First Reading: 1 Kings 19:9-18
9At [Horeb, the mount of God,][Elijah] came to a cave, and spent the night there.
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”
11He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” 15Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. 18Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Psalm: Psalm 85:8-13
I will listen to what the Lord God is saying. (Ps. 85:8)
8I will listen to what the Lord God is saying;
for you speak peace to your faithful people and to those who turn their hearts to you.
9Truly, your salvation is very near to those who fear you,
that your glory may dwell in our land.
10Steadfast love and faithfulness have met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11Faithfulness shall spring up from the earth,
and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12The Lord will indeed grant prosperity,
and our land will yield its increase.
13Righteousness shall go before the Lord
and shall prepare for God a pathway.
Second Reading: Romans 10:5-15
5Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.” 6But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7“or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say?
“The word is near you,
on your lips and in your heart”
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
14But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? 15And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33
22[Jesus] made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side [of the Sea of Galilee], while he dismissed the crowds.23And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. 26But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
28Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
CHILDREN’S SERMON: Today our Gospel shares of a time when the disciples were in a great storm on the Sea of Galilee and they were so scared that they were going to die. Can you think of a time when you were really, really scared? Share with your neighbor. What helped you?
Let us pray. Lord may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.
SERMON
“Déjà vu!” If we step back from our text today, it looks like the same story as last week only in a slightly different context and with more detail. Last week Jesus headed across the lake to the wilderness to be alone after hearing about the horrible death of his cousin, a fellow prophet, John the Baptist, one of the most righteous men ever and Jesus’ forerunner. The crowds preceded Jesus and needed him. He had to postpone his quiet time. Today in our text Matthew continues from last week and Jesus is dismissing the crowds and headed up the mountain to be by himself and pray. Jesus has not forgotten his goal and is still on course.
Last week the crowd brought their sick that Jesus then healed. The disciples handled crowd control, and at the end of the day when there was no food, they seated the people, distributed the fish and loaves that Jesus blessed and that miraculously satisfied all. Today the text has the disciples then sent across the lake on a boat, preceding Jesus. Traveling by boat is something many of them were familiar with even if they were tired. Jesus comes to the disciples when a storm threatens them and does three more miracles. He calms the storm and invites Peter to walk on water AND rescues Peter when he flounders. Jesus again meets the disciples at their point of need.
Last week the people were hungry. They were hungry for healing, for teaching, and yes even physically hungry. This week the disciples are overwhelmed with fear and terrified. They too are hungry to be rescued. They are even so scared they think they are seeing ghosts when Jesus approaches. Peter is overwhelmed with doubt, “if” he says. If Jesus is real, prove it. Jesus is present in our moments of need and has a solution that satisfies, even if we flounder and are overwhelmed with doubt! Let’s dig in.
“he went up the mountain by himself to pray”
The new detail this week is that Jesus was going across the lake to the mountain “to pray.” When Jesus was confronted with the news about the death of John the Baptist, he did not turn on CNN to hear the “he-said-she-said” of political pundits. It did not seem that he was concerned about riots in the streets or demonstrations. He did something we can all do. He went to pray.
Jesus did not go to the Temple to pray but went to the wilderness. Interesting. Prayer takes many forms and is not just formal prayers said kneeling by our pew or by the bed or sitting in our favorite chair or at our favorite place. Personally I like swimming laps and just letting my heart unwind with God. Kneading bread and sitting listening to music and letting the words soak my soul helps. Many like jogging, biking or fishing. I remember the tune; “God speaks to little boys when they are fishing.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eAvPunye8Y ) We are invited to pray at all times. Prayer is an appropriate answer to grief and exhaustion.
Both texts speak of Jesus going by himself. As I pondered that, I realized that “by himself” is not the same as “alone.” Jesus was not alone spiritually because he was always in communication with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Perhaps another way to say this is that he went to where he would not be distracted and could have “focused attention.” We are never alone either. The Holy Spirit is always with us and available for conversation but sometimes we need to zero-in on his presence.
In the evening, the disciples are struggling with a storm. Jesus is aware of their need and does not go in search of another boat to get to them but walks across the sea. Interesting again. He does not say, “Transport me over there, Scotty,” like Star Trek. He does not leave his incarnation behind to perform the miracle. God’s identification with humanity seems to somehow impact his actions. That says to me that we do not need to fear that somehow Jesus has ascended back to being God and forgotten what it is like to be human. Likewise, some miracles are instantaneous like the fish and loaves, and others take time like walking on water. We want the instantaneous but we must never forget that even if God seems absent, he sees, cares and is on course.
“Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Fear is such a crippling emotion. Last week the disciples were afraid because it was evening and they did not have enough food to feed the people. After a night of fighting a storm, they are now so exhausted they are terrified and think Jesus is a ghost. When our resources are running low and we are afraid, it is easy to doubt the presence of God. Conversely, our fear-paralysis does not stop God from being present to help us. Jesus did not need the people to believe that he could multiply the fish and loaves in order for him to do it. Jesus did not need the disciples to believe he could walk on water in order for him to appear. Often we are taught that God’s actions depend on us having faith only as small as a mustard seed. Somehow we get tied up in doubt, believing our faith controls God’s ability to help. It is so easy for our focus to shift from God to our emotions and ourselves.
Peter responds, “IF.” THAT is a grain of mustard seed faith! It sounds like Tevya in Fiddler on the Roof, looking to heaven and saying to God, “While you are in the neighborhood, my horse’s foot is lame again.” I know I have been guilty of praying, “God, if you’re listening…” Fear cripples us and often its friend doubt is right there also. But our frazzled emotions do not stop Jesus from inviting Peter or us into a faith adventure. Jesus invites Peter, “Come!” Did you hear that? We do not need to be theological giants, faith heroes, or have spiritual muscles like Super Person. God can invite us into an adventure when we are exhausted, terrified, and doubting his presence. I cannot help but ask us to take a moment to reflect on whether God is calling us today to “come” to him in an area of our life that we are terrified and doubting about. He says, “Do not be afraid. It is I. Come!”
Wait for it…. Peter steps out of the boat and floppo! Peter looses focus and starts looking at the storm and starts to sink. Oh my. Yep. Sometimes even in spite of my best intentions, I fail. I’m guessing most of us do not have to think hard to remember moments of failure. Sometimes relationships just don’t work out no matter how much we believed God was calling us into them. Sometimes cars are lemons. Sometimes adventures end in disasters. My children all have litanies of “Remember the time we ate eggplant for a month,” or “Remember when mom…” and then I hang my head and reaffirm my humanness.
Again we confront the mystery of faith and works and God. Jesus called Peter into an adventure. Peter had the faith to step out of the boat but then lost focus on God and looked at the storm. He has shifted from looking at God to looking at self. But Jesus did not stop looking at Peter. Jesus rescues Peter! Peter may have lost focus on Jesus but Jesus did not loose focus on Peter. The disciples may have lost focus on Jesus knowing he was off praying but Jesus did not loose focus on them! You may have lost focus on God but he is still focused on you.
“Lord, save me!”
Jesus had not died on the cross yet. Peter was still figuring out what it meant that Jesus was the messiah and what that even means. So often we discredit ourselves and we become grasshoppers in our own eyes. We are seldom called upon to walk on water but we are always challenged to be ready to live the faith we confess. That may only be the gift of a smile to a stranger or a word of encouragement to someone downcast. It may mean biting our tongue when that snarky response jumps to our lips in response to another. Then there is always the battle with the pocket book and how we spend our money and the battle with the clock with how we spend our time. Living out faith just is not easy.
Peter simply cries out, “Lord, save me!” It is a simple prayer. He did not flail around in the water blaming himself for his lack of faith or his stupidity. He did not turn to the boat and yell, “Hey guys, I need a hand!” He did not turn at God yelling, “You lied! I can’t depend on you.” He simply cried “Help” to the only one who could save him in his circumstances.
Perhaps you are on the top of the world today but I suspect that most of us have a point of pain, grief, or fear. Making time and space for focusing in prayer on our relationship with God, is always a good choice. When we can’t see him, he still sees us and is helping. Our faith does not control God’s creativity in answering prayer. There are no magic prayers. There are no icons we need to put in front of us. Just a simple “help” touches the heart of God. He sees and he cares and he is willing to use us in a faith adventure even if we are old, tired, or terrified. Our response is to worship him. Always remember, Jesus said “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Thank you, Lord.
Let the people of God say, “AMEN!”
On the Way to Wonder 