The Kingdom of God is like...

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Our collect today starts out, “Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things…”  That’s not always easy to do – to not be anxious about the things that swirl around us – especially when those things include things like hurricanes and flooded houses or wildfires or earthquakes or diving economies – and we tend to fear for our futures and for our very lives.  

I have seen a number of people this week who have been negatively affected by Harvey.  People who lost a week of work and can’t meet their bills, people who are being housed at motels in Galveston and have to bring their kids to school here in Alvin and then spend the day working on their house; people who have had to drop out of school to try to deal with everything that goes along with losing everything.  

And I want to thank all of you who have donated so generously to my discretionary account.  I have had more than the usual number of people needing extra help.  It is very hard for those people who live from paycheck to paycheck, who have to fight for every penny they get.  When something like this happens, it is very hard for them to recover.  If they lose a week of work, that is a large chunk of their rent, or food for the table that week.

Not unlike those I have been helping this week, in our Old Testament lesson from Exodus, the people are grumbling against Moses and Aaron because they don’t have enough to eat or drink.   Seems like every time these lessons come around there has been some major event that effects people.  I remember when these lessons came up a week after Ike.  Now here we are with Harvey and I know there are people around here who could commiserate with the Israelites.  In Texas and Florida, and the Caribbean Islands, in the rubbles in Mexico following the earthquakes, (there was another one this morning), in the fire torn areas of the west coast, people are hurting, and they understand the pain of the Israelites. 

For the people of Israel, they were without jobs, without homes and without resources, but the Lord heard their cry and provided for them food enough – water from the rock, quail (meat) in the evening and manna (bread) in the morning.  I love the story about the manna – the people go out and see the residue on the ground after the dew lifted and they said, “What is it?”  Well, it’s the bread that God gave you – so they called it “manna” which means “what is it.”

You know that the tendency has been to explain away the miracles – well the quail were migrating and were blown off course into the camp and the manna is a residue from insects that was collected and used sort of like flour to make bread.

Well, those things may be, but the miracle is that they happened when the people needed them – and that the amount of residue was enough to make bread for all the people.  And everyone had enough.  It is important that people have enough to eat – it makes a difference in their attitude if their belly is full.  

Our gospel lesson talks about day laborers.  These are the people who live day to day - not knowing if they will work that day.  They hang out at a convenient spot where people can find them.  In Alvin, day laborers hang out at the convenience store on the corner of 2^nd and Sealy streets.  Those men who are waiting for work, hoping to get hired so that they can feed their families, are no different from the ones in our gospel lesson.  In fact they are not much different from the ones in our Exodus lesson – they just want to survive.

Whether it’s fire or flood or running from a tyrant, many people – especially day laborers, hourly wage people, find themselves, not only without a home, but also without a job, or food, or resources.  Before getting into the meat of the lesson for today, I just want to make sure that you understand that people in Jesus’ day and in Moses’ day are not so much different from people today.

For some people it’s a matter of having enough food to feed their families.  That’s actually the same thing that’s going on in our gospel lesson.  The day laborers just want to provide for their families – the denarius – a day’s wage to buy a day’s worth of food.  And those who get picked early in the morning are the fortunate ones because they are going to be able to go home with food – enough for their families.  And the ones who get picked later in the day, or not at all, will go home short or with nothing at all.  

So our landowner goes out and hires people to work in his vineyard.  And they agree on a reasonable wage – the daily standard (let’s say $50).  And as the day goes on he hires more and more people – each time telling them that he will pay them what is fair – until you get to the last group.

The last group, he goes out and asks, ‘why are you standing here idle – why are you not working?”  And their answer is because no one has hired them.  And he tells them to go into the vineyard and work.  He does not even say that he is going to pay them – just “go work.”

And when it’s time to pay the workers – they all get the same amount.  Now if that were to happen today….  One of the mantras that has appeared in recent years is ‘equal pay for equal work.’  That’s mostly about women’s issues - but how does that line up with this story?  This story makes no kind of economic sense – not now, not then.  The parables of Jesus – especially the kingdom parables – although they are all drawn from nature, or family, or other familiar circumstances, make no sense.  

If you are the person that worked all day, you expect to make more than the person who only worked an hour.  And if you are the owner of the company – you are going to pay for the worth of the work – you don’t pay the person who worked one hour the same as the one who worked 8 hours, and you don’t pay the ditch digger the same wage you paid the engineer who designed the system.  (Can you imagine a business owner getting people to work all day when he’s going to pay a day’s wage for only one hour’s work?)  From a worldly point of view – this story makes absolutely no sense.  

William Willimon, a Methodist Minister – dean of the Duke seminary chapel preached on this lesson one day.  One of the ushers came up after and asked, “Where do you get these stories you tell?”  Confused he replied, “Stories?  I guess from South Carolina.”  She went on to say, “well, I’m really bothered by the one you told today.  I just don’t think that’s anyway to treat people.  I mean, if you work longer, you should get paid more.”  Willimon replied that that story was not his, it was from Matthew, and she didn’t have a clue who or what Matthew was.  She was the girlfriend of one of the ushers that day, and they were short handed so he asked her to fill in.  Willimon told her that she was probably the only person there that actually got that story – the outrageousness of it.  

And the point is that the kingdom of heaven is not like earth – and Jesus’ parables are intended to make that abundantly clear.  In heaven everyone gets treated the same – Everyone who accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior gets into the heaven, regardless of who they are, or how long they were a Christian, or how intense their faith might be.  When we join that heavenly chorus – in that heavenly realm – there is no hierarchy – we all enjoy the same benefit - life eternal.  

Amen 

Transforming Love

Our collect tells us we are to trust God with all our hearts – when we are proud and confide in our own strength, we are not trusting in God – but if we boast of his mercy and trust in him – he will never forsake us.  

Our lesson from Romans tells us to love one another and in that way, we fulfill the law.  Paul sums up the commandments quoting Jesus, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And he says, “Let us lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”  Then he tells us to “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” 

And Matthew tells us if another sins against you…  I think we have to be very careful when we accuse someone of sinning against us.  So often there is no clear cut right or wrong.  Greed, misunderstandings, accidents, different world views have all led to disputes of various kinds.  That’s the reason we have courts and judges and juries to decide on cases.  That’s the reason that in this country a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.  Unfortunately, in recent times, people start drawing lines in the sand and refuse to even listen to a viewpoint other than theirs. 

It appears that Matthew is presupposing that the second party is guilty – and I say Matthew rather than Jesus because the words that he puts in Jesus’ mouth talk about the “church” – not the synagogue or the temple – which are the things that Jesus would have talked about.  This is written after the establishment of the Christian church in those areas around the Mediterranean Sea where the disciples had gone to spread the good news of Jesus.  

And I find it really interesting because he goes through this progression – which is really a good progression – you go first and talk one on one to try to resolve your problems.  If you don’t get satisfaction, then you take two or three witnesses with you.  In Jewish legal procedure, everything had to be established by at least two witnesses.  

Robert Heinlein wrote a book called “Stranger in a Strange Land,”  And in that book, there was a character called “a fair witness.’  Once a fair witness put on their official robe, he or she could not tell a lie, could make no assumptions, and went only on the facts that could be verified.

 Their “testimony” was legally binding – something like a notary on steroids.  At one point in the story, a fair witness was asked the color of a house on a nearby hillside.  The fair witness replied, “The side facing us appears to be white.”  They were asked, “so the house is white?”  The fair witness replied, “The other sides may be a different color.  I can only speak for the side I see.”

We hope that witnesses would always tell the truth, but that is not always the case.  There is an apocryphal story of Daniel called “Susanna.”  It is the 13^th chapter of the Greek version of the book of Daniel.  In this story, two elders bore witness accusing Susanna of impropriety.  They were lying, but thought that they could get away with it since they constituted a “legal” two witnesses and Susanna’s witness (being female) didn’t count.  But Daniel believed Susanna and caught the elders out in their lie and saved her life.

The truth of the matter is that different people see things differently.  It’s dangerous to draw lines in the sand in personal disputes, because like the witness in Heinlein’s story, you may have only seen one side of the house – and unlike the witness, you may be drawing conclusions from one view.  In other words, what I see (or hear) may seem to be one thing, but what you intended might be something entirely different.  We see our own faults most clearly when we see them in someone else. 

When we live in close proximity to other people, we are bound to rub up against them and irritate one another from time to time.  Even when we are together even for a short time, things can happen that cause discord.  Even at times, an innocent comment can hurt and cause division:

            (insert story about Rob at Camp Allen)

Bishop N. T. Wright writes:  Forgiveness doesn’t mean saying ‘it didn’t really happen’ or ‘it didn’t really matter’. In either of those cases, you don’t need forgiveness, you just need to clear up a misunderstanding. Forgiveness is when it did happen, and it did matter, and you’re going to deal with it and end up loving and accepting one another again anyway.

The new thing that seems to be very prominent in today’s society is condemning people without ‘trial’ and believe me, it is rampant today.  “Look what he did!  Did you see that?”  Sometimes its true and sometimes it’s not.  What we often don’t understand is what is behind the action.  What are the circumstances in that person’s life that has brought them to this place?  When we see people behave in certain ways, we are quick to condemn.  I offer up the story of the Samaritan woman at the well and her interaction with Jesus.  He offered salvation to her - without condemnation.  He stated the facts about her life – you have had 5 husbands and the one you have now is not your husband.

Since women were not allowed to have property, and they couldn’t inherit, they were sometimes desperate for survival.  They would do whatever it took to stay alive.  Most of us don’t know what it is to be that desperate – for shelter, for food – to believe that someone cares.  Jesus did not condemn this woman for her ‘sin.’  He didn’t even call it ‘a sin.’ Like the fair witness, he simply stated the facts – without commentary.  We need to leave off the commentary when we talk to people, because it most often is conjecture and that is where the real harm comes from in our interactions with other: the conjecture, the commentary by which we judge people.

Our lesson from Romans says to lay aside the works of darkness – those works that condemn others – and to put on the armor of light.  It tells us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and that means to do as Jesus himself would do.  The flesh in us wants to be hurt by others – the flesh in us wants to compare ourselves to them and come out on top.  It wants to condemn those who are not like us, who want to do things in a different way.

So how did Jesus treat the tax collector and the Gentile?  With dignity and with love.  He greeted them as friends, and his friendship was so powerful that their lives were transformed.  Jesus calls us to do the same – to everyone - to be a transforming agent.  He calls us to greet them as friends, and to allow the power of that friendship to transform them and to transform us, over time, into new creations of his love.  Don’t expect instant results.

Yesterday I gave a talk at Camp Allen mostly concerning angels and I said that the demonic influences seem to be winning through out the world today.  When we look at the divisions such as political situation, terrorism, genocide, wars and the rampant hatred that has plagued the world in recent history, it is hard to see how our world will survive.  It is sad to see how far down our world had come.  And then there is Harvey, the fires burning in Oregon and Montana, the earthquake in Mexico, Irma bearing down on Florida - and people wanting to comment - these are punishments from God.  No!  Those are not punishments.  I believe these are tools that God is using to allow the good in people to shine through and teach us to pull together and unite for a common cause.

Our gospel ends with Jesus saying, “For whenever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”  Whatever you bind or loose on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven.  What you reap here on earth, what you transform for the glory of God, will be credited to you in heaven.  When you gather with the tax collector or the Gentile, in the name of Jesus, without condemnation and allow that friendship to grow so that the love of Jesus shines through it, then and only then will you have put on Jesus Christ and the armor of light.

Amen

Reluctant servants

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Have you ever known someone who, when told something they didn’t want to hear, just pretended they didn’t hear it?  The plea or message falls on deaf ears.  It strikes me that in both our Old Testament lesson and our Gospel lesson, God’s plan is being revealed.  And in both cases there is a reluctant witness who doesn’t like what they are hearing and would rather not be a part of the plan.  

Moses sees this burning bush and says, “Cool!  I think I’ll go over and poke it with a stick and see what happens.”  (Sam tells me that’s a guy thing.)  This burning bush that was not being consumed - it was outside the experience of Moses - it was designed to draw him in.  And it was only after Moses turned aside to see this phenomenon that God spoke to him.  And the first thing he says is, “Take off your shoes for you are standing on holy ground.” This was a sign of respect in the Middle East; and when God reveals himself, Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God.

Then God lays out his plan and Moses complains, I’m too old; I’m slow of tongue; I don’t know your name; they won’t believe me; besides - I’m wanted for murder - who’s going to follow me.  He tried every way he could to get out of it, but God just wasn’t buying it.

God tells Moses: “I have observed the misery of my people. . . ; I have heard their cry. . . . Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them. . .”  God has heard the cry of his people and he cares about what they are experiencing, what has happened to them - and what they are feeling.  AND he not only cares, he wants to do something about it.  He is not going to intervene himself, but he is appointing someone to go for him and he will work through that person to redeem and free his oppressed children.  The most important thing that God says to Moses is, “I will be with you.”  Regardless of who we are, where we are, or what has happened in our life, God will be with us.

This says a lot about what is going on around us right now.  God knows what has happened here, and He cares, and He is going to work through people - people like you and me to help those who have lost so much.   God cares and he is going to make himself known through the people who have said, ‘yes’ to God’s call to reach out to those who suffer.

In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus reveals God’s plan for the first time - that he will have to suffer and die and after 3 days will rise again.  And the disciples don’t want to hear it - especially Peter.  Peter is ready to fight for Jesus, to lay down his life that Jesus might live.

Most of us probably didn’t hear the gospel lesson last week - its the one where Jesus asks the disciples ‘who do people say I am?”  And they repeat the standard answers, “Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist or one of the prophets.”  Then he brings the question home, “Who do you say I am?”  That’s a harder question to answer because you have to put yourself on the line - make a decision, right or wrong.  And Peter steps right out there and says, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Good answer, Peter, and he is praised to saying that.  Matter of fact, Jesus tells him, “Blessed are you.  Flesh and blood has not told you this, but God in heaven revealed it to you.”   Peter stepped out and got it right.

So now that the disciples know Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus begins to reveal his plan and Peter, who just got praised, takes exception.  “Lord, you don’t have to die.  We won’t let this happen.”  And Jesus doesn’t just tell him he’s wrong, he says, “Get thee behind me, Satan.”  He calls Peter, Satan!  Peter is thinking only in earthly terms, only about what he wants to happen - or not happen.  Jesus is revealing the plan of heaven, and Peter can’t see it, because it doesn’t line up with Peter’s view of how the world should be.  

Too often, we do that.  We look at what we would do if we were king - god - whatever.  But I think it’s probably a good thing that I’m not god, because I’m pretty selfish when it comes to worldly things.  I wouldn’t want my best friend to die either -  and I’m pretty sure Peter considered Jesus to be his best friend.  He was proud to be Jesus’ right hand man.  It made him feel important, and he didn’t want to lose that.  If Jesus died, where would that leave Peter?

Too often we are Peter.  Floundering around trying to find meaning - trying to make the world line up with our own ideology.  This world that God created is not perfect, but it is Good.  And even though bad things sometimes happen, there is always room for God’s goodness to be revealed through the people who call him “Lord;”  Through the love that is expressed through the people who say ‘yes’ to God’s call to go out into the world and be Christ to those who are hurting.

When Harvey hit, Sam and I were at Camp Allen and we were flooded in with no way to come home.  We had food, beds to sleep in, clean water, and we didn’t have to worry about flooding.  We were somewhat  isolated from the world and so we did what we could.  We prayed and offered up intercession for those who were in the brunt of the storm.

Now we are back, and we are all being called to serve - and right now we have an excellent opportunity to serve those who have lost homes or parts of their homes to Harvey.  This evening we will be serving a meal for anyone in Alvin - We plan to provide

A place to come and eat and be filled, 

- so that those who have no place to cook, can come eat, 

- so that those who have spent the day mucking out a flooded house will have a clean place to sit and be still for a few minutes,

A place for people to come and share stories of their experiences during Harvey - 

- to cry over what is lost, 

- to rejoice over what has been found,

- to know that someone cares enough to listen,

For us, this is a place to come and be of service to other in our community by serving and listening.

God has given us an opportunity to share His love for all people.  Come join us tonight as we come together as a community of believers to do something to reach out to others in their time of need.  Amen.

Reconciling Love

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Our lessons today are full of forgiveness and reconciliation; of hope and embracing those who are different.  In our first lesson, Joseph embraces his brothers, forgiving them for selling him into slavery.  Joseph forgives them, and assures them that God used those events for the purpose of preparing a way of salvation for his chosen people.  

Joseph not only forgave his brothers, but then he provided for their welfare and that of their families for the duration of the famine. For us to understand, if Joseph, who suffered injustice after injustice can forgive the brothers who initiated the whole thing, then we need to look at our own lives to see where God may be calling us to forgive those around us.  This is but an example of the kind of love God has for us and that he wants us to extend to others. 

Our gospel lesson is also an interesting study.  Jesus starts out redefining Jewish dietary laws.  It is not that the laws themselves are bad - they served a purpose when they were given.  The problem was that the religious leader of the time had made those same laws into a kind of religion apart from God.  

What Jesus is saying is that these laws mean nothing if your heart is not in a right relationship with God.  You can follow the laws to the letter, but if you are not treating people right, then the laws by themselves cannot save you.  The traditions that the Pharisees follow no longer mean anything.  They have made a religion of being “holy” and he says that doesn’t matter to God.  He is saying that God cares less about these rules than he does about the condition of your heart. And then we get this vivid example of a right heart.

Jesus leaves and goes into Gentile territory.  The Pharisees are beginning to take offense at him and he may be tired of defending himself against them.  This is probably still in his first year of ministry – he’s maybe still learning what God is calling him to do – how he is to behave.  And he finds himself confronted by a Canaanite woman - a Gentile.

Now remember that Jesus has been raised as a Jew – to have compassion for Jews but Gentiles are outside that scope.  Gentiles generally have other gods, they are outside the covenant given to the Jews. Jesus sees his mission as bringing back the lost sheep of Israel, bringing the children back into covenant with God.  

Jesus has travelled outside Palestine, taking some time off, something of a vacation.  I don’t know about you, but when I’m on vacation I want to rest, I don’t want to have to do any thing that looks like work.  

So here he is, on vacation, confronted by the Gentile woman – and he ignores her.  She calls him “Lord, Son of David.”  She has some understanding of the Jewish traditions and history.  The disciples tell him to send her away.  She is a Gentile woman – two strikes against her – she is a woman – a second class citizen – not even a citizen.  She is a Gentile – unclean, unworthy.

Have you ever noticed that the disciples often do that?  They seem to feel that they are above certain things – let’s look briefly at the times that they encourage Jesus to blow someone off.  In the 19^th chapter of Matthew we will see people bring children to Jesus – and the disciples try to send them away.  They are just little children – not important in the ancient world.

In the 20^th chapter of Matthew we see the crowds rebuking two blind men who call to Jesus as he is leaving Jericho.  “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us.”  And once again the crowd tells them to be quiet and not bother the teacher.  This is a common theme – and each time Jesus eventually responds.

With the Canaanite woman, when Jesus says he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, she kneels before him showing honor and once again says, “Lord, help me.”  She is persistent – she doesn’t give up.  

And then Jesus, the Jesus I love, insults her, “It’s not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”  Most people I know would get huffy and say something like, “Well, I’m not going to stay around here and be insulted.  I’ll go find someone who cares.”  Our pride would probably get in the way of our healing.

I don’t think that Jesus started out intentionally to hurt her.  I think he was probably tired – the reason he was on vacation – and I think his human side – his human pre-conditioning just sort of took over.  

But her love for her daughter and her deep need to see her daughter well keeps her rooted to the spot.  She still addresses him with a title of honor, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat what falls from the master’s table.”

Jesus may also have been on a learning curve.  We want to think of Jesus as above human pettiness, but he was raised with Jewish values and like the disciples, he may have first responded in accordance with his upbringing.  

But the woman’s persistence and her continued respect for him in the face of adversity, may have made him begin to realize that Canaanites were human too, worthy of consideration.  Here we begin to see his ministry open up to others.  Most of his ministry was to his fellow Jews – he was determined, almost driven, to bring them back into covenant with God.

But then we see him break that mold to reach out to others – as he is confronted by various Gentiles - and in these instances, we see the Kingdom of God extending, stretching and growing.  We see Jesus reaching out to and embracing those who are different; who live differently, who have different values, who have different priorities, who may not have the same opportunities we have.

 I have been deeply troubled by the unrest that has settled upon this country and the violence that has become all too familiar in today’s world. I think part of the problem today is that we have not treated each other with respect, we have not treated others as we would like to be treated.  Too many people today have taken offense without taking time to listen or to try to understand each other.

I would really hope that we as a Christian people have grown past looking at others as inferior - unworthy of God’s love. Jesus would call us to reach out to those who are different, who have different value systems, and who have different life styles.  I don’t know where all this is going, or where it will end up, but I do know that God abhors the violence, the polarization, the inability to sit at table and be civil to one another.

We are all children of God, whether it’s our family of origin, our church family, or the human family.  I would ask that each person make it their responsibility to pray for peace and reconciliation in our world today.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of David, help us to see you in the world around us – to reach out to those you bring into our realm of influence.  Lord, you have loved us, now help us to love as you love, to see with your eyes and hear with your ears.  Stretch us to reach out to those who are different, to those who are marginalized.  Help us to be your hands in city, in this community and within this church family.  Amen.

Walking with Jesus

Fear, more than anything else, can distort our view of the world around us.  We fear things that we don’t understand, things that are different, and things that threaten us.  We fear people who we don’t understand, people who are different, and people who threaten us. When we fear, the proclivity is to want to get away from or to rid ourselves of the thing or person we fear.  Hatred or anger are natural responses we allow ourselves to have in order to compensate the helplessness we feel when we fear.  

We see a lot of fear in today’s lessons.  What is left out of our Old Testament reading is the part about Joseph’s dreams - the ones that represent his brothers bowing down to him.  Joseph’s brothers are jealous of their father’s love for Joseph, and fear that they will not measure up or will be left out or slighted.  Out of that fear grows hatred and the hatred causes the brothers to act, to rid themselves of the source of their discomfort.  Although some of the brothers want to kill him, at least two brothers, Reuben and Judah, seek ways to preserve Joseph’s life.   (Remember this story, because I will probably preach on the sequel to this next week.)

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Matthew is by far my favorite rendering of this gospel lesson.  His is the only gospel in which Peter steps out of the boat to walk to Jesus.  In his excitement, Peter momentarily overcomes any kind of fear to step out in faith.  Of course as we read this gospel, Peter looks around at the waves and his fear returns.  He begins to sink.  

Now, how many times have you heard a sermon on the necessity of keeping your eyes focused on Jesus?  I know we’ve all heard them - over and over.  This world swirls around us and there are many things that can make us fearful.  You may be fearful of the political climate in today’s world.  How about all the animosity in the Middle East?  Especially if you know someone who is over there.  Or how about people plowing cars into crowds of innocent people in Europe?  There is now the newer threat of North Korea and their development of missiles and nuclear weapons.  But you don’t have to go overseas to find violence and mayhem.  Here in our own country, tempers are rising and people lashing out at others who hold a different political view, or religious view or the racial tensions that are rising.  (And I might just insert here in view of the most recent outbreaks, that violence over racism, nationalism or any other “ism” is not okay.   It is totally against the gospel of Jesus Christ.  You know, the one in which he talks about loving your neighbor, forgiving those who have hurt you, and helping those who are less fortunate than you.)  

But to get back to our sermon, even in your own life, you might have job worries, or money troubles, family illnesses or relationship struggles.  The world around us, not unlike the raging sea around the apostles, can be a scary place.  

In our lesson today, you will notice that the disciples are not scared of the wind and waves that have risen up around them.  They are fighting the wind and the waves and not making much headway - but they are fishermen and they are not scared.  It’s not until they see Jesus coming across the water that they get scared.  This is something beyond their experience and they think he is a ghost coming out of the mist.  It isn’t until he says, “Take heart, fear not, it is I,” that they understand that it is Jesus and they will be okay.   

More than anything else, this is a story of faith, and hope.  Peter shows his impetuousness by asking Jesus to call him out, but he doesn’t step out of the boat until Jesus says “Come.”     

I know what it feels like to step out of that boat.  I did that 20 years ago when I left for seminary.   It was scary and exciting at the same time.  And there have been times during the past 20 years that I’ve called out, “Oh Lord, what have you gotten me into?”  

What Peter discovered, and what I discovered, is that the world is going to swirl around you regardless of who you are or what you do.  And sometimes we lose our focus - that’s human, isn’t not a fault nor a failure.  But the beauty of it is, when that happens, all we have to do is call out and Jesus is right there, ready to take your hand and to help you back in the boat. How reassuring that is, to know that Jesus is there.

Too often, the world around us tries to convince us that it is up to us to make things happen, or to improve our status, or to follow faithfully.  Self-help is still all the rage.l. Just look at Pinterest - all kinds of way and instructions on how to ‘do it yourself.’  But that’s the thing about church, or religion, or faith.  When life gets too hard, there is Jesus - just waiting for us to call out so that he can help us to do what needs to be done, to weather the storm that rages around us, or to reach out and save us when we begin to sink.

That reminds me of one of the songs I learned a long time ago.  It goes like this:

Here comes Jesus, see Him walking on the water,

He'll lift you up and He'll help you to stand;

Oh, here comes Jesus, 

He's the Master of the waves that roll.

here comes Jesus, let him take your hand.

Amen.