|
Foundry United Rev. |
|
|
“Swimming Lessons: Walking
on Water” Sunday, February 24,
2008 |
|
|
Matthew 14: 22-33
Rev. |
A couple of weeks ago I told an Episcopalian
priest friend I was thinking of skipping the sermon this morning. Mozart
should be enough, I said. My friend strongly advised against this. “By the
third Sunday of Lent,” he said, “there will be people who will have failed at
giving up whatever it was they tried to give up for Lent and it is important
they hear a word of grace.” I don’t know how many of us here actually keep a
Lenten discipline but, if you do and you were overly idealistic in your goals
and have needed to re-evaluate, it’s okay. It is possible to be overly demanding
on ourselves spiritually. The first time I tried to give up something for
Lent as a young person it was something I loved too much and I failed and I
felt guilty about it a long time. So this is what I want to say about the Scripture
lesson this morning – Jesus never asked or expected his disciples to walk on
water. It was Peter who wanted to do it, and Peter wanted to do it because he
was neurotic. Jesus was not surprised when Peter failed. And Jesus
was quick to save him. Matthew tells us the story of Jesus walking on
water because he wants us to know that Jesus could do it so that we could
understand the significance of Jesus’ sacrifice. Jesus could walk on water,
but chose to go the way of the cross anyway. If we had enough faith, Matthew suggests, we could walk on water, too. But Jesus
doesn’t really expect or ask us to walk on water, and he is willing to save
us when we begin to sink…as we probably will. We don’t need to walk on water. It is enough for
us to learn how to swim. Actually it is enough to call out to Jesus when we are
sinking in the storms of life. I say this today because I am aware that life can
be hard, and we have such unreasonable expectations of ourselves. We are so
hard on ourselves. We have Peter’s neurosis. We think we ought to be able to
walk on water. Mozart had Peter’s neurosis. Already at six years
old he was a star, touring Europe playing as a prodigy – Many of his pieces are religious. Some are
earthy. A couple are mildly ribald. The theologian Karl Barth, who listened to Mozart
recordings every morning, said the reason Mozart’s music was so special is
because it included all of life: “heaven and earth, nature and [humanity],
comedy and tragedy…the Virgin Mary and the demons.” Mozart simply contains
and includes all this within his music in perfect harmony, Barth said.
This harmony is not a matter of “balance” or “indifference” – it is “a
glorious upsetting of the balance, a turning in which the light rises
and the shadows fall…in which the Yes rings louder than the ever-present No.”
(p. 55).[ii] Mozart walked on water…until he turned 30 years
old. Then things changed. He began to lose his popularity and his audience. His
had difficulty composing new music. He became depressed. His income dried up.
Historians have copies of letters he wrote – many of them – to former
admirers begging for loans. He died at 35 years old. Mozart was sinking. But in the last year of his
life he began to compose again. He wrote his two greatest masterpieces – The Magic Flute and the Requiem the choir is singing today. His
best work finally came not when he was famous and rich and walking on water
but when he was sick and depressed and impoverished and calling out for Jesus
to save him. Mozart didn’t actually complete the Requiem. It was completed by a friend
who loved him after Mozart’s death. His most precious music comes to us as a result
of love as much as genius. Jesus doesn’t really expect us to walk on water.
He does want us to let him save us. Life is hard.
Tests come back positive. Organizations downsize. Candidates lose. Partners
fall out of love with us. Friends disappoint us. We wear out. Life is hard. We think we ought to be able to walk on water,
and maybe we can for a while – a step or two. But Jesus doesn’t really expect
us to walk on water. He expects us to call on him when we are sinking, to let
him reach out his hand and save us. He expects us to let him love us. He just
wants us to let him love us. www.foundryumc.org |
|
|
|
|
|
|
