July 30, 2000
It has become a cliche in English: "He walks on water."
We know the story by heart. We heard it in Sunday School. We can
recite it at the drop of a hat. But, there is a part of the story
that bothers me, one that I didn't notice until just this past
week. It starts with that line that says, "He walked on the
water and he meant to pass them by." That bothered me and
I will tell you why.
Does this fit the image of Jesus that we all have, the image of Jesus who promised to stay with his disciples throughout their hour of need ? Is this the Jesus who fervently prayed for his disciples? Is this the Jesus who showed faithfulness to God even on the cross, and showed compassion to those around him, promising the criminal an eternal life? And here is Jesus walking across the water and "passing by" his disciples!
Another thing which puzzles me is why Jesus was walking across the water in the first place. From everything we read in the Gospels, Jesus goes out of his way to be ordinary. In fact, the Gospels say that he walked places when he was going about his ministry. In fact, he got tired and he would stop to rest. He would even go to the well to get water when he was thirsty. He would debate points with anybody. He would tell parables to illustrate his point, but he didn't do the Jedi master trick to change minds. Some people were convinced he was the Son of God and others were convinced he was a heretic.
Here is a man subject to all human limitations — the man did die. Yet, here he is in the middle of the lake, in the middle of the night, and to top it all off, he is about to pass by his friends! I believe St. Mark intended this story as poetry, not prose. The heart of the story is just beneath the surface. I don't believe this is a misplaced story. I don't think that this was intended to have happened after the crucifixion because all of the Gospels place this story in the middle of Jesus's Galilean ministry, not after the crucifixion. It was placed there for a purpose.
The story, as you notice, has two scenes. The first begins with Jesus sending the disciples off so that he could be alone to pray. You will remember that Jesus often does this, especially after he has been around a large crowd. Last week, we heard about the loaves and fishes. He always withdraws to the mountain to pray, to reconnect with God, to reclaim that which we would call "the peace that passes understanding." He must reclaim that sense of peace.
And then, there is the opposite picture of men in a boat, in a storm and no matter how hard they row against the storm, their efforts are fruitless. An image of peace and an image of despair — that is our world. Many years ago, before the apartheid system was dissolved, Archbishop Desmond Tutu described the experience of being black in South Africa as a continuous series of prayers to God that said, "God, am I your stepchild? How long does this going on?" Even today, in West Africa, the spread of the AIDS virus remains unchecked. Governments are unable to control street gangs; relief workers are assassinated. The image of the peaceful kingdom intersects with chaos. In the Middle East, even as we speak, representatives of the governments of Israel and Palestine continue to negotiate over the city of Jerusalem. Please join me in prayer for that peace process.
In our own lives, we often struggle with forces beyond our control — those that make us cry out in our frustration and desperation. Alone, and at peace with God, Jesus Christ walked into a desperate scene. The people needed God at that moment more than at any other time, and for some reason, they didn't know how to ask. And, what does Jesus do? First of all let's look at what he doesn't do.
This is not the time to show off supernatural powers. He doesn't pick up the boat and carry it to shore. He doesn't rebuff the sea or curse the wind. There is no point in getting upset over things you can't do anything about. As the story goes, he got into the boat, spoke to the men and said, "Take heart, it is I, don't be afraid." In just these few words is the life of Jesus Christ. He did not come to exercise authority; he came as one who serves. He did not condemn; he saved. He did not come with blueprints for an ideal social order; he just changed lives, one by one. He changed lives that needed saving: fishermen and tax collectors, men, women and children, one by one. When God passes by, it is a moment of salvation, just as when the angel passes over the Jew's doors painted with blood in the Exodus event. The precursor to today's Old Testament lesson: Elijah chose Elisha as the prophet when the Bible says, "he passed by him and threw his mantle over him." It's a saving moment, just as Jesus brought new life to those who were desperate, those who gave up on life. We know that whenever Christ enters a life, that life changes and people use the most dramatic terms to describe it.
In our own day, we call it grace; some call it amazing grace, and with that comes amazement. That is why we recite the creeds every week. It is to recapture that sense of amazement, to say, "I believe in Jesus Christ, God from God, came down from heaven, made man, crucified under Pontius Pilate."
Equally astonishing is the story of Jesus on the water. It was intended to be astonishing because it tells the story of an astonishing Gospel — how God saw us desperately struggling against cruel and powerful forces; how God came in Jesus Christ to be with us, to share his life for us, to die for us. They saw him on the water and they asked, "How could he pass us by?" But, he didn't then, and he doesn't now. He got into the boat and he stayed with them, and he stays with us until the storm passes. AMEN
The The Rev. Sean Cox
seancox@stmargarets.org
30 July, 2000