By the Rev’d Lucy Nguyen
Season: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: 1 Samuel 17: (1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49 | 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 | Mark 4:35-41
Our readings this morning, taken together, are a bit like an arrowhead.
We start with the wide (and yes long) telling of the story of the iconic david – young, not terribly big, but strong in faith and focus slaying the huge and evil force embodied by the one they called Goliath.
What themes and understandings are captured in this tale?
The young shepherd calls on God’s authority to defeat the giant, Goliath
We then move to our epistle reading the letter of Paul to the people – a piece of parchment passed around the community – a bit like the bedraggled newspapers we used to read in the doctor’s office before we all had our phones from which to read – and in this letter from Paul to the people of Corinth – he says you have what you need now to know God – we (the teachers and prophets are not getting in your way) – everything you need is provided to you now – you have the story and the teachings you have our love – we have shared what we know of God and God’s great love you for – Now is the time to accept it and get on with things as God calls you to do
What are the things God calls us to do?
Paul pleads with the Corinthian Christians that they would accept that the time of salvation is now, and that they would open their hearts to the apostles, because they have proven themselves through committed ministry and faithful service despite the terrible suffering and difficulties they have endured
Who or what is blocking you to live more fully in the service and love of God?
And the pointy bit of our readings –
The Gospel reading.
Mark has Jesus persuading us to get into a boat with him.
I recognize that in the original telling he was speaking to fisherman who would have been fine with getting in a boat.
But we in the 21st century, hearing that we are to get in a boat might bring anxiety from the “get-go”, stepping off the land we know into the sway of a boat on the water, the unknown.
I imagine we’ve all seen, if not experienced the sight of a boat in trouble on the waters – think the Titanic if nothing else comes to mind – it’s daunting and can be deadly.
Waves sweep over, fear kicks in, we become paralyzed with fear and call out for help. The disciples did just that – “Jesus! Wake up” …
He does just that, and… it all comes into focused calm – with the call of Jesus into our fear. “Peace! Be still!”
Jesus calms the storm.
Here Jesus is shown to have access to the authority and power of God not just over people, sickness and evil spirits, but over the natural world as well.
PAUSE
I’ve had a busy week this week – your week may have been busy too.
I mention my busy week because when I finally came face to face with the scripture and my laptop I wondered for a very long moment where to go with … with everything –
My conversations this week ranged from a coffee with a friend newly retired and wondering about that fact that they are often finding themself still in their pj’s at noon.
We agreed that it was all part of the process of finding a new way of being – and, for now it seemed, one slipper’d foot in front of the other would be okay.
Then a quick swirl around parish life on Tuesday, prayers, staff meeting, pastoral calls and rosters.
Followed by immersion into the pool of our annual Ministry Conference for two days – Wednesday and Thursday.
Goodness, what a swirl of emotions and thoughts, for me at least, as we considered (or didn’t) ways forward as an Anglican Diocese in this current age…
As the conference concluded, the sad news of the passing of two parishioners brought me swiftly back into the mind of parish life.
Yet, with a sweep of the clock it was Friday, and I dove into St John’s College for a day of conversation about the life, being and existence of St Johns Theologically College in this current age …
And from Friday I stumbled onto the shore of Saturday morning for the usual sermon face-off between scripture, my week, my thoughts, readings, reflections and the laptop.
It on this shore – the image of an arrowhead appeared, the imagery perhaps brought on by my dunking into Friday’s intense conversation of indigenous and Christian beliefs and theologies.
We have access to such a breadth of news and information today. Much of what we hear, and see, makes us realise that the world can be a violent deadly place. Our First Testament reading of the Philistines and the Israelites was quite graphic and disturbing in the violence exacted by both sides.
For me this first reading was the wide base of the arrowhead.
As the arrowhead takes shape it starts to narrow in.
And I’m thinking of our second reading – Paul’s letter to the early church.
There is a reason why we are called to be a church – it’s not primarily about the buildings, – but rather the corporate group of people coming together for Holy sustenance and going out to share the Holy sustenance.
So, from that big picture of goliath trampling and rampaging we have …
“Little” All Saints, with our pocket slingshots with which we aim not rocks (!)
but love — and what else…?
Perhaps we all a bit uncertain, we may well wonder how to do church today because we don’t look like the way we did in the heyday of mid-20th century – (1960’s, 1970’s …). What are we all about now?
Paul’s letter speaks into the vacuum of wondering … Paul says come on now – with all your excuse-making, the Grace of God is here now for you to receive and share – don’t shoot the messengers, take what you have and use it amongst the Goliaths of this world.
What does that look like?
PAUSE
And yet, what happens when the waves pick up and it gets scary or simply too hard. What do we do? Our response to fear can perpetuate fear. The anxiety of fear can paralyse us, our resistance to fear can also perpetuate it.
The invitation, the pointy bit of our readings this morning is the reminder that we are to …
Call on the living God – Jesus Christ in our midst
Peace! let the storms be stilled, have faith and come with me we have things to do… open wide your hearts. God us is with us in the here and now and to come, this is the solid holy ground from which find ourselves able to move forward.
Take a moment now to consider the calming of any chaos you may be holding within you, speak the words in your mind Peace, let my storms be stilled in Jesus. Pray that prayer this week and then consider how you / how we might share that peace in some small david and goliath way of love not violence.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.