Sermon for the 13th of August - Tenth Sunday after Trinity

Romans 10: 5-15
5 Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that ‘the person who does these things will live by them.’ 6But the righteousness that comes from faith says, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” ’ (that is, to bring Christ down) 7‘or “Who will descend into the abyss?” ’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? 15And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’

Matthew 14: 22-33
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the lake. 26But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. 27But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ 28 Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ 29He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. 30But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ 31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ 32When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’

Sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity
In the Gospel reading today we have the famous episode: Jesus walks on water. Jesus had caused this whole thing to happen, because he was tired of being in and among the crowd that always surrounded him, tired of talking, tired of teaching, just tired. He had to get away, and so, after he dismisses the crowds he dismisses the disciples, putting them into a boat to meet him later on the other side of the lake. And he finds a solitary place where he can dismiss all the pressures that have pressed in upon him over the course of the day: he finds a place where he can simply pray. He needs solitude and silence to do this. He stays in that place. And then it is early morning, and he is ready to rejoin the disciples again. But in the meantime, the wind has come up, and the boat has made no headway toward the opposite shore, and the disciples have lost control of their direction---they have drifted far from sight of any land. It is now dark, now night, and they are, as we say, "at sea." Meaning directionless, uncertain, tempest-tossed, adrift. The disciples are used to following Jesus, literally, and without his presence they have no idea what to do next. So when they are confronted by what seems to be an apparition of Jesus walking toward them on the surface of the waves of the lake they instinctively cry out in fear. A ghost is now menacing them! But Jesus understands their instinctive fear and calls out to them: Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid. And upon hearing his voice, they are presumably reassured, and know that all will be well.

As to the issue of miracles, whether or not this was one, I think this is a side-track. We don't know because we weren't there. I stand with Mary who heard these words in the Gospel of Luke: For nothing will be impossible with God. So here is the interesting part of the story. Peter then sets Jesus a test. He says, if it is really you, then prove it by making me to walk upon the water, also. And Jesus says, Okay. As you wish: come. And all goes well until Peter looks down into the depths of the still-stormy lake and back toward the wind-buffeted boat and realises that he is doing something humanly impossible. And the instinctive reaction of fear takes hold of him, and he begins to sink. He cries out for Jesus to save him, which Jesus, clearly, was quite prepared, even expecting, to be asked to do. And he reproves Peter gently, not for having put him to the test, but for having allowed fear and doubt to overwhelm his act of faith.

So Peter, we imagine, having been once again shown up as failing and fallible, and even, it could be said, ridiculous, gets into the boat with Jesus by his side. The wind subsides, the boat makes the shore, they all find someplace to sleep until dawn---this time, on land. But I think the issue remains: did Peter begin to fall into the water because of lack of faith, or because he should not have had the presumption to put Jesus to a test? As we all wearyingly know, we live in a me-obsessed culture. The great villains, "social media," or "the press," are responsible for fanning the flames of this great mis-direction, away from proper attention to the great issues of our time and toward our own demanding selves, in infinite need of acquisitions, supplements and compensating vacations from all the pressures of sheer coping. These are only amplifying forces.

We ourselves have perhaps come to think of God in light of our own high expectations of what we think God should be for us. What is God for, anyway? We might say: to protect us, to provide for us, to make us 100 % fulfilled human beings. And so we put God to the test, a test we devise, a measuring device that relates solely to us. Okay, what did you not come through with today for us, God? We made it clear---you know what we want. And if we think of God in this kind of way, any relationship to God comes to be one of petulant children, protesting to God that God, once again, hasn't come through for us. I think these two issues are related. When life comes to be all about us, we put God to the test. We place ourselves at the centre of everything, and judge God from there.

Peter wanted to be like Jesus, able to walk on water, but it was all about him, and when he realised this, he couldn't do it. He put Jesus to the test, but it was Peter who failed, not Jesus. If our faith is about testing God, we are going to fall into the waves, like Peter. The Christian faith is not about holding God to some high standard of behaviour, and judging by the results. Faith is about love, which is the opposite of fear. When we are fearful we put others
to the test, even God. It is no surprise that one of the most oft-quoted verses in the Bible is this one, from the first letter of John: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. I am not sure I will ever have within me "perfect love," but I can try to be loving. I can try to cultivate within myself the attitude of love, so that when I find the emotion of fear welling up within me I can call upon its opposite---love. Love for myself as God's beloved creature, love for others who are made in God's own image, love for all of creation as God's precious gift to humankind.

I keep going back to one of my favourite books, Sam Wells's collection of sermons from 2011 called Be Not Afraid: Facing Fear with Faith. Here is an excerpt: The climax of the gospel contains two great miracles. One is obvious, the one that God did---the miracle of resurrection. The other is subtler....It is the miracle of what Jesus didn't do. He didn't come down from the cross. He stayed there. He outlasted our hatred and cruelty and enmity. After everything humanity could throw at him, physically and verbally, he was still there. His endurance demonstrated the love that will never let us go. His perseverance showed that nothing can separate us from the love of God. From now on, forever, we can connect to God, not through our striving but through Jesus's suffering, not through our longing but through his lingering, not through our achieving but through his abiding. It's not the Jesus we want. We want
the Jesus who comes down from the cross, the Jesus who rights wrongs, ends pain, corrects injustice, sends the wicked away empty, sets the record straight, and makes all well with the world. We want answers. We want solutions. We want a technological Jesus who fixes the problems. And we want those problems fixed now. We want the Jesus that comes down from the cross. This Jesus will not come down from the cross. This Jesus bears all things, endures all things, and never ends....This is not the God we want. But it's the God we need. p. 59

The Westminster Shorter Catechism of 1647 contains the famous words Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. We are not to put God to the test. Because life is not about constantly directing God's attention to our own incessant needs, but about enjoying God forever, responding to the love with which God embraces us, each day of our rising. Paul, in our other reading for this morning, wrote in the great book of Romans that we can rest in our faith, be at peace with the faith that we have in our hearts and attest by our words. ‘The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart’ Be not afraid; it is I, Jesus. Peace be with you.

Amid our flailing about to wrestle with issues of faith we set up for ourselves, Jesus says the same words: Be not afraid; it is I, Jesus. Peace be with you.
If we allow ourselves to rest in our faith we allow God to flood our hearts with love. This love will surely counteract all that fear might prompt us to do.
May we set out, each day, confident that all our needs have already been met in the event that is the Christ, and that the love that beckons us forward will see us through to the end.
Amen