"Walking On Water" Sermon by Pastor David Layman,

August 7, 2005

Mark 6:45-52

As Lamar Williamson notes, "'Walking on water' has entered common usage as a metaphor for something utterly incredible. People may be heard to say 'He's a nice guy, but he doesn't walk on water.'" (Interpretation,

Mark, John Knox Press, 1983, p. 129) But with a new invention, walking on water may no longer seem to be so miraculous. Benjamin Watson of Benton, Washington, the man who gave us the swimming pool vacuum cleaner, has come up with another invention: aqua peds for the feet. Providing one isn't over 376 pounds, aqua peds enable one to walk on water. (Corcoran, Paul. PRESBYTERIAN OUTLOOK, 6/13/88, p. 22) I think that all Presbyterian ministers ought to be equipped with a pair of aquapeds. Such equipment would be more beneficial to aid church growth than many courses offered in seminary. As Paul Corcoran relates, "Imagine, for instance, the opportunity [aqua peds] gives the pastor to call on those hard to reach people, such as families who like to spend their weekends on their boats. When they see [their pastor] approach from the offshore side, I guarantee it will send them fleeing to the nearest church. Think of the impact on the Sunday morning golfers when they see the padre standing in the middle of the wafer hazard by the 12th green! [He calls out] "There's still time to get to the 2nd service!" And they're halfway to the church before he can say "double bogey."

The 6th chapter of Mark relates that Herod has executed John the Baptist, and Jesus, seeing how disconcerted his disciples were by this, says "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." (Mark 6:31) The problem was that Jesus and his disciples were seen departing for this deserted place. They didn't have paparazzi back then, but thousands of people were buzzing about John the Baptist's execution, as well as Jesus' amazing ministry. And people beat it on foot to the spot where Jesus and his disciples, seeking a quiet retreat, had gone. Jesus had compassion on the crowds--an amazing statement, for the common response would be to become frustrated, and say "Can't a man find a moment's peace anywhere?" Jesus wound up feeding the 5,000. That made the multitude want to make Jesus king. But Jesus knew his kingship was of a far different nature than the general public desired. Jesus made the disciples get in a boat and head back, while he dismissed the crowd. Then Jesus went up on the mountain to pray. Later, Jesus from the shore could see the disciples "straining at the oars", because the wind was against them. Have you been out on a sailboat and had to fight a strong wind? Figuratively speaking, haven't we experienced difficult times when "the wind" was against us? When the waves have become too strong to row against? When we feel exhausted, discouraged, afraid?

Robert Wuthnow tells of the 117th annual Sunday School Union parade in Brooklyn. 90,000 SS children participated in this parade, which was several hours long, marching before a reviewing stand with Brooklyn's mayor, the governor of New York, and a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. All public schools were closed so their children could participate in a Sunday School parade! When did this take place? 1946. Can you imagine the hue and cry that would arise today if public school was called for a Sunday School event? Today, some miss church to participate in school activities and athletic events held on Sunday mornings. That's how the times have changed. And that's one illustration of how Chdstian believers find the wind is against them in the 21st century. (THE RESTRUCTURING OF AMERICAN RELIGION, Princeton University Press, 1988, p. 3)

On a personal level, we may find ourselves with the wind against us. The aging process rarely makes a person stronger. Some of us may find the winds of economic change moving against us. Life isn't always like a commercial where everyone is happy and having a blast. Sometimes we feel like we're taking a blast from the winds and waves of hardship and disappointment.

While the disciples were discouraged, straining against the wind, unknown to them, as Mark 6:48 reveals, Jesus saw them in their distress. We as well are often slow to acknowledge that God sees us in our distress. We may think he's too busy with Billy Graham, Rick Warren and the Pope to concern himself with us. E'xodus 3:7 reminds us that when the Israelites suffered slavery in Egypt, God says "I have observed the misery of my people I have heard their cry...Indeed, I know their sufferings..." Jesus saw the disciples in their distress

I."Theophanies" in the OT were appearances of God's presence. God appeared before Moses in the form of a burning bush. He appeared to the people in the wilderness in the form of a pillar of cloud by day, and fire by night. In Exodus 33, the glory of God passed by Moses. I believe this is what Mark 6:48 refers to when Jesus, walking on water, was about to pass by the disciples in the boat. He wanted to give them an appearance of God's power to encourage them. But when the disciples saw Jesus walking on water, they weren't encouraged. They didn't even recognize him! They thought he was a ghost, and cried out in fear.

Jesus realized the disciples were too weak in faith for a passing by vision of God's greatness to be enough for them. So he got into the boat with them, saying "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid." The Greek is more emphatic than our English translation. Literally, Jesus was saying "I am", which is what God said to Moses when Moses asked what God's name was. God said "I am." Jesus was saying to his disciples "Don't be afraid when the wind seems to be against you. I am God, the Word become flesh, dwelling among you." But Mark tells us, the disciples were more frightened than enlightened. They didn't understand the multiplication of the loaves and fish, they didn't understand that Jesus was God in human flesh. They didn't recognize Jesus for who he really was.

Halford Luccock says our world faces a choice between rational despair or irrational hope. Millions look realistically at the mess the world is in, the challenges before them, and develop a rational despair:

despair based upon human reason. Luccock calls the Christian faith "irrational hope", because our hope comes from sources other than human reason. The God of the Bible is not the result of human reason. Over 400 years ago, Martin Luther noted "We say 'In the midst of life we die.' God answers 'Nay, in the midst of death we live.'" (Samuel Terrien, THE ELUSIVE PRESENCE, San Francisco, Harper & Row, 1978, p. 95) Life beyond the grave is not a reasonable expectation. Neither is feeding 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish, or walking on water. Human reason, without God, leads multitudes to ultimate despair.

There are many things in the Bible I do not understand. Beyond these mysteries lies a greater mystery: that in spite of our human failures and sin, we have an assurance that we are loved and forgiven, the mystery that beyond the inevitable deterioration of our flesh and eventual death, an assurance that God loves undeserving persons such as us, and will bring us life beyond the grave. Human reason can never take us as far as we need to go.

But Jesus invites us to participate in the mystery by inviting us to this table. The night Jesus was betrayed he took bread, blessed and broke it, and said "This is my body, for you. This cup is my blood, poured out for the forgiveness of sin. Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show forth my death until I come."

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