August 9, 2020
Rev. Mary Erickson
Hope Lutheran Church
Matthew 14:22-33
When the Way Is Long and Hard
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
There is a lot of fatigue and exhaustion going on in today’s gospel story. To begin with, Jesus and his disciples have just spent the entire day with a huge crowd of people on a remote hillside. Jesus spent the whole day healing their sick. Then they coordinated a mass feeding and cleanup.
That was a full day’s work! But there was more. Jesus had gone there in the first place because his heart was heavy. He’d gotten the news that John the Baptist had been beheaded. They went to this lonely place so that they could be alone and grieve John’s passing away from the constant demands of the crowds.
But once Jesus arrived, there were the people! So he laid aside his own grief and set about to care for their needs. How difficult it is to tend to other needs when your own heart is brimming over in grief and sorrow! Ordinary things take twice the energy
We’ve all been there. Sometimes the needs before you are so pressing that you just have to place your own needs on a shelf until you can get back to them later.
That’s exactly what Jesus did. But now he wanted to be alone. So he sent the disciples ahead in their boat, and then Jesus dismissed the crowds. At last, he was alone! He retreated to the mountain top, and there he prayed. His soul desperately needed one on one time with God.
Just like us, God was his source of strength and hope. In Jesus, we see a model for ourselves. We need God! And we need to tend to this holy fire within. God is our light and our life. When we neglect our connection to God, we become depleted in strength and hope.
Martin Luther was in the habit of praying at least two hours every day. He began each day in prayer. He remarked once,
“If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.”
President Abraham Lincoln knew this, too. Here was a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders! If you go to the Lincoln presidential museum in Springfield, IL, there’s an eye-opening display there. They line up portraits of Lincoln, every year from 1860 to 1865. Each year of his difficult presidency takes a dramatic toll on his features. He begins as the clean-shaven young lawyer. But in five brief years, he’s transformed into an aged, skeletal shadow of himself. Lincoln knew weariness. And he was no stranger to prayer. He said,
“I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.”
Prayer and time with God are essential. They revive our heart and soul. The story is told of a certain village in Africa. The message of Christianity had been embraced by this village. As their regular devotional practice, each person had found a lonely spot in the nearby jungle. They went frequently to their spot to pray. Each person’s spot was sufficiently remote so that he or she could openly and pour out their heart to God in prayer and praise.
Over time, the pathways to these prayer spots became worn down. So it was evident to everyone if a neighbor started to neglect their prayer life. To encourage their neighbor in prayer, they said, “Brother, the grass grows on your path.” *
Jesus knew he needed to connect with God. He sent his disciples and the crowds away so that at last he could pray. He prayed from evening until the fourth watch of the night. That’s between 3:00 and 6:00 in the morning. That was when the disciples spotted an apparition on the waters. That was a long prayer time!
So now we enter the second half of today’s story. And again, there is great strain and fatigue. The disciples also had put in a full day on that hillside. They were worn out, too.
When evening had come, Jesus sent them off in their boat. They set off for their destination across the lake. But then a stiff wind arose, and they were rowing right into it. Tired though they were, they had no option but to row on.
These were seasoned fishermen. They were no strangers to rough waters and hard rowing. On and on they rowed. But as they rowed, the wind pushed them back. They still had a long way to go before they reached the shore.
Life can feel that way. We’re currently in one of those times. It feels like we’ve been fighting this pandemic for a very long time! But we know there’s still a lot more before us. And now we’re facing the obstacle of school. What do we do about that? This social distancing has been extremely trying to people who must remain isolated, like elderly people who live alone or in skilled nursing facilities. The loneliness wears them down. Depression, substance abuse and domestic abuse have increased. It’s a trying time! And there are still so many leagues to go before we reach the shore.
There are other long struggles, too. Persistent health issues. I look at the names of the people on our prayer list. Healing can take a very long time. Complications hit and make the situation even harder. And for people who live with chronic illness, they must face the reality of those constant winds at their back. It’s a long journey.
Look around you. Who else is battling strong winds? Single parents, the unemployed, caregivers, those who face discrimination and constant microaggressions. Friends, there is no end to the constant headwinds!
The disciples have battled the wind for over six hours, making very little headway. It’s then, when their hands are calloused, when their backs are aching, that Jesus comes. Jesus comes to them across the impossible. They thought they were in this situation alone. But Jesus was coming.
He says, “Take heart, it is I!” The Greek there for “It is I” is "ego eimi." “I am.” The name of God. Jesus identifies himself by the holy name of God. “Take heart, my friends, the Holy One of Israel, God Almighty, is with you.”
Peter speaks up, “Lord, if it is you, then tell me to come to you on the water.”
Oftentimes, I’ve seen commentaries that laud Peter’s initiative. These writers criticize the other disciples for their lack of courage and faith. These eleven cower in the boat while Peter alone steps out of his safety zone. If you want to walk on water, the saying goes, you’ve got to get out of the boat.
But personally, I find that these kinds of commentaries and sermons leave me feeling worse about myself, not better. I guess, in the end, I’m more like the eleven who stayed in the boat.
And also, the boat is THE oldest symbol of the church of Christ. The people of God are like the disciples in the boat. We dwell together as a community of faith, through storms and across the seas of time.
No, Peter, don’t get out of the boat! Don’t leave the community! Stay in the boat, Peter! Why, why go out on your own?
Let’s take a closer look at what Peter says, “Lord, if it is you…” His statement has a familiar ring to it. “If it is you” has a testing quality about it. And it sounds uncomfortably similar to what the devil says to Jesus in the wilderness: “If you are the Messiah, command these stones to become bread.” Peter’s words also resonate with the scoffing crowds at Jesus’ crucifixion: “If you really are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
No, Peter’s statement doesn’t bode well. He leaves his comrades behind and he ventures out on his own. And once there, his isolation sets in. He becomes all too aware of the waves and the depth of the waters. He’s in way over his head! That’s when he realizes his error. He begins to sink. “Lord! Save me!” he cries. And immediately Jesus reaches out and grabs him.
Yes, there’s a lot of fatigue and exhaustion going on in this story. And in closing, I want to leave you with some final observations:
• Like Jesus’ example, take time to renew your soul. Connect with God. You’re never to busy to take some time away to connect with God. Don’t let the grass grow on your path!
• Secondly, in whatever situation you’re in, whatever the demands that come your way, you don’t have to walk on water! You are not the Messiah! You are not required to perform miracles. You don’t have to be super human.
• Thirdly, there are others with you in the boat! Take a look around. Encourage one another. And when others want to help you, let them. That’s what community is all about.
• And finally, we are not alone. Jesus is with us. He says, “Take heart! It is I! Be not afraid!”
*The story comes from "Today in the Word," June 29, 1992.
