The Pastor's Sermon - 24 June 2012 - Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

This written sermon differs significantly from the one I delivered on Sunday. Just prior to the Service, I received word of the death of a long term member of the congregation. This man and his wife had lived in many places throughout Canada and had been instrumental in founding at least 4 congregations. The gentleman was a 20+ year veteran of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as well as a former instructor at the Ontario Police College. (Did HE ever have the stories!) I made mention of him and his service to God's church in the sermon, but I can't remember exactly what I said. This was also a Sunday with a Baptism of an infant.

• And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
• The story of Jesus calming the sea is one we're all aware of. It is one of those stories in the Gospel of Mark that is full of those little details that can make you suspect that the episode was reported by an eye-witness. The trip across the Sea of Galilee, the talk about other boats, the sudden windstorm which was not uncommon on the Sea of Galilee, and finally the description of Jesus being asleep on “the cushion.” This is not a pillow for comfort, but a part of the boat where the steersman would lean to get leverage for the tiller.
• Mark is able to use these details to covey to us the desperation and fear the disciples felt during that frightening trip. These were veteran fishermen who were frightened by this storm; it must have been a piece of very serious weather. Yet Mark tells us there was a greater terror in them.
• What we also have here is another example of how water, an element so necessary for life can be a terrifying thing.
• We all know how serious a flood can be. We've all seen -either first hand or through the media- how destructive too much water can be, to property, livelihood, and life.
• We also know how lack of water can be equally as deadly. A drought can destroy as thoroughly as a flood.
• Years ago, I assisted in the clean-up after a hurricane caused a major river to flood in a city near where I lived. The water caused destruction and loss of life. It required assistance from far and wide -both skilled and unskilled, paid and volunteer, with military assistance for heavy equipment and law enforcement- to begin the recovery. There was too much water and yet there wasn't enough water; there was little to drink because the water supply had been contaminated and drinkable water had to be carried in. It was a very odd combination.
• So we see once again that water is necessary for life, yet it can be deadly.
• When we see water in the Scripture, we usually see both sides of it, both life and death involved in water. Creation begins with the waters of chaos receding and the order of creation taking its place. Noah and his family come through the midst of the great flood to continue life in the world. The people of Israel are saved and liberated by passing through the waters of the Red Sea that stand like a wall to their left and their right and who fall on the pursuing Egyptians who are trying to return the Hebrews to slavery.
• In the desert around Israel, water was sometimes hard to come by and wells and oases were treasured. Still a sudden rain could cause flash floods in watercourses called “wadis” and the wise traveler or shepherd recognized them and avoided camping in them.
• In the Gospels, water is encountered in many places such as the Baptism of Jesus, a powerful turning point in his ministry. Jesus turns water into wine at Cana, walks on water, and says he will give living water to all who ask. At his crucifixion, blood and water flow from the wound when his side is pierced. Images of water for life and death can be found throughout Paul's letters.
• We've seen water used again today to covey the mercy and the life of God to another person. Water, which can bring death and can also mean life, becomes the means of grace for the Church, the whole Church, not just Maxime, once again.
• The disciples were not nearly as terrified of the storm as they were of the one “that even the wind and the sea obey...” Our reading says “they were filled with great awe” which might be good English but doesn't convey the real meaning from the Greek. The literal Greek says “They feared a great fear”, a terror much greater than they endured in the storm. There is someone greater than all the waters put together here and they know it.
• Well, the one who stilled the storm with a word is at work again today, with the Word and the water. The water has turned from a death-dealer to a life-giver and the Word is alive in our midst.
• In truth, God is able to use anything encountered in life for God's own purpose. Even our sin might be used to show us the height and depth and width of the grace and mercy of God.
• So it's a good thing to rejoice with our new brother in Christ today and with his family. We see once again that the Word is alive, God is in action, and nothing can separate us from God's love in Christ Jesus and there is nothing around us that God is unwilling to use to show us his grace and love.
• I want to end with a brief passage from the book of Daniel, saying again who the elements answer to:

“All you winds, bless the Lord.

Fire and heat, bless the Lord.

Cold and chill, bless the Lord.

Dew and rain, bless the Lord.

Frost and chill, bless the Lord.

Ice and snow, bless the Lord.”

The Pastor's Sermon - Third Sunday after Pentecost - 17 June 2012

{This sermon is 'out of order' since I didn't post last week's sermon. I didn't post it because I delivered it without notes, since I had been attending the Luther Hostel continuing education event at the seminary in Waterloo. That took up the entire week! If I can reconstruct it - IF - I'll post it later.}

• He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it?'
• Jesus spoke and taught in parables. That always makes his preaching interesting. He used familiar things and situations to speak of the Kingdom of God, the mercy and love of God, and his own identity. For just this reason, parables can be fun to listen to, but they are also frustrating. There are times when it is hard to find the connection and the meaning. As Mark has written: With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
• [We also know that Jesus' disciples didn't always get it either.]
• Today we have two simple parables about the Kingdom of God. Jesus is speaking to the people using farming examples, something most, if not all, would be familiar with. The sowing of seeds, the growth of plants, and the nesting of birds are familiar, common things. I think we'd all be able to hear what Jesus was saying, even if we didn't get the heart of the message right off. Sometimes what is familiar makes the main message more hidden. You can almost hear Jesus' audience saying “What does sowing seed and all these other farm things have to do with God's Kingdom.
• Parables have to be familiar or they miss the mark. Preachers know this and try to use things people will understand and find comfortable to begin to get their message across. Still, to go no further than the familiar misses the mark as well. Jesus was a carpenter and not a farmer. He was familiar with farming, and he still wasn't giving advice on farming with his talk of seed, sowing, harvesting, and nesting. There's far more to it than that.
• The parable of the scattered seed tells us that the seed grows to the eventual harvest without the farmer's knowledge, consent, or urging. (Really now, how many of you would go down to your fields and lecture or cheer your crops into growing?) The harvest comes, the sickle is applied, and still the farmer is not in charge of the crop.
• The parable of the mustard seed uses the seed of the mustard plant to tell it's story. I think we all know mustard and it's taste, even if only on picnic food and other such recipes. The mustard plant itself is more of a shrub than a tree and could even be called a weed. It's seed is a very tiny grain. Still it grows to become what it becomes and as Jesus says: the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.
• In both parables, Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God will come without our knowledge and without our work. It will also seem to be the most vulnerable and insignificant of things, like the mustard seed and it's young plant. The message of vulnerability and weakness is not one that would be popular; it's saving message would be best carried in parable since it would go against the prevailing ideas of the day regarding God's Kingdom.
• Even today, it would make more sense to us if Jesus spoke his message plainly, in simple, direct words, without the home-spun parables. There would be less chance of misinterpretation and confusion. Direct talk lends itself better to understanding, and it can also lead to direct confrontation. Since the deck was stacked against Jesus in the face of the entrenched powers of the day, like the Temple administration and the Roman Empire, direct confrontation would lead to direct action against Jesus. That happened eventually even without direct confrontation.
• I think that Jesus used parables both to teach and to invite.
• Jesus taught in parables so he'd be asked questions. If questions were asked, than a conversation and an encounter would come about. The teaching would no longer be an intellectual thing; it would become a personal encounter with Jesus and who he is. If somebody cared enough to ask questions, their mind was open enough to meet Jesus and get to know him.
• This is how parables could be used to invite. Come and see; come and hear; stay and ask questions and see what comes of it. Get to know Jesus and then understand what is behind the parable... and the one who speaks in parables.
• This is how it worked for Jesus and how it can work for the church now. It is the message of Jesus that still attracts people, holds people, and changes people. Church politics, church ornaments, church stuff will not change people's lives or give them hope or meaning. As it has been for the history of God's people, it is the Gospel, the Good News of God's kingdom, God's love and mercy, of God's salvation that will make the difference.
• We, as God's people, still need these parables and for the same reasons – to teach and to invite. We still use them to teach about Jesus and God's kingdom. We still use them to invite and draw in those who, like us, need to hear this Good News to encounter Jesus, as we have, over the days and years, and even today.
• With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.