About 32 years ago I signed up to serve my country in the United States Navy. I was a good kid for the most part, but about 4 weeks into bootcamp I realized I had been a twit. I was selfish and whiny. I also realized how wonderful all my family and friends were. It is a rare in the world to have a small group you can rely on. I had that but up until the Navy, I never appreciated it. I still had a teenager attitude about much, but my service matured me. I was assigned to a Knox Class Frigate whose hull had been laid down when I was 6 months old. Her name was the USS Truett FF-1095. She was redesignated a couple times in her existence. When I arrived, she had been changed to FFT-1095 or Fast Frigate “Trainer”. I met some lifelong friends and shipmates while in the Navy, but eventually I had to make a choice. Was I going to try and reenlist or was I going to make a go of it in the outside world? I reminded myself that I had the GI Bill with which to finish up my last 2 years of college. The final decision however, took an act of faith to make the leap from that boat back into an unknown world.
I think that should be our theme for today’s sermon, stepping out into the unknown but trusting that God will guide us on the right path. Our Collect tells us, “Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will.” Moving forward and doing what is right is hardly ever the easiest path, but it is the way to go if we have the courage to trust.
Are any of us equipped to go it alone and succeed, or, are there times that we need help maybe in the form of prodding from others? Let’s look at Elijah for a moment. We find Elijah on the run from King Ahab and his Queen Jezebel, and hiding in a cave. The king and queen’s soldiers have killed any prophet that does not agree with them and their move to replace YHWH with the god of fertility, Baal. I am certainly sympathetic in regards to Elijah’s predicament.
He thinks he is alone in the world, and it will just be a matter of time before the forces of evil find and kill him. In this moment, he hears a voice, identified as the Word of the Lord. I suppose he like some of us have that little voice in our heads not so easy to identify that is second guessing our tactics. Here though Scripture tells us, it is the Word of the Lord, “What are you doing here Elijah?” Elijah reveals all to the Lord, I am on the run, the Israelites have forsaken you, and all the prophets are dead and altars thrown down, “I alone am left.”
The word of the Lord told Elijah to go out to the mouth of the cave and the Lord will pass by. Elijah witnesses a great wind, an earthquake, and a fire…but the Lord was not in them. The Lord caused these events but they were not the Lord God. Perhaps this was God’s way of showing Elijah that he was above all, including the pretend gods of Elijah’s enemies who were credited with affecting and effecting the weather and the crop yields.
Elijah wandered to the entrance of his hiding place, and again God asks the same question as before, and Elijah repeats his plight. Far from a ringing motivational speech, the voice of the Lord instructs Elijah to get involved in local politics, pick a successor and apprentice, namely Elisha. This will set in motion the downfall of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. The Lord also lets Elijah know that there are still 7,000 Israelites who remain faithful. These will be saved, but the others will perish. The Lord God who commands the wind, the earth to move, fire to quench, and who calls all things into being from the void uses a simple frightened man to go out alone and set in motion great events. If you doubt this is possible, we have recent examples, Gandhi, Martin Luther, Martin Luther King, Jr to name a few. What it takes is courage, hope, and having faith in the Spirit to do what is right.
We heard a couple weeks back about things that are temporal, that is what is earthly and secular. These worldly issues distract us. God showed Elijah that all the distractions of the world are not him. So, we must look not to the Earthly but pray to the Spirit to fill us and guide us. We must think and commit ourselves to action that brings us and others closer to God.
Paul tells us in his Letter to the Romans, “righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’… “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss? … But 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); because 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.” That same word, that same Spirit, is with us even today if we profess Jesus as Lord that he died for us and rose from the dead. There is no distinction between believers. All have the Spirit in them that believe in Jesus. We are equipped with a charge to go forth and spread the good news far and wide. If no one tells the unbelievers about the good news of Christ Jesus, then how will they be able to proclaim him? We are not the judge, but we are messengers of faith in salvation.
Somewhat similar to Elijah, I have encountered frightening moments in my life. I left the safety of my active military service just like Elijah left his cave. I like most of you all have had my fair share of tragedy, from my child almost dying to a tornado that ripped my family’s life apart for years. There have been so many. Perhaps that is why we are afraid to leave what is safe, whether a cave or a boat or perhaps something entirely different but safe. Whatever our safe zone, it is easier to not pursue the just course at times.
Today’s Gospel speaks to the fear we have. Through my experiences, I empathize with how frightened the disciples must have been. All night they remained huddled together in their small fishing boat buffeted by a storm that threatened to sink them. When they were raw with fear and exhausted beyond measure, they witnessed something even more overwhelming. God revealed himself in the person of Jesus. Suddenly, their teacher and Rabbi revealed himself as God incarnate, walking upon the water, and the veil was lifted for a moment. They recognized him at that moment as the Son of God.
The part of the story that warms my heart is Peter, who steps out of the boat to meet Jesus upon the surface of the water. For a bit he, too, walks upon the water. His success ends when he becomes distracted by the winds. He takes his eyes of Jesus, and self-doubt creeps in. Peter begins to sink, but implores Jesus to save him from certain death. Jesus does just that, but admonishes Peter asking why do you doubt? You of little faith.
I tend to look at this story as representative of Christian life. We are faced constantly with Earthly material things that distract us from our true calling and potential. Jobs, family, illness, politics, tornadoes, you name it, life is full of distractions that take our eyes off of Godly things. However, we have so much potential, so much so that Jesus recognized it in his followers.
The first step to walking on the water is we must lift each other up. Like the disciples together in the boat and like my brothers and sisters in Christ who selflessly aided my family during the hard times, together, we can weather any storm. Secondly, we must be willing to step off the boat toward action in humility and away from our comfort zones. Lastly, when we fail, and we will fail, we have to recognize that we cannot live a Christian life by ourselves. We just have to fix our eyes back on the example of Jesus.
Let us not be distracted by human things but always look to the face of the incarnate Christ for the way to live our lives. By ourselves we are nothing, but with others in Christ we are everything. It starts with a little faith, by maybe dipping one toe into the water.
Write a comment: