Sermon preached by the Reverend John E. Kitagawa at the Celebration of the 7:45 am Holy Eucharist on Sunday, 21 June 2009 (The Third Sunday after Pentecost) at St. Philip’s In The Hills Parish, Tucson, Arizona

 

STORMY SEAS AND FAITH

I Samuel 17: 32–49; II Corinthians 6: 1-13; Mark 4: 35-41

 

   Today’s Gospel immediately brings to mind to personal experiences.  The first was in 1962 when my family was moving back to the United States from Europe.  We encountered a raging North Atlantic storm.  For several days, the bow of the ship rose and fell with the waves, and at the same time rolled from left to right and back.  Besides the seasickness, I remember being very frightened.  I remember wondering whether the ship would hold together, and whether we would be safe.  Believe me, if I had learned Jesus was on board, I would have behaved exactly like the disciples, and wakened him, asking him to calm the seas and my nerves.

 

   The second experience was quite different.  In 1996, Kathy and I made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with members of the Cathedral of the Incarnation, Baltimore, MD.  The pilgrimage first took us north to Galilee.  On the second day, we boarded a “Jesus boat” and set out onto the Sea of Galilee.  At a certain point, we asked the captain to cut the engine, so we could have some silence for prayer, hymn singing and reflection of Scripture.  Someone read this morning’s Gospel passage (see also Matthew 8: 23-27; Luke 8: 22-25), and the one about the disciples on a stormy sea without Jesus, then see Jesus walking on the water (Mark 6: 45-52; Matthew 16: 22-33; John 6: 15-21).  This turned out to be one of the spiritually important moments of the pilgrimage.  There would be others, but this was particularly special.  For whatever reason, I felt Jesus’ presence in a most powerful way; and, I felt a closeness with Jesus I had previously not experienced. 

 

   In today’s story, I think it is safe to say Jesus was disappointed in his friends’ lack of faith.  In fact, he is pretty direct in questioning the depth of the disciples’ faith.  Faith is often talked about a gift from God.  But faith is not given to us fully formed.  In fact, faith must be continuously formed.  We have to pay attention to developing our faith—it does not happen by accident.  Faith must constantly be nourished.  A little doubt, skepticism and questioning, if pursued, can be keys to growing in faith. 

 

   In my experience, faith is formed in worship—whether individual prayer or in corporate worship.  Faith is formed by participating in Christ’s beloved community.  Faith is formed by attending classes, and small group experiences.  And, faith is formed in carrying out God’s work in the world, especially, I believe in service to others.  This is, in fact, one the basic elements of the SPY[1] Mission Trip to Las Vegas[2].  It will be a time for prayer and reflection, and hard work on a number of projects.  Let us pray that the pilgrims and their leaders will have experiences that help form the kind of resilient faith that will help them weather whatever stormy seas they may encounter in their lives; and, to have hope and joy in the knowledge of Christ’s presence in their lives. 

 

 

AMEN.

 

 


[1] St. Philip’s Youth.

[2] The group will be divided into two work crews and combined with youth from other parts of the country.  Each crew will be given four of the following five assignments:  1) helping with intake and filling food boxes at a food bank; 2) assisting with a science program at an inner city elementary school; 3) performing small repairs and cleanup at a homeless shelter; 4) working with the elderly at an adult care facility; and 5) helping create a mural for a church in an inner city neighborhood.  In the evenings they will participate in social events that will introduce them to members of church communities and the homeless community in Las Vegas.