08/10/2026
Here is the sermon that Deacon Kit gave on August 9:
As many of you know, I am a high school social studies and English teacher. Several years ago, when I was monitoring an 11th grade study hall, one student said to me something like, “Mr. Hutch, did you know that Christians believe that there is an old man in the sky you created everything? That’s a pretty stupid idea, don’t you think?”
That statement shocked me for a few reasons. First, I had taught him 9th grade Global Studies. Part of that course focuses on major world religions. It’s nothing too in depth; it’s just an introduction so that students know what the very basic beliefs of each faith are.
The other reason that this shocked me is because everyone at my school knows that I am Christian and attend this church. One time, students asked me what I was going to do over Christmas break, and I told them that one thing I would be doing was going to church on Christmas Eve because I was Christian. One of my students looked at me and said something like, “You can’t fool us, Hutch. We know your Lutheran, not Christian!” Then I had to explain to him that Lutheranism is a type of Christianity. I said that it’s like being a New Yorker and an American. Not all Americans are New Yorkers, but all New Yorkers are Americans. In the same way, not all Christians are Lutherans, but all Lutherans are Christians.
In a similar way, I explained to the first student who thought Christians worship an old man in the sky. First off, I told him that I guess I didn’t do a good job when he was in 9th grade because we did go over basic Christian beliefs. Then I reminded him that Christians believe that God did create everything. But we don’t think that God is literally an old man in the sky. That is just a metaphor that we use to describe our relationship to God as the Father. I’m not sure if he totally understood what I was saying, but I did want to clear up his misunderstandings of Christianity. I would have done the same for any religion or any social science top that people misunderstood. However, if it were something to do with math or science, then you would not hear me clearing up any misunderstandings. Let’s just say God has not blessed me with an understanding of those subjects!
However, God has blessed me in one way. I have always been a Christian. Although I don’t remember it, I was baptized when I was about a month old; I’ve seen the pictures. However, I do have a vivid memory of being confirmed by Reverend David Bergner when I was thirteen years old, and I still have the plague that my Grandpa Claude Hutchinson got me to commemorate that event. I have been such a regular attendee of church that when I moved to Little Falls in the early 2000s, I felt weird that I did not have a church to attend. But God eventually led me to this congregation although I do not know if that is how I would describe the journey at that time.
However, just because I have been a Christian my entire life, it doesn’t mean that I haven’t had questions about my faith. The two biggest ones have been about being born again and where to find God.
As a kid, I remember hearing the story of Jesus talking to Nicodemus in John 3 for the first time. It is in this story that Jesus tells him that “no one can see the kingdom of God without being born anew” (John 3: 3). Many people use that verse to say that one cannot be saved unless you have this revelatory experience where you feel this new connection to God. I have never had that type of experience, but I still believed in God. I could not fathom that a loving God who would call the world good after He created it would exclude people from salvation just because they hadn’t had that experience. That bothered me so much that it almost shook the core of my faith so I asked my dad about it. He told me not to worry. He said that being born again is different for everyone. He said even real births are different for everyone. Sometimes a birth is over really quickly and other times it takes hours or even days for someone to be born. He said that is the same with being born again. Sometimes it is instantaneous and sometimes it takes years.
That explanation satisfied a young Kit Hutchinson, but I have since come to realize that being born again or being born anew can is constantly happening. Humans are not perfect so we are born again every time we receive God’s grace. This did happen at our baptism when God wiped away our sinful human nature, and it happens every time we receive Communion and physical take God’s grace inside us. But as I said, humans are not perfect so we do keep falling into sin. But the good news is that God loves us anyway and will always take us back. That is part of the reason that we celebrate Lent every year so that we are reminded that we need to get right with God and be born again.
That was one question that I had about my faith when I was young. The other was related to that. If we are supposed to be born again and be made right with God, a young Kit Hutchinson wanted to know where we would find God. I read and heard all the stories in the Bible where God talked to people individually, but as a young kid, I didn’t see that happening. God talked to Moses through a burning bush, God spoke to Joseph through his dreams, and God talked to Isaiah directly in the Temple. Even Jesus, God’s son, appeared to people that He did not know after His death and resurrection. Paul never meant Jesus, but Jesus appeared to him in a blinding flash of light. As a kid, I prayed every day, but I never heard God speak directly to me. Again, that bothered me so much that I asked my dad about it. He told me that when God speaks directly to people, He wants them to do something really important. As a kid, I accepted that answer. God hadn’t spoken directly to me because He didn’t have anything important for me to do. After all, when I asked that question, I was only like 10 years old. There wasn’t much a kid could do to change the world.
However, since that time, I have come to believe that God is always trying to talk to us; we have just forgotten how to listen for Him. And when we do want to hear from God, we expect the big dramatic moments. We expect the burning bush and the blinding light. But most of the time when God is talking to us, it is in quiet moments. Just look at our Old Testament reading from 1 Kings 19: 9-18 today.
Although it is not mentioned, the setting for this reading is the time of Queen Jezebel in Israel. She had married King Ahab and brought the worship of Baal to the Israelite court. As a prophet of God, Elijah had challenged this and was forced to flee. He ends up on Mount Horeb, which is another name for Mount Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments. He expects to hear from God there. Elijah is told to wait because God is about to pass by. First, there is a great wind that was so strong that it split rocks. Then there was an earthquake and finally a fire. But we are told that “the LORD was not in the wind,” and “the LORD was not in the earthquake,” and “the LORD was not in the fire.”
After these dramatic moments, there was “sheer silence.” That is when Elijah heard God. That is when God told Elijah His plans to anoint new kings for Aram and Israel and a new prophet in Elisha. God also explained how all those that had not bowed to worship Baal would be saved. God didn’t need something dramatic to be able to speak to Elijah. It was in the sheer silence that Elijah was able to hear God and understand His plan.
I think that is our problem today. We expect God to talk to us in dramatic ways, but we are also too distracted to listen for Him. Almost all of us have a cellphone, and it is a great invention so that we can remain in contact with our family and friends when they are not near us. But it does distract us from what is going on around us. I have been out with friends where we are supposed to be catching up, but inevitably, there comes a point when we have to check our phones. We might miss some breaking news story or not see a picture that someone posted on social media. If we are distracted from our friends who are right near us by our phones, just think about how easy it is for these devices to distract us from God. And when we are not distracted from God, we can do amazing things.
Our Gospel lesson from Matthew 14: 22-33 is an example of amazing things that we can do with God when we are not distracted. In this story, Jesus’ disciples are crossing the Sea of Galilee when a storm hits. Jesus was not with them because He had gone up on a mountain to pray. I guess even Jesus needs silence to talk to God. However, in the morning when the wind and waves were rocking the boat, Jesus was walking on the sea towards them. The disciples thought that it might be a ghost instead of Jesus so Peter says, “If it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus does and Peter starts walking on the water to Jesus. Then it says that Peter noticed the strong wind and began to sink. He needed Jesus to save him from the water.
Through Jesus, Peter could do an amazing thing. Most people cannot walk on water unless it’s some kind of trick. When he was listening to Jesus and focused on Him, Peter was safe. But when Peter began to focus on the distractions of the world, he was not and needed Jesus to save him. We are just like that. We can do amazing things, but the distractions of this world cause us to need Jesus to get through the day.
I began this sermon by talking about how a former student of mine who thought that Christians worshipped an old man in the sky. Even though that is not quite true, I have found God by looking at the sky. A few years ago, I was on Sand Beach on Mount Desert Island in Maine. It was night and the Park Rangers were giving a lecture about the constellations. Right in the middle of the sky was the Milky Way, and I had this thought about the magnificent universe that God had created. Similarly, I also found God several years ago right here at Holy Trinity. It was the first time that Pastor Joe had me distribute Communion when he was not here. I remember holding the consecrated wafer in my hand and thinking how I was physically holding God. God had created everything in the universe, but here He was in my hands. That’s how God has chosen to interact with His people, not as a ruler sitting on a throne but as a piece of bread.
Let me leave you with this, go find how God is speaking to you. Maybe it is in some dramatic way. God is all-powerful and can do whatever He wants. But I have a feeling that He is waiting for each of us in the sheer silence so that we all can do amazing things.
AMEN
