Making the Best of the Current Storm
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
May 17, 2020
Matthew 14:22-33 (VOICE)
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on to the other side of the sea while He dismissed the crowd. 23 Then, after the crowd had gone, Jesus went up to a mountaintop alone (as He had intended from the start). As evening descended, He stood alone on the mountain, praying.
In the midst of the burdens of life and ministry, like when news of John’s death reaches Him, Jesus seeks refreshment in solitary prayer.
24 The boat was in the water, some distance from land, buffeted and pushed around by waves and wind. 25 Deep in the night, when He had concluded His prayers, Jesus walked out on the water to His disciples in their boat. 26 The disciples saw a figure moving toward them and were terrified.
Disciple: It’s a ghost!
Another Disciple: A ghost? What will we do?
Jesus: 27 Be still. It is I. You have nothing to fear.
Peter: 28 Lord, if it is really You, then command me to meet You on the water.
Jesus: 29 Indeed, come.
Peter stepped out of the boat onto the water and began walking toward Jesus. 30 But when he remembered how strong the wind was, his courage caught in his throat and he began to sink.
Peter: Master, save me!
31 Immediately Jesus reached for Peter and caught him.
Jesus: O you of little faith. Why did you doubt and dance back and forth between following Me and heeding fear?
32 Then Jesus and Peter climbed in the boat together, and the wind became still. 33 And the disciples worshiped Him.
Disciples: Truly You are the Son of God.
Good morning, Friends! It is good to be with you again from the comfort of your own homes. I pray you find hope today in this message.
Tuesday morning, I seemed drawn to stop near the pond at the entrance to our subdivision. It was a rather dreary morning and as I stood there looking across the pond, I imagined the scene where Jesus comes to the disciples during the storm on the sea.
I think this was all on my mind because earlier as I was having my first cup of coffee and watching the news, one of the broadcasters called the pandemic – the storm we were not prepared for.
To imagine the pandemic as a storm had me wanting to revisit that story Beth just read for us this morning.
The problem is that often with this story we only focus on the divine miraculous part and miss the practical application altogether.
One of my favorite professors in my doctoral studies once said, “We too easily get wrapped up in the miracles and divine instances of Jesus and skip right over the human aspects.”
When he said that, it had me thinking and looking at scripture from quite a different perspective from how I had been raised.
My professor said that we need to refocus our minds to see Jesus’ human aspects because they give us something we can understand, relate to, and ultimately learn from – and they are as much of the story as the miraculous parts.
So, this morning, I am going to focus a little more on what I think this text has been teaching me that many often miss as it relates to our current condition.
First, getting in a boat for the disciples was as ordinary as us getting in our cars to drive to work. They knew the seas like we know the roads around our homes.
Also, we must note that the disciples...
were comfortable in their setting…
they knew the weather patterns in their area…
they knew the warning signs of being on those seas…
they were as prepared as anyone could be for a storm, because...
to their credit, they were skilled fishermen.
Yet, as the disciples headed out to cross the sea, we find Jesus finishing the night’s lecture on the side of the hill and dismissing the crowds.
It is not hard for me to visualize this, almost like an author book talk at Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon where people would mill around waiting to get their book signed.
Remember, Jesus had been on tour for some time and he is tired and probably just wanted to head out.
Jesus needed his space and some down time to meditate, relax, and pray.
Most likely, Jesus just wanted to put his feet up on a big rock, lean up against a tree, and without crowds still his soul and take in the chorus of the evening bugs.
I don’t know about you, but I can almost picture Jesus in this moment.
There Jesus is up on the mountain side literally looking out over the sea in which the disciples have just ventured out.
He most likely was aware of the storm that was brewing because from his vantage point he could literally see it coming.
I kind of assume that Jesus, as many of us, laid back, watched the storm come in, but in his exhaustion fell asleep. Approaching storms seem to have the power to lull some of us to sleep.
Yet, throughout the night as Jesus rested his eyes, the disciples fought for their lives. This was not the usual storm. Different texts describe the storm’s impact in different ways.
Some say it battered the boat, others say it tossed the boat, one even says it buffeted the boat.
Stephen Tinkner thinks it was much worse. He says,
“Actually, the original Greek goes further. The word used in the Matthean text is actually basinizo (bos en izo), meaning to torture…
So, it is the middle of the night, the disciples are surrounded by a darkness we modern day light polluted people can’t understand, they are likely on a small boat, and a violent storm has surrounded and engulfed them. We can only imagine the fear pulsing through these disciple’s veins as the storm engulfs their lives.”
So, I think we can say without a doubt that this storm was intense.
It very likely could have been a thunder-clap or lightning bolt that jolted Jesus from his much-deserved rest and meditation.
Either way, the text says that Jesus went with haste to them early in the morning. Many people are quick to think it is dawn or as the sun is coming up, but I sense it was probably more like two or three in the morning and still very dark (remember there were no lights on the boat, or lighthouses on land).
Also, we must remember that when people are under such stress and torture with very little sleep. Well, you know...they don’t see things clearly.
Thus, the disciples had probably been fighting for their lives for hours in complete darkness, their internal clocks, their internal navigation, their nerves all had left them.
They had been battered, tossed, buffeted, and tortured - this was out of the ordinary for them.
Actually, at this time it was custom that fisherman crossed a sea by staying in sight of land and traveling around the perimeter of the sea - instead of going straight across.
The text says that by the time Jesus realizes what is going on, their boat was far from the land. They were probably a bit discombobulated, but from Jesus’ vantage point on the mountainside, he could have seen their exact location through the lightning strikes or even possible moonlight.
Did Jesus walk on water to get to them - or did he appear to walk on water? Maybe he was on the shore and to them he appeared to walk on the water. This is beside the point.
The important thing is that he knew where they were
and met them in their distress
and urged them through their fear.
Now, let’s just pause at this point and turn this to our current condition.
For most of us, as the broadcaster on Tuesday said, the pandemic has been like an unexpected storm that has appeared in our lives.
Unlike the ones that arise on occasion that we know how to get through or maybe even have taken precautions or made preparations for, this unexpected pandemic storm completely surprised us…
…and for many of us it is battering, tossing, and buffeting our lives in ways we would have never expected…
…leaving us feeling disconnected, weary, fearful, shaken, questioning, and wondering when things will settle down so we can go back to a new “normal.”
Let’s be honest, this pandemic storm…
knocked us off your feet.
distorted our vision and abilities, and
has many crying out for help!
As well, this pandemic has raised several societal storms, on top of our own personal storms, storms like…
· impending financial collapse,
· deepening political division,
· economic, educational, racial, and technological inequalities,
· and employment disparity and scarcity.
And those are just the big categories of storms…then there’s the mental health storms of isolation, depression, addiction, domestic violence, interpersonal relational disparities, and again the list could go on and on.
We seem currently surrounded by impending new storms each and every day – and mostly ones that we were not expecting.
All these storms can debilitate us, consume us, and have us and our neighborhoods, and even faith communities incapacitated and crying out for help!
But let us return to our scriptures for a moment - What Jesus told the disciples was that they had nothing to fear in the storm.
This is a common tactic of Jesus. We repeatedly hear him begin with, “Fear not” or “Peace be with you.”
Often, I think he had to say that to first calm their hearts and minds and put them in a place to be able to hear.
I don’t think it was a quick fix, because there will be other storms, and also because Jesus carefully links this thought with what he asks Peter and the other disciples. In this moment of utter unraveling and the storms pressing in he asked them not to doubt their potential.
You see, fear often grips us, leaving us immobilized – or maybe for us it is labeled lazy or just stubborn. We often default to some basic survival mentality.
That may be true right now in the midst of the pandemic storm. We may feel immobilized within isolation. We may be more lazy and unwilling to do what needs to be done. And we may be a bit stubborn in how we are approaching this pandemic.
Yet I sense God may be asking a little more of us during this storm than simply getting through or survival.
Like with the disciples, just maybe God wants us
· not to doubt our potential,
· to learn something about ourselves from this storm,
· to see this as a moment of opportunity,
· or a moment of true boldness, like Peter stepping out of the boat amidst the storm, where you and I can make a difference (in our own life and in the lives of others)!
Much like the storm the disciples found themselves within, the pandemic storm has changed the normal environment of life that we are used to.
Yet, if we willingly open our eyes to a new perspective, we might begin seeing that the pandemic has also created some positive and potential opportunities.
For example, I was reading a recent survey on the positive aspects of the pandemic on our world. They rarely quote this in press conferences or in the media. Things like…
· The pandemic storm has helped people build more genuine relationships.
Surveys actually show that more and more people have begun stepping out and getting to know their neighbors.
· Parents are spending more creative and quality time with their children.
· Many people are calling or connecting with old friends and catching up.
· Partners and spouses are rekindling romances.
· And even some people are engaging with that difficult person, colleague, or relative that needs reconciliation.
As well, the pandemic storm has already created entire lifestyle changes to practice better hygiene.
· Many people have learned to actually wash their hands, wear masks when appropriate, clean and disinfect their spaces.
· Businesses are in for huge changes in-regards-to better hygiene.
I cannot but be reminded of how the Hebrew people of the Old Testament, when setting up the temple, considered the importance of hygiene.
History shows that their detail to hygiene from washing as you entered the temple, to the Kosher process, to even the importance of circumcision, all saved or lengthened their follower’s lives.
Folks, hygiene is just as much about keeping me safe as it is being concerned about and loving our neighbors.
And we could keep going...The pandemic storm
· has already had a huge positive effect on our environment.
· has helped develop innovative ways to stay connected and help each other.
· has created an entire new wave of tools and software for use. Just think, how many of you had used Zoom before this time?
And I could go on and on…but the reality is, as I think we already know…there are going to be more storms in life.
And let’s be honest, we are rarely going to get through them by walking on water or by some miraculous means.
Instead we need to remember that…
God knows where we are within this pandemic storm.
God meets us in our distress and
God urges us through our fear to not doubt our potential – to seize this moment – and like Peter try a new perspective even amidst the storm.
As we enter a time of waiting worship, I ask you to ponder the following queries:
1. What has me immobilized and fearful during this pandemic storm?
2. What is my potential and the opportunities that have arisen?
3. In what ways may I need to be bold, step out, and challenge myself to see with a new perspective this week?