Yesterday, I preached at First Presbyterian Church in Dunedin. Robin and I enjoyed visiting with many good friends there. I am grateful for their encouragement and support of our new faith community, Transfiguration.
I preached on the lectionary texts for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B). While I was studying these texts and prayerfully considering them, I was struck by the common theme of living faithfully in the midst of danger. Whether it was the story of David and Goliath, the Apostle Paul enduring persecution or the disciples in the storm in a near panic, the theme that caught my attention was living with danger. I preached on faith, confidence and courage as a follower of Jesus.
The verse that really caught my attention was the verse in the gospel lesson in which we hear Jesus asking the disciples to examine their behavior, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" I have been a follower of Jesus for a long time and I heard those words addressed to me, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" In ministry and in life in general it is easy to become anxious and afraid. I heard those questions of Jesus addressed directly to me.
During the sermon, I reflected on faith, confidence and courage. I quoted from one of my all time favorite books, Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman. Thurman recalls a childhood moment when he picked up the anxiety and fear that people were feeling about the threat of Halley's Comet. People were worried the comet would crash to the earth. He writes about his mother's faith and her comforting words.
Young Howard said, "What will happen to us if that comet falls out of the sky?" His mother said, "Nothing will happen to us, Howard; God will take care of us." Then Thurman reflects on that moment with his mother. He wrote, "O Simple hearted mother of mine, in one glorious moment you put your heart on the ultimate affirmation of the human spirit! Many things have I seen since that night. Time without number I have learned that life is hard, as hard as crucible steel; but as the years have unfolded, the majestic power of my mother's glowing words has come back again and again, beating out its rhythmic chant in my own spirit. Here are the faith and awareness that overcome fear and transform it into the power to strive, to achieve and not to yield." (Page 57)
