“And other seed fell on good ground and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” Mark 4:1 – 20

“Several years ago, when I was in India…a friend came to visit and to give advice about certain precautions to be observed. Just before he left, a final caution was given about snakes. He advised that we should not walk around at night without a light, not go into an unlighted room at night. We should sleep with a flashlight under the pillow, so that if it were necessary to get up during the night, a circle of light could be thrown on the floor before stepping out of bed, lest we disturb the nocturnal rambling of some unsuspecting cobra. This is precisely what the weak do everywhere. Through bitter experience they have learned how to exercise extreme care, how to behave so as to reduce the threat of immediate danger from their environment. Fear thus becomes a form of life assurance, making possible the continuation of physical existence with a minimum of active violence.” (Howard Thurman. Jesus and the Disinherited (pp. 40-41). Beacon Press. Kindle Edition.)

The story of Peter walking on the water is a great example of expressing ultimate faith. But this story has so many alternatives once he decided to act. First he could stay in the boat – or he could step out of the boat. Staying in the boat gave him other alternatives: watch Jesus continue to walk on the water; or stay in a boat that may sink any minute. But once Peter stepped out of the boat, other alternatives suddenly presented themselves: he could drown — or look at Jesus and keep walking. If he stayed in the boat would he be remembered as the “other doubting disciple”? If he jumped without asking Jesus, would he be another person Jesus raised from the dead?

It is true that we would rather stay inside in a secure environment rather than step out putting ourselves into the face of danger. Howard Thurman speaks of this reality for the oppressed in our society: “This is precisely what the weak do everywhere. Through bitter experience they have learned how to exercise extreme care, how to behave so as to reduce the threat of immediate danger from their environment. Fear thus becomes a form of life assurance…”

Peter tried to reduce his fear by stepping out – by looking into the face of fear and saying: “I will not stop….” But eventually he lost his nerve. As we all know, there is no “Unsinkable” ship in life that will protect us from every possibility, every outcome, every possible situation in this world that looks to sink us. Ultimately, we will all reach a point where we either decide to leave the protection of the boat or face the possibility that we will be thrown overboard. One is our choice, one is left to fate.

If I take every opportunity that comes to me to leave the protection and safety of my “faith boat” and put my trust in G-d, then whether I walk or sink, I will trust on my “life assuring” ability to keep my eyes on Jesus – who promises to be with us to the end of the age.

Pastor Dave

“And Jesus went up on the mountain, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons…” Mark 3:18 19

“When I preached my first sermon in the country upon my arrival in Pennsylvania, an aged man came up to me and said with amazed wonder on his face, “Dear Pastor, I felt just as though I was listening to the dear God in heaven Himself.” In the meantime I learned a little more about his life, and when, after the second service, he again declared to my face that it had been like hearing an angel from heaven, I took him aside and urgently besought him to leave off his sinful, disorderly life and surrender with his whole heart to the Lord Jesus, the true friend of repentant sinners, and thus find peace for his soul. I had hardly given him this advice when he burst out, “Who is this devil’s priest to give me advice? This is a free country!” Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (1711 – 1787) “For All The Saints” volume III

“Who is this devil’s priest to give me advice?” As a pastor, I don’t usually feel like a “devil’s priest” so much as I do a “clown” for Christ. Maybe you have found this to be true in your life — where you try to give a friend advice, or you try to encourage someone on line, and what you receive in return is venom on their lips telling you, in essence, “Who are you to tell me what to do?”

From the pulpit, I am a conduit for the message of Jesus Christ – and that is not a popular message these days. When we are committed to preach “Law and Gospel” (as Lutheran pastors are called to do), then we have a real challenge. First, we use the Law as Hammer and Mirror; the law drives us like a hammer to the cross because without the cross we have no hope; and the law is a mirror held up for us to see our true selves. When we feel the Gospel message deep in our bones, my friends soon comes the word of Grace – the Gospel message from Jesus who, through the cross takes all of our sins and saves us from ourselves.

So we have a choice in our proclamation. We can sell cheap grace by softening the message and deceiving ourselves into thinking we aren’t as bad as we really are. Or, we can see ourselves as we really are — we are both sinner and saint grasping and clinging onto the only thing that gives us hope — the cross.

Yes, we live in a free country. And we are free to choose to proclaim and to be proclaimed too. But occasionally we need to step out of ourselves to look into the mirror of repentance — which shows us what we need most — which is the Cross, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Dave