You Are ... Here

Reverend Philip Stringer

Matthew 14:22-33

LET US PRAY: You, O Lord, are the author of life. Speak to our hearts and fill us with the breath of your Spirit, that we may live in faith and serve only you, all the days of our life. AMEN

<<<POLICE RADIO 10 CODE & SIGNALS — GARY, IN — “PLAIN SPEAK”>>>

Life is full of turns and twists that lead where we don’t expect — and often, those changes can be frightening. There are times when we draw on every resource we know and we still can’t figure out where we are — where to go for help — what to do next.

There are many times in life when we are facing uncharted waters — Where we ARE and where we WANT TO BE are so far apart, how will we ever bridge the distance?

Today, our gospel text is all about geography. And what we learn about geography is that it doesn’t really matter. Because no matter where you are or where you go — in the sense that matters most you will always be in the right place, and that place is with Jesus.

That’s important for us to hear, because the uncharted waters of life can be difficult, and we never know where they will carry us. Our relationships, our families, our careers, our nation, our church, our planet — all of this is uncharted waters. Times when we KNOW — we cannot get from where we are to where we want to be. That’s why today’s gospel text is about geography. GOSPEL GEOGRAPHY 101.

Understanding the larger context of our story today is critical. When Herod murdered John the Baptist, he did it at a dinner party — and he had the head of John the Baptist served up on a platter to amuse and entertain the guests.

When Jesus heard the news about John the Baptist, it grieved him so deeply that he left the village where he was to be alone. But Matthew tells us the crowds followed him to the deserted place — and so in response to Herod’s merciless and evil dinner party, Jesus threw a dinner party of his own — and out of compassion he fed 5,000 men plus women and children with two small fish and five loaves of bread. Two dinner parties whose themes could not have been farther apart.

This is where our gospel reading picks up today — and THIS is where the geography gets really interesting, because Matthew tells us that immediately Jesus sent his disciples out to sea in a boat ... and JESUS went the other way. He sent the disciples out onto the sea, while he went up on a mountain to pray.

That’s a pretty significant geographical divide when we’re talking about physical space — but when we look through the eyes of the people of Jesus’ day, we discover that the divide is not only physical — it’s theological.

Theologically speaking, where Jesus sent his disciples was to the primordial soup — because the people who lived in the ancient middle east believed that the surface of the water was a plane that separated two worlds. The sea was where the demons lived. It was where everything was out of control — chaos.

That’s why the early writers of Genesis said that the Spirit of God moved over the deep — drew forth dry land — every living thing — order and perfect relationship to each other.

LATER — story of Jesus and man w/demons — Jesus isn’t killing the demons — he sends them back to where they belong! God creates order — but under the sea is still chaos and the realm of demons.

Matthew tells us that the boat was “battered by the waves.” “Battered” is used in one other place in the Bible, when Mark uses that word to describe a man possessed by demons — means “distressed.”

<<<<woodworking-- “distressed”>>>>>>>

That’s where Jesus sent his disciples — to the very edge of hell where they were battered and distressed by a storm of demons.

At the same time, Jesus went up a mountain to pray. Mountains have meaning in scripture, too. Up on a mountain is symbolically where God lives.

Moses.

Elijah — Carmel & Horeb

Transfiguration

Mountain tops are holy places — that’s where Jesus goes — He goes to be with the Father. In terms of theological geography, you can’t get a much bigger divide than THAT! The disciples alone and surrounded by demons, and Jesus off, together with the Father.

That’s how life can feel sometimes, can’t it? When it is at its worst, sometimes it seems as if this world is just going to reach up and take a bite out of us. That it will grab hold and pull us under into hopelessness. And where is God in our suffering? Sometimes it seems as if God couldn’t be farther off.

That’s how it might seem. But the message in today’s gospel is that in reality, we can’t rely on our perception of geography. Because it’s just plain wrong.

This story as I’ve told it seems pretty bleak. But I don’t believe that Matthew’s intent is to teach us that Jesus will set us adrift and run the other way. I think, in fact, that his point is exactly the opposite. I think that Matthew knew what it was like to feel alone and cut off and that in his telling of this story he is showing us that in such times Jesus is not as far off as he might seem — because hidden within this story is a foretelling of the death and resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew has hidden the Easter story and the Pentecost story inside the story of the storm.

• John, the prophet of God is murdered by Herod — an assault on the sovereignty of God (Just as Jesus will be murdered by the authorities)

• In compassion, Jesus feeds the crowds with loaves and fishes (Just as he later took the passover bread and fed the disciples saying this is my body and blood shed for you and all people)

• The disciples are set adrift on the raging, storming sea (Just as they were alone and caught up in despair when Jesus died)

• Jesus ascended the mountain to be with God (Just as he has ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father)

• And THEN — Jesus comes to them on the sea and tells them, “don’t be afraid. I am here.”

Just as after the resurrection he sends the Holy Spirit to be with them and tells them, “I am with you, even to the end of the age.”

What Matthew is showing us in this story is a vision — not only of what will happen in the later chapters of his gospel — but a vision of our everyday lives, where the tyranny of the world and tragedies of life are already interwoven with the story of the crucified and risen Christ overcoming them.

Today’s gospel is all about geography. And what we learn about geography is that it doesn’t really matter.

Because Jesus has already been to our lonely places. He has already been to our frightening places — and even though in our gospel reading, thematically Jesus and the disciples couldn’t have been farther apart, the truth is that disciples were never in any danger. Because Jesus is Lord over all.

Surrounded by raging demons, the disciples didn’t even recognize Jesus when they saw him — they thought he was part of the chaos and one of the demons — a ghost coming to finish them off. In reality, he was there to bring them comfort and peace.

Jesus walking on the water isn’t just a miracle of nature that shows us, “Oh, Jesus is different from us.”

NO — Jesus walking to them on the water is Jesus standing over the chaos. Jesus is Lord over all that would batter, distress and destroy us. Jesus is Lord over all that we fear.

Our text says that when Jesus got into the boat, “the wind ceased.” Actually, the word translated for us as “ceased” literally means, “was all tired out!”

That’s what I hope you remember today — as you think about the uncharted waters of your life — our country and the nations of the world — our planet — our church. The world may rage and foam around us — sin and doubt may batter and distress us from within.

But the truth is that you are not alone. Let evil — brokenness and loneliness and everything terrible do its worst. It will just wear itself out, because it can never prevail against Jesus.

<<< REST AREA /MALL MAP>>> “you are here.”

Well, in the geography lesson of our gospel text today, Matthew draws a new map with a “locator star” planted solidly in the tight and loving embrace of Jesus.

“YOU ARE HERE”

And no-thing and no-one can ever separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

That is Gospel Geography 101.

AMEN