The Rev. Robert Lundquist XII after Pentecost 8/7/05 St Paul’s, Ft Collins

First thing, I want you to take out your blue Hymnal and turn to #637. I won’t make you sing… but I’d like us to say together verse 2:

“Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed:

For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;

I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.”

Words from John Rippon’s Selection, 1787

These are the words of Jesus to the disciples in today’s Gospel reading, put to music. Note that it is not a ghostly, invisible hand that pulls Peter to safety – We know God’s righteous, omnipotent hand through Jesus the Christ.

“Take courage! I am who I am. Do not fear.”

We don’t often reflect of the quality of courage (“take heart!”) as a Divine attribute. The writer G. K. Chesterton singles out courage as something possessed by God, something Jesus looks for in his followers.

That would be courage in dealing the world, a world described in all its dampness in this morning’s readings, as three of the four deal with water.

From Psalm 29:

“The Voice of the Lord is upon the waters,

The God of glory thunders, the Lord is upon the mighty waters.” Vs. 3

Jonah prays from the belly of the fish, vividly describing both the feeling of drowning AND the power of God to save. And Jonah’s prayer is in the future tense! God has already saved him, he affirms, even as he experiences that sinking feeling…

How do you describe the world around you? Have you ever said:

“I’m drowning in problems!”

“I’m swallowed up in a sea of troubles!”

“You’re all wet!”

In the Gospel of Matthew we hear that the disciples were more terrified on the ghostly appearance of Jesus than they were of the deadly squall they were fighting. Alarmed at seeing what they took as an apparition, it’s Peter who recovers first, crying, “Call me, Lord!” Bid me to walk across the water to you. Jesus invites him, and headstrong Peter steps out in faith. Notice that as long as Peter keeps his eyes on Jesus, he does just fine. It’s when he becomes distracted by the wind, when he loses his focus, that he beings to sink. “Peter, you’re all wet!”

Before we fault Peter, though, remember that by stepping out of the boat Peter reminds us that in order to be an agent of God, an ambassador of Christ, you’ve got to be willing to fail. That’s what takes courage.

Riskless Christianity stays in the boat. Riskless Christianity is safe, stale and stagnant. It’s prudent, sensible, responsible and right. And riskless Christianity will never change you!

H. King Oehmig, Synthesis 8/7/05 edition

Annie Dillard, writing in Teaching a Stone to Talk, says, “Does anyone have the foggiest idea of what sort of power we blithely invoke? We should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares…”

Have courage.

St Paul’s, you are called by Jesus to step out of the boat. “Come,” he says. It is time to risk. It is time to take our clues from Peter rather than from the cautious 11.

As your priest I hear that call. I see the potential you have as a community of Christ. My job will be, at times, to push you out of the safety of the boat. We must risk failure in the days ahead to be and become what and who we are called to be. In order to move closer to the vision of God’s kingdom come on earth as in heaven. We will be challenged on all levels, St Paul – to give of our wealth, to give of our time, to give of our gifts – to reach more boldly toward the glory of God. Each of us is called. We are commissioned to change the world! If you doubt that, I tell you to re-immerse yourself in your baptismal promises and in scripture. Christ has saved you, plucked you from the waters, so that you may make a difference.

Take courage. I am who I am. Fear not.

“I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand, upheld by my loving and incarnate hand.”

Amen.

A Parish For All People!