Sunday 6 September 2026 - Canon Ric’s sermon
Let us pray. Gracious and loving God, we offer to you that which is here spoken, heard and thought. Accept that which is worthy of you and through your abundant grace, forgive that which is unworthy. This we ask in the name of Jesus, your Christ and our Lord. Amen.
Apparently American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, Founding Father, principal author of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States Mr. Thomas Jefferson was not a fan of St. Paul. In a letter written to American diplomat, financier, philanthropist and lifelong friend William Short on April 13, 1820, which can be found on page 57 of volume seven out of nine of “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Being his Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and Other Writings, Official and Private”, Mr. Jefferson wrote that St. Paul was the “first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus." Wow. That is not what I would call a positive endorsement!
And the thing is, Mr. Jefferson is not out there all by himself. Some modern theologians also hold that the teachings of Paul differ markedly from those of Jesus as found in the Gospels and that Pauline Christianity represents a sharp departure from the beliefs and religious practices of the early Judean Jesus movements, known as The Way, that arose following the death of Jesus. Some have even gone so far as to claim that, due to these apparent differences in teachings, Paul was actually no less than the "second founder" of Christianity.
One such scholar was German Lutheran theologian Georg Friedrich Eduard William Wrede who argued that without Paul, Christianity would have basically become just another backwater Jewish sect that would have had little influence in later religious development. As a result, he concluded that Paul was indeed "the second founder of Christianity."
Then there is American biblical scholar and James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina Bart Erhman who went one step further arguing that there was an enormous difference between what Paul taught and what Jesus taught. While he conceded that there are points of contact and continuity between the two, he also stated that the differences are stark and need to be borne in mind constantly. He concluded that though Jesus’ life and teachings are important, they are not really what Christianity is about. Christianity, he asserted, is about believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus for salvation. And since, in this view, it was Paul who first formulated that belief, Paul is the founder of the Christian religion.
Well folks, it’s certainly an interesting topic. It is easily argued that at the most basic level, Jesus and Paul seem to have disagreed with each other. But I do need to add my two bits worth and say that I don’t think that either Jesus or Paul set out to establish a new religion so neither is “the founder” of Christianity. And with that, I’m just going to move on and leave that out there for you to ponder.
However, there is no doubt that the theology of St. Paul’s was founded primarily on the crucifixion of Jesus, the resurrection of the Christ of God and the awaited second coming of the Christ. We must recall that Paul was, in terms of the early Jesus Movement and the emerging church, late on the scene. Paul never even met Jesus, he had no personal, one on one experience of the earthly pre-Easter Jesus of Nazareth. In fact, he spent part of his early career rooting out those early communities of Jesus followers and persecuting them. However, as we all know, one fine day while on his way to Damascus, Paul got knocked off his high horse, had a rather dramatic vision and became a significant part of the very same community that he had been persecuting. In fact, he brought to that community an energy and creativity that soon made him the most prominent leader in that new movement. However, unlike Jesus of Nazareth, Paul's role in the foundation of what would ultimately become Christianity is absolutely clear. The standard narrative of his career was written down within a decade of his death and many of his writings have been preserved. We can be fairly confident in ascribing ideas and doctrines to Paul, whereas there is much debate over what genuinely belongs to Jesus of Nazareth in the accounts of his life and ministry.
In that moment on the Damascus Road, Paul experienced and thereafter profoundly relied on the post-Easter Christ of God rather than the pre-Easter Jesus of Nazareth as he guided and encouraged the many fledgling churches of the Mediterranean area of his time.
I don’t plan on entering into a profound theological debate about all this. Perhaps much of Paul’s theology and many of his teachings did go well beyond and even overshadow the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth about the Kingdom of God. However, at least in one particular regard, Paul was spot on and in full accord with Jesus of Nazareth: as did Jesus, so too did Paul emphasise living by the highest moral standard. That was inherent in all that Jesus did and said and it was foundational for Paul.
Case in point is what is probably Paul’s most well-known passage found in what we know as his first letter to the church in Corinth. I speak of that majestic hymn to love that concludes with the words, “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)
And today’s passage from his letter to the Church in Rome is another that reveals how Paul’s teaching resonates with all the power of Jesus’ call to live in the depth and fullness of the love of the Kingdom of God.
Today we have read the second half of the 13th chapter of Paul’s letter to the community of Jesus followers in Roman. Unquestionably, in these verses we hear the voice of Jesus echo in the words of Paul, “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
(As an aside, apparently prominent Church Father St. Augustine, whose writings profoundly influenced the development of Western Christianity, gave his life to Christ after reading this the thirteenth chapter of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.)
Though Paul may never have known in real life the person of Jesus of Nazareth nor have walked the dusty roads of Israel with him or heard him speak to the crowds and though Thomas Jefferson may have accused St. Paul of corrupting the doctrines of Jesus, when it came to fully and completely understanding Jesus’ teaching about love, Paul got it and taught it! Paul understood that love in the name of the Christ of God is not an emotional thing, it is not about how we feel about another. True Christian love is an active thing. It requires action for the welfare of any and every other person, regardless of who they are, where they come from, what they think and believe or what circumstances of life they face. True Christian love, as American psychiatrist and best-selling author Scott Peck wrote, requires that we extend ourselves for the purpose of nurturing the spiritual well-being of another without reservation. Christian love is not effortless - to the contrary, it is effortful, it is an act of will and it is both an intention and an action. And as Peck further points out, we do not have to love, we choose to love.
As Jesus taught through his parable about the person who reached out to the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho who had been beaten by robbers and left half dead by the side of the road, we who follow him are called to bring to realization the moral and ethical activity of being a neighbour.
That is Christian love.
Being part of the ‘Jesus Movement’ and being members of the Church lead by the Christ of God in today’s world means that we are called to see that the love that fulfills all the law and gathers together into one word all the commandments of God is not about how we feel about another or what we think about them but rather how we respond to them, how we are neighbour to them – as they are and where they are. True Christian love, the kind of love Jesus called us to make our way of life and the kind of love that Paul recognized as being essential to Christian living bids us to be neighbour, to give our all for the spiritual well-being of another, no matter who they may be. That is how we fulfill all that God requires.
When questioned by the religious authorities about which commandment was the most important Jesus said, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Perhaps a good deal of the theology of St. Paul is at variance from the teachings of Jesus in significant ways. However, in his letter to the followers of Jesus in Rome that we heard today, he wrote, “The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” That part of the message of Jesus Paul got right. May we as well. Amen.
30 August 2026 - Canon Ric’s Sermon
Let us pray. Gracious and loving God, may only your truth be spoken and only your truth be heard. This we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Well, hats off to Peter. Dear Peter had the good sense and manners enough to take Jesus aside, which I assume means out of ear shot of the other disciples, before he challenged him, before he took him to task, before he rebuked him for saying that when he got to Jerusalem things were going to go south – that is, he was going to suffer and be executed. Yes, good for Peter because if you’re going to admonish Jesus you sure do want to do it right … right?
It must have been rough for the disciples, trying to keep up with Jesus, let alone trying to understand all his talk about going to Jerusalem, ultimately to be killed. People that are so committed to their principles, who are that certain about their radical convictions that they are willing to go to jail, endure all manner of harm and perhaps even die for their cause are difficult to understand. There are many of them, some well-known and others not so well-known but equally as committed, unshakable and unwavering; among them Nelson Mandela, Myrna Mack, Mahatma Gandhi, Annalena Tonelli, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, FannyAnn Eddy, Dietrich Bonhoffer, Anna Mae Aquash, Jesus of Nazareth. Most of us aren’t as certain, aren’t as committed, aren’t as determined as people like that and people like that - well, as admirable and compelling as they may be, they are difficult to keep up with, let alone understand. For most of us it is near impossible to embrace things as passionately as they embrace them.
That’s what it must have been like for dear Peter and I imagine for all the disciples, for that matter - it’s just that when it comes to the disciples of Jesus, we hear more about Peter than we do about all the others. Think about what we have heard about Peter’s journey with Jesus in our Gospel readings just over the past few weeks. Sometimes it’s a bit difficult to get a good sense of the whole picture when we break up the bible into bits to fit into our weekly lectionary readings for our Sunday worship. So, let’s have a bit of an overview of Peter’s recent journey with Jesus. Let’s put today’s selection from the Gospel attributed to Matthew in its fuller context.
You’ll recall that a few weeks back we heard that bit about Jesus waking on the water. In the middle of a storm on the Sea of Galilee, Peter, with unshakable confidence, asked Jesus to invite him to get out of the boat and walk toward him on the water. When Jesus bid Peter to do just that, Peter hopped out of the boat and took a few confident steps toward Jesus but then, then the reality of the bad weather unnerved him - Peter became frightened and his unshakable confidence sank like a rock … and so did he! Frightened and sinking Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!” And yes, Jesus did indeed save him but not without serious words of reprimand - “Peter,” Jesus said, “your faith is so weak, why did you doubt.”
Then, just last week, we heard about that time in the life of Jesus and his disciples when Jesus asked the twelve who the people said he was. Then, more directly, Jesus asked the disciples who they said he was. My goodness, how do you answer a question like that? But Peter, good old Peter, managed. In another moment of great confidence, Peter boldly declared, “You are the Messiah!” And at that, Jesus affirmed Peter - said he was blessed. Peter was back on top. He went from doubt to certainty, from that sinking moment on the Sea of Galilee to being the foundation of the Jesus Movement. Once again Peter had a moment of clarity and understanding. At that moment, Peter got it.
But alas, now we arrive at today’s encounter between Jesus and Peter! Jesus knew what was going to happen to him in Jerusalem. With the depth of conviction that Jesus had, I can’t imagine that he was naïve to the possibilities that lay ahead of him. Jesus knew how his message goaded those in authority and power and he, I’m sure, was keenly aware of what they might ultimately do to silence him completely – they would want to stop him dead. Yet, Jesus did not waver; Jesus did not falter. Jesus was rock solid certain and he held firm in proclaiming the Kingdom of God and the fullness of God’s great love for each of us. He held firm in his challenge of the religious authorities who, he said, demanded unquestioned obedience to the letter of the Law as defined by humans but failed to understand the spirit of the Law as God intended. If, by chance, Jesus did have any concern about the consequences he would most likely suffer, that concern was quickly dispelled by his commitment to fulfill God’s will. For me, therein lies his inspiration; that is why I find myself compelled to follow him - well, at least to try to follow him, as Peter tried to follow him. But like Peter, in the midst of the storms around me, often my belief wavers and edges toward un-belief. As the man who wanted Jesus to heal his son said, "I believe; help my unbelief." (Mark 9:24)
In today’s Gospel passage we hear that Jesus began to tell his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and that he would undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed. And so, perhaps in panic, or in a moment of un-belief, or perhaps even a moment of grief, but certainly a moment of dismay, Peter drew Jesus aside and rebuked him saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” … “Jesus, this must never happen to you!” … … … …
Oh Peter, you were doing so well!
Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
I think it is unfortunate that we have given this passage a more ominous, perhaps even diabolical meaning by putting a capital letter “S” on the word satan. Even the auto-correct on my computer wants to capitalize the word “satan” every time I type it with a small “s”! When we impose a capital “S” on the word satan we make Peter into a malicious adversary not only of Jesus but also of God; we make him into an evil enemy of the divine who is inciting apostasy from God and the abandonment of faith. That capital “S” vilifies Peter and we inflict on him all sorts of beliefs we have about the capital “S” Satan. I fear that in doing so, we miss the heart of this encounter between Jesus and Peter; we miss the profound truth that lies in this biblical passage.
If we remove the capital “S” and use a lower case “s” instead, as I think we should, we find a clearer, less confusing and more accurate understanding of this most significant encounter between Jesus and Peter - indeed between Jesus and all humanity. We can see that these words of Jesus are not so much a scathing admonition but more a longing and loving corrective - and we can see more fully how these words of Jesus speak not just to Peter two centuries ago but speak also to us today.
In its etymological roots, the small “s” word satan means to be or act as an opponent, to be one who opposes another in purpose or act, to be an obstacle, an impediment, a hindrance, or as Jesus himself said, a stumbling block - nothing more, nothing sinister, nothing demonic, nothing evil. In Peter’s rebuke of Jesus I see only the fullness of his humanity and the aching of his heart that was devoted to and longing for the fullness of all that Jesus taught and demonstrated in word and deed. “God forbid it, Lord!” Peter cried because he longed for the fullness of the human moment of being with Jesus to never end. However, in being focused on the human, on the here and now, on his own wants and expectations, Peter failed to see the divine reality. Peter’s weakness in that moment was that he focused on human things rather than on divine things. In that moment, consumed by his own longings and driven by his own agenda, Peter lost sight of God’s will, of God’s purpose and of God’s mission. In that moment Peter was a hindrance to the divine purpose being revealed in and through Jesus. In that moment Peter became a stumbling block rather than the foundation rock Jesus had only recently declared him to be.
How easily Peter went from cornerstone to mill stone, from foundation block to stumbling block. Can you imagine? One moment Jesus is saying you’re “the rock on which I will build the Kingdom” and the next he’s calling you “a stumbling block.” But we know that this is not the end of the story; there will be more ups and downs, more highs and lows for Peter - there will be moments of great clarity, understanding and commitment, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you” (Matthew 26:35) and there will be agonizing moments when we realize that the rooster just crowed and we have denied Jesus – not once, not twice but three times.
This story of Peter can help us understand that getting on board with the mission and will of God is not just a one-time thing. Rather, the mission and will of God are something that we must continually discern, constantly struggle to understand, incessantly seek to live into and repeatedly commit ourselves to undertake. When we chance upon an occasion of stumbling, I pray we will hear these words of Jesus not as condemnation but rather as a loving corrective. As we follow Jesus, things will change - us, our relationships, our world - and change means losing things. I think that is what Jesus meant about the cross we are to bear. If we truly catch Jesus' vision of the Kingdom of God, we will know that what we gain is of far greater value than what we forfeit. In following Jesus, on setting our minds on divine things rather than only on human things, the life we obtain will far outshine the life we leave behind. Thanks be to God. Amen.
23 August 2026 - Canon Ric’s Sermon
Let’s pray. Loving God, bless your word this day wherever it is read, wherever it is heard, wherever it is preached, and most especially, wherever it is lived. This we pray in the name of your Christ. Amen.
I don’t know why but I have a brain that likes to hold on to stuff - at least, most of the time – though I must admit that as I get older the speed of my recall isn’t as sharp as it used to be. Sometimes having stuff stored in my brain is really beneficial … but not always! Truth is my brain employs very little discretion in regard to what it hangs on to or when it lets something pop up to the surface. So, when I read the Gospel for today when I began to prepare for this sermon, the first thing that came to my mind was one of those silly little one-line aphorism that my brain has carried around for years: here it is, “a secret is something that you tell just one person … at a time.” Now, perhaps that’s an exaggeration but nonetheless, it does have a hint of truth - at least for some folks.
Yes, I know that there are those among us who are really good at keeping secrets but there are also those who aren’t so capable, especially when it is good news, something like getting that new job or the promotion at work that you have been working so hard to get, or being accepted into the college or university that was your first choice, or discovering that you are going to be a parent, a grandparent or great-grandparent, especially for the first time or maybe even winning the big prize in a lottery (and if you do win the big prize in a lottery I trust you will remember St. Paul’s - generously!). And keeping a secret can get even more challenging when the secret is something scandalous or salacious – like … well, I’ll let you come up with your own examples of secrets in that category.
Now imagine, if you will, that you have some really good news, news you are just busting at the seams to tell anyone and everyone or, at the very least, someone. The news is sitting there on the tip of your tongue waiting to trip off, itching to be told, waiting to be broadcast to the world … but then you hear a stern and commanding voice tell you, not just ask you but tell you, to keep it under your hat, to bite your tongue, to button your lips, keep it on the down-low and not tell anyone – let alone everyone. If you can imagine that, you can empathize with Peter, dear old St. Peter.
In today’s passage from the Gospel attributed to Matthew we have read the “who do you say Jesus is?” story, a story that is found in all three of the synoptic gospels. You may know the story by its more common and refined title - “Peter’s Declaration about Jesus”.
Forgive me, but I must wander off for a moment. As I confessed just a minute ago, I have one of those brains that likes to retain things – you might call it a hoarder head. Well, one of those things filed away in this noggin of mine is a joke that pops up every time I hear the question Jesus asked the disciples in today’s Gospel passage, “Who do you say that I am.”
For my seminary training I went to Wycliffe College which was and is part of the Toronto School of Theology. At that time, the Toronto School of Theology put out a newsletter that was called “The What”. Yes, it is a rather odd name for a newsletter. So, in the first issue each year they printed a story to explain why the newsletter was called “The What”. Here is the story – at least my version of it.
“There was an ecumenical gathering of some of the greatest theological minds in the whole world. At one point during that conference, while those great theological minds were vigorously debating weighty and deeply serious religious matters, Jesus unexpectedly appeared in their midst and said to them, “Who do you say that I am?” Well, those great theologians, without a moment of hesitation, said, “You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of being, the kerygma incarnate in conflict and decision making.” And Jesus said, “The what?”
Now, back to the original “who do you say Jesus is?” story.
The “who do you say Jesus is?” story was first recorded in the Gospel we ascribe to Mark, the first of the gospels to be written. However, clearly it was an important story back in the day, important enough that year’s after the Gospel of Mark was penned, both the writer of the Gospel attributed to Luke and the writer of the Gospel attributed to Matthew included it in their accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus. Though there are minor differences in each account, the skeleton of the story is the same: Jesus asked the disciples who the people thought he was and the disciples told him that the people thought that he was John the Baptist or maybe either the prophet Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. Jesus then asked them directly, “But who do you say that I am?”
Who is Jesus? What a significant and weighty question to be asked. And as is so often the case, it was Peter, dear old St. Peter, who ventured a response. “You are the Messiah,” Peter exclaimed! Lo and behold, Peter had hit the nail squarely on the head, he hit the ball out of the park, he was absolutely, positively, one hundred percent correct! In fact, though it’s only mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus himself affirmed Peter’s insight saying that Pater was blessed because it was by the very Spirit of God that he had recognized the truth of who Jesus really was. And with that affirmation from Jesus himself ringing in his ear, I can only imagine how keen Peter must have been to run out and be the very first one to proclaim to the world, “Hey everybody, Jesus is the Messiah!”
But before Peter could get a word out of his mouth, his hopes were dashed, his bubble was burst, all the air was let out of his tires. Peter’s excitement was quite short-lived; his exhilaration was quickly stifled by Jesus himself. All three synoptic Gospel writers tell us that Jesus didn’t just casually suggest that the disciples should probably not say anything about him being the messiah, nor did he casually request that the disciples keep this glorious revelation a secret. No, he ordered them, sternly ordered them, not to tell anyone.
I’m sure Jesus had good reason to order the disciples to keep the secret. In fact, over the years students of Biblical studies have proposed a number of possible reasons why he would have done so. However, truth be told, we may never know exactly why Jesus demanded secrecy at this particular point in his ministry.
However, I trust we can all empathize with the disciples - knowing something so profound, so magnificent, so wonderful and not being able to say a word about it.
Yet how fortunate for us that the gag order has been lifted, secrecy is no longer the order of the day and we do not need to keep the news to ourselves! Indeed, quite the opposite. Jesus’ command not to tell anyone that he was the messiah most certainly was not a universal and eternal command. Rather, it was local and temporary, specific to those disciples at that time and in that place. If such were the case, if Jesus’ stern ordered not to tell anyone that he is the Messiah was a universal and eternal command, I wouldn’t be talking about him today. As a matter of fact, we wouldn’t be gathered here today. But the cat got out of the bag, the veil has been torn in two and that which was kept secret for a time has been boldly proclaimed and should, nay must, continue to be proclaimed. Jesus is messiah, God’s chosen and anointed.
That is where you and I come in. As followers of Jesus we are to proclaim his messiahship and all that his messiahship encompasses. The messiahship of Jesus is not to be kept secret. Jesus was chosen and guided by God to bring to our world the Good News of the Kingdom of God. As his disciples we must receive and carry on that mission and ministry of Jesus, in our time and our place. We must allow the Spirit of God to open our eyes, as the eyes of Peter were opened that day so long ago. We must respond to the movement of the Spirit in our hearts and serve Jesus, the messiah, the anointed one, by serving others as he served others.
True discipleship is daunting; it can be unnerving, but God has called us to follow Jesus and bring to our world the Good News of the Kingdom of God. As we will hear next week, if we want to truly follow Jesus the road leads to self-giving and is possible only if we know and believe who Jesus really is. We must be able to answer that critical question Jesus asked the disciples that day so long ago, “Who do you say that I am?”
And so I ask, “Who do you say Jesus is?”
16 August 2026 - Canon Ric’s sermon
Let’s pray. Gracious and loving God, as we hear your truth may we live your truth and boldly share the good news of your Kingdom. We pray in the name of Jesus, your anointed one and our Lord. Amen.
Jesus said a lot of things and he used a lot of words to say those things but I’m pretty darn certain he never used the word “orthopraxy” in any of his preaching or teaching moments. Well, I’m actually more that pretty darn certain, I am absolutely certain simply because the term “orthopraxy” didn’t come into use until 1851. Most certainly he understood the concept but he never used the word.
My guess is that most of us haven’t used that word either. It is one of those words that shows up in the study of religion but a word that doesn’t find its way into casual, everyday conversation. I just can’t imagine standing in line at the grocery store and asking the person behind me in line how their orthopraxy is going.
The term “orthopraxy” is often used in contrast to the term “orthodoxy”, which is another term common in the study of religion but one that is likely more familiar to most of us. While “orthodoxy” refers to correct belief, the term “orthopraxy” refers to right practice. Orthodoxy centers on the strict adherence to prescribed rites, rituals and statements of belief such as our Apostles Creed, while orthopraxy is about how we put our faith and the things we say we believe into concrete action through right moral and ethical practice.
The first twenty verses of the 15th chapter of the Gospel attributed to Matthew, verses that come immediately before the passage we heard just a moment ago, are a superb example of these two “orth’ - somthingorother - oxy’s” coming face to face. Those verses record a time when Jesus called people entrenched in and restrained by the discipline and doctrines imposed by orthodoxy, most specifically the Pharisees and Scribes, not only to recognize the folly of their thinking but to change the way they lived their lives, no matter how near and dear, convenient and comfortable, safe and secure their rule oriented, legalistic way of living their faith was to them.
Let’s take a look and see.
The scene is simple and it happened just before the pesky and determined Canaanite woman we heard about today was badgering Jesus because her daughter was tormented by a demon. The Pharisees and the Scribes, probably motivated by what they considered disturbing news about the disciples of Jesus – something about them not having washed their hands before they ate - had made its way south to them in Jerusalem, traveled to Galilee, in the north of Israel, to challenge Jesus. Those Pharisees and Scribes confronted Jesus accusing his disciples of not acting in accordance with the orthodox laws of Judaism at the time or as Matthew put it, they were not in compliance with the “traditions of the elders” – a phrase which encapsulates the body of oral laws, interpretations, and customs intended to safeguard the written Torah, the first five book of the Hebrew bible, which the religious leaders of Judaism had developed over the course of time.
Jesus then drew a distinction between the traditions of the elders, that is, the oral law of human creation, and the true spirit of the law of God found in the scriptures themselves and contained in the Commandments of God given to Moses on Mount Sinai. In true rabbinical fashion, Jesus countered the argument of the Pharisees by accusing them of transgressing the very commandment of God.
It was quite the argument that Jesus presented and it came to a climax when Jesus called the Pharisees and Scribes hypocrites, an accusation that he topped off by quoting the word of God as found in the book of the prophet Isaiah, “This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. In vain they worship me, teaching the precepts of men” or as the Good News translation of the Bible puts it, “These people claim to worship me, but their words are meaningless, and their hearts are somewhere else. Their religion is nothing but human rules and traditions, which they have simply memorized.”
Once again, Jesus struck at the very heart of the matter: being faithful is deeper, richer and wider than just affirming the right things, saying the right words, reciting the correct prayers or performing the approved ritual action demanded by human tradition – no matter how perfectly you do so. All those things might well fulfill the letter of the Law and satisfy the tradition of the elders but they do not, in and of themselves, embrace and express the spirit of the law of God. If I dare to be so bold, Jesus struck at the very heart of the distinction between “orthodoxy” and “orthopraxy”: though the Pharisees and Scribes may well have fulfilled all the demands of religious orthodoxy, adhering diligently to the doctrines of humanity, they failed to express their faith through the concrete actions of “orthopraxy”, they failed to satisfy the commandments of God in that their ritual orthodoxy prevented them from showing the love, compassion and grace of God that is the very heart, the essential spirit of the law of God.
Having thus disputed and quashed the argument of the Pharisees and the Scribes, Jesus turned away from them and invited the crowd to gather around him. “Listen and understand”, he said, “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” As is quite common in the Gospel of Matthew it was Peter, dear Peter, who asked for an explanation. In response, Jesus restated the point of his argument with the Pharisees and Scribes: our outward behavior, both our actions and our words, reveal the true condition of our hearts and the condition of our hearts must reflect the spirit of the law of God. To be truly children of the Kingdom of God means far more than just believing the right things or performing the right rituals; it means living out the true spirit of God’s law, living out the values of the Kingdom of God, in all we say and do. Compassion, grace, love and mercy, the spirit of the law of God trump adhering to the letter of the ritual and religious practices dictated by human doctrine. Orthodoxy is all well and good but it must move to orthopraxy - if not, we are, as St. Paul put it, just noisy gongs and clanging symbols, we gain nothing and indeed, we are nothing.
The words Jesus found in the first twenty verses of the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel we ascribe to Matthew are not perhaps the comforting kind of words that we might wish to hear him speak. They are tough words. They are challenging words. The writer of the Gospel of Matthew makes certain that we know that the Pharisees took offense at what Jesus had said and perhaps we might take offense too! But there have been many times in the history of the church when well intentioned Christians have trusted in their orthodoxy and rested their faith on the ideologies and doctrines developed by humanity and have fallen short of putting their professed faith into concrete actions. In other words, they have fallen short in respect to orthopraxy. Perhaps that is the source of a criticism of Christianity that I have heard many times over the course of my life that Christians are nothing but hypocrites, who, apparently like the Pharisees and Scribes in the time of Jesus, fail to act in accordance with the beliefs that they profess with their lips.
Indeed, tough words to hear but the invitation of Jesus to the crowd two thousand years ago echoes through the centuries to our ears today and we hear him say, “Listen and understand.” And the good news is that many in the Christian church today are doing just that. Over the past few decades there have been intentional undertakings in certain quarters of the Church, such as that of the Missional Church movement, to refocus the very spirit of the church from an emphasis on the sufficiency of orthodoxy alone to a living, lived out, Spirit filled faith that seeks to praise God not only with our lips but in our lives, lives lived in the true spirit of the fullness of the Kingdom of God.
As the church moves into God’s future we are being called to shift and adjust our faith and our ministry beyond programming and an orthodox ritualism that serves only those of us on the inside to a vibrant orthopraxy, a living faith and ministry that diligently goes about the business of seeing that the full goodness and richness of the Kingdom of God are abundantly shared with all people, even people just like that marginalized, pleading Canaanite woman we heard about in today’s Gospel passage; that insistent, persevering and pestering foreign woman kneeling in the dust at the feet of Jesus with whom Jesus himself shared the blessing of the food of the Kingdom of God.
Amen.
9 August 2026 - Canon Ric’s sermon, delivered by Carol Ann
Forward by Carol Ann:
Good morning!
A word before we begin:
1. This is Fr. Ric's sermon, Do I sense a sigh of relief??
Secondly, our lectionary was thoughtfully, carefully and prayerfully put together by a planning committee considering which scriptures would go together for a particular Sunday such as today — the 11th Sunday after Pentecost in year A. It is a 3-year cycle. The readings can seem random. They are not. It is important to know how they fit together — what goes before a particular reading.
Today we heard the story of the storm-tossed disciples on the sea of Galilee and Jesus comes to them walking on the water. This story follows immediately after the feeding of the 5000. As soon as Jesus dispersed the crowd, he hustled the disciples into the boat. He remained to pray.
As we will see, taken together, this is the story of 2 miracles — a miracle of provision and a miracle of power — together showing as that ‘truly, this is the Son of God’!
Let us pray. These words are offered in the name of God, Eternal Glory, Incarnate Word and Abiding Spirit. Amen.
What a story — filled with danger and fear, dread and peril, darkness and struggle, raging seas, foaming waters, wild waves, strange encounters, a moment of faith followed by sinking doubt, a rescue at sea all brought to a resounding climax with a profound declaration.
The story we have heard this morning, with all its seafaring imagery, comes from the Gospel attributed to Matthew. However, Matthew in not the only Gospel writer to include a version of this tale. A much earlier version can be found in the Gospel attributed to Mark and a third version comes to us thanks to the author of the Gospel ascribed to John.
However, for reasons unknown, the author of Luke did not include this event in his account of the life and ministry of Jesus.
Looking at the three versions of this event that are available to us we quickly notice some variations:
In Mark and Matthew Jesus made the disciples get into the boat while in John, the disciples got into the boat of their own volition.
In both Mark and Matthew, after Jesus made the disciples get in the boat, he dismissed the crowd and then went up the mountain to pray. John does not include this detail.
In Mark, Jesus sent the disciples to Bethsaida which was in Gentile territory. In John, the disciples were heading to Capernaum, which was two miles nearer than Bethsaida and in Jewish territory. In Matthew, the disciples are not sent to a specific place, only to the ambiguous “other side of the lake”.
Only John mentions that the disciples rowed about three or four miles. It is interesting to note that after rowing that distance they would have, or at least should have, been very close to Capernaum.
All three agree that the weather turned sour. Matthew says the disciple's boat was battered or, more literally, tormented, by the waves and far from shore. Mark tells us the disciples were straining at the oars against an adverse wind. Less dramatically, John says only that the sea became rough because a wind was blowing.
While John says only that it was dark, Matthew remains true to Mark indicating it was early in the morning when the disciples spotted Jesus walking on the sea.
Mark indicates that the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost and that they cried out. Mark also adds that Jesus intended to “pass them by” (which, as an aside, seems a somewhat indifferent and uncaring attitude for Jesus to have). Matthew omits that little detail but, in agreement with Mark, does tells us that when the disciples saw Jesus they were terrified and that they cried out in fear because they thought he was a ghost. John mentions only that the disciples were terrified when they saw Jesus walking on the sea — no ghost talk and no crying out. And in John it is a bit ambiguous whether it was the storm or Jesus walking on the sea that terrified the disciples.
All three versions have Jesus say to the disciples “It is I; do not be afraid” though in Mark and Matthew Jesus begins saying “take heart”. And another aside, the “It is I” statement is best translated as ‘I AM’ which echoes the divine name God told Moses God was to be called.
And finally, each version ends differently:
In Mark Jesus gets into the boat and the wind stops. We are then told that the disciples “were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened”. For some unknown reason, Mark loops back to the feeding of the five thousand connecting this event with what had taken place just before the disciples set out across the sea.
John tells us that the disciples wanted to take Jesus into the boat (but we are never told if that happened) and then declares that “immediately the boat reached the land towards which they were going”. There is no description of the disciples’ reaction.
And then there is Matthew's ending that veers off in a totally unique direction. Matthew recounts an odd conversation between Peter and Jesus, tells us about Peter's failed attempt to walk on water, and includes Jesus’ criticism of Peter, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ Matthew goes on to tell us that when Jesus and Peter got in the boat the wind ceased. Matthew brings his version to a grand conclusion asserting that the disciples worshipped Jesus and proclaimed, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’.
Three different versions of the same event and as varied as are the three account, the numerous interpretations and understandings of this event are equally varied. Space does not allow for an exploration of them all so, here are just a few. First, a few that apply to all three versions.
This story is just saying that faith does not make life all plain sailing.
This story is an allegory. Each part stands for something else
The boat represents the church;
The winds and the waves stand for the persecutions that the early Christian community faced.
The time being described is actually years after Jesus’ earthly ministry, so he is not with them physically; he is in heaven where, being at God's right hand, as the creeds state it, he prays to God.
Therefore, in the hour of the church's need, the risen and ascended Lord makes his presence felt, and their fears are calmed and they are brought peace.
Given that the common perception of the sea at the time of Jesus was that it was the locus of evil and chaos, some maintain that this is a story about chaos in the early church and then, by inference, it is about storms in modern congregations.
This story reminds us that a ship is not a static symbol. It is a vehicle used to get somewhere. In the story, Jesus and the disciples wanted to get to the other side to minister to those people there. So, we are to leave walking on water to Jesus and stay in the ship which is the church. That is where we want to be because it can provide the way for us to get to other places, so that we modem day disciples of the Son of God can be moving throughout the land!
And just one more - This story reveals that in the midst of the sea's churning, Jesus does what only God can do and so Jesus revealed his power over the chaos as God had power over chaos in the first of our two Genesis creation account.
And now, a few that relate specifically to the version in Matthew with its unique ending.
This story about Peter graphically depicts what it means to be a Christian caught midway between faith and doubt.
Some see this story as commending Peter's display of faith for getting out of the boat and walking on the water. The problem is that he took his eye off Jesus and his faith faltered, but Jesus was there to save him. So, the conclusion is to have faith, be courageous and get out of the boat ... but keep your focus on Jesus.
This is a story about the Christian experience that, even in the midst of danger and fear, there is peace in the presence of Christ ... and there is the promise that the turbulent waters will subside.
This story shows us that faith will produce spectacular exceptions to the warp and woof of the laws of physics and biology that normally control our ordinary days. However, when that idealistic notion is shattered by the realities of accident, disease, aging, and circumstance and we begin to sink, this view can lead us to feel guilt because of our "lack of faith".
The message of this story is not "If Peter had enough faith, he could have walked on the water," just as the message is not "If we had enough faith, we could overcome all our problems in spectacular ways”.
In that Matthew's version of the story ends with those in the boat, worshipping, claiming that Jesus is truly a son of God, the purpose of this story is to demonstrate, emphasised and reinforced Jesus’ divine sonship.
In that Jesus caught Peter when he was about to drown, this story tells us that Jesus will catch us as well. The down side is that Jesus will also ask us that basic and simple question, “Why were you doubting me in the middle of your storm?”
And one more. Peter took his eyes and his faith off of Jesus Christ. Peter began to focus on the storm raging about him. He became afraid and began to sink. He cried out, “Lord, save me!” That is our situation all the time. We take our eyes off of the Christ and focus on the storm and begin to sink and drown. So, this story tells us that we too need to call out, “Lord, save me!”
(And a final aside - this last point might bring to mind the maxim, “Don't tell God how big your storm is, tell the storm how big your God is!”)
No matter what road we take in trying to grasp hold of this story and perhaps glean from it a hint of God's truth we can be assured that something happened that night — something that the disciples didn't, and we don't, quite understand. That is why we call it a miracle. But it seems clear that, in the sequence of events that night and in the timing of those events, whatever they might have been, the disciples experienced the presence of God in their lives. Faith is not being able to walk on water. It does not demand that we throw caution and common sense to the wind.
It is not about expecting God to displace the order of things controlled by the laws of nature, laws that God established in the first place. Faith is knowing that God is with us not only on the sunny days but also — and especially - in the storms when we are battered by the waves.
Are you keeping your eyes upon Jesus?