12th Sunday after
Pentecost /
Matthew 14:22-33
Rev. Gayle M. Highness
Riding
the Waves
We heard in today’s gospel, that
Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side of
the Sea of Galilee without him. And later, that the boat – battered by waves –
was far from land, “for the wind was against them.”
Did you know that this area of the
church building where the congregation assembles is called the “nave” from the
Latin word “navis,” which means “ship.” Here we are, together, in this boat called
the church. We are believers in Jesus –
disciples or followers of Christ – sent out together on this journey of faith
in the sea of the world. And for some of us, the waters have been rough this
week.
I had a wonderful vacation – smooth
sailing. And I’m happy to be back in port. But now it’s time to think about
where our ship is heading as we go into the school year. It seems like there’s
so much to do to get ready for Sunday School and Confirmation and a planning meeting
and youth activities and all the ongoing events in the life of our
congregation. I know these things take
time and effort from many people and I see how busy people are and it makes me
a little nervous. I begin to feel a
little overwhelmed and the sea looks just a little wavy …
The
Yvonne and her daughter Kathy are
here to reconnect with old friends and family, which is a wonderful thing. But
they also come to lay to rest a daughter and sister who died too soon, just
like her sister…
But none of those waves seems quite
so overpowering as the one that struck the Hardy family yesterday in the death
of Matthew. Just 11 years old and gone
so suddenly and so senselessly.
So we are up and we are down in this
boat of life and mission in God’s Kingdom within the often turbulent seas of
this world. And sometimes, it seems, we
are on our own.
But God has not forgotten or
abandoned us. Just as Jesus came to the
disciples in the early morning after their long night at sea, he comes to us.
At first, the disciples didn’t
recognize the Lord. They just weren’t expecting to see him strolling out to the
boat on top of the water! So they were
understandably scared and it says, “They cried out in fear.”
“But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do
not be afraid.’ ” Peter as much as said,
“Prove it – command me to come to you.” And Jesus said, “Come.” And Peter did!
Peter stepped out of the boat away
from the others and into the waves, right to Jesus. Until he noticed what he
was doing and he panicked! As he was
sinking, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” and immediately,
Jesus reached out his hand and caught him saying, “You of little faith – why
did you doubt?”
Why did he doubt? He noticed he was
walking on water! It wouldn’t be abnormal, from a human perspective, to panic
in a situation like that! “Dear Lord, what was I THINKING? I can’t do this!”
No, Peter, you can’t! But God can.
I don’t think Jesus was scolding
Peter, implying that he was a failure when he said, “You of little faith. Why
did you doubt?” I think he was just making an observation.
The disciples, like us, were pretty
ordinary people who had this one thing in common – they said “yes” to following
Jesus. But that didn’t mean smooth sailing. If anything, the waters got even
choppier. And yet Peter even followed Jesus right out onto the water itself –
now that’s a step of faith – and he was fine until he took his eye off the
Savior and focused instead on the waves until he was forced to cry out, “Lord,
save me.”
The Apostle Paul, in the letter to
the Romans that we heard today said, “Everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord shall be saved.”
We are saved from permanent death
and given life eternal by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. In the
waters of Baptism we are made children of God and inheritors of eternal life.
But even so, we get tossed about in the waves of this life and we must continually cry out, “Lord save me.”
Save me from fear. Save me from
grief. Save me from loneliness. Save me
from sickness. Save me from myself –
from doing something stupid that makes me look like a fool – from being
self-centered and critical and greedy.
Save me from the stupid things other people do that hurt me.
And immediately, Jesus reaches out his hand and catches us saying, “You
of little faith – why did you doubt? You
can get through this. I am right here to hold you up. Come on, let’s get back in the boat with the
others.”
Vicky Knoke and Amanda Stevenson and
I saw faith like this in the people we met on our “mini-mission” trip to
There was Mattie, whose husband
liked to be with other women and whose son and daughter struggle with drug and
alcohol addiction, and whose grandson had recently been hospitalized in
critical condition after being knocked flat by a hit and run driver …
And Ginny, who lost her husband to
cancer at a young age …
And Virginia and Harris, whose
nearly nine-month pregnant daughter died suddenly from a brain aneurysm,
causing them to lose both their daughter and long-awaited granddaughter …
Their stories were filled with
hardship and yet they seemed to automatically turn to the Lord for help and
direction and strength, continually seeking Him and asking forgiveness for
their own failures.
As they talked so naturally about
God’s presence in their lives, the three of us were encouraged and strengthened
in our own faith by their witness. We
were like the disciples watching from the boat who saw the whole episode and
said, “Truly, Jesus, you are the Son of God.”
So, here we are, in this boat
together … on our own, in a way, but never alone. In those moments when we enjoy a smooth sail,
let us give thanks and praise and allow our strength to be renewed for the
journey. And let us look for ways God wants to use us to reach out to others.
In those moments when we are tossed
and battered by wind and waves, let us be reminded that God is with us and that
it’s OK to cry out to the Lord to save us.
There’s
a song by Scott Krippayne called “Sometimes he calms
the storm.” I’d like to close with the
lyrics:
All
who sail the sea of faith
Find out before too long
How quickly blue skies can grow dark
And gentle winds grow strong
Suddenly fear is like white water
Pounding on the soul
Still we sail on knowing
That our Lord is in control
Sometimes He calms the storm
With a whispered peace be still
He can settle any sea
But it doesn't mean He will
Sometimes He holds us close
And lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm
And other times He calms His child
He has a reason for each trial
That we pass through in life
And though we're shaken
We cannot be pulled apart from Christ
No matter how the driving rain beats down
On those who hold to faith
A heart of trust will always
Be a quiet peaceful place.
Let
us pray …