A Sermon Delivered by The Rev. Terrilisa Durham Bauknight at Centenary United Methodist Church Metuchen, New Jersey July 26, 2009

Text: John 6:1-21
After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
—John 6:1-21, NRSV
As I listened to Rev, Pastor John preach last week, I chuckled to myself saying, “Here we are, about to preach for two (2) consecutive Sunday’s from similar stories found in two different gospels.” Yet, as always, the challenge is to be able to take the same stories and apply the varied perspective – I pray that this works.
Let us pray – Dear Lord: Still us now, just for a few moments – continue to fill the empty spaces within us as worship has already begun to, with a word from you. Amen.
I have two issues, well, really – I have A LOT of issues, but these two issues are one from childhood and one from my later years – yet both have to do with seeing to believe. The first issue is that whenever I was instructed to clean my room, there was always the thought of, “where could I hide things – you know – stuff things in the drawers, hide them in the closet or even under the bed if it was small enough and do the basic clean up of blow the dust off; smooth down the bed with a sweep of the hand; sweep the floor with your feet and be satisfied with my work in just a few short minutes!” Yet, my mother and father were very wise to my games, and thus either would ask as I came down the stairs – prepared to be on my way about my own pleasure, she would say, “Is your room clean.” And all of you who are parents know the answer, “Of course!” Well, my mother was the first to begin using this come back if you will, “’I’ll head up in a few minutes, don’t go anywhere!” Well, it was then that I would suddenly realize that I had forgotten something and would head back up to my room – to finish the job that I should have done right the first time. This game followed me into my adult years with my own daughter who did the same dance with me and I could hear my mother’s voice coming out in my own words over the same issues, “did you clean up your room?!” It was always, “’yes,’” until I made my way to her room, then there was plenty of motion, commotion and moving about behind a closed door and a response to a knock of, “I’ll be finished in a few minutes!” More often than not, it took a lot longer than a few minutes, just like I did in years past.
For my parents and myself later on, there was a need to see in order to believe that what task was being said to have been completed was. So to from the gospel reading heard earlier, can we see that there was the need for the followers and the skeptical to see Jesus and hear from him and have the eyewitness account of being in his presence in order to believe that he was who so many people had said he was. Hearing the stories and testimonies was not enough. And as a result of seeing him, the people believed – of course. They believed so much after seeing the crowd fed from so little and hearing the words of Jesus that those present on that hillside were wanting to make him a king. But this is not what Jesus was willing to do. Jesus knew that he was already a king and of what kingdom he was set to rule. No coronation would occur for Christ because humanity decided that he was fit to be a king! And in response to their pushing and vocalizing their beliefs, He said to them – “do you believe only because you have seen? And that is the question that so many of us must be asked – do you believe because you have seen the goodness of God? Is it because you have seen God bring about that which you thought was impossible? Do you believe because you have seen the answer to prayers amongst us? Or do you believe because you have felt it when you could not see it – and – heard it when there was complete silence around you? Jesus stated while he was amongst the many who thought they could not be fed that, “your belief must not be because of what you have seen, but because of what you have not seen, yet felt instead.” And just as the gathering and picnic began so it ended with the need for Jesus to step back – retreat, from the demands, ideas and need of people, as he often did. He sent the disciples ahead. Now, I often believe that it is a wonderful thing to be alone. I love it when the end of the day comes and all my students are gone – now that I have security cameras outside my classroom – I can sit and hear myself think. Or at home, no one to ask any questions, I can do whatever I need to do – just me! An even better place is in the car. This is where I spend most of my time with God, in song, in conversation, in prayer – just the two of us. Likewise Jesus sets out for some quiet time and lets the disciples go across the sea to another shore. They took the boat; he set out for solitude on foot with their ultimate destination being across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. I am sure that the disciples were aware that when the time came, he would meet up with them – that is how Jesus was and is. When the time comes, we meet up with him and he addresses all our needs.
Now, here is where my other issue with seeing comes into play. Unlike the need to prove that I could accomplish the task assigned, I have night blindness. So I tend to not travel at night in areas that I am unfamiliar with. I need street signs and other items that light up and/or reflect with green lighting or tints so that I can see where I am at. But what I am believing about these disciples out on the sea is, again, once the event was over and they boarded the boat to head across the sea, the evening had already begun. By nighttime, there was darkness (of course) — and — Jesus had yet to join them. As I noted in a sermon a few weeks ago to another congregation – these ships were not like our ships or small crafts today. They were open to the elements, and basic in side. What the water did – you felt – when it rained there wasn’t much to cover with or seek shelter from. So, here it is late, and the disciples have rowed about 3 or so miles out onto the Sea of Galilee or Lake Kinneret, which is 13 miles by 7 miles is size, on their way to Capernaum and the storm starts up. They are being rocked back and forth, with rain, thunder and lightening and Jesus is still not with them. Therefore, these disciples, this motley crew of individuals, do not feel safe at all. And suddenly, out on the water they see something walking. Now – it’s raining and hard to see, so the figure is not clear – it’s blurred. I personally would not want to be in that situation because it sounds like the perfect making of a horror movie to me! And knowing the disciples as we do, we can be sure that they were not calling on the Lord but instead, crying out in fear of what was coming towards them on the water. Their fear is not calmed when Jesus calls out to them more than likely it intensified because they heard Jesus’ voice, but how could he be out thereon the water!? Surely this was a trick, they must have been thinking, maybe it was a demon – something! And yet the figure keeps moving towards them and their fears finally calm when they can clearly see Jesus and are close enough to be able to not only hear his words but have him get into the boat. Now, as dark as it must have been and with the boat rocking back and forth and the rains and thunder and lightening, I can guarantee you that I would be like the rest of the disciples and crying out in fear. Hearing Jesus’ voice at that time would not have settled me. I would have needed to see my Jesus up close and personal! And yet, were these not his disciples; didn’t they know his voice? Hadn’t Jesus just had this discussion with the people who had gathered? Why were the disciples afraid? Did they not believe who they followed? So I ask, do we not believe in whom we serve today? Then why are we still like the people of old and far too often we need to see it in order to believe?
In these difficult times – when people are stressed and in need, we need to see what has been promised to us before we can believe it! Although we have been promised so much – goodness, peace, and more, for those who serve the Lord – we need to see the material things that we associate with peace and goodness before we can say that, “yes, I believe.” God calls on us through Jesus Christ to believe in that which we cannot see and that which we cannot feel and that which we cannot taste. He wants us to believe because in our hearts we know that God’s promises are true and the Lord fulfilled them by giving us His son for our salvation, even for those who would be born years and years and years after he had died on that cross.
I can understand the need to see it in order to believe it. We are a “prove it to me people” whether it is a promise or a possession. If we can’t see it; touch it or it doesn’t happen when or how we believe it should – forget it. What good is believing?! – we cry. What good is praying – we ask? What good reasons are there for having faith? When the innocent are hurt; when the good suffer; when so many are in need and the world seems to be full of trouble. Well, think of it this way – every day – everyday – when you get up and get to look in a mirror, any mirror, or hear a voice, or experience life, another day – you have seen the miracle and you have and are the promise fulfilled — because of your belief. AMEN.
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