“Seatbelts,
Lifejackets, and Bike Helmets”
August 10,
2014
Rev. Katelyn
B. Macrae
Richmond
Congregational Church
Prayer: Dear God, may the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all
of our hearts be acceptable in your sight. O God, our Creator, Redeemer, and
Sustainer. Amen.
By a show of
hands, how many of you consider yourselves safety conscious?
Growing up
my parents were always very safety conscious with my sister and I. We held
hands and looked both ways before we crossed the street. We buckled our
seatbelts before the car moved and sang “Buckle Up for Safety.” We wore bike
helmets for riding bikes, and lifejackets for boating. I started wearing a ski
helmet long before they became the norm, and I still remember the neon yellow
and pink knee and elbow pads that I had for my roller blades. Wearing safety
equipment was just part of what we did in the Macrae family.
Though my
parents were safety conscious, they also encouraged my sister and I to play and
explore outside.
One late
spring day when I was in second or third grade, my dad and I were out in the river
and a gust of wind came up and our little row boat capsized. The water was
cold. Another boater came over and pulled us to safety. We were okay. But this
incident has forever cemented my belief in wearing life jackets when boating!
I can
imagine that if life preservers did exist two thousand years ago, the disciples
would have been happy to be wearing them.
This story
that we read today appears only in Matthew’s Gospel. It’s the second time that
Jesus ministers to his disciples in the boat. The first time they’re in a boat
going across the sea, and the storm is raging. Jesus is asleep through the
storm, and so they wake Jesus up and he calms the storm.
This time,
the disciples are by themselves in the boat. This story from Matthew follows on
the heels of our story last week where Jesus and the disciples fed the 5,000. Jesus
tried to get away to a quiet spot after learning of John the Baptist’s death.
But, the crowds followed him and he didn’t get a chance to mourn. So now, after
the day of healing, and an evening of feeding, Jesus finally gets away to a quiet
place to pray. He sends the disciples, who are also tired and grieving, across
the sea so that they can continue ministering.
The storm rages
all night long as they journey to the other shore. In this time period, the sea
and nighttime were associated with evil spirits, and the devil. You can imagine
the disciples’ stomachs sinking with fear when, at around 3 AM, they see this
shadowy figure coming towards them in the mist – walking on the water.
Who is it? What is it?
They are wrapped in fear - “It’s a ghost.”
Jesus calls
back, “Take heart, It is I; do not be afraid.” Other translations render this
phrase as “Take heart, I am, do not
be afraid.” Calling
himself “I am” links Jesus with the name of God used in the Hebrew scriptures,
“I am who I am.” This is quite
the opposite of what the disciples may have thought was coming towards them in
the midst of the storm.
But even
with this reassurance, Peter decides to test the shadowy figure in the mists -
He calls to
Jesus, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
So, Jesus
calls Peter, “Come.”
He climbs
over the gunwale, and his feet touch the surface…
He takes a
few steps…
He’s
actually walking on the water!
But then,
then a gust of wind comes up and Peter gets scared, and it’s only then that he
begins to sink…
He cries
out, “Lord, save me.”
Immediately
Jesus grabs his arm and pulls him up and out of the deep, “You of little faith,
why did you doubt?”
Then Jesus
and Peter get into the boat with the disciples, and the wind subsides.
The disciples
recognize Jesus as the Son of God and they worship him.
The
theological term for this kind of a story is a “theophany” - a story of God
appearing.
This story gives
us a glimpse of the intimate relationship that Jesus had with his disciples and
the way that he cared for them. It also
gives teaches us about human behavior. Peter’s
actions remind us how quickly we can go from confident and cocky to crying out
for help in the face of our fears.
One message
we can take from the story is that we should try to avoid what Peter did. He
let his doubt and fear get in the way, and began to sink. Therefore, if
we can just keep our eyes on Jesus, no matter the storms, and just have faith,
we won’t sink. But the
reality is that very few of us will ever cultivate such a singular and
unwavering faith.
Sometimes,
like Peter, we balance between faith and doubt. We can get
distracted by the waves and the wind of family concerns, economic hardship,
illness and disease, broken relationships, and news headlines. We feel the
need to challenge and test Jesus to see if he is real. This story reminds
us that even with all of our fears and doubts and questions and challenges; Jesus
wants to be in relationship with us.
Jesus
responds to Peter’s challenge with an invitation… “Come.”
And Peter is
doing fine walking on the water, until suddenly he’s not. Peter is
literally in over his head when he realizes Jesus for who he is. Jesus comes to
Peter, Jesus saves Peter, just as Jesus comes to us -
And through
the questioning, struggle, challenge and the embrace, we, like Peter, can arrive
at a greater and deeper understanding of who God is, and how God longs to be in
relationship with us. Our
relationship with God, like bike helmets, seatbelts and lifejackets doesn’t
guarantee that we’ll always be free from harm.
But it equips
and empowers us to grow, to explore, to try new things, to question, to take
risks, to get out of the boats and walk beyond our comfort zone.
Our
relationship with God, challenges us to try seemingly impossible and foolish things
–
o
Like
feeding 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish
o
Walking
on water
o
Or,
Being a community of faith, changing people’s lives, advocating for peace and
justice, and abundant love, in a dominant culture that says the church is no
longer relevant.
That’s the
God that I want to be in relationship with -
God who comes to us in our deepest nights,
God who calls us beyond our comfort zones and challenges us,
God whose hands save us from our foolishness and whose love
wraps around each of us like a life
jacket we can never remove.
God who climbs into the boat with us to ride out the wild
storms.
Thanks be to
God for this relationship.
Amen.
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