Pentecost 9B 2021
Fr. Dale Matson
The Gospel, A Brief History Of St. James and Surviving A Fall
Proper 12
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire
or deserve: Pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Mark 6:45-52
Jesus Walks on the Water
45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night[a] he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
let’s take the story sequentially and unpack this miraculous series of events.
• Disciples: get into a boat;
Jesus: goes to a mountain alone to pray. Mark mentions Jesus praying three times in his Gospel. All three times Jesus is alone, in crisis and it is night. In this case the people want to force him to be their king.
• Crowds: are dismissed.
• Boat: sends the disciples to Bethsaida from Tabgha
• Fourth watch: three in the morning.
• Jesus sees the disciples during the fourth watch (Matthew) 3a-6a/DARKNESS
• Struggling against the winds they have by this time rowed about three and a half miles from where they left Jesus (John).
• So, what are our accounts perhaps telling us? Jesus sees the disciples rowing the boat from a distance of three and a half miles in the dark. I would call this miraculous, also wouldn’t you?
• Disciples: saw Jesus walking on the sea. How did he catch up to them walking as they rowed? This is another miracle.
• Disciples: were terrified and thought they saw a ghost.
• Jesus: spoke to them.
• Jesus’ teaching: Take heart; it is I; do not be afraid. This literally is I AM. (Matt)
• The story of Peter; only in Matthew’s account. Peter goes out to meet Jesus walking on water and begins to sink when he takes his eyes of Jesus.
• Took him/them into the boat (only Jesus or Jesus and Peter)
• Wind ceased. Another Miracle the disciples were amazed at this and Mark states that their hearts were hardened (again, they had not made the connection-It had no yet sunk in) for they had not even understood the loaves and fishes. In other words, if they had understood how miraculous it was to feed five thousand, then they should not have been surprised that He could also walk on water.
• Three different reactions to walking on the water: Matthew: worshipped Jesus (Jesus Christ is God). Mark: the disciples didn’t understand because their hearts were hardened. John: no evaluation of the disciples’ reaction. In Matthew, they made the connection.
• And finally, in John’s account it states that when Jesus came into the boat, it immediately reached the shore where they were headed. This is another miracle.
• SUMMARIZE
Within this one story, as told by three of His Disciples, Jesus is able see his disciples struggling against the wind in the dark three and a half miles away, He catches up with them walking on the water, He calms the wind, He refers to himself as “I Am” (God) and His disciples finally make the connection between his miracles and who he is. They worship him and they instantly arrive at their destination when Jesus gets into the boat.
Today is the feast day of St. James our church namesake.
A Brief History of St. James
St. James Episcopal Church was the first Episcopal Church in Fresno County and was organized on December 15, 1879, a mere five years after Fresno City was chosen as the seat of Fresno county. Before that the town of Millerton was the Fresno County seat. I think there were two main reasons Fresno became the county seat. First, the free running San Joaquin River inundated the town of Millerton and in 1872, the Central Pacific Railroad established a station for its new Southern Pacific line near a farm then owned by Anthony Easterby bounded by the present Chestnut, Belmont, Clovis and California avenues. Soon there was a store and around which grew the town of Fresno Station, later called Fresno. Many Millerton residents, drawn by the convenience of the railroad and worried about flooding, moved to the new community.
D O. Kelley, an Episcopal missionary, traveled up and down the Valley during the previous summer and decided that this area of the Valley would serve as an excellent spot to begin a church. Consequently, in the Fall of 1879, Kelley was assigned to Fresno by the Missionary Board of the Episcopal Church and began organizing congregation.
During this time, the population of Fresno was only 600 people and there were already two churches, but the rowdy frontier population could use all the spiritual guidance it could get! The first services of St. James Episcopal Church were held in a lawyer’s office above a saloon. The congregation later moved to a nearby school room before finally building the first church which the congregation of St. James occupied by the end of 1884.
Despite the small town and the presence of other churches, the congregation grew quickly. Within ten years of the church’s founding membership had to climbed to 275 people. Given the growth, St. James quickly outgrew the original small church building. In 1901, the congregation tore down the existing building. By the end of 1902, the congregation moved into a larger church building that included a new rectory (clergy resident) at First and N Streets.
At the beginning of the 20th Century, the population in the Valley was expanding quickly. In response to the growth, the Episcopal Church created a new diocese in 1910 that rapidly spread up and down the Valley from Stockton in the north to Bakersfield in the south.
The newly formed Diocese of San Joaquin now needed a bishop and a cathedral. The Reverend Louis Sanford soon would be called to be the First Bishop of San Joaquin. Guided by the persuasive St. James Vestry, Bishop Sanford designated Fresno as the location of the Bishop See meaning that St. James would be the cathedral for the Diocese of San Joaquin. Reverend G. R. E. MacDonald came from the church in Hanford to serve as the first Dean of St. James Cathedral.
https://www.stjamesfresno.org/history
We are about to start a new chapter for St. James. We have called Noah Lawson as our new rector coadjutor. When St. James and Our Lady become a single church, I suppose we will also have a new name. I am somewhat sad that our church will no longer be called St. James but understand and accept the reality. Jesus renamed three of his disciples. Simon became Peter, and James and John were nicknamed the Sons of Thunder.
I understand that Fr. Carlos and Fr. Anthony will continue to serve which means that the united congregation will have two deacons and four priests. Sharon and I have been discussing my service at St. James as I approach my seventy seventh birthday in September of this year.
Story about Derek and Me.
Fr. Derek Thomason and I intended to be on an overnight hike to Cottonwood Lakes near Mt. Langley. We did a day hike with full packs, fully intending to head to Fifth Lake but went on the wrong trail and went to Chicken Spring Lake instead (I’ll have more to say about this) We passed the sign on a tree to Chicken Spring Lake and it wasn’t even on my paper map. When we finally realized this, we were too far South on the wrong trail. We also realized there was no trail we could take to get us to the Cottonwood Lakes trail, so we soldiered on up the 1,000’ or so elevation gain on the switchbacks.
We got to Chicken Spring Lake and decided to head back at 2:30pm. We each called our wives to let them know where we were and what our plans were. I showed Derek how to use the Iridium Sat Phone I always carry. We thought we would find a spot lower on the trail to sleep overnight and packed lots of water.
Shortly after we made our turn onto the switchbacks again below Cottonwood Pass, we saw a helicopter and were told that a couple of people had to be brought out because of injuries. Not long after that, I fell and bloodied myself pretty good. I hit my head on a big boulder but it was a glancing blow. My right shoulder, arm and hand were scraped up pretty bad. Derek helped me to get back on my feet. It seemed almost impossible that I wasn’t hurt even worse but a verse came to mind, (Psalm 91:11-12)
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone. (ESV)
So, once again we decided to change plans and hike out. My legs were in good shape and we were out before 6pm. Derek suggested we try to find a room in Lone Pine and As I drove the 20 miles to Lone Pine, Derek finally was able to get a signal on his cell phone. On his second try, he talked to a clerk at the Best Western who said she had just got a cancellation for a room with two beds. Thank You Lord for our lodging and watching over us on our hike and travels. After I showered, Derek used the first aid kit in his backpack to patch up my wounds. Thank You Lord.
I was very fortunate. We saw two separate helicopter flights and found out later that the helicopters were carrying out two women who had fallen off horses and needed air transport to a hospital. The body of a Nevada man missing since the weekend was also discovered near Mt. Clark in Yosemite on Tuesday.
Falls are common and dangerous for us older folks. My 84-year-old brother Don fell in his basement last week, while showing two firemen where his sewer pipe was. They were there to help him after he fell. We recently went back to Michigan for a memorial service for my older sister. She fell outside one winter and her neighbor heard her calling for help. It was soon after that the rest of us were able to convince her to move to an apartment in town.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy, Amen
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