Sermon, Pente +11

Have you ever felt,,, tested? Tried?
We’ve all been there – even after school days are over.
Life is full of experiences that seem to challenge us, to see if we can handle something.
Sometimes it’s an obstacle that we easily overcome – sometimes it’s a struggle.
Think of getting your driver’s license, for example… some folks just coast right through, while others encounter a few speedbumps, and others… well, those guardrails are there for a reason.
The tests that we face will affect us all differently; because we all come from different places, with different supports, different experiences to learn from, different resources to use, etc. Nothing better or worse – just different.
But those tests. They come.

So what about your faith.
When’s the last time your faith was tested?
If we’re honest, it happens. It can happen a LOT.
Sometimes, life hits us with a doozy of a hit. A job loss, a broken relationship, an unexpected diagnosis… life can be unfair.
And when that happens, we often go to God and ask for answers.
Why? Why me? What now? Where are you?

Sometimes, the tests that we experience can feel less dramatic, yet are there. The minor annoyances that can elicit deeper sighs than they warrant. The inconveniences that bring out a darker version of ourself than we want.
It may be a missed connection for the bus, or a button flying off the perfect outfit as we walk out the door…
Those things in life that may not matter in 5 years, but really affect us in the here and now. They bring us down, they cause us to doubt, to disconnect, maybe even to drop some words that we might prefer not to say.
They may even cause us to carry that bad mood into our relationship with God and with our families and friends and community…
Again, not ideal.

So what happens when we’re tested?
How do we respond to those tests?
Because response is what we want – not just reaction.
Because a reaction is a fast, automatic, opposition to whatever is happening. It’s when our basic instincts take over, and we act on impulse and emotion.
A response, however, is more thoughtful, considered, and reflective. It shows that it has been thought about with intention and attention.
Reactions try to defend our safety right now; responses aim to solve a problem in the long term.

Well, the scriptures give us quite a bit of guidance about our responses.
And they also remind us that we are going to be tested. Life’s just like that.
So when we can’t change the reality of being human, we can choose to act with integrity, caution, consideration, and faith.

Joseph today is the favourite, and like many teenagers we’ve known, doesn’t recognise the gift of humility. He *likes* being the favourite. He likes his fancy coat. He likes bragging. In the broadway production, he likes it so much he breaks into song.
Ah, to be the favourite one!
…unless you’re NOT the favourite one. Or 11 of the not-the-favourite-ones.
It’s fascinating to see the mob mentality form among these sons of Jacob, who throw Joseph in the pit until his brother suggests they save his life by selling him to a travelling caravan. (Interestingly, Reuben is Joseph’s full brother with mother Rachael, while the other 10 are half-brothers under mother Leah)
There’s a LOT to this narrative.
Alas – the point is going to be that all of the brothers, and their father, will have their faith tested. Severely.
Their actions, the actions of others, the impacts that are both in and out of their control… it’s quite a lesson in testing of faith.
And as we only get the beginning of this narrative this week, I’ll leave the outcome for future weeks (unless you’ve seen the musical, which I find fun).

This set-up leads us into the Gospel situation.
Jesus has commanded his disciples into a boat, and then a storm is tormenting them. The Greek tells us the storm is quite violent.
And the disciples – they’re exhausted, energy depleted, having tried every nautical strategy they know. Yet without success; until:
Jesus.
“Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid”

Now, the reaction part of our brains, if we were also in that boat, would probably be in the same space as most of the disciples.
Scared. Crying out.
This is not in the natural order of things, and without any frame of reference, it’s frightening.

And then we get Peter: asking Jesus to prove himself.
Imagine!
And yet: he doesn’t ask for identity the way most of us might – he doesn’t ask what they shared for breakfast, or where they’d met, or what his favourite colour was… those basic questions of shared experience that most of us revert to when we’re trying to confirm connection.
Instead, Peter wants a moment of self-adulation.
“Let me walk on water with you!”
This is such an unfortunate reaction – not response – as Peter wants to put himself on literal equal footing with Jesus. To make himself a foot above the other disciples. To show off a bit.
And the storm still rages.
And it’s the storm that reminds Peter of his humanness. Of his frailty. Of his impulsiveness that may not really serve to build up his ministry.
And he sinks.
Not because Jesus wants him to fail; but because he has a moment of doubt when the test becomes too much to bear.

That is where we see the lesson of Jesus.
For we receive many teachings of God in this passage – and we sometimes overlook them.
For what Peter learns is not that he should just try harder; nor is it that just by looking at Jesus everything will be fine.
Peter asks for help. “Lord, save me.”

Three words with abundant meaning. Not just a reaction to a sense of peril, with a declaration of need, but a response to the circumstance that he found himself in with a desire for relationship.
For Peter shows us what happens when we too come to Jesus with our needs – how our merciful Lord will carry us through our own turmoil to the safety of Christian community, where he joins us…
And the storm ceases.

Life is always going to have storms. We are always going to face tests.
And every storm ends; while God is eternal.
When life’s storms rage and life’s tests swirl around us, Jesus invites us to a careful and prayerful space of intentional response – inviting the Christ who is always present in our lives to be part of our solutions: humbling ourselves to ask Jesus to save us, and trusting in God’s eternal promise to do just that.
May we all be people whose faith responds to doubt with the conviction of the apostles: declaring for all to hear that the source of our salvation is the Son of God.