“I just want Jesus to rescue me.” Have you ever thought this? Have you ever felt so discouraged by life challenges, that the prospect of working on one problem at a time seems like too much to bear. After all problems keep coming up one after another.
This past week at our church Board meeting I was reminded of some of the problems we face as a congregation. You know the drill: building maintenance costs, people who have left the church a few years ago and how hard it is to operate with less people than before. We also talked about a church steeple repair estimate. If Jesus would just rescue us, we would not need to worry about the inevitable building repair issues.
Hymn 645 describes this truth: “Built on the Rock the church shall stand, Even when Steeples are falling. Crumbled have spires in every land : Bells still are chiming and calling. Calling the young and old to rest, But above all the souls distressed, Longing for rest everlasting.” How we long for this rest everlasting that Jesus has for those of us who are weary.
In the meantime, we wait. We wait with the God’s Word strengthening us. Like the refrain we heard from the Introit: “On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.”
We do not wait as the rest of the world does with fear and trembling. We wait in hope because God’s Word is full of hope. There are two images of hope in our scripture readings this morning, the Rainbow, and Jesus walking out on the water.
As we heard in Genesis chapter 9 the Rainbow is a sign of the promise of the unbreakable covenant between God and all flesh that lives on the earth. This past Spring and this Summer there have been two or maybe three instances where the rainbow present in the sky in the evening after a period of rain has been remarkably vivid and clear.
It is almost unbelievable looking at how big and colorful in the sky a rainbow can be. Yes we can understand the science behind the light spectrum of why rainbows look the way they do. But the science view of rainbows as common phenomenon does not change the fact that the Lord has given the church an understanding of the meaning of the rainbow.
There is no mistaking a rainbow for something else. Nobody would disagree in what they are seeing. This clear natural phenomenon is what God has used to remind us of the hope that God is faithful to us always and will not again destroy the world by a flood. The rainbow is God’s promise to the whole world and just as much God’s promise to you. The rainbow reminds us that God has bound Himself to us with the promise of protection.
Sometimes we as Missouri Synod Lutherans mistakenly believe that we cannot get very far witnessing the gospel to people who are on the margins of society. The rainbow helps us to see that the promise of God’s love applies to everyone.
Everyone needs to know Jesus died on the cross for them- even those who would tell us that they would never come into a church because they believe the Bible and the church defines them as sinners. The rainbow can remind us that Jesus has come not just for Israel or to the Jews, but to all people. Jesus came not to save the righteous, but sinners.
The second sign of hope in our reading this morning is found in our gospel lesson:
It was the fourth watch of the night when Jesus saw that they were struggling. It was dark and they were out at the sea. Jesus most likely saw them working hard against the wind with his divine omniscience, his divine knowledge. Jesus would not normally show off his ability to walk on water, but in order to help others Jesus did so.
Jesus was able to see that they were working hard at getting back to the shore. He saw their struggle and came out among them. The disciples were afraid of him because they did not understand who he was, they thought he was a ghost. A ghost would be terrifying to see, especially in the vulnerable position out at sea.
In response to their fears Jesus speaks: “Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid.” Jesus told the disciples he is in control. Because Jesus is in control of this world, we do not need to fear no matter what becomes of the world we live in.
If we are trusting in anything else in our life to make things ok for us we should be very much afraid. If we trust in a career or a pension, or our health, or our popularity- these all can disappear in a moment.
But when we trust in Jesus we recognize that no matter what went on yesterday and no matter what may happen tomorrow, Jesus assures us: ‘Wherever you are I am, my care follows with you.’ “When it is I, you have nothing to fear”
Jesus is here for you, and that is why the church is here for you. We may need to work to organize the church and keep the building in shape, but ultimately what is important is that we see Jesus is here for us, “Do not be afraid, it is I.”
When Jesus said ‘it is I’ in the gospel of Mark we are reminded of the promises from the Old Testament about God as the great I am. ‘The Great I am’ has designed that we should all have a church to belong to. The church is here for this reason, to bring us to Jesus.
Fellowship, community, soon a Carillon chime on the hour are all good things we can find here at church, but it is all about Jesus. Without Jesus we have nothing here at church.
Jesus is with us in our everyday lives. Many churches in our nation see the work of the Holy Spirit as playing a role in taking us outside of our normal everyday life activities and moving us toward a calling God gives to us. But we see that the Holy Spirit works right within our normal everyday life.
We in the Lutheran church understand that the work of the Holy Spirit is to come into our very daily life relationships and vocations. It is not so much about leaving behind who we are, but instead letting the Holy Spirit transform us in who we are and how we live in the context of our very daily life, were Jesus tells us, “Don’t be afraid, it is I”
In the everyday challenges of life He, the Holy Ghost is with us. The Holy Spirit does not just bring us to believe or bring us to have faith, but also to give life to our faith. Just like the rainbow is a sign that God preserves our lives and his promise remains, so we should also see in the rainbow a sign that our faith will continue to grow to make us more like Jesus as we grow in love, joy, peace, patience kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Ideally we need to be practicing love toward one another to best grow in these areas.
We may wish Jesus would rescue us in our congregation. But the truth is, Jesus already has. He has already gifted us with the bond of unity as we have all been baptized into one Spirit. Jesus gives us the faith we need to get through finding our next music director, paying off our mortgage and finding a way to care for one another after all of the changes to our congregation and all of the changes in our world.
The Holy Spirit nurtures our faith so that we are rescued by God’s power day in and day out. We can face one problem at a time in our lives because with each challenge our faith is refined and we are made more and more like Christ. No matter how old we are, we are always growing through the power of the Holy Spirit.
God’s Word gives us hope. Our role here at Christ Lutheran is to look past everyday struggles and disappointments and see how the love of Jesus changes everything.