our lives’ storms receive the assurance of Jesus who says, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

            The answer to the first question can be found if one looks back at what has just happened to Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel and remembers that our Lord was fully human.

Jesus has been preaching in his hometown but, “They took offense at him.  ..   And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.”  In Luke’s gospel, the mob tries to throw Jesus over a cliff!

Then Jesus receives the news, John the Baptist has been killed.  Jesus’ ministry started at the Jordan with John.  Their ministries had been parallel.  John was a relative, co-worker and friend.  Matthew says that after the Baptist had been beheaded, “John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.  Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself.”

Also we know that after Herod had John killed he started hunting Jesus.  “Herod heard reports about Jesus; and he said , ‘This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’”

 Now that John was dead, Herod would have thought Jesus too needed to be eliminated.  In the Gospel of Luke, “Pharisees came and said to Jesus, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’

But in spite of  this,  Jesus interrupts his much needed retreat.  “When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.  He also gave a feast known as the feeding of the five thousand.  Jesus was overdue for a retreat, for time by himself to pray to and commune with his father in heaven.

I think we all have times when things were overwhelming.  I can think of an incident, which allows to me to feel I know how Jesus felt when he needed to get away.

It was the first day of the semester, when I received the news.  Stella, my assistant called me over to the phone saying, “Mr. Fischer wants to speak to you.  As I worked my way through the law students crowding the bookstore I managed, I wondered: Why is the head of company interrupting me on one of the busiest days of the year?

Stepping over doubled bagged orders of textbooks, gesturing just a minute to the mobs of shoppers, I squeezed into the corner behind the main register.  Leaning against a cabinet, I took the receiver, and said, “Good morning, sir!”

            He asked, “Are you sitting down?”

            I restrained myself from saying, “Are you nuts ? Don’t you know how crammed the store is?”  Instead I wedged myself onto a ledge so I could somewhat truly say, “Yes”

            Mr. Fischer announced, “Lee has been shot and killed, I don’t know details but I’m letting everyone know.”  I thanked him for telling me and hung up.

I worked my way over to at the refund desk and sat down.  I stared vacantly and said to a customer, “That’s odd, my colleague and friend has been shot and killed.  Take this slip to either register, you can use it to make a purchase or receive cash.”

Other details came in during the day.  It was said, a gun had gone off in the course of a game of Russian roulette.  But I still think he was murdered.  Whatever the truth, a man who was a co-worker and friend had been cut down senselessly.

By the end of the day, I was a walking zombie.  My assistant kindly offered to secure the day’s receipts and cashier tapes in the safe.  I determined I could reconcile the books, write the reports, prepare and make the bank deposits the next day.  I left Stella in charge and then withdrew to my church to be alone and pray.

            In today’s gospel we heard, “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.  And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.”  Remember this is after: Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth; his receiving of the news of the senseless murder of his friend and co-worker John and his compassionate healing of many and the feeding of the five thousand.  Jesus, the man, was physically and emotionally exhausted.  When we hear of this we should remember Jesus’ humanity.

            But what of Jesus’ disciples?  They have just fed five thousand people.  They took the bread, Jesus blessed and broke, out into the crowds, which with women and children numbered over ten thousand.  They gathered up the twelve baskets of leftovers.  All this in the eve of a day during they had probably been doing ministry on their own.

Before this, the disciples had been thrown out of Nazareth along with Jesus.  Many had known John.  If Herod was hunting Jesus he was after the disciples as well.

            But Jesus sends them out on a journey into a storm.  I remember such a journey.

            It was Christmas Day, my parents were separated but Dad had come up for the holiday.  Towards evening it came up that my father needed a ride back to his school in Tijuana Mexico.  Suddenly, there was one of those rare California downpours.  Mom volunteered to drive.  But since Dad’s house was in a dangerous neighborhood, I was asked to accompany her.  Mom was in her sixties by this point and I was full grown.

            By the time we reached the border, it was dark.  Dad sat in the front passenger seat with a rag.  Only with furious wiping was he able to keep the windshield from fogging over.  As we drove, Dad barked out directions and seemed nervous.  Unlit dirt streets under construction had turned to mud.  Vast puddles covered much of the surface.

            When we arrived at his place, Dad gave the return directions and a warning.  He said, some puddles were only a few inches deep but others covered pits six to eight feet deep, which could swallow a car.  He told us, “The road workers down here don’t put up caution signs, and usually it’s not a problem because it rarely rains.

            Dad disappeared into the storm.  I got into the front, picked up the wiping rag, and looked at Mom.  I think we both had the same thought at once.  We’re going to drown!

Days after the storm our vehicle will be found in a mud hole.  After the tires and any useable parts were stripped off, someone would report our deaths to the U. S. Consulate.

It would read: Associated Press International: Tijuana Mexico two Americans found in Datsun station wagon. sunk in construction pit.  Apparently drown because their doors jammed shut against the muddy walls: Identification pending notification of next of kin.  Dad would just shake his head and say, “I thought I gave them clear directions.”

It probably was less than an hour but it seemed like forever.  We inched our way down the muddy roads through the sheets of rain.  I got soaked trying to keep both the inside and outside surfaces of the windshield clear of fog.  We both were soaked in a cold sweat before we reached dry pavement, lights and the border.

Once we arrived back on the U. S. side, Mom. pulled over.  She pulled out her large metal thermos full of hot tea.  I prefer coffee but I found a spare cup and shared the comforting warmth of the weak brew.  We were stopped for thirty minutes to calm down.

Like my parents and I, Jesus’ disciples started their journey in the evening.  Since, “The wind was against them”, when it became dark the disciples had only made it halfway across the six-mile width of the lake.  When the storm broke, any light from the moon or stars would have been blocked out.  In the pitch-blackness, the men in the boat lost their bearings.  There was nothing to do wait and bail out the rain and water splashing into the boat.  Any effort to reach land was put on hold.

The Greek says it was “About the fourth watch of the night”, when the disciples see Jesus.  “Watch”, the biblical term is a period of time for people stuck in place.  These include guards at a prison, sentries on post, servants waiting for the return of their master, shepherds watching their lambs or sailors at sea.  All these are marking time.  The disciples were in the same situation, stuck all night on a six-mile wide lake.

As light broke over the lake the disciples must have been relieved.  But then they saw Jesus watching on the water.  And “they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’”  This fear of the disciples might seem unreasonable.  But remember ghosts traditionally can hover over land or sea.  And it was known that Herod was seeking to murder Jesus.

Then ,“Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’”  And Peter comes out on the water with Jesus.  When Peter’s fear of the strong wind overcomes his faith and he begins to sink, Peter is caught by the real hand of our Lord.

“When they got into the boat, the wind ceased”.  Then the disciples remembered that God has power over the sea.  Those who are divine or have a special relationship with God could according to the traditions in Jesus’ time walk on water.  Also Jesus has used  the formal name for God.  The Greek term used for, “It is I” refers to God’ name, the “I am that I am” Which is what we heard spoken out of the burning bush to Moses.  Thus we hear. “Those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

But what does this have to with us today?  First: We have to admit that God still sends the faithful into tempests.  I don’t know your individual stories, at least not yet!  But I know what we as Americans have gone through recently.  Some of these have particularly impacted this area.  We all know a month from today will be the anniversary of 9-11.  Many people here know victims of that great tragedy.

All of us have had to adjust our lives in light of the fact that this nation has been attacked.  The impact on sectors of the economy such as tourism and the airline industry has hit this area hard.  I am sure many of you have personal stories to tell which relate.

Other adjustments have had to be made as the government has shifted its spending to the “War on Terrorism”.  And just when we‘ve absorbed these shocks: the financial world has been shaken by the greed and misconduct of some corporate leaders.

Why has our world been buffeted by these storms.  First I think we need to realize that it is not because we have done wrong,  Jesus elsewhere in Matthew’s gospel says , “Your Father in heaven;  ..  makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.”  In other words the winds, which buffet us around, blow not always according the worthiness of those who are affected.  Rabbi Kushner teaches in his book, Why Bad Things Happen to Good People that there is random awfulness in the universe that does not come from God.

The disciples in today’s story did not suffer the terror of a night storm because they were being punished for some wrongdoing.  Nor was it because of any foolhardiness on their part.  They obeyed Jesus, our Lord, who ordered them out onto the sea.  I did not seek an adventure in the back streets of Tijuana, Mexico.  I went on that journey as a loving Son.  I was in that storm because my parents had told me to be there.

But where ever we go God is there to comfort us.  Or as Rabbi Kushner teaches there may be times when things happen beyond God’s intent but God is always with us.

The assurance may come in the form of hot tea in a Thermos.  Or Jesus may come walking to us on the water of our lives saying, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”  And with Jesus we can find ourselves in the everlasting arms of God.

But also we have a Savior who became one of us.  We heard today that: Jesus was hurt when his hometown rejected his mission, sorrowed when his friend John was killed, and knew what it was liked to be hunted.  Our Lord became exhausted needed rest and time with God.  But he only took that time after having compassion on the people.  Because of these human qualities we can be assured that Jesus understands and cares.

What then does this mean about how we are to endure or to prepare for life’s Storms?  Lowell R. Ditzen says : “There are three ways that prepare us for life's trials.  One is the Spartan way that says, ‘I have strength within me to do it, I am the captain of my soul.  With the courage and will that is mine, I will be master when the struggle comes.’  Another way is the spirit of Socrates, who affirmed that we have minds, reason and judgment to evaluate and help us cope with the enigmas and struggles of life.  The Christian way is the third approach.  It doesn't exclude the other two, but it adds, ‘You don't begin with yourself, your will or your reason.  You begin with God, who is the beginning and the end.’”  Through grace we endure, “Many dangers, toils and snares.”

The disciples started their voyage over the sea by obeying Jesus, their friend and loving teacher.  At he end of that journey they realized Jesus was God’s Son and worshiped him.  The beginning of our faith is to see Jesus as the fully human one who knows our struggles the end or goal is accept the Christ as risen and divine.

May we who are created in the image of God have our Creator ‘s face shine upon us.  May who seek to follow Christ feel for each other as he does for us.  May we who gather together invoking the Holy Spirit be assured of  the eternal presence of God.  Amen