“Between Fear and Faith”   (Return to Sermon Page)

 August 10, 2008

Matthew 14: 22-33                                      

Well, here we are---sitting in a small boat, bobbing on the sea of life.

Sometimes the waters are calm; we do well enough then.

Sometimes the waters are choppy; we can handle it.

Sometimes the waters are roiling, the waves about to over come us.

          What’ll we do then?                 Help!  Help me Lord!     

          The miracle of this story is that anybody pays attention to it.

Did you hear about what happened?

As instructed, the disciples set out on their own.  Jesus needed a little private time.

          Things start to get a little rough out there on the water.

Surely he thought they could handle it. But they got scared and called for him.

They were in Christ’s boat.  They were safe.  But it didn’t feel safe.

What began as manageable became untenable; help! 

Where are you Lord when we need you?

I’m thinking there’s lots of company in that boat; 

Don’t we often feel pushed this way and that by all that life brings us?

Like them, don’t we call out for help? ….and what happens?

          Christ comes and they don’t recognize him.  Does that happen to us?

In ancient times, the sea was a place of demons and monsters. 

When Jesus walked toward the disciples at first they saw what they expected to see:

an evil monster come up from the sea.

It happens to us: we see what we expect. 

If we expect trouble, often it’s what we see.

It’s hard to see Christ’s hand stretched out to us if all we’re looking for is trouble.

It’s hard to see help coming when we’re feeling swamped.

          It takes faith to trust that Christ is there, seen or unseen.

          It takes faith to believe that Christ is at work in every circumstance.

In the middle of waves over our heads, Christ extends a calm

that enables us to see the shore, the other side of trouble

and helps us head in the right direction.

          We work out our lives somewhere between fear and faith;

                   bouncing back and forth between doubting and trusting,

between ‘Lord, help me’     and       ‘Lord, you are here!’

                             and it can feel like a miracle when the Lord arrives.

But that’s not the end of the story----in the headiness of that saving moment,

          with child like enthusiasm and stubbornness, we want to do it too.

                   “That was really cool; let me try.”

How many times have we thought that being saved meant we could walk on water?

How many times has the joy of being comforted or rescued led us

to throw ourselves into something, way over our heads?  

How many times has doubt set in after we began,

or we find we just don’t have the will to continue our commitment,

and then like Peter, we once again cry out for help?

          Christ help me! 

O ye of little faith, why did you doubt?

You see, we have faith, but often it’s not enough for what we want to undertake.  We could have done any of those things we said we would,

but our faith was not strong enough to complete it. 

Peter could have walked on the water; he did for a bit;

but he failed when he gave in to self-doubt and fear and lost his faith in Christ. 

But Christ did not abandon him; even then Christ was with him.

This story wasn’t written just for individuals. 

Its lessons are for the church as a whole. 

Peter took the step any one of the disciples could have taken;

 he’s always the first in and the first out.  He speaks for all of them.

In this story he acts on behalf of all of us.

Just as some of you do.

Just as some of you are the voice and the heart of particular ministries and venture

that this church undertakes and that everyone supports:

We let you do it; you take the risk we are afraid to take;

You do the work we don’t have time or heart to do.

          We’re proud of you.

And if you burn out, or sink in doubt, or don’t know what to do next,

What then?                    Will we be there for you?         Will we risk our necks for you?

Will we hold you up and walk beside you until you are sure again?

We walk everyday between fear and faith,

sometimes trying to walk on water all by ourselves,

sometimes filled with doubt and that sinking feeling;

sometimes enjoying the elation and gratitude of having made it through alive!

          As the church we are called to be Christ for one another:

to hold each other up; to keep our eyes on Christ,

on the goal of love and justice and peace,  lest we sink.

Because this story is also tells the patience and grace of Christ who

tells it like it is:   ‘o ye of little faith’ ……but at the same time

nourishes that faith, grows that trust, works within us

as we struggle to understand and become more fully his disciples.

So welcome into the boat!

come with your troubles and your fears; come with your hopes and your dreams.

          We have a long journey ahead.

It’s windy and the boat lurches and trembles sometimes.

Sometimes we feel strong and more often we’re not sure how to proceed.

But through it all Christ is with us, holding us up so we don’t sink,

          Climbing into the boat with us to guide, to calm the winds and the sea,

to carry us on.