Our three-year-old grandson, William, who lives in Grand Cayman, now knows how to initiate a Facetime call to us all by himself. When he calls, I read books to him, we sing songs, and we play games. One game he loves to play is a form of Follow the Leader, in which he makes crazy faces, then I make the same face. Or, I will make a funny face and he then follows. It is just so much fun! However, our game abruptly ends when the follower decides he no longer wants to copy the leader, when he decides he wants to do something else.
Today, Jesus teaches the disciples and each one of us about what it means to Follow the Leader, Jesus style! He tells the disciples what it really means to follow him as their leader. He is alarmingly blunt about what it means to follow him, and Peter does not want to go there.
Peter has just experienced a monumental come to Jesus moment where he responded to Jesus saying, “You are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” Jesus had just called Peter a rock and said that he would build his “called out” beloved community, the church, on the rock of Peter’s testimony and confession of faith. Jesus has just made Peter a kind of deputy leader in the kingdom of God. And, now, Jesus seems to ruin the moment they had all just experienced when he tells Peter and the others, "Look, the road to Jerusalem is filled with nails. They'll pierce me and put an end to me, but after three days God will reclaim my life."
Well, only a short time before this, Jesus had given Peter the “keys of the kingdom,” a major leadership position, with the power to bind and loose. And, as Peter now hears Jesus speak of what lies ahead, Peter has the audacity to seek to use his newfound sense of authority as he attempts to bind Jesus! Peter clearly had a certain vision in mind regarding what it means for Jesus to be the leader they had hoped for. And, the things Jesus is now saying certainly do not fit his perception of the leadership they anticipated in a Messiah. Peter takes Jesus aside and says, "Come to your senses, man. Don't you remember I just pronounced you the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God? These things that you are talking about don't happen to God; and God forbid, they must never happen to you." Now, what really goes unsaid is, "Because, of course, that would mean that these things of which you speak would also happen to someone who followed you, someone like me."
Peter's perception of the Messiah’s leadership and his own importance as keeper of the keys is then abruptly shattered as Jesus barks back at him saying, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a scandal, a stumbling block to me, for you have set your mind not on divine things, but on human things." Well, the rest of the air escapes from Peter’s self-important balloon as Jesus goes on to say, "You want these keys? Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?"
Peter and the disciples were ready for a Messiah who was supposed to come and restore the Jewish kingdom, make the Jewish kingdom great again, by overthrowing oppressive empires, and they saw themselves assisting in this effort. But now, Jesus is talking about going to Jerusalem to suffer and die! Jesus gives them an ad hoc lecture in God's plan for the Messiah and the kind of kingdom he is ushering in. And, following this kind of leader is just the antithesis of what they had anticipated.
Well, in our culture today, I have to say we are no different. We are a people who are interested in winning. We are people who want to be in charge and on top. We are self-absorbed people who want to stay within the cocoon of our comfortable lives, stay in our little bubbles, and not get into the thick of the need in this world. We are people who live in a very self-centered, narcissistic culture, wanting to avoid the pain and messiness of life. We do everything we can to avoid suffering and self-sacrifice. Yet, Jesus tells us that if we want to gain life, life that truly matters, we are to follow him and do as he does. He tells us we will gain life that truly matters when we follow him and do things like sooth the pain of the sick; care for children in need; hammer nails in houses for those without shelter; share bread with the hungry; visit those in prison; help and assist people who have lost everything in fires like those taking place in California, or in hurricanes like Laura; work to end and dismantle oppression of any kind; work to dismantle the racism that plagues our culture. And, Jesus calls us to do this in the selfless way he models for us, by letting go of our egos – by letting our egos die. And, letting our egos die is quite honestly, one of the hardest aspects of discipleship, let alone leadership, because it leads us to living lives of sacrificial love as Paul instructs in today’s reading from Romans. It means we become accomplices with Jesus in doing things like blessing those who persecute us, blessing and not cursing them. It means never seeking vengeance and retribution because God says, “Vengeance is mine.” It means feeding our enemies and giving them water to drink because only good overcomes evil. Yes, following the leader, Jesus style, is difficult, but the rewards are great.
Friends, like Peter and the other disciples, we face the chasm between Jesus’ call to discipleship and our own lives as part-time volunteers for the Gospel. Few Christians abandon everything for the Gospel’s sake. Most of us simply fit our Christianity into the open spots on our calendars. But in this passage Jesus links the life of discipleship with his own path. We are to follow his leading. And, astonishingly, Jesus offers crucifixion to those who would follow him. In a bold assertion of God’s boundary-crossing grace, Jesus takes as his logo and brand the grim killing tool of the world’s superpower and says to us, “Take up your cross. If you want to follow me, deny yourself; if you want to find your life, give up your life.”
The gospel is always an invitation to death before it bestows new life. This is how God’s love will redeem and resurrect sinners from the futility of life devoted to profit and winning and the “all about me” syndrome that is so present in our country. Because Jesus leads by dying on the cross, we may now give ourselves to him and die to the powers that possess and control us. Following Jesus is about following him into the messiness and dysfunction of the world and carrying the cross. We do not control or bind God, and we do not stipulate or give Jesus the conditions to our discipleship; instead, we risk contamination and insecurity by releasing the need to protect our very own lives.
Following the leader, Jesus style, means living in solidarity with Jesus’ own way of life in this world. Instead of binding Jesus for our own self-preservation, we must faithfully follow and bear witness to him, “even at the risk of losing our lives.” And, the most amazing aspect of following the leader Jesus’ style and participating in the very life of Christ’s living body in the world, is that we find ourselves resurrected to new life.
It is hard to follow Jesus to this place, but he says he will make good on his promise. Although new life, life that truly matters, will not be an easy life, Jesus promises that the day is coming when the “Son of Man” will appear in glory. God has already acted decisively and ultimately in the person of Jesus. God has already acted! And so, we follow, trusting that there will come a day when God will wipe away all tears, a day when death will be no more, a day when mourning and crying and pain will be no more. The promise of full redemption for this entire world is unmistakable and certain. Thanks be to God!
This is a special musical presentation of Above All sung by Christopher Lewis at Faith Lutheran Chuch in Okemos, Michigan.
This is a special musical presentation of How Can I keep From Singing by Christopher Lewis at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan
I suspect some of you have experienced “come to Jesus moments” in your life. Such moments are epiphanies in which one realizes the truth of a specific matter or situation. A come to Jesus moment can be a time of realization, a moment of decision, a moment of truth, a critical moment, a moment of revelation, or a moment in which one reassesses priorities. Quite often such moments in our lives mark a turning point and they are life-changing.
Today, when we meet up with Jesus and his band of twelve bumbling misfits, we hear about Peter experiencing a come to Jesus moment. Jesus has been traveling with his disciples, teaching, listening, and reaching out to people. There was a divine energy being released into the world through him and it included a passion for justice as well as healing and compassion for all people. Jesus’ ministry was growing and expanding and, wherever he went, people thronged to see him. I have to say, if one might compare these happenings to experiences in today’s culture, one could say Jesus was trending and going viral, he was lighting up social media in the first-century world! In other words, things were really happening!
As Jesus and his band of misfits continue their travels they come into the district of Caesarea Philippi, a place of power and governmental authority where there would have been ample evidence of Roman rule and pagan religions. There were multiple temples and statues of foreign gods. And, it is in this significant place, a place where the power of empire is on full display, that Jesus asks his followers, “What are people saying about me? Who do people say that I am?” The disciples then begin rattling off the results of the most recent public opinion poll, saying: "A certain percentage of people say that you are John the Baptist, or at least like John the Baptist. And some think you're the second coming of the great prophet Elijah. And still others believe you're stern and austere like Jeremiah or one of the great prophets from our tradition. In other words, Jesus, people are beginning to put you on the Mount Rushmore of Jewish prophets! You're really making a name for yourself. You're really going places, Jesus. Isn't that fantastic?"
Well, Jesus wasn't taking a poll. Jesus was trying to take the disciples to a deeper place. And that is why, in this location of empirical governmental power, he then turned to them asking a subversive, even more penetrating question. Jesus asked, "But who do you say that I am?" Well, Peter, always impetuous and the first to react, has a come to Jesus moment and blurts out, "You are the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God!" Quite honestly, when we hear the rest of the gospel story, we know he spoke these words without fully understanding what he was saying. But, Jesus responds saying, “By golly, you got it right! God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I’m going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. And, that’s not all. This community will have power. You will have complete and free access to God’s kingdom, keys to open any door and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven. In other words, this community has the power to interpret the law in light of new situations. The realm of heaven will concur with the church’s interpretation.” (The Message)
There can be no doubt that the Jesus of the Bible, particularly Jesus as described in the Gospel of Matthew, meant to build a community. There is no doubt he meant to leave behind a community of followers who lived into the ways of God that he himself proclaimed and lived. In this reading from Matthew, the Greek word translated as church is ekklesia. This Greek word referred to the local political assembly, or the people "called out" to a town meeting. Matthew is the only gospel to use this word. So, Jesus, in referring to his followers as an ekklesia, meant that the “called out” community of the faithful would persevere in and continue to live out his teachings, as his influence lived on following the fate he felt awaited him.
As we think about this story, it is important to remember and recognize Peter’s confession when he experiences that come to Jesus moment. This is a powerful moment of recognition. However, later on Peter will screw up mightily and he will completely misunderstand what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah, what it means to confess Jesus as the Christ. He will later resist Jesus’ intention to turn himself over to the authorities, and he will eventually deny and abandon his Lord. But, in this moment, he confesses Jesus is the Christ.
In light of all that is going on in our country at the present time, in our present empire, we cannot help but ask ourselves, “Who do we say Jesus is and what does it mean to say that Jesus is the Christ?” For all of us, as we respond to these questions, there is a certain sense in which we too have a come to Jesus moment. More and more, as I respond to that question and confess Jesus as the Universal Risen Christ, what makes sense to me is this: Christ is not just a person. Christ is not just a title. And, Christ is certainly not the last name of Jesus. No. Christ is a word that names the divine being, the divine energy that was released into the world through the life of Jesus. Just as stars explode and new planets are formed, so in the life of Jesus a certain kind of Christ energy was constellated and released into the world, into the cosmos, an energy that is still changing people. This is nothing less than the energy or presence of God. Compassion exploded into the world through the life of Jesus. Forgiveness, unconditional love, and inexhaustible grace invaded the world through the life of Jesus. Creative, transforming, and inspiring goodness was released into the world through the life of Jesus. I like to think of Jesus as a Christ-Burst – a burst of God energy that continues to shape the world one heart, one person, one community, and one situation at a time.
We who are part of a faith community are daily called to bear witness to that Christ-Burst wherever we live and move and have our being. We are called to live with the same passion and commitment as that early “called out” community to which Matthew’s gospel was written. We are called to live into the ways of God that Jesus himself proclaimed and lived. We are being called – in our individual and communal lives – to daily confess the universal, risen Christ. We are called to confess the suffering Christ who always, always sided with the vulnerable in both word, deed, speech, and action!
On this morning, Maude, Rachel, Lily and Sami, you answer that call as you make public affirmation of your baptism. Today, you confess the suffering Christ who will always be with you, the Christ-Burst energy of love that will always hold you as you go through life. Like Peter and like all of us, there will be times when you fall short, not living as deeply or truly into your confession as you should. At times, just like each one of us, you will even get confused or scared about what that confession really means. And, quite frankly, you will discover that as we live together within this “called out,” beloved community, it can be a messy place. But, Jesus promises that he will build his church. God is at work through this “called out” community of which we all are a part. And, guess what? We who are part of this community of whacky, messed-up, bumbling misfits continue to live out our come to Jesus moments through the choices we daily make, every time we do things like feed the poor, house the homeless, care for the sick and dying, care for refugees, advocate for the vulnerable and forgotten, work for justice and peace, walk with the suffering, work to dismantle racism, and reach out to become engaged with this needy, hurting world by sharing the gracious love of God in Christ. That is our identity!
This is a special musical performance by Bob Nelson of Turn Your Eyes on Jesus at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
Last Monday morning, my friend, Bill Uetricht, and I were discussing today’s readings. He suggested that Richard Rohr’s daily meditations over the past few days connect to these readings. Lately, Rohr has been discussing the fact that we grow in thinking, maturity, understanding, and in our faith by “passing beyond some perceived perfect Order, through an often painful and seemingly unnecessary Disorder, to an enlightened Reorder or resurrection. This is the universal pattern that connects and solidifies our relationships with everything around us…. To grow toward love, union, salvation, or enlightenment, we must be moved from Order to Disorder and then ultimately to Reorder.”
As I continued to study these lessons, I believe Bill hit the nail on the head. So often, religious communities attempt to create and place themselves in these containers or boxes, placing perimeters around themselves. Such efforts help to create a highly defined sense of order but, they also establish communities intently focused on tradition and exclusivity with troubling exclusionary practices. In today’s reading from Isaiah, the people have returned to Jerusalem from Babylonian exile, and they are attempting to reorganize, both as a religion and as a society. So, they create a narrowly defined sense of order by excluding foreigners and outsiders and establishing strict boundaries. The prophet disrupts this by proclaiming God’s vision of community which includes outsiders! He says those previously excluded from the covenant may now belong because all may fit under God’s umbrella! Isaiah’s words lead the people to reorder their understanding of divine mercy and God’s welcome for all people.
Then, in today’s gospel reading, Jesus is speaking to the religious community about the rigid order created by an intent focus on tradition and conventional religious practices. He is speaking to all who hold tradition and ritual in high esteem and consider themselves to be the “in crowd” – the socially accepted crowd. The community was preoccupied with dietary laws about what would defile and hurt the body, laws that dictated what could and could not be touched or eaten. Jesus confronted the people about their exclusionary practices, their clean and unclean requirements and, he turned conventional thinking on its head. He challenges the people regarding the importance of their strict dietary laws that place a high premium on the purity of the individual. You see, Jesus is much more concerned about the heart and the stuff that comes out of us as we live in relationship to others. He is concerned about the stuff that can defile, the stuff that comes out that hurts others and hurts the world. Theologian, Dock Hollingsworth, describes what Jesus is saying in this way:
Yesterday’s lunch is gone forever. Jesus asks, “Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes into the sewer?” It is a crude image. The sewer has carried away any mistakes we may have made by putting into our body things that the dietary laws call unclean. However, the careless words, the evil, the lies, and the fornication continue to be harmful. Our words and actions have the power to defile and hurt and the pain of those choices is not washed down the sewer like yesterday’s lunch (p. 357, Feasting on the Word).
Jesus confronts the people about their exclusionary practices, disrupts their highly defined sense of order, and creates a kind of disorder by turning conventional religious thought on its head. And, I think he turns much of our conventional religious thought on its head as well.
Throughout history there have been many times when the church has used tradition in perverse, even exclusionary ways. Considering Jesus’ words to us today, we should ask ourselves, what practices do we hold dear? What really does not matter? What traditions do we deem so vitally important they end up excluding others? How might we need to grow and live into a reordering of the way we do things? Jesus’ words remind us that religious faithfulness is ultimately shown by the way we speak and live out the radical hospitality and love of Christ as we live in relationship to others.
What is so captivating about today’s reading is that Jesus challenges and disturbs the religious community about the order of their “clean” and “unclean” status, and then finds himself in a position where the tables are turned and he is confronted by a clean/unclean issue that draws him into a new order, a reordering of his mission and ministry.
Jesus travels into Gentile territory and is approached by a very bold, in your face Canaanite woman. She is a foreigner, and religious tradition labels her unclean. She confronts Jesus, asking him to heal her demon possessed daughter. And, Jesus’ actions and words to her seem arrogant, downright racist, and just plain mean. First, he ignores her and then he insults her by using an ethnic slur, calling her a dog. I do not like this side of Jesus! His words are degrading. Yet, I think we need to wrestle with this story. There is nothing we can or should do to water it down except honestly face Jesus’ response. Is it just possible that we see a greater glimpse of Jesus’ humanity in this story? I think that for most of us, we say we believe Jesus was “truly human” but, we do not want him to be too human. The fact of the matter is the gospel writer does not clean up this story. Instead, he shows us a very human side of Jesus. Pastor Gary Charles, when describing this scene writes:
Jesus enters into “unwashed” territory of untouchable foreigners, a despised “toxic waste area.” Jewish religious tradition had “proven to be a ‘holy’ fence” for these foreigners, keeping them on the outside. And, not only is this woman an unclean foreigner, she is doubly despised because she is a woman.
Jesus’ initial actions and disturbing words to this bold woman are descriptive of the defined order of conventional religious thinking within the Jewish community of that time. So, does Jesus respond out of his humanity and the ordered socialization he has experienced throughout his thirty some years of life? Can we see him as fully human in his response? Is he so fully human that this very bold woman who approaches him and is not willing to back down creates a sense of disorder for Jesus, and changes him? Is the Jesus in whom we believe so fully human that this woman changes Jesus’ own thinking and understanding of his ministry in this world, enabling him to expand his understanding of God’s call and then reorder his mission? Many scholars think this to be the case. Furthermore, the writer of Matthew’s gospel is telling the Jesus story to a Jewish community that wanted to exclude foreigners and Gentiles, all those they considered “other.” It is quite likely the audience Matthew’s Jesus is addressing had some growing up to do and the story of this bold, in your face, unclean, foreign woman enabled that.
This courageous woman, an enemy of Israel, who is not willing to give up and go away, has faith - great faith. She ministers to Jesus and, in doing so, becomes a voice from beyond the boundaries. Jesus recognizes her faith, and her bold action is instrumental in bringing about divine healing and the release of God’s grace for the “others” in this world. And, from this time forth in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus’ mission expands to the point that, at the end of the gospel, it includes the whole world.
We who make up the body of Christ need to always be struggling with the questions we discover in today’s readings. We must ask:
Jesus was changed that day! From that point on, his mission increasingly challenged and disrupted the present order as he created a new order. And, through him, God’s grace is ever becoming more fully realized in this world as we live into that new order, God’s new creation.
The promises of God are true, and God’s mercy is for all people. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, we discover God deeply loves this entire world. And, God is all about the business of drawing us into the reordering of God’s new creation, God’s dream for the world.
I am sure many of you remember the Elvis Presley song, I Feel the Temperature Rising. That was a song about a guy’s reaction to a girl with whom he had a relationship. Well, the phrase I feel the temperature rising has been going through my head this past week and the reason has nothing to do with a love relationship! It has everything to do with the anxiety level I am sensing and feeling in our culture. As I have been talking with people, I have observed a growing sense of anxiety and fear as we near the beginning of an uncertain school year during this COVID-19 pandemic. I have also been noticing and feeling a real sense of anxiety as we move through the chaos of this election season. I do not think anyone can deny we are living during a time of augmented chaos and uncertainty. And, it is only natural that we are experiencing amplified anxiety and fear!
Anxiety and fear are vital responses to physical and emotional danger. And, if we could not experience a sense of fear, we could not protect ourselves from legitimate threats. However, sometimes, fear can be paralyzing, and it can keep us from living into the fullness of life, living a centered life, living into life that truly matters. So, being honest about our fear and exposing ourselves to our personal demons by facing our fears is the best way to move through them and beyond them.
In today’s readings from scripture, we discover our ancestors in faith also faced fear and anxiety. In our reading from 1 Kings, Elijah was living in fear. He had faithfully preached truth to power when he spoke to the evil King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Then, the Queen had sent a messenger to Elijah telling him that she intended to kill him that very day. Shackled by fear, Elijah goes and hides on Mount Horeb, the mountain also known as Mount Sinai. On that mountain, he waits for God to reveal God’s self to him. The temperature of Elijah’s anxiety continues to rise as he experiences a great wind, an earthquake, and fire. But, in these displays of natural forces, God did not seem present. Rather, Elijah’s encounter with “sheer silence” calls him back to his prophetic tasks. By centering himself in silence toward God, he again discovered God’s presence to him. He experienced what St. Paul references in today’s reading from Romans when he writes, “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart.”
In today’s gospel, we hear a story that not only addresses the fear that can literally overpower us, but also the even greater power of God’s loving presence to us, a presence that will never let us go. As we meet up with Jesus, he has finally been able to send the crowds away. He has convinced his disciples to get in a boat and cross the lake ahead of him. Finally, he has found time to retreat and spend some time in prayer. As we look at today’s gospel reading, Jesus is not a superhero who has retreated to his bat cave. He is not a ghost out to haunt the already terrified. He is a man. Fully God, fully human. He is the Son of God, though those around him don't yet recognize him. His ministry is being battered by the rejection of his hometown folks and the beheading by Herod of his cousin John the Baptist. Jesus knows his time is coming. Crowds of needy people have been constantly pressing in on him. And, he needs some time alone.
Jesus is praying, perhaps lifting up each of his fears and struggles to God and exchanging them for faith, allowing the comfort and healing and power of God to fill his inner life, his heart, mind, emotions, and will. After all, this is what the Jewish scriptures tell us to do, to surrender all our lesser fears to our fear of the Lord, which means our reverence for God, for who God is and what God can do. Then, as Jesus looks up and squints at the horizon, he sees the disciples' little boat bobbing side to side, back and forth, and up and down on the chaotic water.
Well, the disciples have spent nearly the whole night struggling to get across that blasted lake before Jesus shows up near daybreak. The Sea of Galilee is not a massive body of water, never more than seven miles across when traveling east-west. Yet, they’ve not been able to traverse it, for the storm has “battered” or “thrashed” their boat. And, as for the churning sea? In their worldview, it represents chaos and danger. The temperature of their anxiety is rising! Then, they think they see a ghost! Fear erupts because they anticipate how the story will probably end. All night they have been threatened by the prospect that this chaos might devour them. They saw themselves as disciples left to die at the mercy of more powerful forces. Talk about a situation that causes the temperature of one’s fear and anxiety to rise!
Finally, the disciples realize this seeming “ghost” is Jesus, striding over and above the sea, transcending the watery chaos. And, astoundingly, Peter wants to step out there on that chaotic water. Peter steps out of the boat and enters the tumult. And, Peter flounders. He flounders because he grows afraid. Quite frankly, that fear is justified. The storm is still powerfully raging and it is so intense it could sink the boat, let alone drown a single person. He has perfectly good reason to be afraid.
And, so do we. There are multiple reasons each one of us might face fear. Maybe you fear what will happen as school begins and this virus is likely to again spike. Maybe you fear someone in your family will get this virus. Maybe you fear loneliness after loss. Or, fear aging and all the issues that come with growing old. Or, maybe you fear for your kids and what they are experiencing or will experience. Or, you fear facing a new chapter in life, or making a major life-changing decision. Or, you fear for the future of our congregation, or the direction of our country, or global security…. You name it! There are multiple situations and reasons in our individual, congregational and communal lives that make us afraid. And that fear can be paralyzing, debilitating, and make it difficult for us to move forward or even have any sense of confidence. In fact, as theologian David Lose says, “Fear is one of the primary things that robs the children of God of the abundant life God intends for us.”
Well, in response to Peter’s fear, Jesus doesn’t simply urge Peter to buck up, be a man, be courageous, let go of his fear and focus on him. Instead, when Peter begins to sink, Jesus literally catches him! He grabs hold of Peter! Jesus grabs him and saves him from drowning. He grabs him and restores him to his vocation as a disciple. And, guess what? He does the same with us. Jesus will not, he absolutely will never, let us go. Jesus is never going to give up on us, no matter what we do! The God we know in Christ is truly THE LOVE THAT WILL NEVER LET US GO! In the depth of our fear, Jesus grabs us, holds on to us when we falter and restores us to where we can again be of service to him.
Today’s gospel, life-giving word to us is a message that is not only about our fear. It is a message that is the heart of the gospel message. It is the gospel good news of grace which proclaims that God will never give up on us, that God is with us and for us, that God – in the end – will do what we cannot do for ourselves and save us. This is a message that enables us to cope with life and with our fear because it is a message that enables us to transcend that fear. We may not be able to defeat it, but we can face it, stand in the swirling disorder and chaos, and do what needs to be done even when we are afraid. And, quite frankly, this is the nature of what it means to live out an active life of faith, to be willing to throw oneself into a disorderly world and expect to encounter Jesus there. I love what William Willimon says about this passage. He writes:
If Peter had not ventured forth, had not obeyed the call to walk on the water, then Peter would never have had this great opportunity for recognition of Jesus and rescue by Jesus. I wonder if too many of us are merely splashing about in the safe shallows and therefore have too few opportunities to test and deepen our faith. The story today implies if you want to be close to Jesus, you have to venture forth out on the sea and [discover] his promises through trusting his promises, through risk and venture.
Yes, we do feel the temperature of our anxiety and fear rising. However, as we face our fear, getting out of the boat with Jesus and going to the places where Jesus goes as we truly love and care for all others is the riskiest, most exciting, and most fulfilling way to live life to the fullest, life that truly matters, life that is abundant. And, this God we see in Jesus, will always be holding on to us and never let us go!
This is a Special Music performance of Softly & Tenderly by Tammy Heilman at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan
As we live these present days, the challenges we face are affecting us in multiple ways. I have been thinking about this and have realized one way our lives have changed during this pandemic time is that we are experiencing a certain kind of disorientation and a sense of dislocation. This is not a geographical dislocation, but dislocation as it relates to our daily patterns, structures, and activities. All we need do is look at the way we are presently worshipping – either online, or in-person but outdoors. As I think about our present context, the following descriptive words or phrases come to mind – dislocation, exile from what we once had, sorrow, loss, a hunger for community resulting in a sense of emptiness, and a sense of nothingness compared to what we once had. And, as so frequently happens, today’s life-giving readings provide the nourishment we deeply need.
In our first reading today, the prophet Isaiah speaks to the people of Israel as they experience chasmic dislocation, sorrow, desolation, emptiness, a sense of nothingness and loss. They are in exile, in Babylon. In 587 BCE, Jerusalem had been burned and the temple destroyed. The king was exiled, the leading citizens were deported, and the public life they had known, all had come to an end. And, into this context, the prophet Isaiah speaks words of consolation and hope saying, “Hey there, all who are thirsty, come to the waters! Are you penniless? Come anyway – buy and eat! Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk. Buy without money – everything’s free!” Imagine hearing these words, “come, buy and eat, even though you have no money.” The prophet addresses the void, the emptiness, the nothingness compared to what once was. He addresses the dislocation and the sorrow in the lives of the people. And, he uses the metaphor of food to remind them of the covenant that God had established and renewed. Isaiah likens God’s faithful, everlasting covenant to food freely given, as he says, “Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good…. come to me, listen, so that you may live.”
As I hear these words, I must say they touch the deepest places of my being when I realize this very God is so faithfully present to us, holding us in love, even as we experience a sense of dislocation and emptiness.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus and his disciples have just received news of the brutal murder of John the Baptist. They are grief stricken, exhausted, and feeling great sorrow. Mourning John’s death, Jesus tries to slip away in a boat, attempting to go to a deserted, empty place, a place where there is nothing, no one present. However, the crowd follows him, and the disciples tell the people to go away. And, what does Jesus do? He has compassion and begins healing the sick. As dinner time approaches, much to the disciples’ dismay, Jesus asks the disciples to feed the thousands, and they are shocked. They are only able to find two fish and five loaves of bread. So, they operate out of the perspective of scarcity, nothingness, and emptiness.
“We have nothing…” they say, dismissive of what they see as an insufficient offering in comparison to the enormous need. Then, something happens! It does not really matter so much how we understand the miracle that follows. It does not matter how Jesus creates more. What does matter is that he saw a possibility where the disciples saw nothing. As Nadia Bolz-Weber says, ”‘nothing’ is God’s favorite material to work with.” The disciples looked at 5 loaves and 2 fish and saw nothing, but God looked at it and saw a feast!
Before the disciples even identified the loaves and fish, they looked out at the crowd of hungry people and saw a problem. They saw nothing good coming from a hungry mob. But, Jesus’ invitation to feed the thousands rather than send them away indicates that he looked at the same crowd and saw the possibility of a celebration. Thousands of hungry people were not a problem but an opportunity for God to work. Yes, “nothing” is God’s favorite material to work with.
Far too often we function out of a perspective of nothingness. We see a world and even our country embroiled in conflict and we see no hope for peace. Many days it seems like we are staring down a hungry crowd with nothing but 5 loaves and 2 fish. But somehow, in the depth of this present turmoil, we trust God’s promises that God sees fighting people, helpless bystanders, hungry people, sick people, and activists who go unheard, and God still sees the possibility of peace and justice. We see nothing, but God is already planning that great feast where people from all backgrounds and countries will be sitting next to one another and feasting in peace. Yes, “nothing” is God’s favorite material to work with.
Friends, far too often we function out of a perspective of nothingness. How often do we look at people and see nothing, see people we judge as not enough? It happens most often with people at the margins, those we consider the least of these. People we see as too young or too old, people we label as disabled. We forget that infants have something to teach us about God; people in nursing home beds who can’t even recognize their own family members have something to teach us about God; people in ICU beds who can’t speak because of ventilators in their mouths have something to teach us about God; people whose abilities are different from our own have something to teach us about God; people whose gender identity is different from ours have something to teach us about God; and people whose skin color, ethnicity and life experience is different from ours have something to teach us about God. God invites us to see not another problem, but another person who is loved by God and who is invited to join the feast!
This nothingness perspective and thinking is also an aspect of every congregation in which I have served, either as music director or pastor. People in churches at one time or another, including pastors, look around and see the equivalent of the disciples’ “nothing.” Too small, too big, too many programs or not enough. The people are too old, or too young, or not friendly enough. Too much this and not enough that. Have you said this our thought this about our congregation? If only we had more people... Or more of a certain kind of people…Or more energy…Or more money...Or more people willing to help…You get the idea? The problem is that every church is imperfect. And, in every church, there is a way to look at the crowd of people and see not enough. But, when God looks at it, God says, “Look at these people! Let’s have a feast!” Yes, “nothing” is God’s favorite material to work with.
In today’s reading, at the end of the story there are leftovers! In fact, leftovers abound, 12 baskets full! Leftovers are the opposite of nothing! Also, twelve is the sign and symbol of abundance and completeness. You see, God’s bounty is more than a single feast can ever contain. Yes, “nothing” is God’s favorite material to work with.
So, as I look at our present context, and think about the feeling of dislocation, the sense of exile, the sorrow, the hunger for community, and the sense of emptiness or nothingness we are experiencing, I remember that NOTHING is God’s favorite material to work with! In fact, this God in whom we place our trust took the immense void, pain, sorrow, and grief filled emptiness created by a cross and turned it into a message of love beyond measure. When we see nothing, God gives us new eyes, a new heart, and a new mind to see “nothing” as something new! When we feel emptiness and we cannot see, God still sees something. Yes, God is so very present to us and, I do believe something new is being born! In fact, I am presently seeing a much deeper sense of community growing within our Faith community, growing among us as people. That is a sign that God is actively working in our lives at this very moment in time.
In just a few minutes, we will join the hungry crowd as God invites us to partake of this little bit of bread and wine, nothing really. And, in that feast, God will transform our nothingness into the broken body of Christ for service in this world. So, come, to the hungry feast!