Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship · October 1, 2006

Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost

Prayer of the Day

Gracious and Loving God, we are called to be your disciples.  We are called to live out our faith.  We are called to spread your message.  Give us the strength to share our faith with others.  Amen.

Scripture

Mark 6:47-52

When evening came, the boat was out on the lake, and Jesus was alone on the land.  He saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, and he came toward them early in the morning, walking on the lake.  Jesus intended to pass them by, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified.

But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart!  It is I.  Do not be afraid.”  Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased.  They were utterly astounded, for they did not understand, but their hearts were hardened.

Message

From Fear to Faith

Jacob Thorne

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year.  The air begins to get crisp.  The humidity finally drops.  The football games – the Missouri Tigers – are in full swing.  Every once in a while it is cool enough to have a fire in the fireplace.  Today, on the first of October, I am reminded that Halloween is getting close.

When Paulette and I lived in St. Louis, and I attended seminary, we had a friend names Chris, who just loved Halloween.  For months, he would spend time planning his annual Halloween party.  There were costumes to be made, scary movies to rent, Halloween food to be prepared, and all types of outrageous decorations to be put in place.  So, while I enjoyed seeing Chris get excited about Halloween, I couldn’t really understand his enthusiasm.  I am not a big fan of dressing up in costumes, unless it includes seeing Rick Frost in a tutu.  I’m a fan of that.  I despise scary movies.  They make my chest hurt, and then I have nightmares for days afterward.  And I have very, very little interest in ghosts.

Chris would tell me all these ghost stories that he was really proud of and that he thought other people wanted to hear.  But the thought of having a ghost anywhere near just really bothers me. 

I think – maybe you will agree with me – the only good thing about Halloween is all of that delicious candy corn.  I can eat bags full of candy corn everyday for weeks straight and never get tired of it.  I think it is the best.

So, when I was reading today’s text, I was a little startled.  I came across the word “ghost.”  Mark says, “When evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and Jesus was alone on the land.  When Jesus saw the disciples were straining at the oars, he decided to walk across on the sea towards them.  He intended to pass them by, but the disciples saw him and said, ‘It’s a ghost!  Oh, my gosh!”

Now the Greek word for “ghost” is “Φ?νταμα” or “phantasm,” which means a perception of something that has no physical reality, or a figment of the imagination.  When you think about it, the disciples, as portrayed by Mark anyway, are a little frightened throughout the gospel. 

In Mark 4:35-38, there is a passage of Jesus stilling the storm.  Here the disciples think that their boat is going to be swamped.  They are extremely upset that Jesus is sound asleep, not worried about the storm at all.  So, eventually their cries awaken Jesus, and he says to them, “Why are you afraid?  Have you still no faith?”

So, why are these disciples so afraid?  How are we supposed to approach this text and understand the ways in which it applies to us today?

One method of interpreting this text is to understand it literally, that is, Jesus walked on the water.  Of course, this may be possible.  With God all miracles are possible.  But there are other interpretations as well.

Last week I came across an article entitled, “Is There a Paleolimnological Explanation for ‘Walking on Water’ in the Sea of Galilee?”  Now, there’s a title for you.  I think you’ll find this story, at the very least, at least entertaining.  Dornon Nof is an oceanography professor at Florida State University.  He claims that our text today isn’t a story of Jesus walking on water, but rather, a story of Jesus walking on ice.  Nof states that in what is now northern Israel, ice could have formed on the cold, fresh water surface of the Sea of Galilee, the site where Jesus’ ministry from today’s text takes place, when already chilly temperatures briefly plummet to 25° F, for several days.  These conditions, continues Nof, could create springs ice.  That is isolated  patches of floating ice on the surface of the lake that would have made it difficult to distinguish the ice from the unfrozen water floating around it.

OK.  An interesting article.  Very interesting.

But another way of reading the Bible is to try to search for the implications of the text, to try to understand how the Bible is applicable to us today.  So, what can we carry from today’s text?  What is Mark asking us to see?

I believe today’s text points toward, not only the fears of Jesus’ disciples, but also our own fears.  One of the biggest fears I often see, both in working with youth and in the larger church as a whole, is the question of how can we share our faith with others, including our family members, and create authentic faith?

In my experience in working with youth, I have learned that our youth really have a deep desire in a deep fashion to learn more about their faith.  When we have Bible study at my home on Wednesday nights or in discussion in the Loft on Sunday nights, I learn as much from the youth as they learn from me.  Our youth are thoughtful.  They want to know more about how God is present in their lives. 

A little more than a year ago, there was a report released titled, “Portraits of Protestant Teens.”  This was an in-depth, nation-wide survey that had several startling results.  It states that more than 90 per cent of teenagers believe in God.  It also states that, while our youth have a desire to learn more about God and believe that God plays a large role in their lives, they are often not comfortable discussing their faith with others.  The survey reports that on average, only 42 per cent of Disciples of Christ teens are comfortable discussing their faith with somebody who is outside of their denomination.  What I think is even more startling is that almost 60 per cent of teenagers are uncomfortable praying with their parents or discussing any topic of spirituality or faith. 

Are we afraid of sharing our faith with our teenagers?  Unfortunately, I think the answer at times is “yes.”  Teenagers can be intimidating.  When you lead a discussion with teenagers, trust me, you have no idea what type of question may arise from the discussion.  This, alone, creates an uncomfortable situation.  I think there is also the constant fear of wanting to know the right answer.  We want to serve as role models for our youth, so we want to be comfortable in providing the right and correct information.  But in my experience with youth, I’ve learned that the right answer is often not what our youth are searching for.  Today’s youth are searching for someone who will listen to their thoughts and enter into conversation with them.

As I was preparing for this sermon, I was reminded that in many Jewish households a mezuzah hangs above the doorframe.  A mezuzah is usually a very small case that contains a scroll.  It’s purpose is to serve as a constant reminder of God’s presence and love.  On the scroll, which is a tiny piece of parchment, are written by hand some of the words taken from Deuteronomy 11:18-21, which state: “You shall put these words of mine in your hearts and souls.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and fix them as an emblem on your forehead.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down, and when you rise.  Write them on the doorsteps of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.”

These words, written thousands of years ago, are more than a reminder.  They are a commandment from God, so we teach our children the stories of the Bible and are in conversation with them about their faith and their spirituality.

Anyone can share the stories of the Bible with children.  You do not need to be a biblical scholar.  I encourage you to move beyond the common and more familiar stories of the Bible.  When I ask youth what stories of the Bible they know, the answers are often, “Daniel in the lions’ den,” or “Noah’s ark.”  Stories such as these are great, but there are so many other powerful stories in the Bible as well.  Don’t be afraid to teach our youth about the Prophets.  Help them come to know Amos, and Micah, and Hosea.  Help them hear the poetry of the psalmists.  I know our youth have a desire and a passion to become biblically literate. 

The writers of Deuteronomy understood the simple fact that stories determine who we are.  Often when we think of our grandparents, or even our parents, we are reminded how their stories influenced the ways in which we understand our heritage and our sense of identity.  In the same way, the people of ancient Israel defined themselves by their stories.  Ancient Israel was a culture determined by oral stories.  Stories are what determined and helped form their identity in the same way we can form our own faith and spirituality.

Just as important as stories, if not more so, is a willingness to create relationships and take risks.  Our youth ministry at Broadway Christian Church revolves around relationships.  I often tell parents and adult volunteers that our goal is to create relationships with the youth.  Ten years from now it is very unlikely that any youth will remember the content of tonight’s Bible study at youth group.  But they will remember what types of relationships they had with the adults who are present tonight. 

Some times, relationships that are created with youth are tumultuous.  It is difficult for a youth to tell you how much your presence may mean in his/her life.  When you are a teenager, it just not cool to share your emotions, especially with adults.

So we remember that the God we know, as made evident through Jesus Christ, is a God of relationships.

I want to share with you one final story.

An event that has had a dramatic impact on how I view myself, my spirituality, my ministry, and the text from this morning is a program called Royal Family Kids Camp.  Royal Family Kids Camp is a weeklong camp run by members of my home congregation.  Each volunteer gives up a week of their time to work with abused children.  The volunteers are each assigned two children for the week who are their primary responsibility.  These kids all come from broken homes, and all of the children have experienced some type of abuse. 

The first summer I worked at camp, one of my campers was an adventuresome child named Scott.  Scott had been in and out of foster homes all of his life.  In the first couple of days at camp, Scott was extremely difficult to work with.  He broke every single camp rule.  He terrorized the other campers.  He refused to go to sleep at night.  I’m a person who likes eight hours of sleep. 

As the week continued, I noticed a change in Scott.  Scott began to trust me.  I knew I had really gained his trust one day when we were at the swimming pool.  I noticed Scott had these thick scars on his stomach.  He must have caught me looking at them, because he voluntarily told me how his father had cut him with a hacksaw when he was two-years-old. 

On the last night of camp, all the children and the staff sat in a circle and talked about what camp had meant to them.  When it was Scott’s turn, I was surprised that he was willing to talk.  Scott usually avoided any in-depth conversation with anyone.  But that night Scott shared some very powerful insights.  He said that at camp was the first time adults had ever paid attention to him or cared for him.  At camp was the first time he had ever really thought about God in his life.  At camp, he was learning how to pray.  Then right before it was time for lights out, Scott gave me a craft project he had been working on the entire week. 

In part, this is a story about Scott and me.  On a much deeper level, this is a story about adults who give up a week of their time – for some of them the only week of their vacation during the entire year – to work with youth who had been abused.  As a member of the church staff, I was expected to attend this camp.  I really didn’t have a choice.  But what I saw in others was a willingness to face their fears, to give time to children in need, and to trust that the Spirit of God was alive and present in these children.

Each year a number of volunteers at Royal Family Kids Camp are new to the program, unsure of what to expect, and afraid they will be inadequate counselors to the youth.  They are, however, willing to take the risk and trust that they, with the help of God and others, will make a difference in the life of a young child.

Life is full of risks.  Life is full of fear.  But if we listen closely, we can hear Jesus calling us by name and speaking to us.  Jesus tells us, “Do not be afraid.  Take the risks that challenge you the most.  Create relationships with God.  And remember Jesus hears our cries.

Through Christ we say together… “Amen.”

Benediction

God of Mystery, even those who walked with you, who witnessed your miracles and touched you, had trouble believing what they saw.  So, God, help our disbelief and doubt.  Let us stand up, rock the boat, and tell the world that we know you walk on water.  With this faith, we will overcome that sinking feeling.  Amen.