St. Paul's Episcopal Church

The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, July 27, 2003

John 6:1-21

The Reverend Vernon L. Suter

I don't know how many times I've heard someone say that God has a sense of humor, so first off, I'm going to trust that fact and tell a little joke on Jesus. It's a very old joke, so if you've heard it before, please bear with me. It's about Jesus and St. Peter playing a game of golf in Heaven. Now Jesus fancied himself a pretty good golfer, so when they approached a water hole, Peter asked Jesus what club he was going to use to get over the water. Jesus said he was going to use a seven iron because that would be the club Arnold Palmer would use. Peter said to Jesus, "Well, I don't know about Arnie Palmer, but I think to get over that water, you need to use a five iron at least. Jesus retorted, "Arnie Palmer uses a seven iron and I'm going to use a seven iron."

So, Jesus makes his shot and plop! In the water his ball goes. He lays down his club, walks out on the water to the middle of the lake, reaches down and gets his ball and starts walking back. Another couple of people played up behind Jesus and Peter. When they saw this man walking on the water, one guy says to St. Peter, "Who does that guy think he is, - - Jesus? St. Peter answered, "Oh, he's Jesus alright. The problem is that he thinks he's Arnold Palmer."- - - - - - - -

Now, I think I'd better get serious here, but I just couldn't resist telling that old joke, especially after having seen the picture on the front of the bulletin.

"It is I; do not be afraid." These, of course, are the words of Jesus as he approached the boat in which the disciples were experiencing some really rough waters. Now, I've read many Bible commentaries putting forth many different explanations for the story of Jesus walking on the water when the disciples were terrified and in trouble, but it suddenly occurred to me that all of the ones that I read, missed the obvious. Think about these words again for a minute: "It is I; do not be afraid."

The single biggest point for me is that no matter what I'm doing, whether I'm in trouble or not, I never need be afraid because Jesus is there. In thinking about this, I immediately became painfully aware of how I so seldom realize the constant presence of Jesus in my life. I suddenly realize that I, as I'm sure many of you can admit, call on Jesus only when I'm in need or trouble. Throughout Scripture we can see Jesus' disciples behave the same way.- - - - Some of you know that I'm what is fondly called a "late vocation priest." Also, some of you are aware that in one of my previous lives, before becoming a priest, I was a traveling night club musician. I played supper clubs and cocktail lounges all over the country. The reason I'm telling you this is because when I realize how often I ignore the presence of Jesus until I'm in need, I thought of a time I was driving from Omaha, Nebraska to Cumberland, Maryland for my next club date. I was driving a panel truck and pulling a 10,000 pound, 46 foot long house trailer. Well, I had never driven in the Allegheny Mountains before and wasn't aware of the precautions one must take in driving those steep grades through the mountains.

I went over a hill, completely ignoring the warning sign that said, "Trucks use low gear," and just stayed in high gear. I began to pick up speed and in putting on my breaks to slow down, I burned them out. Suddenly, I had no breaks and was going too fast to gear down. My speed passed 80 miles per hour and I was hanging on for dear life, trying to hold the road.

Back in those days, there weren't many freeways through mountains. This was a two lane highway with the mountain on one side and a very long drop to no man's land on the other side. If I ever needed Jesus, now was the time, and I said so, right out loud. I was alone, so there was nobody to hear me but Jesus. Over and over again, I was saying, "Jesus, please save me and get me out of this mess. Please, please, get me down safely." I prayed and pleaded all the way down that mountain. At the bottom of that hill I went through Wheeling, West Virginia like it wasn't even there. Thank God, it was the middle of the night and nobody was crossing the road.

I finally came to a stop when the highway started to go up the next hill. After sitting there shaking a few minutes, I clearly remember saying, "Thank you Jesus." I didn't think of it then, but on the way down that hill, I would have loved to have heard those words, "It is I; do not be afraid."

I stayed there overnight and took off for my destination the next morning, gearing down every time I couldn't see over the top of the hill in front of me. I was aware of Jesus presence that morning. I can imagine he was saying those words, "It is I; do not be afraid." - - and don't forget to gear down.

Now for the point of all this: Do you think I went to church the following Sunday? Of course I didn't. By Sunday, I had reached my destination safely and was fully in charge of my own life again, taking everything and everyone for granted. Further, by the time I'd told this story a few times, Jesus was out of the picture. Everyone was talking about how lucky I was and what a skillful driver I had to be to pull that off. Worse yet, I was buying it. Now, I know this is a rather dramatic example, but how much of our lives do we live taking everything for granted and never giving a thought to the ever present Jesus? How much better off might we be, even in the best of circumstances, if we just paused and listened for those words: "It is I; do not be afraid."

Everything was fine with Jesus' disciples until they hit rough water. I doubt if they were even thinking about Jesus at the time. Don't forget, they had just rowed over three miles and were probably pretty preoccupied with what they were doing, until the going got rough. Then, "they were terrified." Terrified, that is, until they became aware of the presence of Jesus with his words, "It is I; do not be afraid.", and I think that's the way it is with us. We become so preoccupied with our own thing that we fail to slow down enough to feel and hear Jesus as he walks with us at every moment of our lives.

I think it's OK to take Jesus for granted. I think Jesus even thinks it's OK to take him for granted, but I believe we all could make our lives better if we were more consistently aware of his presence in everything we do. I know I could.

By listening for the presence of Jesus, I learn how he reaches out to me, - mends things and extends forgiveness, often through other people. I see how he brings good out of my failures, and I can feel good that I'm OK in spite of those failures. I can say as the psalmist did in Psalm 94: ". . .your love, O Lord, upheld me. When many cares fill my mind, your consolations cheer my soul."

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, August 3, 2003

John 6:24-35

The Reverend Vernon L. Suter

Last week we heard from John's Gospel how Jesus fed the 5000 who had followed him and gathered around him. They were following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. The first thing Jesus thought about when he saw this huge crowd was how in the world they were going to feed them. His love and concern was for the crowd of people whom he didn't want to see go hungry.

Well, you remember the story. He fed them all and had food to spare. The interesting part of all this is that today, in listening to our Gospel reading, we find that he's not too happy with these same people. He's not all that happy with them because they continued to follow him for the all the wrong reasons. According to Jesus' response to them this time, they were there because they liked the free meal. Jesus was right. That becomes quite clear in their behavior and comments as the story goes on.

Now, let's take a moment to consider why these people followed Jesus in the first place. Last week's Gospel says they followed him because of the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus had been healing the sick and this bunch of people saw that as signs of his holiness. Yet, when confronted by Jesus in today's Gospel, to not go after the food that perishes but to pursue the food that endures eternal life, and answered their question as to how to do that with the fact that they must believe in him, they thoughtlessly had the nerve to ask him to give them a sign. Although having followed him in the first place because of the signs they had seen, they now wanted another sign. Today, we might call that, really pushing the envelope. It was as if they'd never seen the first signs; the signs that motivated them to be there in the first place. They clearly said that they could not believe him without proof.

Seeing is believing. This mob of 5000 had already seen, long before Jesus fed them, but they seem to have forgotten all about that. All memory of that past healing was gone. How short their memories!

Seeing is believing. Have any of you ever said that? - - I sure have. - - - - During the conversation between the jews and Jesus, it became as if they wanted an itemization of what one is supposed to do to believe in Jesus. Jesus answer that God sent him, and all they need to do is accept that fact, wasn't quite good enough. This was a simple answer, but maybe it was too simple. Perhaps Jesus needed to be a bit more clear and say that the one work that God desires from his children is faith.

In addition, maybe the crowd needed an explanation of faith. If they needed such an explanation, maybe we could use one too. - - - - Faith, for which another word is trust, is all we need to enjoy God's peace, - - but what does it mean to have faith?

To have faith means being in a relationship with God that shows we are his friend. We are not afraid of him, or as is often said, we have no reason to fear him. He is not only a friend, but our Divine Father who loves us and wants nothing more than to forgive. Jesus ultimately died on the cross as a clear sign that we were forgiven; a sign many have also forgotten. How many people have you talked to who have done something they consider bad or wrong and all they can say is, "I'll never forgive myself." God, their Divine Father, has forgiven them, but putting themselves above him, they won't let go and accept his peace, and forgive themselves.

I don't want to get off the track here, so let's get back to the definition of faith. With faith comes a certain kind of life. We know what God is like. Faith in God means we must attempt to live the way God would have us live. So, - - moving to the question the crowd put to Jesus, "What is it that we must do to perform the works of God?", our first answer must be that God is love. Therefore, in our lives there needs to be love and service to others that emulates the love and service of God.

Second, there needs to be the forgiveness of others that corresponds with the forgiveness of God.

Third, we need to use our God given wisdom and our freedom to chose, to make sensible and Christian decisions.

Having said this, it kind of sounds like we need to consistently exude a holier than thou attitude and appearance, but nothing could be further from the truth. It really means we need to be open to our fellow human beings.

When Jesus ascended to be with the Father, he told Peter he was sending the Holy Spirit to be in us and among us. Making decisions that God would have us make, calls for consulting fellow Christians as to their viewpoint on things. That way, we are seeking the advice and counsel of God, which always works through people.

As to loving and forgiving as God would do, that's even simpler. No one likes everyone and we need to realize that. Jesus didn't like everyone either. That was very evident when he showed such anger at the people who were selling doves and the like in the temple. Most important, though, is that liking or disliking someone has nothing to do with love. Liking or disliking is about behavior, the things we do, and yes, the things we don't do. In other words, it is possible and acceptable to dislike a person's behavior and still love them. The key to living as God would have us live is in remembering the difference between loving and liking; the difference between the person and the person's behavior.

I have had clients reporting terrible guilt because they hated their father or mother. This kind of thing often relates to the clients' childhood. The problem is virtually always resolved when I can help that person understand the difference between behavior and person. A person is a child of God. The behavior is a product of culture, experience, or whatever. Behavior is learned, and often very worthy of hate. A person is born of God, and therefore always worthy of love. - - - -

Back to the question: "What must we do to perform the works of God?", to which Jesus basically answered, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

The bottom line is that the peace of God comes with faith in Jesus. Many drift through life seeking no serious purpose, faithlessly wondering, "What's the point? What can it matter?" The result, of course, is a hideous spiritual impoverishment.

To believe in Jesus Christ and the things for which he stands, the way of life he teaches us, the God whom he reveals to us, the grace and help he came to offer us, the victory which he makes possible for the least likely of us, is to have the doors of life flung wide open, with all of it's infinite possibilities. But it all starts with believing in him whom God has sent. Given that, all else follows.