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| Christ Church Covington 12 Sunday after Pentecost August 11, 2002 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The last time I preached here was two and a half months ago. Expecting you to remember what I said that long ago is a tall order, but allow me to refresh your memory. It was the Feast of Pentecost, the commemoration of the gift of the Holy Spirit’s descent upon the disciples and hence the Church. I likened the Spirit to the wind that fills our sails and empowers us to draw ever nearer to God – the force that attracts us and permits us to become ever more a part of His life of communion. I said further that our efforts at youth ministry here at Christ Church are aimed at making sure that the youth who go forth from this parish receive the rigging and skills they’ll need – the spiritual equipment and acumen - to avail themselves of that breath of God and successfully navigate the course to the Father that has been laid out for them. However, I was troubled after I delivered that sermon, because I feared that it gave the impression that only smooth sailing lies ahead for those who set out on the voyage, following the way of Christ. Providentially, our Gospel this morning illustrates vividly that we all encounter rough seas, even when we are being scrupulously faithful and obedient to our Lord. Jesus sent his disciples out on the sea. Despite their apparently unquestioning obedience, the boat was battered by the waves and they could not reach shore. In the rich symbolic world of Biblical imagery, the sea is depicted as a fearsome place. It represents the chaos and uncertainty that threatens human life – not a place you’d want to spend too much time, especially not in a storm. So we see in this episode from Matthew’s Gospel, the disciples are in peril – peril at Jesus’ behest. Throw in the image of a ghost coming to get them in the midst of this, and it’s easy to understand that “they were terrified,” as Matthew puts it. You could say that the disciples were confronted with reality. Friends, as long as we live in this world, for we must live in this world, as long as we live in this world, like the disciples, we will find ourselves in situations in which we are tempted us to succumb to terror. Even when we are where we know God wants us to be, we might look around and realize that in many ways we’re worse off than if we’d disobeyed. Folks, God is not unaware of or unconcerned about the storms that visit and reek havoc on our lives. Lately it seems that whenever we think the stock market has completely tanked out, it tanks out some more. The dishonesty of a few has wiped out the wages of many. Terrorist activity has replaced the fear of nuclear holocaust as the ever-present threat that could destroy our civilization without warning at any time. God’s people are not spared adversity. But as our Gospel today shows us, God is with us in the midst of it all. Many of you know that on our mission trip to Honduras this summer, a young lady from St. Luke’s Church in Baton Rouge received a call from her mother informing her of her father’s death. Far from home and family, in a foreign land in response to God’s call to her, a storm rose up and the waves of life battered this dear child’s already battered craft. Yet Christ came to her across the water. Her faith and the hands of her brothers and sisters in Christ upheld her and kept her in safety. Instead of fragmenting in fear, our little community in Honduras drew together to make Christ present, to be Christ’s presence for our grieving sister, and the sea was calmed. No, it won’t be all smooth sailing for the youth that we send forth from this parish; storms lie in their paths, no matter how skillful they are at maneuvering their crafts. It is in the midst of such chaos that they’ll need to know how to scan the horizon and reach out to the Savior approaching them. It is in the midst of such uncertainty that that they’ll need to know how to allow Christ to be present to those in peril by their presence to them. We dare not send them forth from here without that knowledge. Amen. The Rev’d Robert M. Odom M.Div., Curate |
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