For those of you who are fans of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books, you might remember the way that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader begins. Two of the children, Lucy and Edmund are with their very unpleasant cousin, Eustace, in a house in England, in a room with a painting of a ship hanging on the wall.

There’s something engaging to the children about the picture of the ship sailing on the ocean, and as they are staring at it and discussing it, something odd begins to happen. They think they smell a sea breeze. They suddenly feel wind on their faces. They think they are imagining it. But the next thing they know, a wave flies out of the picture and drenches them! And the next thing they know, they have been drawn into the picture itself! Instead of standing outside, looking at the scene in a painting, they are in the scene in real life.

This morning’s sermon text from the gospel of Mark has a funny way of drawing us in like that. We start out as observers and before you know it we are right there with Jesus and his disciples near the Sea of Galilee.

Last week with Jeff we read the story of the large crowd of people, over 5000 who had gathered to hear Jesus. And we heard of this amazing miracle where the entire crowd was fed from five loaves of bread and two fish AND after everyone had eaten, the disciples still collected 12 baskets full of leftovers. Today’s text follows immediately after, Mark 6:45-54.

Reading: Mark 6:45-54.

Let’s get one thing straight. No one can walk on water. Right? It is a physical impossibility. No one walks on water.

It is the early 1920’s in the United States. It’s a time of excitement and promise. It’s a time of segregation and poverty, of art and music, of wealth and slums all mixed together. In the borough of Harlem in New York City, a cultural renaissance is in full swing. Music, art, literature are flourishing. A lively approach to faith is flourishing as well.

The decade is filled with larger than life characters, including one East Coast preacher named Charles “Sweet Daddy” Grace. Though he was a mere 5 foot 8 inches, he was definitely larger than life. So large, in fact, it is difficult to sift fact from legend. What is well known is that Daddy Grace started a movement of extreme Pentecostal churches called the “United House of Prayer for All People of the Church on the Rock of the Apostolic Faith,” or the United House of Prayer for short.

It started in Massachussets in 1919, with himself as bishop. Eventually there were over 100 sister churches around the United States. Sweet Daddy was always at the controversial center of attention. This was aided by the full-length mink coats he wore and the chauffered limosine he rode in. He wore purple suits and glitzy jewelry, he did mass baptisms in the city streets of Philadelphia with a fire hose.

The church wound up with huge tracks of land and investments in New York’s Harlem district. They were accused of being a cult, and Sweet Daddy Grace a cult-leader. They also supported the elderly, and sent kids to college who could never have gone. And Sweet Daddy Grace’s mere presence apparently could generate a huge, excited crowd.

One of the stories is of the day he was in New York preaching on this exact text, Jesus walking on the water. Sweet Daddy asked the congregation, “Do you believe Jesus walked on water?! Do you believe Jesus walked on water?!” And the congregation responded “Yes, we believe it.” Then he said “Do you believe I can also walk on water?!” And (at least some) voices said “Yes, yes we believe!” “Then meet me next Sunday at Coney Island!”

So word goes out. The next week the Coney Island beach is crowded with church goers, Sweet Daddy Grace shows up in his limousine, walks out on the beach, asks the questions again: “Do you believe Jesus walked on water?” Yes, yes! “Do you believe I can walk on water?” Yes, yes!

Then Sweet Daddy Grace said, “Well, since you believe, my brothers and sisters, I do not have to prove it.” And he walked back to his car and drove off!

Nobody walks on water. We all know it. So we pick up the gospel of Mark and find…Jesus walking on water. What do we do with this? Well, some people have chosen to try and explain it away, saying that linguistically it says something different. Others have been very creative, saying that Jesus was actually on a sandbar and only looked like he was walking on water- which makes no sense at all, given the details of the story: That Jesus spotted the boat from an impossibly long distance and knew they were in trouble, that they saw him on the water, that all of them saw him, that they were all terrified, that they were astounded when the wind stopped. No, whether you choose to believe it or not is another question, but what the text clearly says is “Jesus walked on water.”

We’re standing in the room like the Narnia kids, observing the painting from the outside. But what might we see if we were drawn in? I think we would see 5 things about Jesus in this story:

1. Jesus has to pray.

Before the 5000 were fed, Jesus had been trying to take [himself and the disciples off to a quiet place. But the 5000 beat them there, and there are instantly engaged in ministry again. But Jesus doesn’t forget about what they all need. They need some quiet, some down time, time to reflect. And so Jesus chases the disciples out into their boat, sends them ahead and dismisses the crowd himself and then goes up the mountain to pray.

Only three times in Mark does it talk about Jesus going to pray. When he was first starting his ministry. Here. And in the Garden before his death. Each time it is at an important juncture in his ministry, and he seeks somewhere in the quiet of the night or morning, and in a solitary place.

Did Jesus have other things he could be doing? Could not he have healed some people, preached, done another miracle, wasn’t this down time costly? Absolutely. Costly, and imperative. It would seem that Jesus couldn’t be who he was or do what he did apart from periodically “unhooking” to be quiet, to pray.

If I asked you the question “in your heart of hearts, what are the things you crave, what do you long for?,” many of you would include this: Set-aside time. Listening time. Prayer time. What did Jesus have to do to get it? Disperse a crowd of 5000. And, much as he loved the disciples, send them off…so he could pray. Jesus had to pray.

2. Jesus sees his people.

He knows where the disciples are, he is watching and aware of them even when it seems he is a long way off. Even when they don’t realize it or know it, it doesn’t change the fact that Jesus is aware of them.

There is an element of humor here, you know. The disciples head out into a strong wind. No sail can help that, they have the oars out and they are paddling for all they are worth…can you see them?...and they get nowhere. Absolutely nowhere. It’s the first personal fitness gym, it’s like they are on the exercise bike that stays in place, the Stairmaster that leaves them still on the mainfloor sweating and panting. No, actually it’s even worse. If Mark has his geography right, they have set out from the general northwestern corner of the Sea of Galilee to cross towards the northeast, but in the end they actually go backwards.

That might make anyone a little anxious. Things feel out of control. The wind is howling and driving them back. “Why did Jesus send us out here, anyway? Why didn’t he come?” The questions hang out there in the screeching blackness.

What they don’t know…is that Jesus sees them. He’s on a mountain, it’s after 3 in the morning, how could he see them? The text doesn’t give us a clue. But though they had no idea, Jesus knew exactly where they were, what situation they were in and how they felt. Jesus sees his people.

3. Jesus is DOING things…that only God can do.

It’s no accident, Mark has been trying to get us to see this for six full chapters now. Jesus…comes, walking on the water. You can’t do that. I can’t do that. Sweet Daddy Grace couldn’t do it. But Jesus did it.

Whenever there is a hint of such a thing in the scripture, it’s God doing it. Job says it: (Job 9:8) “God alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.” The Psalmist says “(God,) Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen.” Isaiah writes- “This is what the Lord says- he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters.” Only God walks on water. Jesus is doing things that only God can do.

“Jesus intended to pass them by.” I’ve always wondered what that meant. Was Jesus out there surfing the waves, trying to tiptoe by and not be seen at 3 am? No. Jesus is doing things only God can do. He “intended to pass them by.”

Now, anyone who knew the story of Moses from Exodus would know what “pass by” meant. Moses asked God to “show me your glory.” And God replies “I will pass before you…sit in this place in the rock while my glory passes you by.” And then on Mt. Sinai, “The Lord passed by Moses…” Same thing with Elijah on the mountain, “The Lord passed by…” The word we sometimes use for these “pass bys” is “theo-phany,” a God-revelation, a God-sighting. And what usually happens is that God shows Himself in some way, and then quickly disappears.

But this is different. Jesus shows himself, meaning to “pass by,” to reassure them perhaps, that he is with them. But the disciples become terrified, thinking he is a ghost. And so Jesus does not simply “pass by,” and disappear, he stops, and he speaks. Jesus does what only God can do.

4) Jesus says what only God can say.

“Take heart. It is I. Don’t be afraid.” The first thing, Take heart is simply a “courage” word. Have courage! Be brave! It’s okay!

The third thing, Don’t be afraid. we’ve talked about this earlier in Mark. How so many times in the scriptures, God says “Don’t be afraid.” Usually it is followed by “I will be with you.”

But the second thing is the one that interests me. “It is I,” our NRSV translates it.

It’s just two words in the Greek (ego eimi) and that is a fair translation of it. But a more literal translation is “I am.” Jesus uses these same words to begin the seven great “I AM” statements of the New Testament/Gospel of John. “I AM the light of the world. I AM the gate. I AM the bread of life. I AM the good shepherd. I AM the resurrection and the life. I AM the way, and the truth, and the life. I AM the vine.”

But more than that, these are the words that are used for God’s self-naming. In Exodus, just after the story of Moses and the burning bush that the kids read earlier Moses asks God “if people ask me your name, what do I say?” And God says “I AM.” “ego eimi,” when it moves into Greek.

In the New Testament when Jesus’ Jewish opponents are hassling him in John 8, Jesus says “Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was… I AM.” The name of God. And the religious leaders knew exactly what he was claiming, because they picked up rocks to try and stone him. Jesus says things, I AM…that only God can say.

5. God does something new in Jesus.

After Jesus has prayed, after he has watched out for his people, after he has done things only God does, and says things only God can say, Jesus gets into the boat with them.

Isn’t that interesting in other biblical “theophanies” God shows himself, passes by and then disappears until another time? But here, Jesus climbs into the boat. Despite the wind, despite their wondering why Jesus let them get in trouble, despite their doubts, their fears, their “hard hearts,” and despite the fact, for goodness sake, that in order to make room for Jesus in the boat they probably had to move aside the 12 baskets of leftovers from feeding 5000 people out of thin air, a miracle they had just participated in, despite all these things, Jesus says “Yes” to being with them. Climbs right into the sea-splashed, cold, fishy smelling old boat and sits in their midst.

Here is something new. God-in-a-boat. Who would have thought? It may be our biggest complaint, our most poignant cry: “Lord, my friend is an alcoholic. Lord, this child has cancer. Where are you? Lord, I’ve lost a job, or a relationship, or can’t find one. Where are you? Don’t you know? Don’t you care?” It’s one of the most audacious claims that Christians make: Whether we see it or not, or recognize it or not in any given situation, in Christ God has said “Yes, I do see. I do know. And I am with you.” He’s in the boat, he’s present.

Part of our ministry in Jesus’ name emulates this. A ministry of presence.

Friday night Anne and I watched the movie Lars and the Real Girl. I confess, I had avoided it for weeks after seeing a trailer for it. But finally I relented, and it’s pretty interesting. It takes place in Minnesota. Lars is a man suffering from some mental delusions, and he ends up with a girlfriend who is a life-size doll. As in plastic! In Lars’ small town, everyone buys into going along with this delusion in the hopes of helping Lars get well. They act like she is a real girl.

And as Lars begins to get better, he is almost finished needing her, so he decides that his plastic girlfriend is very ill. The people of the town send flowers and cards! And so Lars tucks his girl into bed one night, and he finds himself sitting in the living room with several older women from church. They’ve brought food (casseroles, of course, it is Minnesota!), and they’ve brought their knitting. And it’s silent. And pretty awkward. And finally Lars says “Is there something I’m supposed to be doing?” And the women say “No. You eat. We came over to sit. That’s what people do when tragedy strikes, Lars. You come over and sit.” Do you see it? They climbed in the boat with Lars.

Now, I’m the first to note that Jesus climbing in with the disciples may have temporarily solved some problems for them- wind stopped. Fear subsides. But it didn’t solve all of their problems by a long haul. Some of them undoubtedly wondered whether they were crazy to follow Jesus. Some of the people in the boat didn’t like each other. And on a bigger scale, famines and wars and earthquakes will still happen on the earth. And Lord knows that when the boat gets back to land, before too much more time goes by Jesus himself will be arrested, beaten and crucified. That is the real boat Jesus willingly chose to get into. For a purpose. For us.

You may have noticed I called this sermon “A Jesus Story.” And mostly what we have talked about is…Jesus. Five things about him. Not a lot about us. On purpose. We think a lot about us, and what we think is relevant and what fits our needs and how our lives should look. We have lots of opportunity to do that. What Mark has for us today is invited us to just look at Jesus.

So. Do we believe Jesus walked on water? If we do, we’re in grave danger of being pulled into the painting. We’ll no longer be content just making observations. Instead, we’ll be called to a quiet place to pray. We’ll begin to see that the Lord knows just exactly where we are and what is happening to us. We’ll be confronted with Jesus acting and speaking like only God can. And if we pay attention, we’ll find that Jesus is with us, wherever our boat happens to be.