Pentecost 10 A: Something More
Dear Partner in Preaching,
I notice that I’ve fallen into something of a pattern over the last few weeks and months of wanting to emphasize God’s grace and activity lest we receive the Gospel primarily as good advice rather than as good news. I suspect that’s a core part of my own theology – the primacy of God’s grace – and perhaps it’s a result of just finishing up a “Making Sense” book on Martin Luther’s theology where God’s activity is so central (I’ll share a little more info. about that once I know when it will be available). But I suspect it’s partly also a reaction to Matthew’s Gospel which, of the four gospels, always seems to me the one easiest to read somewhat legalistically. Matthew absolutely displays a concern for Christian behavior and, indeed, fidelity to the Gospel in confession and action that probably is a response to the challenges his community was having, and I don’t ever want to ignore that. And yet Matthew also rests on a fundamental understanding of the grace of God made not just apparent but also palpable in the One named Emmanuel, “God with us.” Which means we need to take care to hear the good news in the stories Matthew tells so that we don’t translate, as I mentioned last week, God’s gracious gift into yet one more goal for our lives.
This week is no exception. Many sermons will choose as a preaching theme either the imperative to “get out of the boat” in a well-intentioned and perhaps helpful invitation to hearers to take risks in their personal or congregational lives, or the imperative to “keep our eyes on Jesus” in another well-intentioned and perhaps helpful invitation to greater piety and devotion.
And here’s the thing: both of these exegetical approaches are absolutely supported by the passage at hand and legitimate homiletical choices. Peter does indeed get out of the boat and only flounders when he focuses on the tempest around him instead of his beckoning Lord before him. While sermons on these themes have at times run a tad sentimental for my tastes, that doesn’t mean the themes aren’t worth exploring.
Having said that, however, I’d still invite exploring something different. Because I think our people fundamentally want and need something more than good advice. And that “something more” is a recognition of, first, the power of fear in this passage and our lives and, second, the even greater power of promise, again in this passage and in our lives.
Peter doesn’t just flounder because he takes his eyes off of Jesus, but because he grows afraid. And, quite frankly, that fear is justified. It’s a storm, for heaven’s sake, raging powerfully enough to sink the boat, let alone drown a single person. He has, in other words, perfectly good reason to be afraid.
And so do we. Whether it’s a fear of the return of illness, of the stability of a fragile relationship, of loneliness after loss, of not being accepted by those we esteem, of whether we’ll fare well in a new chapter in our lives, of what future our congregation has, of the direction of our country…. You name it, there is a lot in our individual, congregational, and corporate lives that can make us afraid. And that fear is debilitating. It sneaks up on us, paralyzes us, and makes it difficult to move forward at all, let alone with confidence. Fear, in short, is one of the primary things that robs the children of God of the abundant life God intends for us, and for this reason I tend to take Jesus’ words to the disciples near the end of the passage (v. 31) more as lament than as rebuke.
In response to Peter’s fear, however, Jesus doesn’t simply urge him to courage or instruct Peter to keep his eyes on him. Rather, when Peter begins to sink, Jesus reaches out and grabs him, saving him from drowning and restoring him to his vocation as disciple. And so also with us! Jesus will not let us go. Jesus is with us. Jesus will not give up on us. Jesus will grab hold of us when we falter and restore us to where we can be of service.
This the promise at the heart of this story, all of Matthew’s Gospel, and indeed of our faith: that God will never give up, that God is with us and for us, that God, in the end, will do what we cannot. And this promise is the one thing I know of that helps us cope with and transcend fear. Transcend, not defeat. Fear is a part of our lives, and we should take care that being fearful is not equated with faithlessness. Courage, after all, isn’t the absence of fear but the ability to take our stand and do what needs to be done even when we’re afraid.
But even the promise of comfort and courage and presence doesn’t quite exhaust the potential of this story. Because all of that is, finally, a part of God’s larger promise and vision of what we might be, of the persons God sees us as and calls us to be, of the hopes and dreams God has for us as individuals and communities. That, I think, is the “something more” for which our people long. The belief – and belief stems always from promise – that their story isn’t over, that there is more to them than perhaps has been thus far seen, that the past doesn’t determine the future, that their faults and failings don’t disqualify them from love and acceptance and hope.
When the disciples are terrified, Jesus calls for them to “take heart,” and when Peter flails and cries out to be saved, Jesus reaches out and grabs him. The future is open, Dear Partner, for God is with us and for us. God will do what we cannot. Nothing that we have done or has been done to us can erase God’s desire and ability to save and restore us. God is not done with us yet.
So tell them the truth about our real and understandable and too often debilitating fears, Dear Partner, and then tell give them not just good advice but something more, the good news, God’s promise and action to overcome our fear and send out us armed with courage and confidence to live and share God’s abundant life. For while fear is a powerful part of our lives. God’s promise and vision is more powerful still.
Blessings on your proclamation, Dear Partner. Your congregation, and indeed this whole wide world God loves so much, has never needed it more.
Yours in Christ,
David
Thanks David for posting earlier. Your words and ideas are so helpful to my preaching and I miss it when posted after Wednesday afternoon.
This is the theme I am going with at my Children Sermon’s page, http://www.dskidsermons.com
The theme of: He’s got you! Which echos what you have written above. I really appreciate your thoughts. Fear is real, and even when we know that fear is a liar, it is hard. Knowing that Jesus won’t let us go, and that he’s got us is life changing Grace.
Thanks, John
I found this such a helpful way of interpreting this story. Thank you so much. Emphasising good news doesn’t mean we have to stick our heads in the sand and ignore the bad news. Bad news is all around us and there are times when it’s natural (and right) to be fearful. Perhaps the central message of the Christian faith is good news in the midst of bad news, God’s sure promise that he will not let us go. He will grab us even when we’re drowning. Hope in the face of despair. That is God’s good grace and yes, as John Stevens says, it is life-changing.
Thank you, these past few weeks I’ve been preaching on the Genesis Texts. With this weeks news (on top of everything else) I think people really need to hear this message. The anxiety and fear of our faith communities just continues to grow and we need to acknowledge it. We need to be the place where they hear Good News and Hope in the midst of a storm.
Thank you; I’ve been floundering (see what I did there?) for a direction to take this week’s sermon. As I read your thought provoking comments, I also thought that Jesus saved Peter, went into the boat with him and the others, and the storm calmed with Jesus in the boat. Our pericope ends with the disciples worshiping Jesus on the calmed seas, but the story doesn’t end there. Storms and fears were faced, not to sit in the boat, but to move on to the next thing Jesus was calling them to. Too many sentimental songs and sermons have been about being with Jesus in your boat so you won’t be afraid and will be safe; how about the purpose of that–to move on, to continue to share the good news that Jesus is indeed in our midst. Indeed,worshiping, following, and sharing Jesus are all of a piece.
The Gospel is good news not good advise – that’s a wonderful insight and hermeneutical principle. Thanks, I needed that.
What stood out for me when I read the story this time was the words of Jesus “Why did you doubt?” What is Peter doubting? I think it would be fair to say that it is not in Jesus’ abilities or call or promise but in himself. I see that as related to the fear you speak of. Fear clouds our ability to see things as they are (and isn’t that what Luther says the Gospel does – calls a thing what it is?) In that vein, I see a connection with your comment on the passage from last week, that we are enough. Fear, doubt, etc. obscure that good news, too.
Thank you for these words, David. This is such a timely lesson given all that’s swirling around us. I’m not much on math, but this is one equation to which I cling: JESUS > Chaos + Fear + Doubt. Blessings to you.
Thank you for a powerful message for this time. I was struck along the lines of what you were saying. When Peter asked Jesus to beckon to him, Jesus didn’t tell him, “No, you’re crazy, you can’t walk on water like me.” No, Jesus beckoned for him to “Come.” Jesus/God wants us to walk on water – to dream and to be – and to overcome our fears. And when we falter God will tell us, “I got you.” Thanks, once again, for giving shape and form to what we need to say…
There’s also the sense of Peter asking Jesus to ‘command’ him to come. Peter doesn’t ask for permission, but for a calling. “from a primary κέλλω kéllō (to urge on); “hail”; to incite by word, i.e. order:—bid, (at, give) command(-ment).” (Strong’s definitions – a little old, but helpful). Peter asks to be called out – a bit different from simply jumping out of the boat into the chaos. Called out by Charlottesville? Opioid epidemic? Being open to being called out seems itself a challenge…
People and sometimes preachers often say, in effect, “God never gives you more than you can handle,” or in this case, “God never lets you get in over your head, using 1 Cor. 10:13 as their proof text and this Gospel text as the example. But I don’t think either text means that at all. I will be preach that God is always asking us to get in over our heads, just like he did Peter in this text. And it’s only God, and Gods love for us, and our allowing that love to take us in its grasp and keep us afloat, by driving out the fear that would sink us by casting out our love for God.
I believe the particular challenge of many who want to do something, to say something after witnessing the events and reaction to the events in Charlottesville is embodied in your phrase: “lest we receive the Gospel primarily as good advice rather than as good news”. We can join many in our society decrying racism and white supremacy and cite the life and ministry and teaching of Jesus in the process, but still understand there is nothing particularly Christian about being against racism and white supremacy.
That’s the beauty, I think, of Luther’s sense of God’s two kingdoms/hands – it invites broad cooperation on all kinds of “first use of the law” or “kingdom on the left” kinds of things. Everyone is a potential ally when it comes to temporal matters. And it also orients us to the distinctiveness and value of the gospel with regard to eternal/spiritual/right hand matters and the important of God’s promise that, in time, all will be all. Ideally, confidence in the eternal should grant us courage and determination in the left.