Sermon for August 10th
Faith Lutheran Church – Aug 10, 2008
13th Sunday after Pentecost – Lectionary 19 – Year A
Primary Text: Matthew 14:22-33 Secondary: 1 Kings 19:9-18
Ah First Sermon, During preparation I was guessing that I was going to be a little nervous. (True?) Nervous or not, I enjoyed having the texts for today. Today they seem to fit. They include two of my favorite stories, Jesus walking on the water and Elijah hearing the still, small voice. It is Jesus’ statement of do not be afraid that calls to me the most at the moment, anytime any of us do something for the first time or in any moment of fear and unknown, it is comforting to hear those words.
The disciples certainly feel that fear out in the boat. They are far from shore, the sea is heaving, the wind swirling and screeching. I know that I would be a little freaked out, ok, maybe a bit more than a little. Then to top it all off, they see something walking on the water near the boat, and their only assumption is that it must be a ghost. Immediately seeing their fear Jesus says “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Do not be afraid. What a powerful statement. It speaks directly to the disciples concerns. Jesus did not say, what are you doing out here. Or the wind is not that great, it’s ok. Jesus knew what the disciple’s feelings were and calmed them with four simple words. There is no judgment in these words, saying that the disciples should not be out on the water. There is no accusation of weakness, that it is not that bad. Christ says the same to all of us; Christ knows that we are all sinners and fear. Nevertheless, he reaches out to each of us and says; do not be afraid, I love you. There is no judgment in that, Christ forgives us immediately and comforts us where we need comfort.
Looking at the rest of Matthews’s text, we see that in response to Jesus’ comforting of the disciples Peter is compelled to ask Jesus to call him out onto the water. Jesus does this, and Peter with his eyes on Jesus steps out of the boat and begins to walk to him. Yet here he notices the strong wind and current and takes his eyes and thoughts off Christ. Peter forgets about Jesus’ words of comfort, becomes afraid, and begins to sink.
It is here that the real power again comes into this story, Peter finds himself sinking and in his fear calls out “Lord, save me!” and Jesus immediately reaches out his hand and catches him. When I look at this story I see Jesus 10 feet or so from the edge of the boat, and I would guess that Peter had become afraid and began to sink about two or three feet from the side of the boat. For Jesus to catch Peter immediately, he had to be already moving, before Peter even spoke asking for help. It is that immediately that is powerful, God is moving before we even know to call for help.
I want to back track a little in the Matthew text to Jesus’ call to Peter. Peter wants to walk on water, and Jesus calls him to do so. In the same way, we too are called to get out of the boat. Jesus calls us to do what we feel passionate about. Does that mean that it will be easy? No, doing what we want to do still means that it could be hard, we could see great winds and turbulent seas around us; we may feel afraid and begin to sink. We may become afraid and doubt that we are capable, but then we need to remember that Christ calls us, and Christ guides us, and is reaching for us already.
What is it that I feel passionate about, what do I feel God calling me out of the boat to do. First is my call to ministry, each new experience that I go through helps to strengthen that call. My passion though is added to everyday. I feel passionate peace and justice issues in the world, specifically those surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This last January I traveled to Israel and Palestine for a J-term cross-cultural trip. I felt amazed that there is so much going on over there and we do not often hear or see what is happening. I had some idea of the conflict when I went over there, but to put faces, names, and people’s stories to what I knew was powerful. On the trip, we toured many of the big sites, Jerusalem, with the crucifixion and burial site, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the location of Jesus’ birth, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. What I came back with the most was meeting with people and seeing the oppression that faces the Palestinians people. To get from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, which is in Palestine, to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem took 15 minutes by bus for us. For a Palestinian who worked in Jerusalem and had no passport issues it could take three hours to get through the checkpoints, if they had passport issues they could be turned away and never get across.
I am also passionate about Campus Ministry. I attended Iowa State University in Ames, IA and while I was there, I was heavily involved in campus ministry. It is primarily due to my campus ministry experience that I felt my call to ministry. My call to ministry was somewhat normal from what I have heard from other seminarians, no large bangs or lightning bolts or anything. I think that the imagery of the Old Testament reading for today, 1 kings 19, gives a powerful example of how my called appeared and also how it is that God calls all of us out of the boat. We often think that God’s call will be a strong wind, or a sudden beam of light, a crack of thunder, or even thunderous words from heaven. This is what Elijah is expecting to happen in the text. A great wind passes, a earthquake occurs, a large fire comes, but the LORD was not in any of those. God comes in a sound of sheer, silence, or other translations give a still small voice, a soft murmuring sound, or a gentle whisper. Often when God calls us, it is not in the large and obvious roars it is in the small, gentle whispers.
I look forward to this coming year together with you, I have already felt your love and care for me in your warm welcome and in the gifts of food that were waiting for me in my house. I look forward to jumping out of the boat into my role as intern, knowing that Christ will pick me up in the hard times. I look forward to hearing the large bangs and crashes, but even more to listening to the small voice with you.
13th Sunday after Pentecost – Lectionary 19 – Year A
Primary Text: Matthew 14:22-33 Secondary: 1 Kings 19:9-18
Ah First Sermon, During preparation I was guessing that I was going to be a little nervous. (True?) Nervous or not, I enjoyed having the texts for today. Today they seem to fit. They include two of my favorite stories, Jesus walking on the water and Elijah hearing the still, small voice. It is Jesus’ statement of do not be afraid that calls to me the most at the moment, anytime any of us do something for the first time or in any moment of fear and unknown, it is comforting to hear those words.
The disciples certainly feel that fear out in the boat. They are far from shore, the sea is heaving, the wind swirling and screeching. I know that I would be a little freaked out, ok, maybe a bit more than a little. Then to top it all off, they see something walking on the water near the boat, and their only assumption is that it must be a ghost. Immediately seeing their fear Jesus says “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Do not be afraid. What a powerful statement. It speaks directly to the disciples concerns. Jesus did not say, what are you doing out here. Or the wind is not that great, it’s ok. Jesus knew what the disciple’s feelings were and calmed them with four simple words. There is no judgment in these words, saying that the disciples should not be out on the water. There is no accusation of weakness, that it is not that bad. Christ says the same to all of us; Christ knows that we are all sinners and fear. Nevertheless, he reaches out to each of us and says; do not be afraid, I love you. There is no judgment in that, Christ forgives us immediately and comforts us where we need comfort.
Looking at the rest of Matthews’s text, we see that in response to Jesus’ comforting of the disciples Peter is compelled to ask Jesus to call him out onto the water. Jesus does this, and Peter with his eyes on Jesus steps out of the boat and begins to walk to him. Yet here he notices the strong wind and current and takes his eyes and thoughts off Christ. Peter forgets about Jesus’ words of comfort, becomes afraid, and begins to sink.
It is here that the real power again comes into this story, Peter finds himself sinking and in his fear calls out “Lord, save me!” and Jesus immediately reaches out his hand and catches him. When I look at this story I see Jesus 10 feet or so from the edge of the boat, and I would guess that Peter had become afraid and began to sink about two or three feet from the side of the boat. For Jesus to catch Peter immediately, he had to be already moving, before Peter even spoke asking for help. It is that immediately that is powerful, God is moving before we even know to call for help.
I want to back track a little in the Matthew text to Jesus’ call to Peter. Peter wants to walk on water, and Jesus calls him to do so. In the same way, we too are called to get out of the boat. Jesus calls us to do what we feel passionate about. Does that mean that it will be easy? No, doing what we want to do still means that it could be hard, we could see great winds and turbulent seas around us; we may feel afraid and begin to sink. We may become afraid and doubt that we are capable, but then we need to remember that Christ calls us, and Christ guides us, and is reaching for us already.
What is it that I feel passionate about, what do I feel God calling me out of the boat to do. First is my call to ministry, each new experience that I go through helps to strengthen that call. My passion though is added to everyday. I feel passionate peace and justice issues in the world, specifically those surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This last January I traveled to Israel and Palestine for a J-term cross-cultural trip. I felt amazed that there is so much going on over there and we do not often hear or see what is happening. I had some idea of the conflict when I went over there, but to put faces, names, and people’s stories to what I knew was powerful. On the trip, we toured many of the big sites, Jerusalem, with the crucifixion and burial site, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the location of Jesus’ birth, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. What I came back with the most was meeting with people and seeing the oppression that faces the Palestinians people. To get from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, which is in Palestine, to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem took 15 minutes by bus for us. For a Palestinian who worked in Jerusalem and had no passport issues it could take three hours to get through the checkpoints, if they had passport issues they could be turned away and never get across.
I am also passionate about Campus Ministry. I attended Iowa State University in Ames, IA and while I was there, I was heavily involved in campus ministry. It is primarily due to my campus ministry experience that I felt my call to ministry. My call to ministry was somewhat normal from what I have heard from other seminarians, no large bangs or lightning bolts or anything. I think that the imagery of the Old Testament reading for today, 1 kings 19, gives a powerful example of how my called appeared and also how it is that God calls all of us out of the boat. We often think that God’s call will be a strong wind, or a sudden beam of light, a crack of thunder, or even thunderous words from heaven. This is what Elijah is expecting to happen in the text. A great wind passes, a earthquake occurs, a large fire comes, but the LORD was not in any of those. God comes in a sound of sheer, silence, or other translations give a still small voice, a soft murmuring sound, or a gentle whisper. Often when God calls us, it is not in the large and obvious roars it is in the small, gentle whispers.
I look forward to this coming year together with you, I have already felt your love and care for me in your warm welcome and in the gifts of food that were waiting for me in my house. I look forward to jumping out of the boat into my role as intern, knowing that Christ will pick me up in the hard times. I look forward to hearing the large bangs and crashes, but even more to listening to the small voice with you.
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