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Sermons:
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Discerning Jesus in the Storm
based on Matthew 14:22-33
Rev. Karen A. Goltz
A few years ago I had the
privilege of serving as chaplain for family camp at a Lutheran Bible Camp. One
of my duties was to lead bible study each morning at the conference center. We
had a pretty good turn-out, with a core group of about eight or so people who
showed up every day, and several others who came sometimes. As is usually the
case, one of the regular attendees was a real character. You know the type—a
real joker with a heart of gold who gives everyone a hard time and is
disappointed if we don't give him one back, and who always asks these blunt,
direct questions and expects blunt, direct answers in return. On Friday, the
last day of bible study, he complained that all the answers to his questions
were abstract, and he didn't do well with abstract.
His complaint was valid. But there wasn't much
I could do about it. His questions were mostly seeking clear, concrete
directions on what to do in certain situations. But the situations he was
concerned about aren't directly addressed in the bible; all we had were broad
statements by Jesus that we're left to interpret what they mean for us today.
Take today's gospel lesson, for example. We
have Peter and the other disciples in a boat in the middle of the night, with a
storm raging around them. Jesus has gone off to pray, and, having finished, is
walking across the water to catch up with the boat. The disciples see him and
are terrified, thinking maybe they're seeing a ghost, at which point he tells
them that it's him, and not to be afraid. Peter asks him to prove it by calling
him out on the water, and Jesus says, "OK, come on." So Peter steps out of the
boat and starts walking on the water toward Jesus, but partway there notices the
storm, gets scared, and starts to sink. In his fear he cries out to Jesus for
help, and Jesus reaches out a hand and saves him. Jesus says, "You of little
faith, why did you doubt?" Then they both get back into the boat, everyone
worships him and calls him the Son of God, and they continue on their way.
It's an abstract story, and we tend to
interpret it abstractly. We take from this story that we're supposed to be like
Peter and ask for Jesus' command or will. Once we receive it we're to step out
in faith, even when we're called to do something seemingly impossible like
walking on water. If we take our eyes off Jesus and let ourselves worry about
other things around us, we'll begin to sink or fail, but even then if we call
out to Jesus for help, he'll be there, and he won't let us fall, because he is
the Son of God. That's our lesson for today....[continue]
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