August
11, 2002 - Twelveth
Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis
37:1-4, 12-28
NRSV
KJV
CEV
Matthew
14:22-33
NRSV
KJV
CEV
Salvation Hand Up or Hand Out?
Peter, "became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, 'Lord, save me!' Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, 'You of little faith, why did you doubt?'" The essence of salvation is in those words. Let's talk about why and then look at how it applies to us.
When I read through the passages for today my first impulse was to do a brief historical theological examination of the doctrine of salvation. Fortunately, I thought better of it. Instead, I've just been grappling with the implication of Peter's desperate request. The obvious, literal meaning is there in the context of the story. Peter has, once again, acted on impulse and now finds himself sinking into the waves. So, "save me" means just that pull me up out of the water and get me to safety NOW. But, as with the whole of the Bible, there is more there than just asking Jesus to function as a lifeguard.
The goal of this story, as with the feeding of the five thousand we looked at last week, is to establish who Jesus is. Matthew wants us to understand, long before it becomes explicit, that we're in the presence of someone extraordinary, someone who is connected to and centered on God in a manner never before experienced. When Jesus walks on the water and "commands" the wind and water, he is echoing the actions of the Father in the very act of creation. God's Spirit had "brooded" over the waters and chaos was changed into order. Now God's Son speaks and both are stilled again. As he comes to them on the water, he says, "Do not be afraid, it is I." Scholars tell us that particular form is used to immediately identify Jesus with the Creator, whose name is "I Am." Matthew wants us to understand, in no uncertain terms, that it is Emmanuel, God With Us, who is acting here and that through his presence we are invited to relationship.
This story also reminds us of who we are supposed to be, how we are to respond to what this someone offers us, and then how we are to live. The early Church used a boat as a symbol for itself which is why the space where we're worshipping is called the 'nave,' from the Latin for ship. To those first believers the Church was like a ship sailing against the tide of evil and enduring storms of persecution as it sought the goal of the "other side." The nighttime setting here served to remind them of the Lord's absence from them and the doubt they felt; still they must sail through the night, and through their doubt to reach the shore. These analogies fit the experience of the Church at its beginnings. They knew storms, they knew the loss of their Lord, and they experienced deep doubt, but they responded to the invitation to relationship and persevered in faith. The story reminds us that we are to be people of faith.
Peter serves as the example of the up and downs of faith and discipleship. It has been said of faith, "If it looks to Jesus and leans on his word, it dares everything and can do everything. But if it lays itself open to doubt, it can only falter and all that is left, then, is a total trust in the mercy of Jesus, the Savior."[1] This is the point that Origen made when the Church was very young:
"Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." Hearing these reassuring words, perhaps there will be one among us animated by a greater ardor, a Peter, walking toward perfection, but not yet perfect, who will get out of the boat, knowing he has escaped the trial which was shaking him. First of al, in his desire to meet Jesus, he will walk on the water, but, his faith still being insufficient, he still doubting, he will grow afraid and will begin to sink. However, he will escape this misfortune, because he will call Jesus with great cries, saying, "Lord, save me!" Hardly will this other Peter have finished speaking and saying, "Lord, save me!" than the Logos [the Word] will stretch out his hand, will help him, and hold him when he begins to sink, reproaching him for his lack of faith and his doubts. Note however, that he did not say, "Unbeliever," but "Man of little faith." It is written, "Why did you doubt, for you had a little faith, but you swerved in the direction opposite to that faith."
We may have our doubts, our times when our faith is less than strong, but that is when we reach out and find that there is a hand ready to pull us up.
Now, the question is pull us up from what? In what are we sinking? Now we have to look at the very word 'salvation.' Salvation derives from 'save.' When something is saved it is rescued or made safe. So, what are we saved from? I would be so bold as to say that we are saved from ourselves. The contemporary English theologian John Macquarrie has written:
. . .the root sin is idolatry. This is what enslaves
man, and estranges him from his true being, from his neighbor, and from God . .
.to worship an idol . . . is precisely to give to it a demonic power. A
profound truth lies behind the belief of ancient Christians that an idol is not
just nothing, but a demon; for an idol, in so far as it has become the focus of
a distorted existential concern, reacts by further distorting, enslaving, and
finally destroying the being of a person who has given it allegiance . . .This
is precisely the forgetting of Being, the exaltation of the beings above Being;
an idolatrous worship of the beings which in turn have enslaved us and react
upon us with demonic effect. If is surely not being over pessimistic to
see this state of affair as specially characteristic of the technological era,
when indeed "new gods have come in of late." [2]
In the person and work of Jesus Christ we are brought out of ourselves and into right relationship with God and with others. The things that have made us afraid, that have enslaved us are overpowered by the self-giving of Jesus and we, in our turn, are invited to live in the same self-giving and loving manner toward the Other and others.
So, I believe that salvation is a hand up from God to us, to allow us to be the people God intended when we were created. As a consequence humanity is very much involved in the process of salvation. Not that we are our own rescuers, but we are cooperators in salvation by our response to what God has done and is doing for us in Jesus Christ. The great Congregational theologian of the last century, P.T. Forsyth put it this way, " Now, let us own at the outset that the first things we must be sure about are the objective reality of our religion, its finality, and its initiative in God's free grace independent of act or desert of ours."[3] God's grace is free, and the will to saving relationship is God's own. Yet, we are called upon to respond to it and to live differently because of it.
There's an old saying, "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat every day." Salvation is a hand up, not a hand out for that very same reason. The Scripture seems to be telling us that God is interested in forming a people who will live in accord with God's will for all of creation. God has been at this from the very beginning, trying to show us the way, not forcing us, because that would take away the freedom given to us as part of the Divine image in which we were made. What we see all through the Bible is God trying to get us to understand who we are and how we're supposed to act and we just don't ever seem to get it right. God then gives us the ultimate example in Jesus and through him gives us the means to enter the relationship, to live the life, to know what it means to be safe. Now, we have to cooperate.
Salvation, then, isnt a passive process. Peter had to call out, reach out, and head back into the boat. We have to do the same. Salvation is more than simply assenting to a whole series of propositions about God and saying that because we believe we're fully onboard. What is it the Scripture says about demons believing and trembling? There's a reason why our Congregational forebears latched onto the covenant concept. To enter into a covenant is to enter into an ongoing relationship. Being in covenant means that while God holds up God's end of the bargain namely Being there and holding everything together we have to hold up our end responding and living our faith. So, salvation is far from a hand out, it's a hand up to becoming God's people and living God's life in this world.
Peter may have been impetuous, but there's something to be admired there. He was willing to extend himself, to take a risk and to go toward God. While he may have wavered in his faith he did discover, as should we all, that our faith is often strengthened by our experience. He didn't wait for a hand out, but he accepted a hand up and became a different person.
Salvation is being worked out all around us every day. What God initiated in Jesus continues in daily life as we respond to God, moving away from self-centeredness to center ourselves on God as we feel that loving hand pulling us up. We need to embrace Jesus' rhythm of life that sought God first in all things and made time with God a priority. We should cultivate Peter's ardor, willing to take a risk to know God better and better, and not afraid to ask for help when we start to get in over our heads. Salvation is a hand up, not a hand out.
Let us pray:
Lord, you are not a God who saves easily
But as the mountain guide,
you give us assurance . . .
Make us firm in this Love.Lord, when the winds are contrary
at sea, and when night adds to our trouble . . .
May your cry reach us:
"Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."Lord, to each of us
you say, "Come."
Speak a little louder . . .
Command that we go to you. [P. Talec]