Climate Change

Matthew 14:22-33
   I have been in a boat when the climate changed.  Storms blow up on small bodies of water rather quickly, and it can have devastating results.  It is frightening.  I often think about the dynamic among the disciples in this story of Peter walking (briefly) on the water.  They may have reacted to Peter by this time in Matthew's Gospel, knowing who Peter is - the impulsive, bold and often failing to deliver Peter.  But they did not get out of the boat.  I picture them cowering in the boat, criticizing Peter and wondering why Jesus is not saving them from the waves that were battering the boat.  It had happened before, as told in chapter 8 of this Gospel, and Jesus was asleep.  Peter learned something (though not enough) in that encounter and it made him bolder this time, in faith (though not enough).  Peter was fine when he directly addressed the chaos of the storm in getting out of the boat.  Peter failed by losing sight of the source of his faith as he faced it.  Then it seemed too powerful to overcome and he started to succumb to the wind and waves of chaos.
   The climate on our planet is changing.  We are quickly approaching the time when even the hardest profiteers and their ignorant minions will no longer be able to deny that the devastating results have caught up to us.  Regardless of how we react to it, we are in the same boat.  Fires burn out of control (due to extreme heat and drought), earthquakes (mostly in fracking zones) and flooding are abundant, and tornadoes and hurricanes are more frequent and much more devastating.  Folk await Jesus to awaken, and the bold ones await seeing Jesus walking to them, waiting to be delivered from a storm that we created ourselves.  Some lose sight of the source of their faith and others never see the need to counter the chaos with action.
   The climate in the nation has changed.  The molten hatred, once dormant under the surface until the election of a black man as President, has now actively bubbled to the surface and threatens to burn it all down.  The greed, lust for power and desire for status that have always been there among the elites who control the power and wealth have caused greater rifts in the social fabric and offer threatening and dark times ahead for the many as they fight the winds of doctrine and the waves of false teaching that the church contributes to the storm for its own gain.  We are in the same boat, and all afraid, and some are criticizing anyone who would be bold enough to suggest a way out in faith, while others cower in fear or remain calm in delusion and look for supernatural intervention amid the turmoil we all created.

The Gospel stories end well.  In both cases, the followers of Jesus were rebuked, like the wind and waves of the chaos themselves, but for having too little faith. 

In what is our faith?  Is it in the ideology that we can do whatever we want and never face consequences because we have a cosmic enabler who will constantly rescue us from the consequences of our addiction to wealth, power and status?  Is it in the hubris of belief that we can actively destroy the creation upon which we rely for our own greed and convenience, and that Jesus, our supernatural Rescuer and First Responder will come and snap a finger to make it all go back to calm? 
In what is our faith?  Is it in the truth that God gave us minds and hearts, souls and strength enough not to get into these messes and to work them out when we have gotten into them?  Is it in the truth that we have been given a better way - Jesus' Way of Agape Love and Grace - to guide us away from the storms and sustain the life we have here, as a part of the Creation and the humanity that God created and loves?
In what is your faith?  How much do you have?  What will you do with it?  Will you be of little faith and create the storms that others must suffer?  Will you be of little faith and cower in the boat in which we are all tossed about, or step out in faith?  Will you be of little faith and believe that God is not with us in it or does not care about us being in it?  Will you recognize Jesus when Jesus comes, or have the empire values that helped create the chaos rendering Jesus just a rumored wisp of myth in your eyes?  Do you see Jesus as Lord of all life or just an Enabler and Rescuer when you want Him to supernaturally intervene?

How will you face the storm in which we all lie about now?  Will you face it?  Will you act?
Make no mistake.  We are all in it, together.

Pastor Jamie