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Deborah Rutter's sermon for July 28, 2024 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Miller's Tavern, VA
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Deborah Rutter's sermon for July 28, 2024 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Miller's Tavern, VA
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Deborah Rutter's sermon for July 28, 2024 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Miller's Tavern, VA
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The speaker shares two personal experiences of feeling terrified, one involving their dog during a thunderstorm and the other being attacked by yellow jackets. They then relate these experiences to the disciples' fear when they witnessed Jesus performing miracles. They discuss the significance of Jesus feeding the 5,000 and walking on water, emphasizing Jesus' divine nature and ability to provide abundance. They also highlight the importance of recognizing our own insignificance and offering what we have to God, who can multiply and bless it. The speaker concludes by expressing awe and a sense of unworthiness when thinking about seeing God face to face, but also finding comfort in the love and presence of God in our lives. They emphasize the power of the Holy Spirit working through us to make a difference in the world. And I left here last Sunday, went back to the huddle, and we spent another night, my daughter and her husband, and my dog, who's in the office right now. And in the morning, I woke up, I guess there was six, and he kind of jumped off the bed, and I didn't pay much attention to it. And the next thing I knew, it was 7 30, and there was a thunderstorm. I don't know if you all had a storm on the morning as well. But it was quite a powerful storm. And I went downstairs, and Kurt was there, and I said, is the dog down here? He says, oh, he went out about an hour ago. And my dog hates thunderstorms. He turns into a shaking leaf. His tail goes under between his legs, and he just shakes like crazy. So I went out, called him, wouldn't come back, didn't come back. He wasn't under the house, so I didn't see. So I got in the car and drove around the neighborhood and up and down the road towards the yacht club, nothing. Went back to the house, went in the house, and Kurt was kind of upset. But he just really didn't understand. The sun doesn't need to bounce out on a number one, an hour's a long time, or two in a thunderstorm. So I was beginning to lose heart, and I couldn't go out again. And the storm began to subside a little bit. So I went outside and lowered the boat into the club where it comes this little, this red, little, wet, little piece of dog. And he was happy. He called, but he was still shaking. I mean, the storm terrified him. I told him to stay terrified. Because he knows when they're coming, when I don't. And I thought, you know, this is my experience that I can share with you this week about being terrified. And it just got better. The week got even better. On Wednesday, I was going down to see George. And we have a carport. And we have bears in front of us. And this really is such a story about bears, other than I wanted to clean up the mess that he made in the carport before I got in the car to drive down to the spring. And so I started to pick up a few things, and I moved a little box. And out of this box came a swarm of the other guys. And they started, just like in the cartoon, and they started to swarm at me and attack me. I had this loose blouse on, and they were terrified. Yes, it was terrifying. I was terrified. I don't think I've been terrified like that in years. I don't think I've had scary experiences that were a little disturbing. But this was, I was scared to death. Because I had been bit or stung by a baby or a hornet or anything like that, because I was sick. And I didn't know what was happening. I know my son reacts quite strongly to those. I kind of brushed them away, which you're not supposed to do either. You're not supposed to swat them, because it just got madder and madder, and they released phenomes or hormones or whatever those smelly things are. And they told the other little yellow jackets, this is, you know, we need to attack. So I took this off, took my shirt off, shook it, and, you know, maybe five or six or seven of them came out, and I kept up with life. And I was trying to call my friend, and I realized my phone was out in the carport. And I finally got through with that. Tried to call her. She didn't answer. So I was just going to drive myself to the ER, because I had no idea what was going to happen. So that's what I did. Everything worked out OK. I have a few well done. I obviously am not highly allergic. But I thought, wow, this is being terrified. The disciples were terrified when they saw Jesus walking on the water. And one of the reasons they're terrified is because they've just experienced this miracle of feeding the 5,000. Last week, we read this story around it in Mark. And these two little stories are told in Mark as well. And there's not a lot of difference in all the stories, in all the Gospels, that include these two stories, the feeding of the 5,000 and the walking on the water. But in John, it's a little bit different from the other three. The other three pretty much follow Mark as he went and read Mark. They all have this miracle of feeding the 5,000. There are five loaves of deep fish. And everybody's satisfied in walking on the water. They see Jesus. He says, don't be afraid. It is God. So there's several separate stories. But in John, there's a unique kind of twist to it. John is really concerned with us realizing who Jesus is. His divine nature is important for John. He's the book of signs. Everything points to Jesus being connected to the Messiah, the one who's to come. This book and this particular story, the whole detail points to that in a special way. One is he knows what he's going to do. Where are we going to get fish from? And he says, boy, how many weeks later are we going to pay for this? And then, Andrew says, well, here's a little boy who has five loaves and two fish. And Jesus says, tell everybody to come. And miraculously, the food was just coming and coming and coming. And I don't know if today's not the gospel where it says everybody was fed. They were satisfied. They had all they wanted. It was just overflowing with abundance. The abundant Christ, the Messiah who will feed all our needs is what John is pointing to. And he also says it's the time of Passover. So this kind of takes things in with the Last Supper, with the communion that we'll share today, the idea that God is the one who feeds not only our bodies but our souls. And I think it's also good to look at the fact that there was this boy, an insignificant person, a child, who provided the bread and the fish for the meal. And Jesus was able to take what the insignificant person was able to bring to the table and feed everyone and have this abundance left over. And it's a reminder that God uses each one of us as insignificant in the whole picture of spreading the gospel and feeding the world and taking care of the world. He is as huge as that is. We feel insignificant. Jesus is telling us and John is emphasizing that that's exactly what God uses. We hear it over and over again. It's in our weakness. It's in our insignificance. It's in our smallness that God is able to make a huge difference in the world. This is the miraculous thing that it takes all of us, our insignificance present in the world. As we work together, as Andrew was able to point out, this is where we have the bread. And we're just able to give the bread. As we are willing to offer what we have, we can give to God. And God brings the abundance. We don't do this. It's not up to each one of us except to offer what we have. And what each one of us has is enough to change the world. But when we give it to God, it multiplies. And it multiplies. And it multiplies. There's one of my favorite proverbs kind of fed into the feelings of being terrified. It says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When we realize how powerful, how wonderful, how loving this God is that we are introduced to through the person of Jesus Christ, when we realize who we're dealing with, it's kind of overwhelming and terrifying to realize that God indeed is the one who makes a difference in what we have and blesses what we give and distributes it to the world. It's not what we choose to do. We need one another. And we need God to make that difference. I have a vision of the end times of reading all sections of scripture and other things and particularly doing a number of Bibles in my life experience. And the words from the prophet in there were, it said, the latter day I shall stand upon the earth. And in that moment, I shall see God. And I shall see him not as a stranger. And I think about that because I visualize that in my mind every time I hear those words. And I think, you know, I am going to see God at some point. And when I do, it's going to be like, oh, my God. And I'm going to fall flat on my face because I'm going to know that God knows absolutely everything about me. And everything I thought I did that was really wonderful, he can say himself. And everything I didn't know was good, I'm going to say, oh, really? And I'm going to realize, I'm going to see myself in God's eyes, and I'm going to feel like I deserve to be squashed. And I'm not saying I can't do this. This is, it really is real to me, thinking about seeing God face to face. But the good news is, in this very moment, this God that Jesus Christ has introduced to me through the scriptures, through other people, through the preaching of others who have interpreted the gospel, is that loving God, who does just the things we read about in the scripture today. Do not be afraid. No, you're going to see God, but do not be afraid. Transcend in the mind. God is with us. It is God which we hold on to. We can do the good we do because it is the power of the Holy Spirit, through the person of Jesus Christ, working in you and in me to make a difference in the world. We don't always know when we're doing the right thing. We don't always know when we're doing the wrong thing. You know, and that's a missed situation. It's terrifying to not know. But we trust and hope in a God who loves us, who came and looked for us, that chose each one of us to follow him and to become part of that whole which is the body of Christ. I am not the body of Christ. You are not the body of Christ. But together, we are the body of Christ. Wow. That's wonderful. Amen. Amen.
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