Mighty, powerful and holy

There’s a saying which goes, ‘Out of the gloom a voice said to me “Smile and be happy, things could be worse.” So I smiled and was happy, and behold, things did get worse.’… For a long time, I think the Church in this country has all too often been guilty of smiling through problems we have, pretending that they would go away, guilty perhaps of lacking real faith, of lacking confidence and doing very little to try and solve them. 

The theme of today’s readings though is very much about having a confident vision for the future, based on Jesus. The gospel reading we have just heard is the stilling of the storm (Luke 8:22-25). Jesus went out with his disciples in a boat, and he fell asleep – while he was sleeping a great storm blew up, and the disciples feared for their lives, while Jesus remained asleep. 

They were terrified but when they woke him he immediately calmed the storm – and then he reminded the disciples that they had no need to fear – he was with them and he was in control… And he questioned them about their faith… 

There’s another story about an atheist who was spending a quiet day fishing when suddenly his boat was attacked by the Loch Ness monster. In one easy flip, the monster tossed him and his boat high into the air. Then it opened its mouth to swallow both.

As the man flew up in the air, he cried out, “Oh God! Help me!”    At once, the ferocious attack scene froze in place, and as the atheist hung in mid-air, a booming voice came down from the clouds. “I thought you didn’t believe in me!”
“Come on, God, give me a break!” the man pleaded. “Two minutes ago, I didn't believe in the Loch Ness monster either!"

I wonder whether the disciples in the boat with Jesus in our gospel reading experienced that feeling of wondering whether to believe or not… A lot had happened to them already during the ministry of Jesus – they had witnessed miracles, they had witnessed the compassion of Jesus and listened to his teaching, they had followed him in the first place, but now they were faced with what seemed like a life and death situation… 

But Jesus came into that situation and brought calm and peace  - the disciples, he suggested, should be confident if they had real faith in him…  

And far from just smiling through problems, pretending that they’re not there, or worrying about them constantly, that is what we as a Church, and as individuals, must do as well.

The Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, is one that is notoriously difficult to understand, but the vision that we heard from the reading (ch.4) this morning is a vision of glory, a vision of power and praise. You just get the feeling as you go through it slowly that all of the wonderful Cathedrals in the world that are designed to give glory to God are not even touching the sort of glory described here. Even the beauty of creation fails to live up to this place of glory, this place where God is given glory and honour and praise. 

And this is the vision that we must continually look at as we go about our daily lives. All of us will face different experiences, different joys and sadness, and all of us will have different hopes, but we are reminded that whatever we are doing, we can be confident that ultimately God is in control. He has been in the past, he is now and he will always be. 

And so we glimpse the vision of our past – experiences, as I’ve said, both good and bad, but every one of them doing something to shape the person we are today. We may not understand all of what has happened in the past, we will probably have many questions, we may well have a few things we want to say to God about some of the experiences we’ve had (!!) but the past is what has brought us here today, and so we glimpse that vision with a prayer that we will learn and grow.

And for the Church we think of the past – not all good, not all giving credit to God certainly, but overall a story of growth, of courage, commitment, faith and hope, and of huge compassion. 

And then we glimpse the vision of here and now. And what a vision we are offered. The vision of the whole power of God on our side. Not sitting in a boat facing a massive storm alone, but knowing that whatever we face, God is there right with us…. 

So often life seems to be difficult for people, a struggle to get by from day to day, and it’s understandable when we understand the pain that so many people really face, but that vision of God’s power and love can inspire and guide us, and offer a hope for the future. 

As we thought of that vision of the Church in the past we see powerful growth, social influence, compassion as I mentioned… And the challenge for us as we look at the Church today must be to examine where we are making those differences today. Is that same spirit of courage and inspiration and trust in God present in our Churches today. 

Because then the third vision we must glimpse is that vision of the future. And it is in that vision that we must look at what God is offering and what we are accepting. When Jesus stilled the storm he reminded the disciples that he was with them and they had no need to fear… Jesus has promised to be with each one of us at all times, but it is up to us to accept or reject his company. 

The Church today and us as members of that Church need to look at where we are now, where we want to be and how we are going to get there... I think Jesus intended the Church to be a radical organisation moving cultures forward with love and compassion, and examples of peace. An organisation that is truly going to make a difference to society, because that is what he did himself.

As we approach the future in a world which often seems to be going out of control with violence and conflict, and with people living in fear or loneliness, it seems that the people most in control are the leaders of nations, politicians, rich business people, perhaps even spiritual leaders, and they need our prayers because they have huge and difficult decisions to make, but even  they only have influence on sections of our world and society, it is God himself who is in control, and it is he who is surely worthy of our praise and honour. 

The Church has smiled through problems, it seems, with too little confidence for the future, largely because too often we have relied on our own ability to sort out those problems – but it is not us, not politicians, not even Bishops or Archbishops that can ultimately provide peace in the world and in the hearts of people everywhere, but God himself. 

The Church is often perceived as being weak and out of touch, because that’s what we have often allowed it to be, but God is not a weak old man seeking attention from anyone who will give it to him… Neither is he out of touch. 

God is mighty and powerful and holy… that reading from Revelation offered us those words of praise, ‘Holy Holy Holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come…’ He is the one who stills any storms we face, he is the one who holds us up when we’re ready to fall, he is the one who knows what we need and who cares about every one of us… 

God is at the centre of everything… So let’s hold him there and worship him there… and when we go out from here let’s do so with confidence because we know God who loves us unceasingly, and is in control, and who is worthy to receive glory and honour and power..  AMEN