Proper 14A Impossible Things

"Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things." 

"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

as written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll in his popular book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Six impossible things,

before breakfast no less!

Honestly though, 

the idea of Jesus walking on water 

doesn't seem all that impossible.

Seems like God-Incarnate would naturally be able to do something like defy the laws of physics and walk on water.

What is almost impossible to believe, what seems most amazing in this story,

is that Peter walks on water.

Peter, a clumsy human being, defying the laws of gravity.

Sadly of course, because it is Peter, and he doesn't seem to do anything right for very long,

his amazing walk on water doesn't last but a few steps.

In contemplation of this story this year, I think what has struck me most,

is that Peter even has the audacity and imagination 

to think that because Jesus can walk on water,

somehow he can too.

Peter asks something huge of Jesus, in some ways he tests Jesus' power, 

and he gets a walk of a lifetime

across the waves of the sea of Galilee.

In some ways I wonder if this is really what Jesus meant when he said, 

Do not be afraid.

Fear is not only a visceral emotion, in reaction to something dangerous,

it can also be a response to a lack of imagination.

We can only see one way of something happening, and so we are fearful.

Yet, over and over again, Jesus opens up new possibilities for the disciples,

new ways of being and doing that they had never imagined.

Jimmy and I watched the Aeronauts movie on Netflix the other day. 

Its about a scientist and a pilot who go up in a balloon to study the weather 

and break the highest flight record at the end of the 1800's. 

The movie is loosely based on an historical event, 

though they take a great deal of license with the story. 

However, the backstory of the pilot is that her husband had been killed in a ballooning accident previously because he sacrificed himself to save his wife. 

At a crucial moment in the present story, 

the scientist and the pilot are faced with a similar situation in which the pilot's husband died. Thankfully, the scientist is able to imagine a different way of saving both of them 

and landing the balloon in a very audacious manner. 

His imagination, and his different plan, saved both their lives. 

The scientist didn't know if it would work, but his ability to imagine a different outcome and think outside the box, well, basket, at that point, saved their lives.

Sometimes our own lack of imagination can stifle our lives.

Over and over again, Jesus shows his disciples miracles to broaden their imaginations.

We have a tendency to put God in a box and think of all that is possible on earth, 

all that we think is possible for us, and stay there.

Yet, Jesus consistently shows the disciples that impossible things are possible. 

Walking on water.

Casting out demons from people. 

Feeding more than five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes.

Giving a blind man sight.

Stilling a storm on the Sea of Galilee.

Raising a dead man to life.

God can make such wondrous things happen! 

And sometimes, like Peter, what we really need to do 

is imagine the impossible and audaciously ask for it.

I want you to take a moment to think now,

think back over your lifetime, or maybe the lifetimes of your parents. 

Think about what the world looked like then in comparison to what it looks like now.

So much of what we can do today would have been impossible a hundred years ago.

In 1920, only a third of households in the US had a telephone. Now, we carry them everywhere with us. Today we have handheld computers and wearable technology. Full organ transplants. Trips to the moon. Self driving vehicles. Legal interracial and same gender marriages.

Imagine then what the world will look like in another hundred years.

Who knows what impossible things will become common place?

Not only in terms of the world, 

but also in terms of our own spiritual practices and community life,

Jesus invites us to imagine more. 

How can we continue to be community in an ever changing world?

How can we share our faith and our Good News in helpful and fulfilling ways?

How can we grow to spread a wider Table, sharing with those not of our community yet?

Discipleship encompasses a large number of things, but imagination is definitely part of the list. 

Sometimes we need to imagine and ask audaciously.

Thankfully, imagination can be practiced. 

Just like the Queen says to Alice, we can practice believing impossible things.

Children have a head start on all the rest of us adults, but we all need to let ourselves sit in the wonder of the impossible that God does in our lives,

and allow the impossible to change our lives.

Jesus is calling to us, Do not be afraid.

Take a step out, imagine the impossible.

Walk with God across water.

Amen.