8th Sunday after Pentecost
July 29-30, 2006
Mark 6:45-56
Vicar Michael Monterastelli
+++ A very special thank you to Vicar Monterastelli for all of his hard work as our vicar and God's blessings on your future ministry in Christ's church. +++
…When they saw Him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke to them and said, “Take heart; I AM. Do not be afraid.”
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
His 12 apostles had just plundered a desolate place and come away with 12 heaping baskets of leftover booty. They had watched Jesus feed 5000 men from only 5 loaves and 2 fish. But even after seeing this miracle with their own eyes, they still did not see Jesus as the anointed one of God, the Messiah. Though they heard Him speak they refused to hear and though they saw His mighty deeds they refused to recognize Him or understand what He did. Contrary to the old saying, seeing is not always believing. Even before television people still had a hard time believing everything they saw. Faith, after all, is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb. 11:1).
His disciples saw but did not understand about the loaves, their hearts were hardened. They did not see Jesus as the God who gave the manna to the Israelites. As Israel wondered in the desolate place between affliction in Egypt and prosperity in the Promised Land, the Lord provided all they had required. As the disciples came to a desolate place, the Lord, once again, provided all they required. Yet, they did not see Jesus as the one who would humbly give His life on a cross to save theirs. They saw Jesus only as a bread King, and not as the Bread of Life. They still feared ghosts, death, and devils more than they feared, loved, and trusted the One True God.
When they saw the Creator of the universe walking on the sea in near darkness, perhaps lit only by moon beams that managed to pierce an overcast night sky, they did not recognize Him. If the 12 hand-picked apostles of Jesus could not recognize Him then, what makes you think you would now? Besides not understanding Jesus as the Bread of Life, their sin was compounded by fearing what they imagined was a ghost. Seeing ghosts may not have been an uncommon claim. Having heard other ghost stories, it may have been reasonable in their context to consider the possibility that they were in the presence of something from beyond this world. But the holy ghost is not what they thought they saw. They saw what their wicked hearts imagined and deceived them to fear — a specter from the grave, an apparition, a phantom of the night coming to steal their lives — like a pirate or thief in the night.
And in a very true sense, they were right. Because it was Jesus, who has come from beyond this world to steal their lives and yours back from the depths of the sea. He came to take the sin that is not His, the guilt that is not His, and the fear that is not His. He came to take these away so He could give His chosen ones something better.
Their eyes (blinded by the fog of sin) could not clearly see until Jesus spoke. “Take heart; I AM. Do not be afraid.” In terror they cried out, perhaps, to God. And when Jesus said, “I AM,” the form of Jesus changed in their minds-eye and all their fear was removed.
Dear Christian, when Jesus calls Himself ‘I AM’, He’s not saying ‘It’s just me.’ For He is the great I AM who promised Noah that the waters of the flood would never again destroy all flesh or the earth. ‘I AM’ is God’s Name. I AM is God. He told Moses to use His Name to speak for Him to the people of Israel. Jesus claims God’s Name as His own, as if to say, “Take heart; I AM the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. There is nothing to fear.”
If we were perfect Christians all the time, we’d recognize the goodness of the Creator of heaven and earth in everything. And we’d never be afraid of anything. But like the disciples, we foolishly fear many things because we are blind as bats — blinder even. For sin has clouded your vision. After seeing the Lord do good things for you and others, beware! your heart is quick to return to its natural, inward focused, hardened condition. The dreams, imaginations, and speaking you do from a hard heart are tainted with selfishness and evil.
If you encountered the Lord Himself in a dark alley on your way home today you might not recognize Him. You might consider Him an abomination, a stain on the streets of the community, whether He appeared to you as a homeless man with no place to lay His head or as a rich young ruler with many possessions. Either way, you’d consider Him like a thief or a pirate waiting to take what does not belong to Him.
To a rich man, what’s more terrifying than a poor man come to take the money and security he depends on? To a poor man, what’s more terrifying than a wealthy man come to take away the freedom and dignity he depends on?
No matter how impossible, no matter how astounding, no matter how unreasonable, no matter how poor or wealthy, no matter how terrifying God may sometimes seem to our sin blind eyes, your Savior loves you, He humbly comes to you. Though He was rich, for your sakes He became poor. And though they do not belong to Him, like a thief in the night He comes as He has promised: to take away every sin, every reason for guilt, and every reason to fear.
This is what hearing and seeing the Lord face to face does to you. He brings you back from the fear of death and hell. He brings you into heaven. He gives you His wealth, dignity and freedom that can never be taken away. With eyes of faith we learn to recognize Jesus when He comes among us to forgive sins where His Word is proclaimed and attached to water, bread, and wine. When you hear Jesus forgive Your sins, your heart learns to rest believing: “God is no longer cursing me in His anger. He is blessing me and delivering His life to me.”
For now, perhaps for a little while, the Lord has burdened you, but take heart, do not fear. He has not yet given you over to death. He means all things, even the most deadly trials, for your good and the good of others. We are not sanctified unless our sinful flesh is oft-exposed and drowned in the depths of the waters of Baptism. The frantic life (of self-preservation and pleasure seeking) forces itself into sins of every kind: slanders, adulteries, lusts, thefts, covetousness, and other law breaking.
If God did not love you, there would be plenty to fear both in this world and the next. We’d fear death and all those things that bring death — hunger, malicious men and women, demons, drippy-long-toothed beasts, illnesses, and painful injuries.
Even for repentant sinners, fear of death and hell often follows great triumph. Fear of losing what you’ve worked so hard to achieve is never far behind. You could lose it, forget about it, or it could be unjustly taken from you. Whatever ‘it’ happens to be for you, what you strive so hard to achieve can never stop the discouraging wind from blowing against your sails. But Jesus will. What He does for you cannot ever be taken away.
Just as God came to His disciples, removed their fear, and stopped the wind, so also He comes to you in the middle of your trials and temptations. Jesus climbs in the boat with you. As Master and Commander of the heavenly Boat made good and holy by His presence, He brings you to quiet waters and calm winds. He gives you good sailing. He anchors you to safe shores.
God comes to you today (not as a ghost) but in bodily form. He comes and makes you well by the means He has chosen. Not just by touching the fringe of His garment, but by pouring over your head water He made Holy by His Word, He is united with you in the person of His perfect Son Jesus. In the bread and wine made perfect by the body and blood of His Son He makes you holy. He makes you well.
When Jesus comes and brings you into His Boat, into His Church, take heart; It is He. It is the Lord, the great I AM, who brought you up from the waters of Holy Baptism. There is nothing to fear.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Mark 6:45-56
Vicar Michael Monterastelli
+++ A very special thank you to Vicar Monterastelli for all of his hard work as our vicar and God's blessings on your future ministry in Christ's church. +++
…When they saw Him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke to them and said, “Take heart; I AM. Do not be afraid.”
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
His 12 apostles had just plundered a desolate place and come away with 12 heaping baskets of leftover booty. They had watched Jesus feed 5000 men from only 5 loaves and 2 fish. But even after seeing this miracle with their own eyes, they still did not see Jesus as the anointed one of God, the Messiah. Though they heard Him speak they refused to hear and though they saw His mighty deeds they refused to recognize Him or understand what He did. Contrary to the old saying, seeing is not always believing. Even before television people still had a hard time believing everything they saw. Faith, after all, is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb. 11:1).
His disciples saw but did not understand about the loaves, their hearts were hardened. They did not see Jesus as the God who gave the manna to the Israelites. As Israel wondered in the desolate place between affliction in Egypt and prosperity in the Promised Land, the Lord provided all they had required. As the disciples came to a desolate place, the Lord, once again, provided all they required. Yet, they did not see Jesus as the one who would humbly give His life on a cross to save theirs. They saw Jesus only as a bread King, and not as the Bread of Life. They still feared ghosts, death, and devils more than they feared, loved, and trusted the One True God.
When they saw the Creator of the universe walking on the sea in near darkness, perhaps lit only by moon beams that managed to pierce an overcast night sky, they did not recognize Him. If the 12 hand-picked apostles of Jesus could not recognize Him then, what makes you think you would now? Besides not understanding Jesus as the Bread of Life, their sin was compounded by fearing what they imagined was a ghost. Seeing ghosts may not have been an uncommon claim. Having heard other ghost stories, it may have been reasonable in their context to consider the possibility that they were in the presence of something from beyond this world. But the holy ghost is not what they thought they saw. They saw what their wicked hearts imagined and deceived them to fear — a specter from the grave, an apparition, a phantom of the night coming to steal their lives — like a pirate or thief in the night.
And in a very true sense, they were right. Because it was Jesus, who has come from beyond this world to steal their lives and yours back from the depths of the sea. He came to take the sin that is not His, the guilt that is not His, and the fear that is not His. He came to take these away so He could give His chosen ones something better.
Their eyes (blinded by the fog of sin) could not clearly see until Jesus spoke. “Take heart; I AM. Do not be afraid.” In terror they cried out, perhaps, to God. And when Jesus said, “I AM,” the form of Jesus changed in their minds-eye and all their fear was removed.
Dear Christian, when Jesus calls Himself ‘I AM’, He’s not saying ‘It’s just me.’ For He is the great I AM who promised Noah that the waters of the flood would never again destroy all flesh or the earth. ‘I AM’ is God’s Name. I AM is God. He told Moses to use His Name to speak for Him to the people of Israel. Jesus claims God’s Name as His own, as if to say, “Take heart; I AM the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. There is nothing to fear.”
If we were perfect Christians all the time, we’d recognize the goodness of the Creator of heaven and earth in everything. And we’d never be afraid of anything. But like the disciples, we foolishly fear many things because we are blind as bats — blinder even. For sin has clouded your vision. After seeing the Lord do good things for you and others, beware! your heart is quick to return to its natural, inward focused, hardened condition. The dreams, imaginations, and speaking you do from a hard heart are tainted with selfishness and evil.
If you encountered the Lord Himself in a dark alley on your way home today you might not recognize Him. You might consider Him an abomination, a stain on the streets of the community, whether He appeared to you as a homeless man with no place to lay His head or as a rich young ruler with many possessions. Either way, you’d consider Him like a thief or a pirate waiting to take what does not belong to Him.
To a rich man, what’s more terrifying than a poor man come to take the money and security he depends on? To a poor man, what’s more terrifying than a wealthy man come to take away the freedom and dignity he depends on?
No matter how impossible, no matter how astounding, no matter how unreasonable, no matter how poor or wealthy, no matter how terrifying God may sometimes seem to our sin blind eyes, your Savior loves you, He humbly comes to you. Though He was rich, for your sakes He became poor. And though they do not belong to Him, like a thief in the night He comes as He has promised: to take away every sin, every reason for guilt, and every reason to fear.
This is what hearing and seeing the Lord face to face does to you. He brings you back from the fear of death and hell. He brings you into heaven. He gives you His wealth, dignity and freedom that can never be taken away. With eyes of faith we learn to recognize Jesus when He comes among us to forgive sins where His Word is proclaimed and attached to water, bread, and wine. When you hear Jesus forgive Your sins, your heart learns to rest believing: “God is no longer cursing me in His anger. He is blessing me and delivering His life to me.”
For now, perhaps for a little while, the Lord has burdened you, but take heart, do not fear. He has not yet given you over to death. He means all things, even the most deadly trials, for your good and the good of others. We are not sanctified unless our sinful flesh is oft-exposed and drowned in the depths of the waters of Baptism. The frantic life (of self-preservation and pleasure seeking) forces itself into sins of every kind: slanders, adulteries, lusts, thefts, covetousness, and other law breaking.
If God did not love you, there would be plenty to fear both in this world and the next. We’d fear death and all those things that bring death — hunger, malicious men and women, demons, drippy-long-toothed beasts, illnesses, and painful injuries.
Even for repentant sinners, fear of death and hell often follows great triumph. Fear of losing what you’ve worked so hard to achieve is never far behind. You could lose it, forget about it, or it could be unjustly taken from you. Whatever ‘it’ happens to be for you, what you strive so hard to achieve can never stop the discouraging wind from blowing against your sails. But Jesus will. What He does for you cannot ever be taken away.
Just as God came to His disciples, removed their fear, and stopped the wind, so also He comes to you in the middle of your trials and temptations. Jesus climbs in the boat with you. As Master and Commander of the heavenly Boat made good and holy by His presence, He brings you to quiet waters and calm winds. He gives you good sailing. He anchors you to safe shores.
God comes to you today (not as a ghost) but in bodily form. He comes and makes you well by the means He has chosen. Not just by touching the fringe of His garment, but by pouring over your head water He made Holy by His Word, He is united with you in the person of His perfect Son Jesus. In the bread and wine made perfect by the body and blood of His Son He makes you holy. He makes you well.
When Jesus comes and brings you into His Boat, into His Church, take heart; It is He. It is the Lord, the great I AM, who brought you up from the waters of Holy Baptism. There is nothing to fear.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
posted by Luther Memorial Chapel at
8/01/2006
