March 21, 2021
Matthew 8: 18-27
Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. A scribe then approached and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”
Our brokenness has been the image of our time in Lent seeing the ways we are physically, communally, spiritually broken and Jesus’ miracles have been the way we have explored these themes. Each week we have highlighted Jesus words “I choose you,” “I will come,” “Do you believe it is possible?” Today we hear Jesus say, “Follow me” inviting the disciples to a new and challenging way of life.
Our passage has two parts, the first is about discipleship, the second is about Jesus’ cosmic powers and what that could mean. At first, they don’t seem connected, but they are. Following and discipleship are linked with our cosmic creation.
At Session meeting the devotion was from Genesis on being created in God’s image and being given dominion over everything. Some take that to mean we have power to do what we want with this planet. But two other things emerged. God is a giver and Creator and we, made in God’s image, should also give. We call that stewardship, caring for all that God has given. But I also noticed the refrain of Let there be light, water, living creatures. And that reminded me of “Let it be,” a refrain we hear today. God deemed creation good, and I say we need to work to let it be so now!
“For centuries people believed that Aristotle was right when he said that the heavier an object, the faster it would fall to earth. Aristotle was regarded as the greatest thinker of all time, and surely he would not be wrong. Anyone, of course, could have taken two objects, one heavy and one light, and dropped them from a great height to see whether or not the heavier object landed first. But no one did until nearly 2,000 years after Aristotle’s death. Legend has it that in 1589 Galileo summoned learned professors to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then he went to the top and pushed off a ten-pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed at the same instant. The power of belief was so strong, however, that the professors denied their eyesight. They continued to say Aristotle was right.
I believe that this illustrates perfectly what is going on in the world today” with the Climate Crisis (sermons.com Brett Blair). Our world is perishing but some refuse to see the evidence right before their eyes. It is hard to accept when a paradigm changes. I don’t know what I would have said if I was there with Galileo all those years ago. But we cannot continue down this path, refusing to see how God’s creation is being irreparably damaged by our human activity. We cannot deny the unassailable science: Oceans will rise. Cities will flood. Communities will burn. Millions of people will suffer.
We want to cry out, “Lord Save us! We are perishing” (v. 25) from climate change, just like the disciples cried from the boat. The good news is that Jesus is in the boat with us. The God who heals through a gentle touch is also a God who rebukes wind and waves. We can work to have people wake up to the cosmic storm that is taking place on our planet and show how we need to do more than cry out to Jesus.
The disciples wanted to know what sort of man Jesus was after he calmed the storm. Having power over the created world is something that only God can do. So Jesus calming the storm declared his cosmic, creating power. One commentator wrote, “Jesus is doing what in the OT God alone can do, still chaotic waters.” (Walter Wilson, Healing in the Gospel of Matthew p. 110). Do you hear the creation story? A word study helps us to understand this even more. While Mark describes the calming of the sea as a “windstorm” (lailaps), (in the Greek) Matthew chooses instead to describe it as an “earthquake” (seismos). Earthquakes are often seen as “signs” of the apocalypse. In addition, Matthew also includes earthquakes among the events attending Jesus’ death (27:54) and resurrection (28:2). (Wilson, Healing in the Gospel of Matthew p. 111-112). God, creation, and salvation are all tied up in this crisis when Jesus calms the storm.
Jesus also addressed the disciples’ fear. He says, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith” (v. 26). So often we look at the faith part, but it is really the fear that is important. We need to hear those words today. Some are afraid to look at new kinds of energy like wind or solar. Or changing the powers that be like disrupting fossil fuels. Jesus is telling us we need more faith. Not in Jesus coming to save us from the crisis, but faith in our ability to move through this climate crisis using our creative powers of invention and ingenuity. Remember we are created in God’s image and God is the ultimate Creator. We can solve this crisis, but we need courage to act. Sue Monk Kidd tells the story of a shy abused boy, named Billy, who was too scared to leave his room and come to a party. A volunteer at the shelter responded to him, “all you need is to put on your courage skin.” Curious, Billy agreed. Together she helped him don an imaginary suit of “courage skin” and off they went (When the Heart Waits, p. 109). I pray that humanity will don a courage skin when it comes to addressing this climate crisis.
You see, “We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” as David Brower reminds us. We need to have the courage to act and save this planet for our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
Finally let’s consider the part of this story that might have put you back on your heels. Speaking about discipleship a scribe declared he would follow Jesus wherever he goes. Jesus responds with the reality of discipleship and its hardship. Jesus is homeless, without a place to lay his head, and he will ask that of his disciples. Yet people want to follow him. Another disciple wants to follow Jesus after he buries his father. That seems like a reasonable request. But surprisingly Jesus responds, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (22). This sounds cruel but speaks to the urgency and demands of discipleship. It waits for no one. You cannot wait to bury the dead and you cannot wait to follow Jesus. It also reminds us that discipleship requires renunciation and is costly (Feasting on the Gospels, p. 205). You know what else requires renunciation and is costly, stewardship. Stewardship of God’s creation requires renunciation of our wasteful and consumptive life. We need to pay the price of changing our ways so that we can be good stewards of God’s earth. Saving our planet is an urgent matter. Creation and discipleship go hand in hand. We don’t get to be followers of Jesus and then turn a blind eye to the destruction of God’s creation. We as followers need to save the cosmic creation, the earth.
Our earth, our home, is broken. But like we have seen week after week, miracle after miracle, beautiful things can come from broken sea glass, broken people and even broken planets if we address our fear and lean into faith seeking to heal our planet and to care for every living creature. Our planet is broken, but it can be restored, and healed. God gave us dominion over all creation, that means we get to be honoring stewards of God’s bountiful gift, amazing creation. So as we eat from the grains of this earth and drink from its vine, may we be nourished in strength to put on the skin of courage and work to heal our part of this planet, our community and our home. Let there be healing light. Let there be healing water. Let there be healing people who work to bring renewal and hope to our planet. Let it be. Amen.
