Reflection on Matthew 14:22-33
Grace and peace to you all in the name of the
Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Many years ago,
when my grandfather became a first Christian in our families, there was on the
one hand a great joy for him that the Gospel of Jesus Christ liberated from the
bondage of the inhuman caste system that operates in India, and on the other
hand there were fears of what this new faith that the missionaries preached would
offer him and his community in a predominantly Hindu society. But praise be to
God that his fears and anxieties of the new faith in the way of Christ did not
fail or disappoint him, for the Amazing Grace of God in Jesus Christ has
transformed our family and community from being no-people to being God’s
people, and today I stand as a living testimony to that faith legacy, where our
families have become faithful children of God. Fear has been transformed into courageous
faith, for we are saved from sinking.
The text that has
been read out for us from the gospel according to Matthew 14: 22-33 is the episode
of Jesus walking on the sea, where the disciples fear has been transformed into
courage, and courage has been transformed into adventure, and adventure has
been transformed into grace. The gospel message that comes to us is in the
words of Jesus, “Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid.”
Allow me to share
five things from this text, which I think are helpful in overcoming the fears
of our times today.
1.
A
Case of Fear: It was well past midnight, early
morning ish, when the fishermen turned disciples, were travelling in the boat
to the other side of the shore, ahead of Jesus, the waves started roaring on
the sea that they saw a ‘ghost’ walking on the sea. Terrified by seeing ‘the
ghost’ the disciples cried out in fear. This case of fear in the life of
disciples happened because, firstly, it was unusual and impossible to see
someone walking on the sea, when they saw such a thing at that odd hour, they
were in fear. Secondly, they mistook Jesus for a ghost or a phantom. They did
not anticipate that the divine in Jesus can appear at the most odd periods of
time and in the most unusual ways such as walking on water. The disciples were
sacred, fear overtook them, and they were terrified. Our context is no
different today. Fear has taken over us for we are not able to recognise Jesus
who has been coming to us at odd hours, and in odd and unusual ways.
2.
A
Hope to Hear: Learning that his colleagues were
petrified, Jesus comforted them by saying that “Take heart, it is I, do not be
afraid.” The voice of the divine in Jesus is a voice of hope, is a voice of
comfort, is a voice of consolation, a voice of security, a voice of assurance
and a voice of salvation. When fear, anxieties and worries grip us, God in
Jesus appears to strengthen us in driving away our fears. The world today seeks
hopes in false saviours like State, governments, market, secularism etc. but as
Christians we have hope in Jesus and he is continuing to speak with words of
hope to our society today.
3.
A
Plea Made Clear: On recognising Jesus words of hope,
Peter takes courage in making a plea to Jesus to command him to walk like Jesus
on the rough sea. Peter has personally seen and witnessed the strength in the
command of Jesus on other occasions, be it in catching two boats of fish, or in
stilling the storm or in casting away the demons, and therefore he makes a plea
to Jesus to command him to walk on the rough sea. Jesus does not ignore the
pleas made by his disciples, and since Peter has acknowledged the power of his
command, he invites him to get out of the boat, to come and walk like him on
the rough sea. Jesus appreciates when courage transforms people to adventure, and
Peter started to walk on water towards Jesus. A rare sight for a human to walk
on rough sea, Peter did it and walked for a while, for his plea was answered
and became a reality. But Peter’s walk on the rough sea is an invitation to us,
the disciples of Christ in this 21st century, to recognise the
strength in the command of Jesus, to be courageous in faith and to transform it
to an adventurous faith of walking along with Jesus on rough seas of our times.
4.
A
Gaze that costs Dear: This rare experience of walking on
water for Peter did not long last, for as long as he kept his gaze on Jesus, he
walked on rough seas as easy as he walked on the streets. When he let go his
gaze on Jesus and noticed the strong winds of that rough sea, fear overcame him
once again, and he began to sink in the waters. Letting go his focus on Jesus
cost him dear. A diversion and deviation from the gaze on Jesus caused him to
lose his balance on the waters, and be overtaken by fear and anxiety. In our
times today, with the rise of secularism, the Christian Church is slowly losing
its gaze on Jesus and has either deviated or diverted its attention from Jesus
to the many worldly strong currents and winds that seek to cause us to sink and
lose hope. This episode of Jesus and Peter walking on the rough seas is a
wake-up call for the Church today to regain its focus, its attention and its
gaze towards Jesus and save the sinking Church.
5.
Grace
that came Near: In those sinking moments, Peter cried
out “Lord save me!” This shout of Peter on the one hand was an act of his
confession for losing his focus on Jesus, and on the other hand it was an act
of intercession, crying for help to save him from sinking. At that shout for
salvation, the Grace of God came near to Peter, and Jesus reached out his hand,
caught him and brought him out from sinking by granting him a new life
experience. Imagine if Jesus did not come in rescue of Peter, he would have
drowned. But he was found by the Grace of God, that he was saved to life and
was caught by Jesus to live for him and for God’s Kingdom. In saving Peter,
Jesus exposed his little faith, his doubt and healed them with greater faith
and trust. The rest of the disciples on witnessing this whole episode
recognised the ‘Son of God’ in Jesus and became a worshipping community. In
today’s world filled with fear of insecurity, uncertainty, hopelessness, &
death, we need to be assured from that, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that
the Grace of God finds us, saves us and leads us in hope; overcoming all our
fears and worries. We therefore sing together “Amazing grace how sweet that
sounds, that saved a wretched like me, I once was lost but now am found, was
blind but now I see.”
Are we prepared
to take up the courageous and adventurous discipleship of Christ? If so now is
the time to accept the invitation of Jesus to come and walk along with him on
the rough seas of the 21st century, facing strong currents and winds,
towards a new life experience. Allow me to conclude this sermon by joining in
the words of Hebrews 12:1-2, which says, “Therefore, since we are
surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight
and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the
race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the
pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his
seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” Amen
