Gen 37.1-4,12-28; Ps 105.1-6,16-22,45b; Rom 10.5-15; Mt 14.22-33
The demonstration of racism is appalling. The hatred, intimidation, and
outright violence of the self-described alt-right is entirely unacceptable and
unChristian. It goes against the teachings of Jesus, it goes against our
baptismal vows to strive for justice and
peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being,
to seek and serve Christ in all persons,
loving neighbour as self, and to persevere
in resisting evil.
Make no mistake, what is happening in these extreme circumstances is evil. It
is hatemongering. It is not something we can merely ignore.
And let us not deceive ourselves, sitting in our comfortable Canadian pews,
into thinking that we are immune to this type of thinking and behaviour. There
are folks here in St Catharines who have expressed support for these
ideologies, and these actions.
We are called, as Christians, to witness to good news of God in Jesus Christ,
as proclaimed to us by the Gospel and by the generations of the faithful come
before us. We are called to demonstrate love.
That can be uncomfortable and difficult, but for the love of God it is
necessary. There are countless people in Virginia and around the United States
- and around the globe - actively denouncing this evil, praying, singing hymns,
preaching the Gospel. They are putting their faith into action.
May we hold them in our prayers, as they stare into the face of this evil. May
we also pray for those with closed hearts, who believe that the hatred that
they cling to is justified and righteous.
And may we pray for ourselves: that we may have the strength to challenge views
which oppose the Gospel of Christ, to stand up for the teachings of Jesus, to
fully live the faith to which we confess.
This hatemongering is the same unacceptable behavior that
we hear about from Joseph’s brothers.
The call to justice echos the call from Paul to the church
of Rome, to stop their discrimination based on nothing more than place of
worship or skin pigmentation. Paul speaks to us all today: “the same Lord is Lord of all and is
generous to all who call on him.“
So. We're back listening to Matthew. Great passage we're familiar with, Jesus
walks on water. Peter goes out and walks, doubts and sinks, is saved by Jesus,
and boom we're all back in the same boat.
So what else can we learn from this? We've known it all since Sunday school,
right? Even folks without a church upbringing know this one. The message is
clear, yes? There's a storm. Storms happen: literally, the boat gets knocked
around. Figuratively: our lives aren't always easy, we can feel battered and
adrift in the confusion of tumultuous times. (See above.) Jesus, however, is
always near. And even when it seems to good to be true or too unlikely to be
possible, Jesus is there. Good news. When Jesus calls us, like he did Peter, we
too can do the seemingly impossible. When we doubt, we start to sink down, and
could drown in the storm that life has given us. But - Jesus won't let that
happen, when we return to him in faith, he saves us, brings us back to safety,
and calms the storm. Again, good news. Truly, this is the son of God.
Good stuff. Great stuff.
And... there's more to it
than that. There's MORE goodness in here, when we dig a little deeper, and
consider other perspectives we may have previously overlooked.
The passage starts with Jesus and his disciples needing to be away from the
gathered crowds. This passage follows immediately after the feeding of the
5000, so I'd imagine the disciples are a bit tired from the workout of
distributing, collecting, and carrying all that food. It's like our generous
Community Sharing challenge writ large. And Jesus wants a little bit of time by
himself, just to pray.
This is good. What a wonderful reminder for us all to pray, to be intentional
about connecting with God not just on Sunday mornings or at the start of a
meal, but whenever our hearts tell us it's time for that conversation.
And the disciples have gone off, into the boat. But, it was a dark and stormy
night there in Galilee, so they are not having a good time of it. I'd imagine
they're clinging to the sides, nervous and seasick, as the boat is entirely
beyond their control. Also remember that this is in the days before life
jackets. And if anyone's ever tried to swim in stormy water, you know it's very
unpleasant. So they're trying to avoid that.
Is it any wonder, then, that when they see a human form walking atop the stormy
waves, that they are more terrified, and cry out in fear? I know I'd be in the
same kind of panic. So after Jesus identifies himself to them all, what is
there response?
Well, we know what Peter did. He challenged Jesus to prove himself even
further. "if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." A
little cheeky, no? Rather brazen. And yet - who hasn't been there before? Who
hasn't said to God "PROVE it, Holy One. Make the impossible happen for
me." Maybe it's been a bargain with God (for the record, I advise that if
you're going to do that, then prepare to be amazed. It may not work out the way
you think you want, but it will turn out in such a way that in reflection
you'll see the very hand of God directing every movement. I've been there. I've
been awed.)
So out he goes, walking on water, in a storm, towards the Son of God. When:
crisis of faith. So distracted by the waves, the storm, that *splash* Peter's
in the drink.
Again - who hasn't been there? But rather than think about our moments of
unbelief, let's think about what caused the unbelief. Let's consider what was
happening that distracted us from focusing on, and moving towards, the source
of all love and all life? For Peter, they are physical waves. For us, they are
metaphorical waves. And a wave - well, it's temporary. It's passing. It doesn't
have the ability, on it's own, to move stuff around very well - you need
multiple waves and counter forces and some other really cool science stuff we
remember from high school. (Let's pretend, for brevity of sermon, that we all
remember high school physics.)
But it's just a wave. What a great lesson for us to remember that waves will
happen, but that if we want to stay on the course towards our saviour, we need
to ignore those little ripples at our feet, and walk with confidence.
So, Peter is in the water, asks Jesus for help, Jesus helps him. Of course he
does. We know this part. But did any of us ever notice that when Jesus asks
Peter why he doubted, Peter doesn't answer? Total silence. No reply. Is he
ashamed? Confused? Uncertain? We don't know. But we can again put ourselves in
Peter's sandals, and think about how we might respond when we're having our own
faith crises. If Jesus were to ask us in those times, when he has just pulled
us up from drowning, "Why did you doubt?" how would we respond? If
it's not something we've spent time thinking about, perhaps today's Gospel is
for you a subtle invitation to think about that - and to learn from the
experience - and ideally to not doubt again.
And now for the final point - they're all back in the boat, the wind ceases,
and Jesus is worshiped. The other disciples - they never left the boat.
Throughout all of this, they never left the boat. No one else tried to walk on
water, no one else made any comment. They stayed the course, knowing that
together they were safer. Knowing that their faith was going to be an asset
throughout the storm. Knowing that community was important. And trusting that
Jesus would not leave them afloat forever - which, of course, he does not.
But Peter. How interesting. How human. How - well, selfish. At the first
declaration by Jesus, he thinks only of what he wants, and is willing to leave
his friends in danger so that his desire can be met. When he sinks, he asks for
his personal safety, without considering the tumult his friends are still in,
back in the boat.
And Jesus is there. Jesus is there when Peter needs supernatural proof, and
when the other disciples need to stay put. Jesus is there when Peter sinks, and
when the other disciples are floating together. Jesus is there when the storm
is raging, and when the calmness comes. And Jesus is there - for all the
disciples - when Peter needs to return to the community. Fascinating the Jesus
could have chosen to take Peter to the other side of the sea and let the boat
catch up, but instead he oh-so-gently lets Peter know that he is not meant to
be alone, but part of a community. And Jesus is there when the community comes
together to confess their faith and worship him.
What a wonderful lesson - for Peter, for the disciples - and for us.
May we learn from the miracle of walking on water, that we are given the
miracles of trust, of care, and of community. May we celebrate the calmness
that Jesus brings to our lives, as we weather life's storms together. May we be
thankful that scripture continually invites us to go deeper into even the most
well-known stories, that we might learn new and exciting truths about just how
amazing God's strength and love and grace is in our lives.
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