SERMON - The Second Sunday Before Lent

So who is this man? That even the winds and the water obey him…

The disciples need answers - they seem perplexed and I should imagine they were scared as well. Last week, in the Gospel reading we heard that Jesus had pointed them to an extraordinary large catch of fish – showing the overly generous love of God for all those who love Him, and this week, Jesus is being woken from His nap to rebuke the wind and waves, calming the storm.

Who is this man? is a very good question, it was asked by the disciples, it was asked by Herod before the crucifixion, and eventually Jesus will ask His own disciples the question, when he asks “and who do you say I am?”

However – I am sure they knew who he was!

In the incident on the lake, Luke knew full well when he wrote that the question “who is this man” might have been a rhetorical question. Hundreds of years before, the psalmist had written how to recognise God at work, in Psalm 65, the one listed for this morning, it says “You still the raging of the seas, the roaring of the waves and the clamour of the peoples.” EVEN BETTER, in Psalm 107 it says “Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do their business on the waters. They will see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea….(it goes on to say) They cry to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distress. He calms the storm so that the waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet.

Once again, I think the disciples know who Jesus was, but were too scared to go that extra mile and confirm it. They would have known the signs, and they would have heard all the things that others were saying about Jesus, but they couldn’t say the words. “This is the Son of the living God”. How could they worship Jesus, when they only had only ever worshipped God and God alone.

With the benefit of hindsight, it is easier for us to talk of Jesus as being the Son of God because that is how we were taught, it within our understanding. At the centre of our faith is that Easter story that gives us the language by which we talk about Jesus. It’s easy for us I suppose.

The other thing is that being a fisherman wasn’t a bad job way back then. They had just had a large catch of fish of course (see last weeks’ reading)

A wealthy businessman was horrified to see a fisherman sitting beside his boat, playing with a small child. "Why aren't you out fishing?" asked the businessman.

"Because I caught enough fish for one day, "replied the fisherman.

"Why don't you catch some more?"

"What would I do with them?"

"You could earn more money," said the businessman. "Then with the extra money, you could buy a bigger boat, go into deeper waters, and catch more fish. Then you would make enough money to buy nylon nets. With the nets, you could catch even more fish and make more money. With that money you could own two boats, maybe three boats. Eventually you could have a whole fleet of boats and be rich like me."

"Then what would I do?" asked the fisherman.

"Then," said the businessman, "you could really enjoy life."

The fisherman looked at the businessman quizzically and asked, "What do you think I am doing now?"

Just like the fishermen disciples of 2,000 years ago – we need to look closely at our lives and ask the question – “WHO DO I SAY JESUS IS?” (hold that answer in your head – I won’t ask you to write it down – it might be a grand answer like “my saviour” or “the Son of the living God” – but think about it for a moment…

And then take your answer and ask the second question “IF I SAY JESUS IS THAT IMPORTANT - HAVE WORLDLY THINGS GOT BETWEEN ME AND HIM…?”

Think about that for a moment then answer the THIRD question…”HOW CAN I PUT MY LIFE BACK ON A RIGHT FOOTING WITH GOD?”

Just like the disciples, do we KNOW but still pretend it isn’t that important?

It is easy for us because even through today’s readings we can get a picture of the awesomeness of God, and his presence throughout history. In the first reading from Genesis, we hear of God creating humankind, first man then woman. In the reading from the Revelation to St. John the Divine, we read of God being worshipped, surrounded by symbols and imagery – precious stones, loud trumpets, seven lampstands and twenty-four thrones. Angels and animals – eagles and lions saying “Holy, holy holy is the Lord God almighty – the one who always was, who is and who is still to come” God with us, throughout all time.

The book of revelation also speaks of Jesus as the Lamb of God, who is to be worshipped like God.

The threads are drawing together this morning to give us a picture of Jesus, His ROLE and His RANK in the cosmic jigsaw. For John, JESUS is inseparable from GOD, the beginning and the end, the ALPHA and OMEGA, the one who sits on the throne of GOD – nothing less.

The confusion of the disciples (which I think is pretty poor acting) lets us see a patient GOD who gives us plenty of time to come to terms with the fact that He is REALLY BIG and AWESOME, and SPANS the WHOLE OF SPACE AND TIME. He created us, so he must know our misgivings, failings and concerns.

Today, for us on the second Sunday before lent we are preparing to prepare for Easter (if you like), and the most important thing we can do is to THINK ABOUT WHO WE SAY JESUS IS?

It’s not as easy as saying – well he’s the son of God isn’t he. We need to think carefully about what this cheeky upstart Galilean revolutionary means to us. Throughout Lent we will have the opportunity to walk with Jesus on an interesting and revealing journey – If we let him, Our Lord will show us who we really are, and the person God intended us to be.

We could have 40 days during lent of asking just one question “Who is this Jesus?” and that would by no means be time wasted. We need to get right back to basics, and ask these questions if we are to grow in faith and be more like Christ.

Does our faith mean that others benefit in terms of love and care?

Does our faith help us to cope in difficult times and rejoice in good times?

Does our faith mean that we have something to say about the way power and money are used in the world?

ALL THESE QUESTIONS DEPEND ON THE ORIGINAL AND SHORTER QUESTION – WHO IS THIS JESUS? Our answer to this will shape the way we live, and provide us with a point of reference in our lives.

Sometimes, I am sure we have concerns – all Christians do. We even put God to the test and doubt what we know to be true. We might even be unable to answer the question WHO IS THIS JESUS? Just like the disciples we may not want to say the words – but we are called to KNOW JESUS, and that relationship with HIM will bear fruit in our lives. We are continuing HIS work on EARTH, we are running the next leg of the race – the baton has been passed to us and we must do all we can to KEEP THE MESSAGE OF LOVE, PEACE, JUSTICE and HOPE alive in the hearts of those who have little or nothing.

As LENT approaches, JESUS is asking us to tell HIM who we think HE is, and how that makes a DIFFERENCE in this WORLD.

In the name of God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN