And Jesus was a sailor
when he walked upon the water
and he spent a long time watching
from his lonely wooden tower
and when he knew for certain
only drowning men could see him
he said All men will be sailors then
until the sea shall free them
but he himself was broken
long before the sky would open
forsaken, almost human
he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
I have appreciated some of Leonard Cohen's poetry–not so much his singing, I have to confess. And I'll also confess that I don't entirely know what Cohen was getting at in this verse. The snippet I just recited was from Suzanne. There actually was a Suzanne in Montreal in the early 60's that was the inspiration for this poem and then the song. Apparently Cohen was into Jesus in some fashion back then; I think he's into Buddhism these days. And I suspect that Cohen's inspiration for the verse in Suzanne relates to Jesus walking on the water in Matthew's Gospel, the passage that we just heard.
This passage from Matthew's Gospel is about many things, but one of the important messages is that of fear. Peter, emboldened by Jesus, walked out on the water. We don't really know what happened that morning long ago, but something happened for both Jesus and Peter. Peter, overwhelmed by inspiration and courage, stepped out into something he'd never done before. But then his rational mind said to him, "you shouldn't be doing this. This is impossible." Fear overcame him and he sank like a stone into the water.
Fear is like that isn't it? We commonly think that the opposite to love is hate, but in fact, it is fear. John, in his letter to the early church, wrote that perfect love casts out fear. And it does! But when fear invades our mind, love can be pushed aside; the fear comes in like an icy tentacle and grips our autonomic system and produces the fight or flight syndrome that we all have some familiarity with. Fear can cause us to do many irrational things; it can deny our potential and make it seem that everything is impossible.
That was one of the side effects for me last fall when I was on leave–fear and anxiety! I was afraid to do almost anything. When I went south to the desert, that was a challenge to me that fear would not have control over my life. The health care professionals that I was seeing at the time were concerned that I was going by myself, but I had some life-lines by way of the telephone that were necessary to keep me grounded and in touch. Although, with the advent of cell phones–which I don't have–pay phones are harder and harder to find. That trip, where I took some calculated risks and tried to confront my fear, was a very important part of my recovery.
There are a lot of verses in the Bible about not letting fear overwhelm us. The shepherds were told to not be afraid in the Christmas story. "Fear not, for I am with you," said God through Isaiah. David was called to go forth against Goliath. Deborah was called to be a judge and face hostility in those around her. Sarah and Hannah overcome their fear of never having a child.
The trick in our modern psychology-driven world is to not feel guilty when fear grips us. For people of faith, the temptation can be to feel guilty because, we say to ourselves, "If I had enough faith, I would not be afraid." Part of our struggle is that we label our emotions as negative or positive; fear? Bad. Anxiety? Bad. Fear is a natural part of what it means to be human. Fear keeps us from doing silly things that put us or others in jeopardy. One of the tricks is to be able to observe our fear, acknowledge its presence, even befriend it, understand it, and grow and learn from it.
That's what faith gives us; not an assurance that we will never be afraid, but rather an assurance that fear is not the last word. Death is not the last word. God's love is the last word. God's desire for love and life in the world–in our lives and in every life–is the last word. Instead of fear trying to convince us that everything is impossible, God tells us again and again through the prophets and through Jesus that with God nothing is impossible. We can step out onto the water and skip and dance. We can try something new that has otherwise paralyzed us in the past. We can speak words of justice in the face of adversity. We can speak truth to power. We can face health challenges. We can face our grief. We can because Jesus, who walked the way of life, overcame fear and showed us all that life always finds a way. We can because God is the God of love!
Those seeking peace in every part of the world in every age, those in Syria or Libya or Palestine or Israel or Burma or Central America or Somalia or Africa or here in Nelson in Canada, may be full of fear but are hopeful for a new world. And when we are afraid together, there is solidarity; there is comfort. There is a shared pain and therefore a shared power to stand together, to love, to be free!
Alan Boesak, a foe to Apartheid in South Africa, spoke at the 22nd World Alliance of Reformed Churches in 1989 in South Korea. I came across this piece as I've been sorting through some papers and stuff. Boesak has had to face some of his own fears and demons in recent years, but that does not rob these words of their power. I leave these words with you; it is called "We Are Called."
We are called not to be fearful, we are called to love;
we are not called to be perfect, we are called to be faithful;
we are not called to be fearless, we are called to be obedient;
we are not called to be all knowing, we are called to believe;
we are not called to claim, we are called to give;
we are not called to be victorious, we are called to be coura-geous;
we are not called to lord it over others, we are called to serve others.
For it is in serving that we shall reign;
it is through courage that we shall find victory;
it is giving all that we shall gain all;
it is believing that we shall find certainty;
it is in obedience that we shall overcome;
it is in loving that we shall dispel fear
it is faithfulness that we shall find perfection;
it is in service to Christ and his justice, that we shall find freedom,
now and forever, for ourselves and for the world.
Thank you. God bless you.
Amen.
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