Sermon 7th August 2011
Sermon Pentecost Matthew 14:22-33
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the lake. But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’
Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’
There is an old story that has often been re-told in especially the Eastern Orthodox part of the church. According to the tale, a devout abbot from a monastery decided to take a prolonged spiritual retreat in a small cabin located on a remote island in the middle of a large lake. He told his fellow monks that he wanted to spend his days in prayer so as to grow closer to God. For six months he remained on the island with no other person seeing him or hearing from him in all that time. But then one day, as two monks were standing near the shore soaking up some sunshine, they could see in the distance a figure moving toward them. It was the abbot, walking on water, and coming toward shore. After the abbot passed by the two monks and continued on to the monastery, one of the monks turned to the other and said, "All these months in prayer and the abbot is still as stingy as ever. After all, the ferry costs only 25 cents!" Humour aside, the point of the story is that it's amazing how easily we may sometimes miss the significance of something that is right in front of us. It’s the kind of thing that could motivate one to take a fresh look at even the very familiar, like the story in Matthew 14 about Jesus (and then Peter) walking on water. (Scott Hoezee)
William Barclay in his commentary on this passage states there is difficulty in knowing what actually happened in this story. He states that the Greek in verse 25 can be translated “over the sea”, or it can be translated “at the sea”. At the sea, that is, by the sea shore allows the understanding that the boat was driven in the night by the wind to the northern shore of the lake, and Jesus saw them in the morning. By then they were close to the shore, and this allowed Jesus to wade out through the surf towards the boat. The Greek, Barclay says, allows this interpretation, or the alternative interpretation, that the boat was still some distance from the shore. Both interpretations of the Greek text are valid.
We should not allow ourselves to be distracted by wondering what actually happened. This is, after all, a religious story, not a scientific textbook. The main character is Jesus. If we go to the end verse, we are told that those in the boat worshipped him,
saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’
They saw in this story, Jesus demonstrating a power of divine nature and his ability to save those in peril. In scripture the stilling of a storm is something that is only assigned to God. So here in Matthew’s gospel, we have a Christological claim, that Jesus is the Son of God.
I want to suggest to you there are two themes for thinking about in this story. The first is fear. The second is that through God in Christ, we can bring order to our chaos.
I remember as a young student being in Invercargill for an archaeological dig. There was an opportunity to go on a tug boat that was taking the pilot out to a ship just out of Bluff. Unfortunately for me the waves that day were pretty high, and I stood in the cabin trying to control my stomach. However when the tug turned, my equilibrium, along with the contents of my stomach, went out the door. I suppose we all have had some experience of being at sea in waves that seem out of control. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the sea, they were terrified. It was the reply of Jesus who calmed them:
‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’
In any emergency or fearful situation, fear or panic is the immediate hazard. How many disasters have occurred by the panic of a crowd? A cool mind is required. When Terry Waite faced the reality of his imprisonment in Lebanon in 1987, he worked out a strategy to let his mind take charge. He knew he probably would be tortured. But whatever his captors would do to his body, they could only take charge of his mind if he let them. His strategy led to his survival.
Fear or panic can be deadly. Having a faith then can provide a foundation rock to bring us through situations that seem overwhelming or out of control. Let your mind take charge. Use a prayer or a song, a poem or a verse to focus your mind. Into this situation of fear or terror, bring Christ into your mind. Listen to the voice of Christ: “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
If we trust God in the midst of terror or fear, then we will find the calm to overcome whatever threatens us.
A prayer then is an important means of overcoming fear. Do not underestimate the politics of fear. On the other hand, do not belittle the power of a prayer to put fear in its place.
The second theme in our story is bringing order to chaos. The key to understanding this is in the Old Testament where God, the all powerful creator, treads upon the waters. In the book of Job, 9:8, the creator is seen “stretching out the heavens and trampling upon the waves of the sea”.
By walking on the sea, Jesus becomes as God, overcoming the powers of chaos and subduing them. This cosmic aspect to God in Christ is an affirmation of God as Creator.
In Syria at the moment, each Friday, the people in the villages are going to their midday prayers. Then they are going onto the streets. The President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, has responded by sending in his army with their tanks and shooting people. The dilemma for the people is whether to arm themselves and start a civil war, or to use the power of non-violence. It is true that the military can shape history. It is equally true that history is shaped by the power of ideas and values, the power of spirituality that no army can capture and destroy.
There is an African American saying that we are always either going into a storm, in a storm, or coming out of a storm. This reminds us that life is not static, it is always evolving, moving, changing. We can think of peace as the absence of this movement, but in a sense, that is not what peace is about. Peace is more of a force in itself, not its absence. If we think then of Christ as the son of God, we are thinking that in Christ, the powers of chaos, the powers of evil intent, and the powers that can destroy us, these powers can be overcome by the power of God, in Christ.
John Howell
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