You know, our patron, St. Andrew was a fisherman, and our new church logo features a boat clearly at sail with a good tailwind. So I thought I’d tell you a little story about boats that might resonate with you…

Once upon a time there was this old boating club—maybe it was over on Lake Manawa, maybe on Lake MacConaughy…I’m not sure. This boating club had been around for a long time, and back in the day it was an exciting place with lots of activity, and lots of enthusiastic boaters. Over time, though, things changed. Eventually, when people walked in, they might have been engaged by the interesting stories about boating they heard, and there are some fascinating boating artifacts and antiques they found sitting around the club. But it soon became obvious that the boating club members were just siting around talking about boating—they never actually got out on the water any more—and they hadn’t for years. The boats were all in dry-dock, not kept up, not in good repair. So people just walked away, confused and frustrated…thinking perhaps they should look into baseball or soccer clubs instead…

This was happening at other places, too, and boat clubs everywhere were shutting their doors. Fewer and fewer people thought that boating was a worthwhile activity—In fact, the news stories you heard about the boating clubs that actually did get out on the water were mostly awful—they reminded people of that scene from the movie Titanic, the one where most all of the lifeboats pull away from the huge ship half-empty—because the entitled passengers in them don’t want to be in the same lifeboat with the “wrong” kind of people. Rather than throwing those who are drowning lifesavers, the folks in these boats actually push drowning people away. It’s so bad that the very name “boating” started to be looked on by many people—maybe most people—with scorn and distrust. There just didn’t seem to be much hope for boating.

Well…you’ve probably guessed maybe this story isn’t so much about boating…but it may be a prophetic parable about the plight of Christian churches. It might seem sometimes like there isn’t much hope. My friends, I am blessed to be here today and say to you that St. Andrew’s is not that kind of boat club…and to say to you that there is hope. In fact, as I’ve said before, my favorite definition of the Church is from Anglican Bishop N. T. Wright, who says that we are “God’s community of hope in the world…We come together to share our hope and then to be people of hope for the world.”

There is a book published last year that features sermons by our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry:   Reconciliation, Healing, and Hope: Sermons from Washington National Cathedral. In one of the sermons Bishop Curry says, “We are not victims of fate. We are people of faith. We are not doomed and condemned to continue our past into our present and future…We follow in the footsteps of Jesus, [who] taught us that love will make a way out of no way. He taught us that sometimes you have to take up the cross and follow in his footsteps and that if you dare to follow his way of love, you will find God’s way of life.” Jesus showed us—by his living and dying, and Resurrection—God’s love—love, as Curry says, not as “a sentiment, but love as a personal and moral commitment to a particular way of living, a way of living that is unselfish, even sacrificial, a way of living that seeks the good and the welfare and the wellbeing of others…”

This is the message of Easter. Jesus could have marshaled all the heavenly hosts to save him from the horrors of that Cross—but he didn’t. He stayed with us even through death. Jesus is Emmanuel, God-with-us as that baby in the manger. Jesus is God-with-us as he healed and preached that the Kingdom of God is part of our lives even now if we will only live in love and sacrifice rather than fear and greed. Jesus is God-with-us when he wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus. Jesus is God-with-us when he said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” and when he did just that from the Cross. Jesus is God-with-us, when he died, showing us with outstretched, wounded arms, “this is how much I love you.”

Jesus is God-with-us at his glorious Resurrection, God-with-us not rejecting and condemning the world, but being in it completely and redeeming it. Jesus shows us, by his resurrection, that we are not manning half-empty lifeboats, abandoning the sinking ship of a world. This is the world Jesus loves…and it is full of the people Jesus loves. As Jesus’ disciples, we are God’s first responders to this world, and in this world, and for this world. We are like the Red Cross, speeding towards what might have been a disaster—but is not—because there is ultimately hope for us and hope for the world—hope for the world that God created and Jesus redeemed and the Holy Spirit sanctifies—hope for the world that God so loves—so loves that He gave his only Son.

I’m so glad you’re here at St. Andrew’s as we sail onward, sometimes on calm seas with a beautiful cloudless sky, and sometimes on stormy seas with rough weather and howling winds—but always knowing that our captain Jesus is with us no matter what the weather. We know his saving presence, we share his abundant love, and we bring his message of hope to the world until his return in great glory to restore all of creation. Alleluia, the Lord is Risen! The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!