Ash Wednesday Sermon

SCRIPTURE TEXT: Matthew 14:22-30

Rev. Taylor Boone

Does anyone besides me find it a bit ironic that we start talking our journey into Lent by going into the Dark Woods yet our Scripture is about getting out of a boat and almost drowning?

 

            Eric Elnes in his book, Gifts of the Dark Wood, explains the origin of the term Dark Wood. It was used by the Italian poet and moral philosopher, Dante Alighieri, in his work, The Divine Comedy. Western society over the years has interpreted the reference to Dark Wood as a place to be feared and avoided. Dante’s understanding of the Dark Wood was “a place of confusion, emptiness, and stumbling that is entered because of our sin and is inhabited by strange and terrifying denizens.” You don’t go there unless you have to—it is the entrance to everlasting torment.

 

            But other saints of Christianity had alternative understandings of the Dark Wood.   Saint John of the Cross referred to it as the dark night of the soul and Saint Teresa of Avila described it as the fifth mansion. No matter how it is labeled, it is my understanding and experience that the Dark Wood is where we meet God! It’s not a place like the Piney Woods of East Texas or the Lost Maples.

 

            No, as Eric Elnes writes--it is where we begin to see life through new eyes, recognizing that experiences of failure, emptiness, and uncertainty are as critical for finding our way through life as they are unavoidable. Just as Elnes describes in his book, I look back at my failures, my lost-ness, and my disappointments that lead me to a different way of relating to God, myself, and others—from one way of living to a new way.  Look at some of the famous people of recent times who encountered significant losses and defeats but who drew ever closer to God and living as Jesus called us to live: Gandhi, Dorothy Day, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

           

            Let’s go back to Peter in the boat. He and the disciples had just witnessed Jesus feeding well over 5,000 people. It was Jesus who told them to get in the boat immediately and head to the other side of the Sea of Galilee while he went up to pray. Why do you think Jesus sent the disciples away so quickly and why did he need to go pray? I think Jesus needed support from God as he confronted temptation. We know from John’s Gospel, that people who were fed wanted to make Jesus king. See John 6:12-15. And Jesus certainly didn’t want the disciples to fall to the temptation of power that he was confronting.

 

            So we find the disciples crossing the Sea, which in and of itself was scary at that time, but to make matters worse they were in the midst of a storm. Don’t you think they were calling out to God for help? And who shows up—Jesus, who was quick to comfort them even if they thought he was a ghost.

 

            Peter, the shoot first and then aim kind of guy, immediately calls out to Jesus to let him come to him on the water. Jesus doesn’t hesitate or give a warning, he just says “Come on.” And Peter takes off and is initially successful. I imagine he became distracted and lost focus on Jesus and began to sink. This ever happen to you—it has to me! I think I am following Jesus and then get distracted thinking more about my own needs or desires. More often than not, I find myself just too comfortable to even think about following Jesus!

 

            Some might say Peter’s experience was a colossal failure. He began to sink like a rock. I wonder if Jesus really was disappointed in Peter’s sinking like a rock and his apparent lack of faith? But at least Peter got out of the boat and began to engage with Jesus. The rest of the disciples were still huddled in the boat not willing to follow Jesus. As Elnes in his book writes, maybe Peter’s actions were a right failure. And you know the subsequent actions of Peter denying Jesus three times and all the other disciples except perhaps John as they abandoned Jesus on the cross.

 

            Yes, Peter and the other disciples were beginning to experience the Dark Wood, and in the following Sundays of Lent we will journey into the Dark Wood and explore seven gifts that can bring us closer to Christ:

 

• emptiness
• uncertainty
• getting lost
• being thunderstruck
• temptation
• disappearing; and
• becoming a misfit

 

            I have experienced these seven gifts of the Dark Wood, although at the time they were difficult to recognize. For example, in 1993 I became President of the Board of Directors of the Southwest Texas Methodist Hospital, a large non-profit hospital. It was a time of uncertainty about the future of healthcare.  The Board of the Hospital had determined we could not even remain viable in the long run if we did not find a partner. We could not find another non-profit partner with our same values. So, our CEO suggested we approach one of the largest for profit hospital systems in the United States that already had several hospitals in San Antonio.

 

            Talk about rocking my boat. How could a tax-exempt hospital ever be a partner with a for profit hospital system? As the President, I had the authority to kill the idea or pursue it. There I was---uncertain, at times feeling all alone—empty, and lost in a sea of fear. The easy road would have been to say no thanks—we’ll just coast along as we had been. But we began the investigation and negotiations. I was scared because for a year I had to cut back my law practice by 50% which was how I earned a living. I began receiving nasty letters and even threats against me and my family. It was very tempting to just say never-mind. But over and over as we as a Board prayed, events began to happen in my life and that of other members of the Board that reinforced us to just have faith even if we felt like misfits who were sinking.

 

            Well, 20 years ago we did enter into an equal joint venture with HCA to operate all of our hospitals in the San Antonio as a for profit venture, We agreed to take our 50% of the profits and create the Methodist Healthcare Ministries, which is now one of the largest sources of healthcare for people with little or no health insurance in South Texas. It’s not perfect, but we got out of our comfort zone and trusted Christ to lead us.

 

            In the Dark Wood, a person can meet God, and as one draws closer to God a person begins to know herself or himself better. The closer we draw to Christ the closer we come to knowing our True Self. I met Christ repeatedly on the journey to create Methodist Healthcare Ministries; in fact, it was while I was in the Dark Wood that I decided to pursue ordained ministry and start seminary.

 

            Where do you find yourself today? Empty? Uncertain about where life is taking you? Too scared to make changes because change itself is even scarier? We know about the man at the healing pool who really didn’t want to be healed—he was too comfortable with the life style he knew. How about us? I’m pretty comfortable right now but I know that comfort is not about following Christ.        

 

            How do we start if we want to draw closer to God and to understanding ourselves? It takes more than just showing up to hear the sermons or even reading and studying Elnes excellent book. We have to get out of the boat, our status quo where we are comfortable; we have to be honest with ourselves even if we have to face our own fears!   

 

            Listen to what Jesus said to the disciples: “Courage, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.” This season of Lent, I’m going to do my best to get out of my boat, even if it means I may make some mistakes. I know whose hand is ready to hold me when I fall. Take some time now to reflect on what gifts you might receive by entering into the Dark Wood in the coming days.

 

[Reflection time]

 

Let’s get out of the boat. Christ is calling us to come to him.

 

Thanks be to God, AMEN.