Readings for Proper 12B:
2 Kings 2:1-15; Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16, Mark 6:45-52
July 30, 2006
The Rev. Mary Blessing
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino, CA
Wow, have you ever seen anyone do the things Jesus did? Have you ever been stuck in a boat in a storm, with waves crashing, and the wind howling—beating down your sails so hard you think you will capsize? And then you get out the oars to try to balance things out, and row into shore against the wind? Here you are, doing all you can to keep the boat from sinking, and along comes someone, scaring you even more- you think you see a ghost coming toward you!—but it turns out to be your best friend, Jesus, walking calmly on the water—walking on water, as if it is nothing, walking AS IF HE IS GOING TO PASS RIGHT BY YOU WITHOUT A CARE IN THE WORLD!! Have YOU ever seen anything like that?? And, if not in a real boat, then figuratively, your life caught in a storm? And you don’t know what you will do. Then, as if it is an after-thought, Jesus notices you are frightened—he was there all along, but you didn—t know it, and now he sees you (or you see him) while you are struggling with that crazy wind against the boat. Then he casually stops walking, and calmly says, “Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid”, and the wind stops. Just like that. Jesus appears, calms things down, and it is over. You can go home safely. Jesus has saved you.
Well, I have to tell you, my life lately has felt a bit like that scary boat ride the Apostles of Jesus experienced. Just like the Apostles who have been working very hard to care for the crowds of people who come to hear Jesus preach, teach and heal,--without even taking a break to “have the leisure even to eat”, I feel I have been storming through these past few weeks, wondering when the chaos would end.
That’s what happens when you place your life, your willingness to go anywhere, be anything, do whatever is asked of you, to follow Jesus where ever he takes you—sometimes it means getting pulled into a storm of change and confusion, where the order of life is completely turned over—as if you take all of who you are and throw it up into the air like a deck of cards, and you don’t know where they will land. That is what has happened these past few weeks as I have answered the call to go serve as a Vicar in another church—a place where I need to move my home, my office and my life. I know at the core of my being, just like the Apostles knew, that I am going out to do what Jesus told me to do. It may feel like my life is thrown about in “the storm” of change, but I know that if I look carefully toward my destination, I will see Jesus, calmly waiting for me, saying, “Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid….”
So, what have I been doing in this “storm”? I’ve been moving—moving my things from my St. Jude’s office to my St. Philip’s office, from my home into storage. What have I found during this move? Lots of stuff! Many things that remind me of the wonderful ministry you and I have done here at St. Jude’s during the past 6 years—6 years that have brought a lot of change to the world—6 years in which we have sometimes had to stop in the midst of a storm to seek Jesus’ calm presence reminding us to “Take heart, it is I; be not afraid.”
What do I have in this moving box?
Picture of Zoe: My German Shepherd dog, Zoe, was only 6 years old when I started at St. Jude’s. She was so happy to come to this church. She loved the Blessing of animals service on St. Francis day—in fact she was once the object of a sermon I did at that service, but she just couldn’t stop barking at all the cats—so that didn’t go so well. And there was a big change for Zoe here; she got sick about 4 years ago, and went blind, but then was healed and regained her sight. More recently she just got very old, more than 12 years old and for a dog that’s over 84 years old, and her body just couldn’t go on. Zoe died this week, and the people of St. Jude’s reminded me to “Take heart…do not be afraid”. Jesus is here.
Hammer: representing the physical work we, mostly Jim, has been doing to our house. But this hammer also reminds me of something very sad that happened to our world while I worked here with you. The world changed on September 11, 2001, when airplanes hit the World Trade Center in New York City. We all cried, and prayed, and asked God to help us forgive those who did this horrible thing. And while our government was trying to decide how we would stop this kind of thing from happening ever again, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowen Williams, was asked what he thought about stopping terrorism, and about us starting a war with Iraq, to stop Saddham Hussein from harming people, and the Archbishop said he didn’t want us to start a war, because starting a war was like a person with a hammer—he said “if all you have is a hammer, everything you see looks like a nail”. Then you start hitting everything, causing lots of damage everywhere, rather than trying out other tools that might get the job done without damaging everything. But, we started the war in Iraq, and we are still hammering everything, and nothing is built up. This hammer reminds me that we are to use tools for their proper purpose, and tools of peace-making are not the same as tools of war. The Bible says we are to turn our tools of war into tools of “building up”—“spears into pruning hooks” . In times of war, I especially need to look for Jesus, to hear him say “Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid.”
Shinto Shrine: Now, what is this item? Some of you may remember a sermon I did to tell you about how we as Christians can learn about how Christianity has found its way into all cultures throughout the world. I attended an Asian American Students festival at DeAnza College, and at a workshop on Christianity and the Colonialization of Asia, I met a Japanese girl. She told the story of how before WWII, in Japan, her grandparents worshipped with this Shinto Temple at home. And they placed a photograph of the Emperor in here, gave food offerings, and said prayers to their anscestors. But after WWII they learned about Jesus, and God and learned to worship in a new way. So they kept some of the customs of the old Shinto religion, took away the picture of the Emperor, and put in a picture of Jesus. A Filipino friend added this little statue of the Christ Child: Santo Nino…. Sometimes when we look around our changing neighborhood, and people seem different from us, or speak a different language, I think about this Shrine, and remember that it represents Jesus in a new way, and I remember that when the apostles were in that boat in the storm, and Jesus came walking on the water, they didn’t know who he was until he spoke and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Basketball: Oh here’s something fun. Some of us had a chance to play games, like basketball. One time the teenagers even played while dressed up in Jesus costumes—I didn’t have a chance, I was laughing so hard. But it was a fun storm of confusion, and that day the kids’ joy reminded me that Jesus is present, to “take heart, do not be afraid….”
Episcopopoly/Stewardship “Bank”: Who remembers these “games”? You young ones may remember that we used this special kind of savings bank to show how you can save 10% of your money for things you want to buy later, like a good education, and you can give 10% of your money to God’s work, and you still have 80% of your money to go shopping to buy stuff now, for yourself! And maybe some of you older kids remember this board game, Epicopalopoly, which is made like Monopoly—but instead of always trying to win against someone else, you form teams of people who work together to build up the church, and you even trade out properties to help build up other teams’ churches, cathedrals, seminaries and such. With this game, everyone is a winner. When Jesus is present, there is no need to fear sharing your treasure. Again, I was reminded to “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid
Bible: Look. Here is something very important. It is a Bible. It reminds me of the Bible classes we shared: Making Disciples Through Bible Study, and our Covenant Groups. These groups were very important to me, and to Jim, as these were special times to stop in the midst of a busy life and reflect upon the Word of God, to laugh, cry and pray together. To calm the storm. To support one another and look for Jesus reminding us to “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Godly Play Jesus: Finally, what is this? Oh, it is a figure of Jesus. This is the Jesus we use in Godly Play chapel to remind us that the night before Jesus died, he invited his friends for a special meal. And at that meal he said he loved them. He also asked them to love one another. He said that to love one another was the most important thing. He also told them that he would die, but that he would rise again. He said he would be present with them if they remembered to break bread and drink wine in a special meal of thanksgiving—a meal we call Holy Communion. I often find that if my life is in chaos, if I feel I am in a storm I cannot control, if I come to this holy table I am calmed. I can hear Jesus telling me to “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
The world is changing around us. There are wars and rumors of wars. There are broken relationships, and relationships changing. People die, people move away. Even happy changes cause us to feel as if we are in an uncontrollable storm. Parents do all they can to protect their children, to offer them the best things in life, to provide them with a good education and proper food, clothing, maybe a new car….but even our parents cannot protect us from the storms of life. And so, we come here, to this place of sanctuary, this community of people who gather together to remember the life and teachings of Jesus, We come to this community, a “spiritual oasis where lives are transformed.” A community that offers the kind of love Jesus offered his friends. And when, in the midst of a spiritual storm, we gather with our Christian friends, we can hear through them, the calm words of Jesus, saying “Take heart, it is I; be not afraid.”
AMEN
| Updated 8/01/06 |
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