Not As They Seem

• Third Sunday in Lent

With 2 Corinthians 4:5-12 and Matthew 14:22-36

• If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you attempt?

If you knew you could do something without getting sick or injured… ah, that’s what roller coasters are ;)

• Some of the responses from last week’s Question of the Week:
“What can you do because you are a person of faith?”

- Get out of bed each day.
- Count my blessings.
- Face my fears.
- Live a peaceful and happy life!
- Trust that there is a bigger plan for my life than I envision.

• This passage (Matthew 14:22-33) is generally presented as being about Peter walking on water. But that isn’t the point. That’s not what it’s about. Things are not always as they seem.

• Example: We had three inches of rain this week, then 8” of snow, which led to Route 60 and the aptly named Water Street being under water. My guess (I didn’t read it anywhere) was that the Guyandotte was at least ten feet higher than normal, but truly that is just a guess.

Where’s that water come from? Salt Rock, Chapmanville, Logan? Upstream from us… uphill?

Know what else is uphill from us? Lesage, Gallipolis, Point Pleasant, Parkersburg… via the mighty Ohio. I don’t know whether we actually had Ohio River water ON Route 60, but that’s what it sounded like on WSAZ… the flooding Ohio backed up the Guyandotte. With an overfull Ohio, the Guyandotte had nowhere to empty, so it backed up. And with an overfull Guyandotte, the Mud River had nowhere to empty, so it covered Route 60 and Water Street. Not merely the flow from Logan.

• So. Today’s Gospel reading. Not what it seems.
And really, as disciples, we should get used to Jesus not being what is expected… Jesus going beyond… Jesus being the kind of person who is not stopped by death, and who raises the dead and brings new life.

In today’s reading, Jesus has fed the crowds (who you’ll remember interrupted him as he was trying to get alone to grieve JtB’s death) and sent the crowds and the disciples away… he went up on the mountain alone to pray, leaving the disciples to take the boat across the lake. When he’s done praying, he walks out to the boat on the water. (astounding four words, walking on the lake).
The disciples see him and are overwhelmed with fear,
but Jesus calls to them, “Be encouraged! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

By the way, when you’re in a storm, overwhelmed with fear, can you hear Jesus saying those words to you? Be encouraged!
“I AM.” Don’t be afraid.

Peter replies “Lord, if it’s you, order me to come to you on the water,” and Jesus said, “Come.”

IF IT’S YOU. We’ve heard words like that before, by the way…
If you are the Son of God, command these rocks to become bread…    

IF IT’S YOU. What does Peter doubt right now?
That he can walk on water, or that it’s Jesus?

• The message is NOT “If Peter had had enough faith he could have walked on water…” but rather “If Peter had had enough faith, he would have believed the word of Jesus that came to him in the boat… he would have believed then as he does two chapters later that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.”

• Jesus IS the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, and clearly it was impossible that he should be walking on the water to come to them. This is a passage that demonstrates that Jesus is who he says he is, and who the prophets said he would be, that he is one with Almighty God, and he is present and powerful.

• We often find ourselves in the with Peter.
Clearly it is impossible that Jesus could come to us as he came to the disciples so long ago, right?

And like the message to Peter was not that he could walk on water, the message to us is not that “if we have enough faith, we could overcome all our problems in spectacular ways.”

Faith is not being able to walk on the water – only God can do that – but daring to believe, in the face of all the evidence, that God is with us in the boat, made real in the community of faith as it makes its way through the storm, battered by the waves. – p. 329-330, New Interpreter’s Bible. [emphasis mine]

• God is with us. When the storms of life are raging, God is with us. When the world is tossing me like a ship upon the sea, God is with us. When we’re growing old and feeble, God is with us. When we’re afeared of storm or battle, destruction or disease, God is with us.

When we face temptation or depression, addiction or grief,
God is with us.
When we feel like we can’t be forgiven or redeemed,
God is with us.

• Lord, we believe; help our unbelief.

• Hymn 385 Let Us Plead for Faith Alone (Charles Wesley)

 Matthew 14:22-36  (CEB) Third Sunday of Lent 03/08/15

22 Right then, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead to the other side of the lake while he dismissed the crowds. 23 When he sent them away, he went up onto a mountain by himself to pray. Evening came and he was alone. 24 Meanwhile, the boat, fighting a strong headwind, was being battered by the waves and was already far away from land. 25 Very early in the morning he came to his disciples, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified and said, “It’s a ghost!” They were so frightened they screamed.

27 Just then Jesus spoke to them, “Be encouraged! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

28 Peter replied, “Lord, if it’s you, order me to come to you on the water.” 29 And Jesus said, “Come.”

Then Peter got out of the boat and was walking on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when Peter saw the strong wind, he became frightened. As he began to sink, he shouted, “Lord, rescue me!”

31 Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him, saying, “You man of weak faith! Why did you begin to have doubts?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind settled down.

33 Then those in the boat worshipped Jesus and said, “You must be God’s Son!”

34 When they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. 35 When the people who lived in that place recognized him, they sent word throughout that whole region, and they brought to him everyone who was sick. 36 Then they begged him that they might just touch the edge of his clothes. Everyone who touched him was cured.

2 Corinthians 4:5-12 (CEB)                                    03/08/15

5 We don’t preach about ourselves. Instead, we preach about Jesus Christ as Lord, and we describe ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. 6 God said that light should shine out of the darkness.

He is the same one who shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 But we have this treasure in clay pots so that the awesome power belongs to God and doesn’t come from us. 8 We are experiencing all kinds of trouble, but we aren’t crushed. We are confused, but we aren’t depressed. 9 We are harassed, but we aren’t abandoned.

We are knocked down, but we aren’t knocked out.

10 We always carry Jesus’ death around in our bodies so that Jesus’ life can also be seen in our bodies. 11 We who are alive are always being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake so that Jesus’ life can also be seen in our bodies that are dying. 12 So death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.