Immediately before today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 14. 22 - 33) where the
disciples are caught up in a storm, we read about the miracle of the feeding of
the 5,000. The disciples had had a wonderful experience and had grown in their
faith. This was immediately followed by their going through a storm.
This is a common experience in the lives of Christians
and in church life. After enjoying positive experiences and developments in our
faith, we then go through some kind of trial which tests our faith. It is easy
to wonder why that should be so and there are no easy answers.
One of the people I have been reading during my
sabbatical has been Julian of Norwich. She doesn’t answer that question but she
does say this, God did not say 'You shall not be tempest-tossed, you shall not
be work-weary, you shall not be discomforted'. But he did say, 'You shall not
be overcome.'
So our Gospel reading this morning has things to teach us
about how to respond when storms come in our individual lives and as a church. Jesus comes to the
disciples in the storm walking on the water. He doesn’t still the storm on this
occasion instead he calls Peter to walk to him on the water. Peter begins to do
this but then becomes afraid and begins to sink. At which point, Jesus supports
him and they return to the boat and the storm is then stilled.
In the midst of this storm Peter is asked to do something
which seems impossible. He is asked to do what Jesus is doing, to follow in Jesus’
footsteps. In his storm Peter was called to walk on water but what is the
equivalent for us in our storms?
All Jesus’ disciples are called to follow in his
footsteps by doing what Jesus did. Like Peter being called to walk on water,
following in Jesus’ footsteps often seems impossible for us because what Jesus
did was to give everything he had for the love of others. Out of love for all
humanity he left everything he had with God to become a human being, being born
as a baby at Bethlehem, and he then gave up his own life on the cross when he
was crucified out of love for all people everywhere. When we think through what
following in Jesus’ footsteps actually means we quickly find, as individuals
and as a church, that there are all sorts of reasons that prevent from fully
doing what Jesus did and giving all that we have and are to others out of love
for them. As a result, we are like Peter who began to walk on the water but
couldn’t keep going. What Jesus calls us to do and to be by following in his
footsteps seems impossible for us to achieve.
Yet we know of some, like St Francis of Assisi or MotherTeresa, who have followed in Jesus’ footsteps more fully than any of us have
yet managed. So, we know too that it can be done to some extent and, with that
in mind, we need to be prepared, like Peter, to make the attempt, even if that
means we fail to fully follow through. As he was with Peter, Jesus will be
alongside us and will restore us so that we are then able to try again.
The storms we face in life are times of trial, times when
life seems at its most difficult or most challenging. The temptation in these
times is to lose our focus on Jesus - on who he is, what he did and how he
acted – when that happens, like Peter, the worries of life crowd in and
distract and we fall. In the storms we face, the more we continue to follow in
Jesus’ footsteps by giving all we can to our fellow Christians and in the wider
community, the more we will experience the ability to walk on water and come
through the storms instead of being overwhelmed by them.
Julian of Norwich reminds us
of the importance of prayer in these circumstances when we feel buffeted by the
storms of life and don’t feel God’s comforting presence alongside us. She
wrote, “Prayer fastens the soul to God, making it one with his will through the
deep inward working of the Holy Spirit. So he says this, 'Pray inwardly, even
though you feel no joy in it. For it does good, though you feel nothing, see
nothing, yes, even though you think you cannot pray. For when you are dry and
empty, sick and weak, your prayers please me, though there be little enough to
please you. All believing prayer is precious in my sight.' God accepts the
good-will and work of his servants, no matter how we feel.”
As she reminds us, “God did
not say 'You shall not be tempest-tossed, you shall not be work-weary, you
shall not be discomforted'. But he did say, 'You shall not be overcome.'”
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Dave Bainbridge - Until The Tide Turns.
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