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For The Bible T= ells Me So

Rev. Bill Barney

First UMC, Schenectady

August 10, 2008

“Take heart….do not be afraid” Matthew 14:22-36

It’s not hard to imagine picking up your newspaper one morning and reading an editorial that went something like this:

The world is too big for us. Too much going on, too many crimes, too much viole= nce and excitement. Try as you will, you get behind in the race, in spite of yourself. It's an incessant strain to keep pace ... and still, you lose gro= und. Science empties its discoveries on you so fast that you stagger beneath the= m in hopeless bewilderment. The political world is news seen so rapidly you're o= ut of breath trying to keep pace with who's in and who's out. Everything is hi= gh pressure. Human nature can't endure much more!

Was that editorial written last week or last month or last year? Believe it or = not, it appeared in a newspaper called "The Atlantic Journal'" on June= 16, 1833 -- more than 170 years ago.

The headline in the "Boston Globe" on November 13, 1857 read: "Energy Crisis Looms - World To Go Dark?"

There is a way of looking at history and discovering that things haven't changed = as much as we may have imagined. When we recite our litany of what's wrong in today's world, we tend to look longingly back at "the good old days,&q= uot; not realizing that generations to come may look back at our time as "t= he good old days." Every generation tends to see itself as living under t= he greatest stress and strain in human history. Every generation tends to spend more time dreaming dreams about some non-existent, less anxious Age, than joining forces to resolve the problems of its own time. The temptation is to throw up our hands in a gesture of helplessness. The common alternatives aren’t much more helpful - wait for the inevitable doomsday or to put= our hands together and pray for miracles to solve our problems.

O yes, miracles. You know, those unbelievable happenings that defy nature and= are used to convince us of Divine intervention in history. The Oxford Dictionary describes a miracle as “an extraordinary event attributed to some supernatural agency.” So when one pr= ays for a miracle, one is praying for some force beyond the laws of nature R= 11; that is, not natural. Thinking people are not naturally prone to believe th= at which is beyond the laws of nature. So, what are we to think when the weekly reading from the scriptures takes us to stories in the Bible called “miracles”? What do you think of when you read= or hear someone read a Bible story called “a miracle”?<= /span>

Last week we read the story of Jesus feeding of the five thousand with just a few loaves and fish. It’s known as a miracle. Today, we read about an event duri= ng which Jesus is said to walk on water and invite the Apostle Peter to walk to him on water. Again, it is historically described as a miracle. What are we to make of these stori= es – are they historical events or are they fictional accounts fashioned= to convince us of something?

If you read the Bible literally and simply believe that what is written in you= r English translation is literally true then for you Jesus acting beyond the laws of nature is no big deal. The Bible says it, so you believe – that’= ;s it! I am not here to argue ag= ainst anyone’s belief, but I do invite us to consider that just because the= Bible tells us so, it may not necessarily literally be so. Or, another way to say= it, perhaps all the stories attributed to Jesus’ life are not necessary t= o us today, for us to believe his message or to believe in him as the spiritual leader of our lives – or if you prefer, your savior, your messiah, the Son of God.

The letters we read in the New Testament that were attributed to the Apostle Pa= ul – Romans, Galatians, Corinthians and so on – make no mention of Jesus performing any miracles. These letters were written much closer to the life events of Jesus t= han the Gospels which were written decades later. Why did Paul not feel it necessary to describe Jesus as a miracle worker in trying to sell the known world on accepting the message and The Way of the man from Galilee? Precisely because Paul clearly bel= ieved that the love story of this man was enough. The actions of Jesus = within the laws of nature were enough. And under Paul, the report in The Book of A= cts says the church grew rapidly.

By the time the Gospel stories of Jesus were to be written in the later first century, the church was floundering a bit. Divine Love was not catching on = as a reason to believe in The Way. Feeling the need to make Jesus the modern equ= al of Moses and Elijah, the Gospel writers decided that their “biographies” of Jesus of Nazareth had to include Moses or Elij= ah like acts that defied nature. Would the Jews only accept Jesus as Messiah i= f he was seen as the new Moses, or the modern Elijah? The story of Moses parting= the waters was a part of their historical experience of the Divine. Showing that Jesus could walk on water would be their new experience of the Divin= e. And so out of their own strong belief in Jesus of Nazareth, these later cen= tury disciple/writers told of a Jesus with supernatural powers. Did it work? Apparently it did, the church started growing again.

John Shelby Spong says this: The Gospels need to be read for what they are. They= are not the chronicles of a remembered history, but proclamations of a communit= y of faith designed to say that the yearned-for kingdom of God has dawned in Jesus.” He also says: “By reading [the miracle stories] literal= ly, we have in effect blinded countless generations of Christians from understanding the real meaning of these stories.” In (Jesus for The Non-Religious, p.84)

This is why I can’t just read, in worship, a scripture like today’s Gospel reading and not try to put it in the perspective of the writers.

The miracle stories make for good reading, good subjects for art and wonderful theater with special effects but they don’t release us from the hard = work of being modern day followers of Jesus who need to live and love without the presence of nature defying acts. As much as we may hope for a miracle to return us to $3 a gallon gas or feeding the world’s hungry people with a mere abracadabra – the reality= is that we ourselves are nature’s miracle workers, not supernatur= al, who can solve the world’s problems only if we include the act of spreading divinely inspired Love in our solutions.

"I have made you a light to the nations, a means of wholeness to the ends of t= he earth," the Gospel writers have Jesus is telling us. He sends us out n= ot as collectors of all we can get for ourselves, not as takers of all we can = get from others, but as givers of life to others. As Jesus himself was sent into the world, so now he sends us as life-givers, as reconcilers, as peacemaker= s, as women and men for others.

The setting for the episode in today's Gospel Lesson was most likely on the East shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus tells the disciples to "get into the boat and go before Him to the other side" (Mt. 14:22). He withdraws by Himself to pray. Meanwhile the disciples are having a rough time in the boat which is being "beaten by the waves, for the wind is against them.&quo= t; Perceiving the disciples' hazardous situation, Jesus "comes to them, walking on the sea," Matthew tells us. Seeing Him, the disciples are terrified. "It is a ghost!" they cry out in fear. Jesus says to t= hem, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear." Then big, brave Simon Peter = says to Jesus, "Lord, if it is you, bid me to come to you on the water.&quo= t; Jesus says, "Come," and Peter steps out of the boat and begins to walk on the water. But he becomes frightened by the winds, his faith in Jes= us falters and he begins to sink. Jesus reaches out His hand, rescues Peter, t= hen in a scolding tone says: "Faint-heart, what got into you?" (Mt. 14:3= 1).

Great story – you gotta love it. And there is a lesson here for us. When Jesus calls us into this wave tossed sea we call the modern world – it is not a calling for the fai= nt of heart. To keep our eye on the goal he has set before us requires total commitment and an unwavering faith. When we fall, we must trust that the Spirit of Jesus – the Sou= rce of Love - will be there to extend the hand of care. We are not alone in this endeavor. <= /p>

Remember those headlines? Is the world too big for us? Is there too much going on, t= oo many crimes, too much violence and excitement for us to deal with? Has huma= n nature been pushed beyond the point of endurance? Is the hope of change, therefore= , a false hope? This much is true: there is no change possible without the empowering of the human will. We cannot bring wellbeing to the world apart = from the transforming power of love. The transforming power of love triggers off= the most dramatic changes in life – personal life and community life. Like Paul, those of us who have le= arned about the transforming love lived and taught by the one called Jesus of Nazareth, do have that tool of transformation available to us as we create solutions to the stresses and strains of our 21^st century world.=

Every professional counselor can recite an experience of working with a patient f= or a long while, all to no avail. Then, the patient comes in and is looking radi= ant. When asked what came over him or her…the answer, "I've fallen in love." Changing the direction in which this high pressure world is mov= ing depends absolutely on the world discovering anxiety reducing power of Divin= e Love. For the Bible does tell us so…”This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples – when they see the love you have= for [others].” We are ready= to get out there on the sea of life – but please, don’t try to wal= k on the water! Amen.