I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!

He will not let your foot be moved.
Except for the times that he does let your foot be moved.

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

B Lectionary 17 – July 26, 2015

Text: John 6:1-21

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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Last Wednesday afternoon, I went down to the grocery store to buy some bread for us to use for Communion that evening. I strolled into the store, found the bread I wanted, and then decided I wanted to buy some cashews, too. So, I went up and down several aisles, looking for the canned nuts. I was walking down Aisle 2, when – BLAM! – I hit a spot of water on the floor and have never fallen so quickly.

My legs went out from underneath me and I crumpled to the floor. My feeling of humiliation was quickly taken over by pain – my knees hurt, my left foot hurt. And…there was no one around to help. I was sitting on the floor of a store full of people, and yet I was completely alone. I couldn’t get myself up safely, and so I waited for someone to walk by the aisle, or come into the aisle. Finally, a woman with two children walked past the end of the aisle. I hollered out to her, and she got me some help.

Suddenly, I was surrounded by concerned employees and customers. They were asking what I needed – a chair? some ice? Honestly, in that moment, I didn’t know – except I knew I wanted the pain to stop. Finally, they helped me up to my feet, and helped me hobble to the in-store Starbucks. I propped my foot up on a chair, they brought me ice, and the manager came over to fill out the accident report. (She also bought me a cappuccino and brought me those stupid cashews, which were located on some non-aisle of the store.)

The paperwork completed, I made my purchases and the manager helped me hobble out to my car.  I got back here, I hobbled into the building, plunked my foot up on a chair with the ice, and I cried. I snuggled the teddy bear that I keep in my office for you all to snuggle with when you come in to talk to me. I called Steve. I whined on social media and in text messages, and I got sympathy and advice in response.

After I’d calmed down, I decided to look over the bulletin for Wednesday night to get into the worship-leading frame of mind. As I looked over the lessons, the psalm jumped out at me – I had selected Psalm 121, which is a psalm praising God for God’s protection, and verse 3 of that psalm reads: “He will not let your foot be moved.”

Respectfully, I disagree with the psalmist. Maybe that psalm writer never slipped and fell. Whatever the case, I have had a different experience with God than the psalm writer.

My experience with God is more like the disciples in the boat in today’s Gospel lesson: rowing away in rough seas, finding Jesus in my moments of great fear, and hearing Jesus say, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

We hear John’s version of this story today, but in the story as it’s told by Matthew, we hear that the disciple Peter actually gets out of the boat to walk to Jesus out on the water. He’s strolling along, and then he notices the strong wind, he becomes afraid, and begins to sink down. Peter’s experience of God is different than the psalm writer, too. His feet are also moved - moved down, into the water, and he has no choice but to call out to Jesus for help. The story says that Jesus immediately reaches out to lift him up, and so, of course, there is no reason for Peter to be afraid.

So this story of Jesus walking on the water can teach us two important things: the first, about our need, and the second, about God’s response.

Our need for God is great. St. Augustine wrote this words to God: “You have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” We are restless, like Peter, and we are drawn out of the boat to walk on the water toward Jesus. Then we begin to fear and, as we fear, we sink, and as we sink, we cry out for God to help us.

The psalms are full of these cries - if you ever need the words to cry out to God, turn to the psalms: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” says Psalm 22 – which are the words that Jesus cries out from the cross.

       “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” says Psalm 13.

·      “Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” says Psalm 10.

Or, put another way: “Lord, my foot has moved. Help me!” Or like an old commercial says, “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”

The disciples in their storm-tossed boat are afraid because of the weather and because they see Jesus and think he is a ghost. And Jesus, showing the same compassion to them that he has just shown in feeding the five thousand, reassures them, “It is I; do not be afraid."

Let us remember that God responds to us in love, whatever our need. Even if we cannot see the love of God because of our focus on the storm going on around us, that doesn’t mean God’s love isn’t there. Even if we cannot see the love of God because of our fear, that doesn’t mean God’s love isn’t there.

Even when we have fallen and we can’t get up, God’s love is still there. Our feet may slip, we may sink down, but God’s love is still there.

Amen.

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