In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Theology fell from grace in the modern world. It was the “queen of the sciences” in the Middle Ages but now it is no longer one of the intellectually respected disciplines. In our world, salvation is to be achieved through material progress which comes about through the marketplace and scientific technology.

Over the last few Sundays, we have explored first the discipline of economics and secondly the discipline of physics namely string theory. It is probably these two disciplines as well as the advent of modern technology that has led to the rise of our sense of independence as human beings in the modern world.

And we human beings delight in proclaiming our independence. We dislike being beholden to anyone. It is for this reason that the twin myths of the “bootstrap philosophy” and the “self-made man” have had such a long life in our culture.

Self reliance is a treasured virtue in our society; “dependency” is a naughty word, used largely in connection with alcohol, drugs and gambling. Now to a point our sense of self reliance may be valid, even beneficial. But too often our delight in our presumed independence is so pervasive that it extends even into our relationship with God.

The coins in the United States boldly proclaim, “In God we trust”. But of course what Americans seem to trust is their gross national product, the strength of their armed forces, technology that emboldens a sense of progress against all social ills. Military hyper power aside, we Canadians also can thank economics, as well as science and technology for providing us with a strong streak of independence.

The 2001 census data just released indicates that the fastest growing religious category in Canada is “no religion” accounting for 16 percent of the population, up 4 percent from 1991. And if God is considered at all, he is a kind of vagueness out beyond space somewhere, a comforting presence who plays little role in our daily affairs except when we are in trouble.

And yet into our situation comes our reading from the Gospel of John featuring two, dramatic mysterious moments in the ministry of Jesus-the feeding of the multitudes and walking on water-joined together in one lesson. In today’s lesson, Jesus is pursued by a large crowd. How are these people to be fed? There is nothing available but a small boy with his few loaves and fish.

Yet Jesus commands them to distribute the food and not only is the crowd fed but 12 baskets are left over. The people are amazed. That evening, Jesus disciples launch out into a boat to cross the sea. There is a storm. It is dark and suddenly they see Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat. The disciples are terrified.
These stories our strange to our modern ears, wonderfully strange. They are filled with mystery. So strange, so mysterious in fact that in our spirit of independence we carve them down to pieces that we can intellectually digest. For in our modern world, we see mystery as a problem to be solved and with the right research everything will be explained.

 “God has no hands or feet but ours” we say referring once again to that distant deity who has no power in our daily affairs. So obviously, the feeding of the multitudes is easily explained. The miracle is that once the crowd saw the little boy’s offering they all brought their lunches as well and everyone was satisfied. The miracle was in the sharing.

As far as Jesus walking on the water, he was walking on stones just below the surface or the light was dim and the disciples only thought he was walking on the water.   And yet our feeble attempts to dumb down these stories are destined to failure for these stories have a meaning that is far deeper than the events of the story.

It was this “strange world of the Bible” that Karl Barth discovered after the First World War. Leading Barth to conclude that Bible is not human beings talking about God but rather God’s address to us. In fact all attempts to reduce Christianity to a set of moral directives or philosophical platitudes are destined for failure for Christianity is about mystery.
The theologian P.T. Forsyth once wrote, “There are few dangers threatening the religious future more serious than the slow shallowing of the religious mind…”
May God in his mercy forgive our misguided attempts to whittle down the church to a moral improvement club or a volunteer social service agency. To be a Christian is about the mystery of being met by God in Christ through grace. It is the mystery of acknowledging our dependence on God. The mystery of being encountered, blessed, reassured, and fed.

With Christ, we launch out on uncharted seas, with no stars to guide us, into the stormy gale. And it is there, just when we think all hope is lost, hope comes to us in the form of the one who says; “It is I, don’t be afraid”. Now if we have difficulty seeing what God is doing in the present, it is helpful to meditate on what God has done in the past. For God is faithful and can be counted on. The Bible gives witness to this and so do the lives of the saints.

In the lives of those who have gone before us, we discover the same weaknesses, doubts and struggles that we share. We also come to realize that in the midst of these, they relied on God for help. Declaring their independence from God was their undoing. Calling on God was their salvation.
We live our lives in the midst of mystery, there is something afoot, something is on the move, something is happening now just beneath the surface. God is at work in the midst of the world, and in the ordinary moments of our lives. Let us pray for the ears to hear and the eyes to see. THANKS BE TO GOD, AMEN.