Proper 12+B 26
July AD 2015 The Reverend Robert R.M. Bagwell+
Is
it not amazing how we human beings are afraid of what we do not understand? And yet when we state such Truths as : if we completely knew and could figure out
God, we would be as great as God is, and we would surely find a lot of security
in that! That is what we need faith in
order to receive. Faith is not based
upon what we know like a science experiment.
Faith is about knowing the who our faith is in rather than the
what. We live in a time that began with
an "enlightenment" and the "scientific method", when
miraculous engineering feats and seemingly god-like medicine and
procedures. We are so wedded to this
perspective, that we are completely disillusioned when some such findings and
technologies fail us. The rational
methods do not account for faith, or love, or any kind of feeling.
Jesus
brought us what theologians call "signs and wonders." In our cultural context, that so denies what
they cannot control or explain there is a strong vein of God denial and for
some, God hatred. We see that among
modern atheists who use a false judgment of a past Supreme Court decision, to
persecute primarily Christianity today.
But look at how God works: through prophets and
through His Son Jesus. God sees a
genuine need and when called upon in faith, he responds to that need. We have two such stories today: Elisha the prophet and Jesus of
Nazareth. The Elisha story does not give
us much detail, but clearly God responded to Elisha and provided for the need
God put before him. Psalm 103:(13-14) says: As a
father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for
he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
Now that text won't make you a friend of this world,
but it is the truth. The Church rubs it
in on Ash Wednesday when we put the charred remains of life on our foreheads
with the inspiring words: "remember that you are dust, and to dust you
shall return." Our mortality
infuriates us, but even the most powerful people in history, present and past
are mortal…with one extraordinary exception.
Those who have acknowledged all of this and come into God's eternal
family in Jesus Christ, only die to this world and are eternally alive in the
world to come.
Yet even in the creation of the narrative we read: then
the Lord God formed a
man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life, and the man became a living being.
(2:7) and So God created mankind in
his own image, in the image of God he
created them; male
and female he created them. (1:27) with that simple phrase, dust takes on a new
significance. With Jesus Christ, as the
God/Man, dust takes on a profound significance.
Jesus took upon himself our mortality to reveal to the human race the
depths of a loving God / Father and Creator for a creation bent on self
destruction and death.
Notice
in the gospel for today: Jesus is
traveling with his disciples when he suddenly makes mention of the crowds
following behind. It was because of the signs that he was doing for the sick. Incidentally,
the Bible never uses the word "miracle". It uses the word "signs". Also, it is the word we use for the
sacraments. They point to something
greater than themselves: baptism, communion, confirmation, anointing of the
sick, marriage, ordination and confession.
Each point to part of our relationship with God. But back to the gospel. Notice the scripture says that he asked
Phillip "where are we going to buy enough bread for all of these
people?" Notice the next phrase. He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.
I'd like to reflect with you for a minute on this
point. Do you notice a significant truth
here? So often when people face a
challenge, we leap to despair. I mean if
we can't fix it on our own, we spiral out of control. This is the test. Ive heard people say things like: "if all else fails, pray" or
"I don't want to bother God with that…" . This is not a Christian principle. If it matters to us within the scope of God's
love, it matters to God. He honors us
when we pray. Go to God first, not
last! Jesus knew what he would do, God
knows what he will do, when we ask. I've
heard it said that God honors those who honor him. I have added to that, but He
likes to be asked. This is not unlike a
parent or grandparent who will willingly give to a child, but if he just gives,
he will get no joy to give when asked.
Remember the dust principle? God knows our needs before we ask. Matthew chapter six says this: " "…when you are praying, do not use
meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be
heard for their many words. "So do not be like them; for
your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."
Testing
is how we grow stronger in faith and in our trust in God. We pray because we love our Father in heaven
and we trust in him. When Jesus feeds
five thousand with five loaves and two fish,
the disciples see his power, but a short time later, we see their
mortality. Our mortality is often
manifest in fear. Most think doubt is
the opposite of faith, but it is not. Fear is the opposite of faith. When they see Jesus walking on the water the
immediate reaction if to be afraid. The
wind is blowing, the waves are crashing and they are alone. Their eyes were on circumstances rather than
turning their hearts toward God. But
after all of these signs and wonders, they learn a principle. Jairus the ruler
of the synagogue had a daughter who had been ill and seeing Jesus approaching
we hear: While He was still speaking, they came from
the house of the synagogue official, saying, "Your daughter has died; why
trouble the Teacher anymore?" But Jesus, overhearing
what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid
any longer, only believe." That is Jesus word to us in every circumstance and
on every day "do not be afraid, only
believe."
Our
Collect began: O God, the
protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is
holy…. Perhaps that is the
greatest lie of the ages. People think
that they are STRONG. Holy means "set apart". Some seem that they are so special and
important that they devote their whole lives to things such as money, power and
sensual pleasure. All thing that will
fail and disappoint in the end, but that does not stop their appeal Ephesians points us to a better way in our
reading this morning. Paul writes:
I bow my
knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes
its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you
may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and
grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all
the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know
the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all
the fullness of God.
May that be true for us this morning as pray before
our father who is Our Father in Jesus Christ.
That is why we are here, to be evermore filled with the fullness of
God. As we approach God's table to be
fed at God's table, may he evermore fill us with grace upon grace, which alone
can come from the Father's hand. AMEN
