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Matthew 14: 22–33
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May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be
acceptable in thy sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
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It was the kind of thing you would say to your friends on some
ordinary day at the mall before you left them — planning to
rejoin them for dinner, later that evening. “You all
go ahead. I’ll catch up with you later.” Only
this had been no ordinary day, even for Jesus, the miracle
worker. And it wasn’t over yet.
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The day had begun in the normally peaceful hills above the Sea of
Galilee when Jesus and his disciples came there seeking a quiet place
to pray, a place to retreat after news reached them that
Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, had been beheaded by King
Herod. Jesus now needed time alone with his heavenly
Father – time to grieve, time to pray. And maybe he also
needed a safe place, a place of refuge for himself and his
disciples. For when Herod heard of all Jesus’ miraculous
feats, all his wise words, he had exclaimed, “This must be John
the Baptist, risen from the dead!” And if he had just
beheaded John the Baptist, there was no telling what he had in mind
for Jesus and his disciples!
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But once news spread that Jesus had arrived in the area, great crowds
of people descended on them, seeking to hear Jesus preach, seeking
healing. Where had they all come from? No one seemed
to know. But once they’d arrived, Jesus, as usual, had
compassion on them all — and spent the day ministering to
them. And somehow, by the end of the day, he had fed them
all – thousands of them, miraculously, from a small supply of
bread and fish. But now, finally, with all the people leaving
the area, Jesus could focus again on the political danger that still
threatened them. For an event as dramatic as the feeding of 5,000
people in Herod’s back yard, would not have escaped imperial
attention. So, he sent his twelve disciples away – hopefully
to safety, across the Sea of Galilee to an area he intended to visit
next. And now, he thought, he would get his own chance to pray in
quiet. But once again, things didn’t turn out quite the way
he had anticipated.
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For that night, a storm suddenly blew up on the sea – as it does,
sometimes, on the Sea of Galilee — with huge waves and contrary
winds. And, despite their best efforts, the disciples – most
of them strong, experienced fishermen — could make no headway
against those waves and winds. Instead of sending them to safety,
Jesus, unwittingly, had sent them into danger. And now those
disciples were both exhausted and terrified. What they didn’t
yet know was that Jesus had not abandoned them. From the opposite
shore, he was still keeping watch. And now, seeing their distress,
he came to them – walking across the water.
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No wonder the disciples thought they were seeing a ghost. For no
one — in this world anyway — walks on water. So, in
that moment the disciples’ terror only deepened and they cried out
in fear.
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But things change quickly when Jesus arrives, calling out to them,
“Take heart. It is I.” In the presence of this
magisterial Lord who rules sea and sky and waves, Jesus’ disciples
are invited to let go of their anxiety and fear — and move instead
into realms of faith and trust. Peter, as usual, is the first to
respond. Never mind that his newly–rekindled faith lasts
only long enough to carry him a few steps across that water – Jesus
is still there for him, still holding him up, still bringing him out of
those waves and into the boat when his faith finally failed him.
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But that’s what I love about this story – that it
isn’t just a simple “Jesus is here, and all is well
again” account. It’s a complex story — full of
twists and turns. Full of personal griefs, corporate challenges,
political realities, unexpected twists and turns – just as our
own lives are. And one moment of deliverance, one moment
that’s full of faith doesn’t necessarily erase all the
complexities.
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It is, you see, our own story – one minute full of faith, trusting
and secure – and the next minute going under the waves
again. Yet Jesus is still there for us. And when we
falter – for surely, we will — he either pulls us out of
the waves – or he stills the storm in us.
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And that, of course, is why we come here every week. We come here
every Sunday to worship and pray. We come here to learn from
whatever stories or lessons I have prepared. We come here to
learn something from the ancient hymns. But we also come here to
tell each other our own stories of how Jesus met us this week in
whatever crisis we encountered. For you notice that when we come
here, most of us come a good half hour or forty–five minutes
early – before the service begins. And out in the Parish
Hall we share with each other our stories of the week, our stories of
where Jesus met us this week and either pulled us out of the waves or
stilled the storms within. These are the stories we share together
every week. These are the stories that build up our faith.
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By the grace of God, this is the story that has no end – and
thanks be to God — you and I are part of it.
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Amen.
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