Twentieth Sunday after Trinity (21 Oct., 2018)

What Do You See?

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.  And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."  And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.  And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.  And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.  God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.  And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so.  The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.  And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so.  And God made the two great lights – the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night – and the stars.  And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.  And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens."  So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.  And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."  And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.  And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds – livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so.  And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.  Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."  And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.  And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so.  And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.  And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.  So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.  Genesis 1:1-2:3

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.  Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.  When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?  Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.  You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.  O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  Psalm 8

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.  Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.  In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,  Ephesians 6:10-17

So He came again to Cana in Galilee, where He had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill.  When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to Him and asked Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  So Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe."  The official said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies."  Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.  As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering.  So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." And he himself believed, and all his household.  This was now the second sign that Jesus did when He had come from Judea to Galilee.  John 4:46-54

There is nothing that God cannot do.

That seems like an oversimplification, but it is true.  Consider the readings.  There isn't a distinctly common theme between them.  We read the account of Creation in Genesis, of King David singing of God's majesty, of the armor of God, and of Christ healing an official's son.  No particular unifying element.

Except for the Almighty God.

In some ways that is the unifying theme of all Scripture.  We do not believe in a god that can only manipulate a select element, or only operate in a limited region of the Earth.  Rather, our God created the entire universe and everything in it from nothing but His Word.  It was that same Word that David heard confessed by children.  It is this Word that St. Paul tasks us with taking up as a two-edged sword.  And it is this Word that walked among us.

It would be very easy to just take one of these passages and focus solely on it.  Much can be discussed with the Creation account, from the amazing work of God to the established order of creation in our first parents.  Likewise, diving deep into the Psalm quickly becomes an exercise in the authority vested in the Son of God.  And the armor of God is a favorite of many, with a plethora of applicable directions to take it.  Even the account of Christ healing the official's son, while not especially notable compared to some healings, is one of the many multi-faced layers of the ministry of Christ.

But underneath it all is the Almighty God.  The God who said "let there be light."  The God who set the human race, reduced to one in Christ, in headship and stewardship over all.  The God who defends us from all the assaults of the devil.  The God who, incarnate, showed mercy as He made His way toward the cross.

Many times Christ was, to put it mildly, disappointed that the people would refuse to believe if they did not see some sort of "great sign."  What more great sign was needed?  God created everything from nothing using only the Living Word.  The mighty works of His hand are evident throughout creation.  The claimed need for a "sign" is arrogantly thinking we can manipulate God.

That is why John mentions the official with the sick son who is dying.  He came to Christ, begging for mercy and healing, hoping that the Man would come and heal his son.  Instead, he is sent away with only the promise that his son would live.  The official believed, sight unseen, because the Word was sufficient.