God of hope before us, God of healing within us, God of mercy above us, Come be with us. Amen
1 Kings 19:9-18 Ps. 85:8-13 Romans 10:5-15 & Matthew 14:22-33 Pent. 8 8/7/11 Sun. Asc.
Our scripture readings today focus on the difference between fear and faith. The reading from 1st Kings tells about the prophet Elijah, who faces fear from those who are seeking to harm him. He panics and runs away and hides in a cave. Then in our Gospel reading we learn that the disciples are the ones who are afraid. They have been with Jesus as he preaches to the crowds. However, Jesus sends them away, in a boat to go the other side while he finds time to pray.. The hard part for the disciples is that they are on their own. . All is well for them, until a huge storm comes with high winds and waves that push against the boat the disciples are in. During this storm, Their fear is stronger than their faith.. In our reading from the Psalms we hear about peace for God’s people. Peace, the kind of peace that replaces fear..
In order to appreciate these readings about fear and faith, it helps to reflect on our own lives and recall the times we have faced the kind of fear that causes us to want to hide or even flee. Each of us, at some time or other face fears; such as fears about past or the future, fears about our health, or fears for those we love who are in harms way. When we come face to face with fear it usually is hard for us (I know it is for me) to call on the kind of faith that gives us peace regardless of the situation.
As I reflected on my own fears I recalled some of the times I have been afraid. I remember a time when I was five years old (that’s a long time ago). My family lived in Texas in a costal town. The news was out that a hurricane was on its way to our area. The heavy rains were already there when the news update came saying that the hurricane was going to hit our town directly. We all started preparing for the worse. My Dad nailed tables and doors over the windows in our two story house. We moved all the things we could to the 2nd floor and then waited.
Well, the winds came. They came over 130 miles an hour and stayed for over 13 hours. All electricity was out so we used lanterns. I remember the sound of the winds roaring. At first, my brother and I found this extremely exciting - (surely it was not for our parents). However, as the hurricane hit I suddenly felt fear; fear of the dark and of the wild winds and rain.
Much later, when everything calmed down, the police came in boats to each house to check on everyone.
When we were able to get out of the house we walked around. We first checked out The Baptist church (my Dad was the pastor of this church). It did have windows out and of course water damage. We did what we could to clean up. Then we walked down two or three blocks to see about the Episcopal Church whose priest and family were our close friends. It had had been flattened by the storm. Houses and churches and stores were all damaged.
One thing I clearly remember about that storm is that the excitement I had first experienced quickly turned into fear. I became aware that even though we were safe during the storm others were not. Later, our parents told us about a couple who went to our church whose home was totally destroyed. As the roof was lifted off their house and the walls were falling, this couple and two children ran out into the storm. As they ran the father grabbed two ropes. He wrapped one rope around four of them so they could not be separated. They made their way to a large tree in their yard that thankfully was still standing. He used the second rope to wrap around the tree and then around them. There they stayed through the storm, wet, scared but still alive. The
mother and father later told my parents that the only thing that kept them sane during this time was prayer and their faith. They just didn’t hope, they knew God was with them in the midst of this storm and helped lessen their fear. It was like they heard the words of Jesus, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.
This couples time in the storm was something like the disciples experienced. You see for them, like the disciple, God was not in the winds, not in the rains and not in their fear. Instead God was in their hearts and souls; in their silence and in their prayers for help. Their faith kept them clinging to each other and to life.
It seems to me that sometimes when we experience fear, our minds become filled with fearful thoughts and we become anxious. At those times some of our thoughts are scary. For example thoughts like, “What if I don’t get well? What if I don’t find a job? What if I fail my test and so on? We can let fear overcome us so much that we become so busy worrying, planning for the worse that we have trouble opening ourselves for God’s gift to us – the gift of faith that leads us to peace.
Peace like Elijah found when he suddenly realized that the Lord was talking with him – Only with faith could he let go of fear and receive guidance to move out of the dark cave into the light.
Or peace like the disciples had when they were being tossed around. At that time they, with faith listened to Jesus words and accepted his help. And faith like Peter had when he started walking on the water toward Jesus. .
Fred Craddock says, that “Peter is the voice and heart of the group, he is thus between fear and faith. He walks and he sinks; he trusts and he fears.” Jesus did ask Peter why he doubted, yet he saved him and continued to love him. Craddock also says that Jesus followers have faith, but not enough, and so Jesus nourishes that little faith to the point of confession and praise.
I asked all of us earlier to get in touch with our fears this day, this week. We like the disciples are human and do have fears. Yet there are times that Jesus will ask us to do something extraordinary, like, get out of the boat or get out of our normal daily patterns to take a chance on someone or some situation. Perhaps Jesus might ask us to get out of daily ruts, even change the things in our lives that hold us back from wholeness. When that happens, we all hope and pray that we will respond to Jesus by following his guidance.
Just as Jesus was there for Peter, He is here for you and me. to call us to do things that we think are just beyond us- too hard even impossible – sometimes things we fear..
The knowledge that makes things possible for us to listen to Jesus is to know that Jesus has faith in us. Having our own faith is difficult at times, especially times of storms in our lives, times of rough sailing. Yet our joy today is to know even faith the size of a mustard seed is enough to assure us that Jesus is with us, is reaching out his had to pull or push us and most of all to offer us peace.
Just think, the words Jesus said to the disciples, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid are the same words Jesus says to us when we have fears.” When Peter answers, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water, and Jesus says, “Come, we can hear that word, Come, to also be for us.
The joy of faith is that we know that Jesus is with us in the storms and in the quiet and when we are afraid. Jesus reaches out to each of us, calling our name and saying “Come” Frederick Buechner says, “Faith is responding to that call.
When we have fears, may we have the courage, to be like Peter and with faith reach out for help. May that be so.
Amen
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