HYMN FOR PENTECOST 11 The Storm is Strong, We Face the Winds

Jesus Walks on Water. Ivan Aivazovsky Text: Sylvia Dunstan (1955-1993). Tune: Martin Luther (1483-1546) (For reason of copyright I cannot print the text. It can be found in the Chalice Hymnal, but you can also see it on hymnary.org. https://hymnary.org/text/the_storm_is_strong_we_face_the_wind REFLECTION In this account of Jesus stilling the storm, we have echoes of the entire Scripture. The past few years, to my joy, scholars have been seeing the entire Bible as one complete narrative that begins in Genesis 1 and ends in Revelation. This has enriched and made sense out of the Bible and the meaning of Jesus that has thrilled me who long ago had wearied of the historical critical method of Scriptural interpretation that took the accounts apart to find the parts of the narrative, but also erased the mega-narrative. Jonathon Pageau, a Greek Orthodox thinker and artist, looks for patterns in Scripture and creation which we have lost track of today, but which unifies the Biblical narrative in powerful ways. Jesus rescuing Peter. Armenian icon He remarks that Jesus has just come down from the mountain where he went to pray. The mountain is the peak, really temple, which from Eden to Revelation, is the place where heaven and earth meet. From it the priest, prophet and king can see all and practice their vocations. Christ has ordered the disciples to take the boat across the lake during the night. During which they encounter a raging storm. They are terrified. Jesus comes down and walks on the water toward them. They see him as a ghost, really something from heaven, until he says that he is I AM who has always been there. Peter asks to be commanded to walk on the water, which Christ does. Of course, he loses faith and begins to sink beneath the waves. He then cries out to Christ for help, who does save him, while upbraiding him for his lack of faith. When he enters the boat, an image of the ark, or the church, the storm subsides. This scares the disciples even more as they realize who Christ is. So this is more than an account of a miracle of Christ. It is a parable of God’s creative work among us to bring order to the chaos of the waters. He rules the wind and waves. Without belief in him, our world falls apart. We feel ourselves drowning in the chaos of the worlds of doubt and unbelief. All we can do is look up through the storm and see our creator and redeemer appearing in the chaos and cry out for help. He is there to rescue us and save us. And like the disciples we will celebrate this salvation and rush to tell the whole world. It needs to hear of the one who ordered the world and keeps it for us. HYMN INFO Sylvia Dunstan was a Canadian pastor in the United Church of Canada who also served as a prison chaplain. She wrote a number of hymns that are still in use. She died after difficult struggle with cancer. This is among her less well known hymn, but it does deal with the miracle. The tune, arranged by Johan Sebastian Bach, is one of Martin Luther’s more famous tunes, Erhalt uns Herr, which was for one of his more famous texts, Lord, Keep us steadfast in your word. This hymn appears in three current hymnals The Chalice Hymnal, The Book of Praise, and Worship, 4th edition. LINK Bach’s version of Luther’s tune. https://youtu.be/LV0iKx2s5IY?si=BhSm6leQVHMhqgsy __________________________________________ As you plan for Bible study in your congreegation or in your own personal devotions this coming year, this collection of sonnets on the life of Jesus drawn from all of Scripture might be a resource for you. Scholars are coming more and more to show Jesus as the fulfillment of the OT prophecies and this book helps with that study. "With these 366 sonnets, remarkable in artistry and number, Gracia Grindal has made literary history. The scriptural and theological knowledge that supports these poems is vast, but it is the imagination infused with the holy in poem after poem that reveals the poet's grace and skill and the astonishing work of the Spirit." --Jill Baumgartner, Poetry Editor, Christian Century, and professor of English emerita, Wheaton College https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Harmony-Gospel-Sonnets-Days-ebook/dp/B08L9S4Z1T/ref=sr_1_3_nodl?dchild=1&keywords=Grindal&qid=16145