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In the book of Jonah he echoes King David’s Psalm. They are the absolutely perfect words for such a time as this: “As my life was fading away, I remembered You, O God. My prayer came to You, to Your holy temple.”I put one of those plastic kiddie pools at the entrance to the church so you could “test your faith.” Most pastors call it “Jesus walking on the water Sunday” - but the name Peter comes from the Greek word “petros” which means “rock” - so it’s no surprise when he tries to walk on the water and takes his eyes off Jesus he sinks like a rock! So I call it “Peter sinks like a rock Sunday.”I walk on water all the time - but there is always something solid right underneath like a sidewalk, parking lot or kitchen floor. There are times when as I’m walking on the water I slip and fall. And when I step off the beach and into the ocean - I always sink. I have stood on the shore and like the “Little Engine that Could” repeated over and over again, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” - but every single time “I can’t” and I wind up sinking.Too many look at this passage and assume Jesus is trying to teach us if we have enough faith - if we believe enough - if we’re good enough - we can step out of the boat and walk to Jesus and do a few dance moves along the way. Peter was weak - Peter did not have enough faith - but we can learn from his failure and do what he couldn’t do. So - if you are bored with the sermon already and believe you have more faith than Peter - head down to McGrew Point and take the shortcut by walking on the water out to Ko Olina - pick me up some garlic fries with aioli from MonkeyPod - I’ll pay you back after church. If you want some – get two orders.Unfortunately for you, I guarantee you will fail. No matter how faithful you are - no matter how good you are - I know you aren’t good enough or faithful enough. When Jesus said “if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you could move mountains and plant trees in the ocean” - He was both telling the truth and being sarcastic at the same time. If we had mustard seed faith we could do those things - but we don’t and the purpose is not for us to keep trying until we do. I know that’s what we want to do - to prove we are good enough for God and better than everyone else but when we do that - the Gospel loses it’s power and becomes the law. It’s no longer Jesus who saves us - it’s us working to save us. The simplest definition of the Gospel is we cannot - no matter how hard we try - save ourselves. We are, as our confession points out, “lost and condemned creatures.” And we may not like hearing that - but it is the truth. What the Gospel says is - God did not leave us in our lostness - He sent His Son to redeem us. Through the birth, life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus - all who call on Him are saved. They are saved not because of anything they did - but because of what Jesus did for them. And they are saved even though they often take their eyes off Jesus and suffer from doubt. St. Paul told the church at Ephesus, “you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not your work - it is the gift of God - lest anyone should boast.”If this sermon is about you getting more faith - about trying harder - going home and repeating, “I think I can, I think I can” while putting on your best and most expensive clothes and shoes because you are certain when you step out on the water you aren’t going to sink - I’m just setting you up for a bath minus the soap and shampoo. My message today is simple - if you want to try to walk on water - put on your swimsuit, reef walkers and bring your snorkeling gear. Step out of the boat fully expecting to sink - enjoy your time under the water - wave at all the fish - and know without a doubt Jesus will reach out and grab you by the hand or snorkeling fin and pull you out of the water and put you back in the boat. I am going to encourage you to grow in your faith. That’s a spiritual necessity - because honest and sincere faith - no matter how small - brings you into the saving presence of God. There is no such thing as more saved or less saved. If you are saved - you are saved. The increase of your faith is to help you handle whatever comes your way in this life. As Tod Bolsinger points out in his book, Canoeing the Mountains, “In the moment of crisis, you will not rise to the occasion; you will default to your training." The reason you worship, pray, study, meditate and sing is so when you start sinking - your default is knowing God will save you despite your faith rarely being what it should be. God may grant you the miracle of suddenly being able to walk on water - but that is a gift of grace and nothing more. But more than likely you are going to sink - But God will reach out and pluck you from the waves and safely put you back in His boat.Pastor Les Self sent me an article about the largest five churches in the U.S. and how the Gospel often gets lost in the message that is preached. The reviewer did not think the pastor was ignoring or avoiding the Gospel - but that the preacher assumed the hearers were so comfortable and knowledgeable of the Gospel they didn’t need to be reminded about the cross or empty tomb. At some point in each worship service we need to hear about an amazing God who created the universe, promised a Savior when His creation rebelled, continually spoke through prophets to remind, encourage and correct, sent His Son into this world to eat with sinners, heal the sick, love the unlovable, call prodigals back home, rebuke those who think they are better than God and suffer, die and rise again to call all of us out of our of own graves and into a new life that transcends this world’s problems and eventually take us to the world that has no end.The purpose of this Gospel proclamation week after week is so the story of Jesus walking on water isn’t reduced to just needing more faith - but instead points us to the only real hope we have which is and always has been and always will be Jesus.Most of us watching today live on an island in the middle of the Pacific - we are surrounded by water - lots and lots of water. And so whether it’s a quick fishing trip on a boat or long airplane ride to the Mainland - we know the day may come where we might find ourselves sinking in the waves because the boat or airplane is no longer underneath us. But I don’t think Jesus was only interested in teaching us how to now drowned in water. There are other kinds of drowning - debt, depression, anger, hopelessness, dysfunctional families, insecurity and so many other things we try to walk on top of and conquer - but often find ourselves sinking no matter how many times we say, “I think I can...” - and as the panic overwhelms us, we hear the words from Jonah, “As my life was fading away, I remembered You, God. My prayer came to You, to Your holy temple” - and we feel the saving hands of Jesus reaching out and holding on to us with the promise to never let go. We realize the Gospel lesson is not about who we should be, could be, want to be - but who Jesus is.While we tend to focus on the fraidy cat disciples who stayed in the boat or Peter who was brave enough to step out of the boat but sinks - the truth is as it always has been we need to read the story and note some words that we tend to overlook. Jesus finishes preaching and feeding the masses - as is His custom He goes to spend time with His Father through prayer and meditation. While He’s praying - the disciples leave Jesus behind and take off in the boat for the other side of the lake. Not sure what they were thinking or why they left him behind - but when Jesus sees they’ve taken off - He goes after them.The abundance of or lack of faith on our part does not keep God from following after us and always being close enough so when we need Him - He’s there. Even when we are scared to death - and as Jonah said, “our life is fading away” - the hand of Jesus is always reaching out to us. It is not about us making our way to Jesus - but Jesus always and forever making His way to us. That is the sweetest and most beautiful Gospel message we will ever hear.These past months have not been easy for anyone. We made our way past the initial TimeOut only to forget where we were and the progress we made and dove headlong back into the deep waters we had almost escaped from. Whereas for most of us we are still not too deep - it’s not too dark - we can still see the light on the surface - we know the currents cannot be trusted and they could just as easily pull us deeper rather than push us to the surface. And this is why this particular Gospel lesson is so important for us today of all Sundays. It is not and cannot be a story of human effort and trying harder and getting better because if it is - there is no hope. If we believe we are saved by “our” faith - meaning we are “the very model of a modern major believer” whose hard work and personal effort alone allows us to walk on water and command the waves - then we are no better than those who rejected Jesus and dove back into the waves. We are not saved by our right beliefs, our good works, our “anything.” We are saved solely and blessedly by the saving work of Jesus. “Our” faith is a gift from God and if we are saved it is because when Jesus pulled us from the water we didn’t dive back in.This beautiful Gospel is not about heroes of the faith making their way to Jesus - but Jesus drawing near to Peter and me and you and everyone else in the midst of overwhelming circumstances and fear and depression and lostness and feeling alone even though we are surrounded by people. Isaiah 43 says God has called you by name. In the midst of any and every storm He walks toward you and says, “It is I, do not be afraid” and then reaches down and pulls you out of the deep.I started off with a quote from Jonah 2:7, “As my life was fading away, I remembered You, O God. My prayer came to You, to Your holy temple.” I noted it echoed King David’s words in the Psalm, “The ropes of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. I called to the Lord in my distress, and I cried to my God for help.” Ten verses later when King David finishes the Psalm he says, “God reached down from heaven and took hold of me; He pulled me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.” Oh what beautiful words of salvation and promise. David continues, “God brought me out to a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; He repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.” We’re ready to have this verse put on a banner and hung over our desk. We might even have it tattooed on our back. We pray - God hears - He brings us to a spacious place and rewards us. That is a happy, holy ending that makes all of us jump up and down and cheer. And in times such as these it is what we want - what we are praying for - what we desire with all of our heart.Jonah’s prayer ends just a little differently. Jonah starts off, “As my life was fading away, I remembered You, O God. My prayer came to You, to Your holy temple” - almost identical to David’s Psalm. But Jonah’s verse ends - The Lord heard Jonah’s prayer “and the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.”I am far more of a Jonah these days - knowing I have been saved - but instead of “being brought out to a spacious place and rewarded according to my righteousness” I have been “vomited up onto dry land.”I’m not complaining though. I could still be deep in the turbulent waters, running out of breath, unable to swim to the surface - my life - and more importantly my eternity flashing before my eyes. But God in His mercy rescued me. Why, I don’t know. But He did.Instead of placing me in the boat, however - He set me on a beach. Sounds wonderful - like King David’s “spacious place” - except it’s a beach in the midst of a cat 5 hurricane with giant trees blowing by, 40 foot waves crushing everything they splatter against, the rain gauge and rivers overflowing, the clouds as dark and angry as I’ve ever seen. We just call it our life.My brain tells me I need to seek shelter - take care of myself - but at my feet is a boat - not a big boat and certainly not one built for sailing through hurricanes - but it’s big enough for a few people and has a bunch of life preservers and a few blankets and a note that says, “Love one another the way that I have loved you. Love, Jesus.” I just got vomited up onto dry land. I stink, I have seaweed in my hair, I smell like fish insides, - but I know what I need to do - head back out into the water - only this time take a boat instead of trying to walk on it and I see you nodding - you know you have to go out as well. And instead of trying to prove how much faith we have in ourselves - we need to sail into the wind and the waves trusting in the faith Jesus has in us. The only way that works is because anything we do - as St. Paul said, “it’s not me doing it - it’s Jesus living and working in me.” In our Epistle lesson today Paul noted unless those who are drowning know they have a Savior they’ll just keep drowning. The only way they’ll know they have a Savior is if someone tells them. That someone is us. So stepping into the boat and grabbing the oars - off we go - knowing no matter what happens - we are in the loving and saving hands of God. As Shadrach, Meschack and Abednego told the king, “either way we win - so might as well enjoy the adventure...”“I’ve got you and I’m not letting go” Jesus said, and there are no greater or more beautiful words in any language - in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. ................
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