Friday, March 15, 2013

“IT IS I; DO NOT BE AFRAID!”

Matthew 14:22-27
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.  .  .  .   When evening came  .  .  .   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 toward [the disciples] on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, 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.”

ONCE AGAIN WE FIND THE DISCIPLES in a boat in the midst of a storm. These storms come up with some regularity on the Sea of Galilee, as they do in life. Only this time, Jesus was not in the boat with his disciples. Staying behind on the he sent his disciples ahead to the other side of the lake. Once again it was dark, and the disciples were in the middle of the lake with the wind and waves buffeting their small boat.
 
    This is the well-known story of Jesus walking on the water. Early in the morning, from some distance away, he saw that his friends were struggling, and he went to them to make sure they were okay. Like the disciples, we have times when the wind and waves buffet us, but Christ sees us in our moment of need and comes to us.
 
   But there is more to the story. After Jesus walked on the water, the disciples looked at each other and asked the question, “Who is this man?” Matthew, whose version of the story is printed above, frequently describes Jesus as one like, but greater than, Moses. After all, Moses led the children of Israel through the Red Sea, walking through the water as though it were dry land. But Jesus walked on the water.
 
   But Matthew is also clear that Jesus is “Immanuel,” God with us. Matthew’s telling of this story, whether he intended it or not, likely conjured up Scriptures in the minds of his readers: Job 9: 8 (NRSV), which describes God himself as one who “trampled the waves of the Sea”; Psalm 77: 19 (NRSV), which notes, “Your way was through the sea, your path, through the mighty waters; yet your footprints were unseen”; Isaiah 43: 16 (NRSV), which states that God “makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters.”
 
   Who is this man who walked on the water? He is one greater than Moses. In fact, he is none other than “God with us” in the midst of our fears, our storms, and our darkest nights.
 
   I remind our congregation that the part of our church building where the congregation sits is called the “nave,” from the Latin navis, which means ship. The church has long understood itself to be a ship, an ark in which salvation is found. I love the idea that when we gather for worship we are in God’s ship. There, Jesus comes to meet us, climbs into our boat, and tells us, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."
 
   The phrase “Do not be afraid” appears sixty-seven times in the Bible, most often either on the lips of God to his people or on the lips of God’s leaders, reminding people that God is with them and they don’t need to be afraid. Jesus shouted to his disciples, in the midst of the howling winds and waves, “It is I! Do not be afraid!” Whether the Lord was asleep in the boat or walking across the water, the disciples did not need to be afraid, for he would watch over them, sail with them in the storms, and somehow find a way to deliver them. He will deliver you, too.

Lord, thank you for coming to your disciples on the sea, trampling the waves. Help me to trust that you are with me and that I don’t need to be afraid. Calm my anxious heart. Amen.

Adam Hamilton, The Way: 40 Days of Reflection: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus