May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
Some of my favorite memories are times I spent on the water. As I kid I spent two weeks every summer at an overnight camp and during those two weeks went sailing every day. It was heaven for me. I loved everything about sailing- being surrounded by water, controlling the direction and speed of the boat, looking out to the horizon and back to the coast. It felt so freeing. I remember sitting in my cabin with a list of the points of sail until I could list each one from close hauled to very broad reach. I wanted to ensure I could get the sail in just the right direction to take advantage of the wind.
And it was just over a year ago that I had the opportunity to travel on a boat on the Sea of Galilee. The same sense of peace and freedom I felt as a child came back to me. I remember looking out on the mountains that surround the Sea, the vibrant colors of the landscape, the calm water, the blue sky and the bright sun. As we sat on the boat, in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, our leader read the Gospel reading we heard proclaimed this morning. We sat on the boat in silence taking in the scripture story, the surroundings, and the message Jesus had for us that day. There are few times in my life I’ve felt such peace as on the Sea of Galilee at that moment. I felt Jesus’ presence in the boat, by my side. Although there is a part of me that wishes a storm came that afternoon, if nothing else it would make for good sermon material, the winds remained calm and the water smooth.
I’m told that the weather on the Sea of Galilee can change in an instant. A storm can brew with little warning and the waters can quickly change from smooth to stormy. One such storm came upon the disciples in today’s Gospel reading and they feared for their lives. Even these veteran fishermen panicked as the boat began to take on water. In my imagination I can see them rushing around, trying to figure out how to keep the boat afloat, and then looking over to see Jesus comfortably asleep on a cushion. “Teacher”, they call out, “do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus wakes up to their call for help, he rebukes the wind and tells the sea, “Peace! Be Still!
I’m sure we can all think of times in our lives in which storms have surfaced. Some are expected and some surprise us. Maybe it is the sickness of a family member or moving out of our homes, perhaps it is child graduating and going on to college or the loss of a job. Our lives are filled with storms, some large and some small. Sometimes it feels like the wind and waves threaten to take us over and other times it is simply noticing the stronger winds and changing sky. Storms are a natural part of our lives. So, if shifts in the weather or inevitable, what do we do when we are in the midst of a sea change? What do we do when we feel fear of the unknown begin to creep in? Today’s Gospel tells us to put our eyes on and our faith in Jesus. Jesus is the calm center in the midst of anxiety. He is present to the fear but is not drawn into it. He does not join the disciples in their panic. He does not quickly try to bail the water out of the ship or become frozen with fear. Instead he speaks the words: “Peace. Be still.”
Just as shifts in the winds occur in our individual lives, they are bound to happen in our communal life. As we found out this week, our congregation will be experiencing a change in the wind. Skip, our Rector of nearly 10 years, announced that he will be retiring as of January 6th. He is following the call of the Spirit to spent more time with Kathy, his children and his grandchildren. Skip has been such an amazing gift to this community as a whole and to each of us as individuals. It is natural that we will feel a range of emotions now and in the months to come. But Jesus message to his disciples 2000 years ago is just as relevant for us know. Peace. Be still. Have faith.
There will be plenty of time over the next 6 months to say good–bye. There will be time to share with Skip and with Kathy our gratitude for their time at Christ Church, for all they have done and for who they are to us. But we do this while keeping our eyes focused on Jesus who is the true source of peace, the source of love, the source of our very lives. In the midst of our anxiety and our sadness, in the midst of the changes and chances of this life, we cling to Jesus and remember that he is doing more for us than we can ask or imagine.
As a church we are in a very good place. We have a congregation that is growing and is filled with a wonderful energy. We have a very capable vestry that is dedicated to the church and to our mission. And we have a staff that is ready and able to meet the challenges and the opportunities that are ahead of us. The winds have changed but we will adjust our sail and we will continue to do the work that has been entrusted to us. As Skip wrote in his letter to the congregation, “We cannot desist from the momentum we have created together…” And that is exactly right. There are people who are hurting, there are people in need of God’s message of reconciling love, there are people who go without the basic necessities of life while others of us have more than we need. God’s mission of peace and justice, of love and freedom continues and the need for us to come together in this mission is great.
We can weather the storms in our personal lives and the changes in our communal life because the risen Christ is in the boat with us. We can look to him, cling to him, when we are faced with uncertainties. We can put our faith and trust in him. Jesus didn’t promise us that there wouldn’t be storms, but he did promise to be with us. Always. Even until the end of time. And that hope, that promise, is at the very heart of our Christian faith and life.
Amen.
