Sermon title: “Stormy weather.” Texts: 1 Kings 19:9-18, Matthew 14:22-33. Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Honolulu HI, 9Aug20, Rev. Robert H Ross

Now may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

Introduction. The title of my sermon this tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year A, is “Stormy weather.” Here this morning, will find the presence of God not in earthquake, wind, or fire, but in silence. And the disciples will face a great storm on the sea and cry out in fear, and Jesus will say, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

First, the stormy weather in 1 Kings 19:9-18. The Encyclopedia Britannica explains:1  Elijah, also spelled Elias or Elia, Hebrew Eliyyahu, (flourished 9th century BCE) Hebrew who ranks with in saving the religion of Yahweh from being corrupted by the nature worship of . Elijah’s name means “Yahweh is my God” and is spelled Elias in some versions of the . The story of his prophetic career in the northern kingdom of during the reigns of Kings and Ahaziah is told in –19 and –2 in the Bible. Elijah claimed that there was no reality except the God of Israel, stressing monotheism to the people with possibly unprecedented emphasis. He is commemorated by Christians on July 20 and is recognized as a prophet by Islam.  Historical setting. The Israelite king Omri had allied himself with the Phoenician cities of the coast, and his son Ahab was married to , daughter of Ethbaal, king of Tyre and Sidon. Jezebel, with her Tyrian courtiers and a large contingent of pagan priests and , propagated her native religion in a sanctuary built for Baal in the royal city of Samaria. This meant that the Israelites accepted Baal as well as Yahweh, putting Yahweh on a par with a nature-god whose supreme manifestations were the elements and biological fertility, celebrated often in an orgiastic cult. Jezebel’s policies intensified

1 See at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elijah-Hebrew-prophet.

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the gradual contamination of the religion of Yahweh by the Canaanite religion of Baal, a process made easier by the sapping of the Israelites’ faith in Yahweh.  Story. Elijah was from Tishbe in Gilead. The narrative in 1 Kings relates how he suddenly appears during Ahab’s reign to proclaim a drought in punishment of the cult of Baal that Jezebel was promoting in Israel at Yahweh’s expense. Later Elijah meets 450 prophets of Baal in a contest of strength on Mount Carmel to determine which deity is the true God of Israel. Sacrifices are placed on an altar to Baal and one to Yahweh. The pagan prophets’ ecstatic appeals to Baal to kindle the wood on his altar are unsuccessful, but Elijah’s prayers to Yahweh are answered by a fire on his altar. This outcome is taken as decisive by the Israelites, who slay the priests and prophets of Baal under Elijah’s direction. The drought thereupon ends with the falling of rain. Elijah flees the wrath of the vengeful Jezebel by undertaking a pilgrimage to (Sinai), where he is at first disheartened in his struggle and then miraculously renewed. In a further narrative, King Ahab has a man named Naboth condemned to death in order to gain possession of his vineyard. Ahab’s judicial murder of Naboth and confiscation of his vineyard arouse Elijah as the upholder of the moral law, as before he had come forward as the champion of monotheism. Elijah denounces Ahab for his crimes, asserting that all men are subject to the law of God and are therefore equals. Later Ahab’s son, King Ahaziah, appeals to Baal to heal him of an injury, and Elijah once more upholds the exclusive rights of Yahweh by bringing down “fire from heaven.” After bestowing his mantle on his successor, Elisha, the prophet Elijah is taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.  Theological significance. One of the most important moments in the history of monotheism is the climax of Elijah’s struggle with Baalism. His momentous words, “If Yahweh is God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him”—especially when taken with the prayer “Hear me, Yahweh, that this people may know that you, Yahweh, are God”— show that more is at stake than simply allotting to divinities their particular spheres of 2

influence. The true question is whether Yahweh or Baal is God, simply and universally. Elijah’s words proclaim that there is no reality except the God of Israel, there are no other beings entitled to the name of divinity. The acclamation of the people, “Yahweh, he is God” expresses a fully conscious monotheism, never before perhaps brought home to them so clearly. Elijah’s deepest prophetic experience takes place on his pilgrimage to Horeb, where he learns that God is not in the storm, the earthquake, or the lightning. Nature, so far from being God’s embodiment, is not even an adequate symbol. God is invisible and spiritual and is best known in the intellectual word of revelation, “the still, small voice.” The transcendence of God receives here one of its earliest expressions.2

The New Oxford Annotated Bible comments, The emphasis at Carmel [where Elijah brought down the fire of the LORD] had been on God’s spectacular ways, and particularly his use of fire. The emphasis here is on God’s quiet ways. He is not to be found on this occasion in the spectacular elements of the storm outside the cave (wind … earthquake … fire), elements accompanying the divine manifestation at Sinai/Horeb (see Ex 19.18, Deut 4.12), but in the sheer silence (v. 12; lit. “a voice, a barely audible whisper”). This is not unconnected to God’s new instructions to Elijah to anoint Hazael … Jehu … Elisha (vv. 15-16). A new order is to succeed the old, and it is that order which will bring about the final victory over Baal worship, not through obviously spectacular demonstrations of divine power as in ch. 18, but through the (quieter) political process, as God removes certain kings and sets up others.” (525n )

2 Continues the Britannica on Elijah’s theological significance, Elijah’s story also expresses for the first time a thought that was to dominate Hebrew prophecy: in contrast to the bland hopes of the people, salvation is bestowed only on a “remnant,” those purified by God’s judgment. The theme of the later prophets, that morality must be at the heart of ritual worship, is also taught by Elijah, who upholds the unity of law and religion against the despotic cruelty of a king influenced by a pagan wife. Elijah’s work may also be regarded as a protest against every effort to find religious experience in self-induced ecstasy and sensual frenzy rather than in a faith linked with reason and morality.” 3

Now, the stormy weather in Matthew 14:22-33. I like Carla Swafford Works3 on this passage from Matthew. She publishes commentary at a site named “Working Preacher” out of Luther seminary.4 “There is an old hymn that testifies, ‘Jesus calls us o’er the tumult of our life’s wild, restless sea,’” Works begins, and continues:  In the Gospel reading this week, Jesus indeed calls to his disciples in the midst of the wild and restless sea,5 but he is not beckoning them away from the storm. Instead, his voice calls them into the tumult.  The text says that Jesus made the disciples get into the boat (14:22). A better translation of this main verb would be “to force” or “to compel.” Jesus did not give the disciples a choice. He compelled them to get into the boat and to leave him alone with the crowds.  Why did he not have the disciples stay and help him with these crowds? After all, the multitude is huge. There are 5,000 men and probably twice as many women and children (14:21). They followed Jesus out to this lonely place (14:13). It was the disciples who wanted Jesus to get rid of the crowds before the great miracle of the feeding (14:15). Only after feeding this multitude does Jesus send everyone away: the crowds and the disciples.  It is not insignificant that Jesus retreats to the mountain while he has sent his disciples out into the raging chaos of the sea. The mountain in Matthew’s Gospel is a place for encountering God and hearing the proclamation of God’s glorious kingdom (e.g., 5:1- 7:29; 17:1-8). In Moses-like fashion, Jesus proves that he is both the leader of the crowds and the intercessor to the divine. He climbs alone to a mountain for his rendezvous with the Father.

3 Associate Professor in , Wesley Theological Seminary, and author of The Church in the Wilderness: Paul’s Use of Exodus Traditions in First Corinthians (Mohr Siebeck, 2014) and “Philippians” in the Women’s Bible Commentary. 4 See at https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2144. 5 Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895) included in The Methodist Hymnal: Official Hymnal of the Methodist Church (Nashville: The Methodist Publishing House, 1966). 4

 Jesus stays on the mountain to pray. Twice the writer states that Jesus is by himself (verse 23). While Jesus is alone conversing with the Father, the disciples find themselves in a life-threatening situation.  The disciples are many stadia [GK stadion = ~600ft] from the land, and the boat is being beaten -- or, more literally, being tormented -- by the waves. The situation is reminiscent of Jesus’ calming of the sea in Matthew 8:23-27. In that story, Jesus led the disciples into the boat and stayed with them, even though he was asleep. When the storm arose and the waves covered the boat, the disciples cried out, “Save, Lord; we are perishing” (8:25). Jesus questions, “Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?” Then, he rebukes the wind, and the story ends with the disciples marveling, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey him?” (8:27).  In our passage this week, though, the disciples do not have the luxury of awaking Jesus. Jesus is not there. [They] have been struggling to keep afloat for a while. The text says that it is not until the fourth watch of the night that Jesus decides to come to them in the middle of the sea. Thus, it is the early morning hours (3 a.m. to 6 a.m.), while it is still dark, that Jesus makes his appearance.  The disciples, though, do not initially recognize Jesus in the midst of the chaos. They have been alone with the threatening waves for hours. They are probably tired from being up all night. In the midst of this crisis when their energy reserves are spent, Jesus reveals himself to them.  In this exhausted state with the roar of the waves and the spray of the sea drenching their boat, they mistake the Lord of creation for a phantom. Given the common perception of the sea as the locus of evil and chaos, it is hard to blame them for initially mistaking the figure of Jesus for a specter of death. After all, it is they who have rowed into the middle of evil’s realm, and the waves are indeed attacking them.  Over their cries of fear, Jesus calls to them, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear” (15:27). Jesus reveals himself -- not simply as Jesus, their teacher, but as “I AM.” A more literal 5

translation of this sentence would be, “Take heart, I am, do not be afraid.” This self- revelation is a disclosure of Jesus’ source of power. For Matthew’s Jewish Christian audience, Jesus’ words echo the divine name.  Jesus’ self-revelation moves beyond his words. His actions are also revealing. According to Job 9:8, God alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the Sea. In Psalm 89:9, the psalmist exalts the Lord, “You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them.” In the midst of the sea’s churning, Jesus does what only God can do. This is a theophany.  The last time Jesus revealed his power over the chaos of the sea he did so within the confines of the boat. Even then, his power confounded the disciples. Now, he is displaying his power in the death-defying stunt of walking on the sea.  When confronted with the inexplicable reality of a God who controls chaos with his toes, Peter does the inexplicable: he asks to meet Jesus in the tumult. The text does not say that Jesus calmed the seas to make Peter’s steps easier. In fact, it is the wind that frightens Peter and causes him to sink. It was only Jesus’ call that made it possible for Peter to make any strides in the first place.  At this point in our narrative, the story sounds remarkably like the previous miracle on the sea. There is a cry for the Lord’s salvation followed by Jesus’ question of faith, “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?” (verses 30-31). This week’s text, however, ends by answering the question posed by the first narrative. The first time Jesus calmed the sea, the disciples were left wondering who Jesus is. This calming of the sea ends with a declaration, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (14:33).

“In Matthew’s Gospel,” Works concludes, “this story is meant to reveal who Jesus is. But that revelation is only possible in the midst of the chaos. If Jesus had not forced the disciples to embark on this uncertain journey, they would have missed the opportunity to see God revealed in their midst." 6

Now, to conclude. We’ve looked at two passages this morning, one from the Hebrew bible, the other from the New testament. Each involves stormy weather. In the one, the prophet Elijah finds the presence of God not in earthquake, wind, or fire, but in silence. In the other, Jesus counsels the disciples, caught by his bidding in a great storm, to “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”  in the one, the prophet who proclaims the truth shows us where (and where not) to find God’s presence: in stillness, apart from and behind (not in) the tumult of Nature, and  in the other, the messiah who is the truth shows us who he is (and has always been): the Son of God who, like unto Father IS-THAT-HE-IS and was never not, sent to save us.

Thus we have been with good teachers this morning. Closing, let me bring Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 14:22-33, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid,” into the present, into the church, into our church, into this congregation. Rev. Kathryn Matthews,6 opens her reflection7 so:  Much of our Bible reading and our faith life itself tend to focus on the gospel solely as a message only of personal comfort and assurance. Certainly, Matthew's story about Jesus encountering the disciples in the stormy sea and his conversation with Peter out there on the water could be heard as just such a message: Jesus will rescue us in the storms of life, even pulling us up out of the depths when we feel like we're drowning. But there is more than one way to read this story.  What if the boat full of disciples is the church, not only then but today? In our own day, the church is rocked by storms of one kind or another, from inside or from without, including the forces of chaos and uncertainty that may threaten to up-end or even destroy a community of faith. Perhaps a church has even felt "gripped" by powers stronger than they are, helpless to do anything to save themselves.

6 Former Dean of Amistad Chapel at the national offices of the United Church of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio. 7 See at https://www.ucc.org/worship_samuel_sermon_seeds_august_9_2020. 7

 It would be only human, just like poor, very human Peter, to feel despair and panic in such a situation. And yet we also know how it feels for the power of Jesus, reaching out to us to give us strength, to fill us with calm and strength and endurance.

Food for thought. Blessed be the ties that bind. Amen

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