Stay in the Boat

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday August 10, 2008, the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

This week I have been reading the fallout from the last General Assembly in San Jose. Fallout is a horribly appropriate word because some of the responses I have read from denominational and independent Presbyterian publications have been nuclear. In some, you’d think the sky was falling and with it radiation that will kill us all, the unfaithful at least.

Some say the church isn’t interested enough in mission. Others say the church isn’t interested enough in evangelism. Some say it doesn’t use the gifts of its members. Others say some members aren’t pure enough to share their gifts. Presbyterian ordination vows call Deacons, Elders, and Ministers of the Word and Sacrament to work for the peace, purity, and unity of the church; though the church can’t agree on how to do this, or in what order.

As for me, I believe that the Lord our God, God in three persons, the blessed trinity is sovereign over all creation. There is nothing we can do to separate God’s love from us. All that we have comes from the Lord.

I want to preach a cheery and light sermon; instead I am asking you to pull out your radiation suits and head off to the Fallout Shelter with me.

Jesus made the disciples, the twelve apostles along with other believers, go to the other side of the sea, shipping them off in a boat while he saw off the rest of the crowds. For the first time in Matthew’s gospel Jesus sent the disciples off on their own.

For the disciples, it must have been like kids being sent off to camp for the first time. For Jesus, it must have been like being the parent. No wonder Jesus went off to pray.

So later in the evening, early in the morning really, the boat was being buffeted by the waves. Headway was difficult and the sea was dangerous. Jesus didn’t promise them an easy journey, he just told them to get going.

The sea holds a special meaning for the Jewish disciples. To them, the sea was a place of danger. Not only did they know the dangers of the sea fishermen knew first hand; they also knew from the creation story that the waters were the place of chaos. The waters were a place of danger and death. Their worst known and unknown fears were before their very eyes in the pre-dawn darkness.

Without Jesus their lives were in chaos, and they feared dying without him.

In their rain soaked wind battered vessel, suddenly, they see their Lord, Jesus Christ, walking toward them on the water.

“Is it a ghost?” “Nope” Jesus responds, “it’s just little ole me.” That’s the way it reads in English, but the people heard him say “I AM,” not “It’s me.” They heard him invoke the holiest of holy names for himself. That might have been even scarier than a ghost.

One of the speeches given at the General Assembly was from the new Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, the Reverend Gradye Parsons. Using this story from Luke’s gospel, he told the assembly, “Get into the boat. Go across the lake. There will be a storm. You will not die.”

The latest issue of “The Layman,”[1] a publication of the conservative Presbyterian Lay Committee, arrived at the church on Thursday. A letter to the editor from Elder Marilyn Arledge, Clerk of Session from the Presbyterian Church in Fallbrook, California, took issue with part of Reverend Parsons’ statement. She takes issue with the phrase, “you will not die.” She asks “where have we heard that before? In Genesis 3:4 the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’”

I agree with her. If we were locked in a room together she and I may find that we don’t have much in common, but I agree with her on this point. Reverend Parsons’ wording harkens back to the serpent. I’m sure he didn’t mean it this way, but all we have to judge his message by are his words.

Jesus tells the disciples not to be afraid. Jesus tells them He is who he is, as the Lord God told Moses I AM WHO I AM. So Peter, the rock (and with a nickname like that shouldn’t we have seen what’s coming next), he says, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus says, “Come” and Peter does.

It’s all good for a couple of steps; but when pummeled by the wind and the rain and the waves; the chaos of water and life overwhelm Peter and he begins sink. He cries again, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reaches out to Peter saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

The traditional reading of these last words of Jesus on the water is taken to tell the world that with a little more faith, Peter would have made it to Jesus. Imagine my surprise to find this is not what the commentaries say.[2] The commentaries say this passage is about the church, the church represented by the ship.

Jesus sends the church onto the chaotic sea of creation. As then, we are called to do the work the Lord has sent us to do. We are to faithfully live our vocation as the people of Christ. This has been the call of the church since the days of Moses, since the days of Jesus, and this is the call we are still called to fulfill today.

But as usual, Peter has his own ideas. He sees the Lord on the sea and says, “If it is you, then command me to come to you,” and the Lord replies “Come.” People see Peter’s subsequent sinking as a sign that his faith isn’t strong enough. With just a little more faith, Peter could have made it to Jesus and they could have walked together in victory to the boat. Well, that’s not it.

First of all, this command to come is not a case of Jesus testing Peter’s faith. This is Peter testing Jesus. “If it is you, then command me to come to you.” Jesus won’t tell a lie. He’s Lord, it is he, and he is who he is. Jesus is answering Peter’s question, “is it you?” the way he asked it be answered, “Command me to come!”

You gotta give it to Jesus; he answers our prayers even when it makes us look foolish.

So Peter leaves the relative safety of the boat and tries to get to Jesus on his own. And when Peter does, the treacherous world drops on his head and he begins to sink. Only to be plucked out of chaos by Jesus, the gracious Lord who takes Peter by the hand and returns him to the boat.

In the allegory, Peter not only leaves the boat, he leaves the church and tries to get to Jesus on his own. When we try to get to God on our own, inevitably chaos overwhelms us and we sink. When we leave the church, the church as the body of Christ, to find God on our own, we ultimately find ourselves sinking in the morass of chaos.

Peter’s little faith is not that he couldn’t get to Jesus. His little faith was that he thought leaving the boat, the church, was the way to get to Jesus.

Reverend Parsons told the church “get on the boat, you will not die.”

Hear now this word for the body of Christ: “Stay in the boat, Jesus is coming.” He is in the word and in the world. He may not be coming quickly enough to suit us. The ride is going to be bumpy, but that’s the way it is on the sea. Still Jesus tells us to take heart, be courageous, do not be afraid. The promise remains; in the Lord Jesus we receive eternal life.

Stay in the boat; Jesus is coming. He shows us as he walks on the water to the vessel. We don’t have to leave what he has ordained; the church which is his body.

Out of seminary, a friend of mine was called to a church in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was on staff at a large church which serves as a training ground for many new church leaders. After the last General Assembly, the Senior Pastor told my friend that he thinks the PC (USA) will be completely different in fifty years, and he is pessimistic about it. Looking at history I agree, but I am optimistic.

It has been less than fifty years since the church accepted divorced persons into ordained ministry.[3] Fifty years ago, the first women had just been ordained as Ministers of Word and Sacrament. Fifty years before that, women had just begun to be ordained as deacons and elders.[4] Fifty years before that, the first African American was ordained to ministry in the denomination that became the PC (USA). Just before this time, the church split completely over slavery.

Faithful biblical scholars, theologians, and church leaders were absolutely certain that ordination of women, divorced persons, and African Americans was contrary to scripture and the will of God.

Paul’s letters and the words of the Old Testament support these views. Yet the church has made it past these injunctions to encompass a broader view of ordination. The church isn’t the same as it was 50 years ago, or 100 or 150 for that matter; and in the ministry of those formerly excluded the church has made wondrous glorious strides. So the church reformed and always being reformed will probably be different fifty years from now too.

While this may be a lament to some, I wonder if this lament has changed since the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As pessimistic as the nay-sayers were then, the church survives. And I am optimistic that it will continue and thrive.

In this same issue of the Layman, Stephen Brown, an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Haines City, Florida and Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee wrote an editorial about the absurdity of battles over church property and the authority of Scripture. He writes:[5]

Upon examination, any reasonable, objective observer will conclude there are at least two faiths within the Presbyterian Church (USA). And only one of them is Christian. Of course, this assumes we define a Christian as one who believes in the authority of Scripture and believes Jesus is who He said He is.

While I may be putting words into the editorial; the “authority of Scripture” he refers to is the scriptural witness about homosexuality. From this I also make the assumption that he believes himself to be a Christian, and he believes I am not; nor is this part of the body of Christ because we do not dismiss homosexuality out of hand as an abomination before God.

The Reverend Ted Foote[6] once said that that people who believe as Elder Brown does are whole heartedly seeking to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He just doesn’t think, in his words, “They believe the same about us.” Judging from Elder Brown’s quote, Reverend Foote’s assessment is true.

Yet there is a problem with Reverend Foote’s statement, he had a very specific “they” in mind when he spoke which was lost when I repeated it. Regardless of who uses labels and accusations, they are too broad to speak the truth.

Elder Brown is saying I am not on the boat. I say we are on the same boat, different decks perhaps, but still the same boat. I believe Jesus is who He said then and still says today he is; the Son of God and the Son of Man. He is sovereign over all creation.

His sovereignty is found in Genesis when the wind, the Spirit of God, swept over the waters and in a word God said “Let there be light, and there was light. We find evidence of his sovereignty when God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters,” separating the waters of chaos from the waters of life.

Our reading brings Jesus enforcing his sovereignty over the waters of chaos walking above them and stilling them, causing the people to bow and worship saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

We find his sovereignty affirmed in the words of Paul in Romans when he writes “there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

If Paul had been asked to make a better list of those in whom there is no distinction, I don’t think he would have written a disclaimer worthy of a car ad on TV. Something like: “there is no distinction between people; including but not limited to Jew and Greek, Israelite and gentile, slave and free, men and women, black and white, rich and poor, homosexual and heterosexual, oppressor and oppressed, western and eastern, Middle Eastern and European, Catholic and Protestant, ninety days same as cash with approved credit, dealer retains all incentives.” Though the denomination did just that creating a list in “A Brief Statement of Faith,” the confession we use for today’s affirmation of faith.[7]

Paul would have told us to be like Jesus, the one who ate with prostitutes, tax collectors, scribes, Pharisees, and other sinners. He would have reminded us God is our refuge and our strength. He would have told us the world will know we are Christians by our love. Paul would have told us all and Paul tells the world, not just to get on the boat as Jesus commanded, but stay in the boat. He’s coming.

Paul says, righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” It is not for either Elder Brown or me for that matter to say whether someone is on the boat. The Lord knows.

Jesus called the disciples to the boat. Some had been ordained as apostles, others had not. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, ordination comes from God in three persons and from nobody else. And let’s be completely honest, there are some of the original twelve apostles none of us would ever want to see in church much less leading it; loud men, honor-seeking men, fickle men, doubting men, and the most notorious clergy killer in history.

Many of us would not have picked these people, but the Lord did. It’s amazing what the Lord is able to do with all of us sinners on board.

Much in the same way he sent the disciples across the sea, Jesus sent the church into the world. He didn’t tell the people he would meet them on the water, but he promises us that where the church comes together he is present. He called the church into existence to be his body and do his work. He excluded nobody from becoming his disciple and showed us the way to be together in him. The Lord uses sinners of all stripes to be his people, bringing the kingdom of heaven on earth. He didn’t say it would be an easy journey, he just says to get going.

Let’s all, all of us stay on the boat. The word is coming. Let’s all be here when he gets on board. For when he comes, as happened two thousand years ago, those in the boat will worship him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

[1] “The Layman,” Vol. 41, No. 4, July 2008, page 22
[2] New Interpreter’s Bible. Volume VIII. Leander Keck, General Editor. Abingdon: Nashville, 1995 pages 322-326. Interpretation. Matthew. James Mays, Series Editor. John Knox Press: Louisville, 1993, pages 167-171.
[3] Rogers, Jack, “Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality; Explode the Myths, Heal the Church.” Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2006, page 43.
[4] “Celebrating Turning Points in Women’s Ordination,” http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2006/06538.htm, retrieved August 9, 2008.
[5] “Layman,” ibid, page 7
[6] These comments were made during a plenary at a Presbytery of Arkansas Christian Education Committee workshop featuring Foote in 2006. He is the author of “Being Presbyterian in the Bible Belt” and “Being Disciples in a Dot Com World.” Formerly Pastor at John Calvin Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he is now Senior Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Bryan, Texas.
[7] Our Affirmation of Faith came from the PC (USA)’s A Brief Statement of Faith, lines 27-36 and 39-40
We trust in God,
whom Jesus called Abba, Father.
In sovereign love God created the world good
and makes everyone equally in God's image,
male and female, of every race and people,
to live as one community.
But we rebel against God; we hide from our Creator.
Ignoring God's commandments,
we violate the image of God in others and ourselves,
accept lies as truth,
We deserve God's condemnation.
Yet God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation.