And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey Him? In the name of God our Creator, our Redeemer and our Sustainer. Amen.
Behold I bring you tidings of great joy! Believe it or not summer has arrived. Despite the monsoons of May and the crummy weather that awaits us outside those doors, I'm here to tell you this morning that summer is here. For me summer brings with it a guilty pleasure, a guilty pleasure that not even that rain can stop. At this time of the year the fine folks of that little village known as Hollywood, CA, produce their finest seasonal crop, the summer blockbuster! And among all of the blockbusters my guiltiest pleasure is the super hero movie. Spiderman, Batman, the Incredible Hulk and now in three days Superman Returns. As ashamed as I am to admit it to you, I love super hero movies.
There are two things that I love about these movies, super powers and secret identities. Behind the mild-mannered Clark Kent, the billionaire Bruce Wayne or Peter Parker, lie super powers just waiting to spring into life and save the city. But each hero must hide their identity from their loved ones in order to protect them from the likes of Lex Luthor, the Joker and the Green Goblin. That tension between super powers on one-hand and secret identities on the other creates a drama and it's that drama that captivates me every summer. Super powers and secret identities.
When you hear the story of David and Goliath you understand a little bit why summer blockbusters came to my mind. David is a super hero; he has a secret identity. He was anointed to be the next King of Israel, under the cover of darkness, before the old king has even died. David is a usurper and an enemy of the state. But David is God's usurper and chosen to lead the people and so in order to protect himself and God's plan, he must keep his identity secret. As for his super powers, we hear of them today, it's his faith. David doesn't need armor, he doesn't need a sword, and he doesn't need a shield. His super power is his faith in God who has saved him from the lion and the bear. His faith delivers the armies of Israel from the giants. It's a story that has all that drama I love so much, courtly intrigue, epic battles and the unlikely hero. Super powers and secret identities.
When you heard the story from the Gospel just a moment ago, did you hear echoes of that, super powers and secret identities? I did, but with a twist. There's something very similar and there's something also quite different. In the fourth chapter of Mark we meet Jesus on the Sea of Galilee with a flotilla of fishing boats. They are crossing over from one side of the sea to the other. But a treacherous storm whips up on the water and Jesus has fallen asleep in the back of the boat. The waves begin to swamp them, they are taking on water and things don't look to good for our heroes. The disciples begin working that rigging like mad and trying their best to bail the water out of the boat. Jesus, oh He's fast asleep in the back. So the disciples cry out in desperation, "Don't you care that we're dying?" Jesus stands up in the midst of it all and says to the storm, "Peace, be still." I'm not sure if He's talking to the disciples or He's talking to the sea? But the effect is the same. Everything goes dead calm. Then Jesus says these words, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" They seem like strange questions, don't they? They don't fit that super hero model. A super hero would say something like, "All in a day's work, gentlemen," and fly off into the sunset.
But Jesus doesn't do anything like that. Jesus asks them two very curious questions. "Why are you afraid?" This one seems a little self-explanatory to me. They believe they are about to die. The waves are swamping the boat; there is no land in sight and where is the miracle worker? He's asleep in the back of the boat. I'd be scared out of my wits too. The second question, it's just as strange. "Have you still no faith?" What can Jesus mean? If you have ever read the Gospel of Mark from start to finish, then you know that there are some remarkable themes running through it. And one of those themes is this question, "who is Jesus?" It's about His secret identity. From the beginning Jesus teaches people amazing things and performs miracles. Yet the people closest to Him, His family and His disciples, they don't know who He is. Unlike other super heroes, Jesus isn't trying to hide His secret identity from those He loves. But Jesus performs miracles right before their very eyes. And yet they either can't or won't believe who He is.
And it's not because His secret identity hasn't been revealed. As Jesus is casting out demons in the three chapters preceding this one, devils and demons know the true identity and shout it out publicly in the synagogue and the countryside. You, you're the Holy One of God. But in Mark it isn't until the very end of the Gospel as Jesus dies on the cross that human being finally understands the true identity when the centurion says those words, "Truly this man was God's Son." Despite all the things they'd seen the disciples can't or won't believe. That's why Jesus rebukes them. He wants the ones closest to Him to fully understand. "Why are you afraid?" "Have you still no faith?" Super powers, yes, but a not-so-secret identity.
I told when we began that this is summer, believe it or not, and with summer comes the season of Pentecost. It's the church season that we like to refer to as "ordinary time", but it's the season that God calls us to be at our most extra ordinary. Pentecost is the celebration of the coming of God's Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit reveals to us Jesus' true identity, so that we can reveal that identity to the world. As Christian's we are called to use that power to do justice and love mercy in a world that has little justice and hardly loves mercy.
The natural powers of the world despise justice, the natural powers of the world seek power for control and to take advantage of those they can take advantage of. The power that you and I are given at Pentecost is thus a super natural power, a power greater than the natural inclinations of human beings. That supernatural power that we use in our worlds, our world of work, our world of family, and our world of friends. It's a work that reveals the true identity of our God and our Lord Jesus Christ. And when we use this God given power, our secret identities are revealed. We are God's children and fellow heirs with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But it's up to us to put away our fears and have faith.
How will we use our super powers? Will we keep them a secret? Will we live behind the masks of secret identities in a world that needs loving, caring Christians, now more than ever? Or, will we recognize our super powers and our not so secret identities and use them to demonstrate to the world the power and identity of Jesus? Pentecost is the season for using our power and revealing our not so secret identities to the whole world. Amen. |
