“Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.  When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:23-33

“While in the men’s room at a beachside park, I noticed they had a plastic baby-changing table installed on the wall. Apparently, some sportsmen had co-opted this politically correct amenity for their own use. Above the table was a sign saying: “It is unlawful to clean fish on this table.” (Cliff Revell)

“There would be a strong argument for saying that much of the most powerful preaching of our time is the preaching of the poets, playwrights, novelists because it is often they better than the rest of us who speak with awful honesty about the absence of God in the world and about the storm of his absence, both without and within, which, because it is unendurable, unlivable, drives us to look to the eye of the storm.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the disciples were looking into the eye of another storm – with the question “What are we going to do now?” Much of their time with Jesus was troubling, disturbing and, of course, just pure awesome. Take for example the time they were stuck in a boat, in a storm, at night, and Jesus looks like a ghost walking on the sea. If we would see something like this, we would say it was troubling, disturbing, and downright unbelievable – but also awesome. Our times with Jesus should un-trouble our souls, bring comfort and of course peace. But all these experiences should be building a trust and faith so we can, as Buechner says, “drive us to look to the eye of the storm” of our livesinstead of always running.

I believe this is what Jesus is trying to teach his disciples when he says: “You of little faith…why did you doubt?” We will have times where we face down the terrors of life, and we will have times where we fail, like Peter in spectacular ways. And yet, Jesus is with us in both the abundance and in the scarcity. Can we learn to press on in both circumstances – looking into and through the storms and living into the peace?

Pastor Dave

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being. Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food? Is wisdom with the aged, and understanding in length of days? “With God are wisdom and strength;” Job 12:7-13

“God’s coming is always unforeseen, I think, and the reason, if I had to guess, is that if he gave us anything much in the way of advance warning, more often than not we would have made ourselves scarce long before he got there.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

There are places in our lives where we expect to encounter the presence of G-d, and there are places we never expect G-d to make an appearance. And yet, as Buechner says, “God’s coming is always unforeseen”. Now you might say, well if G-d’s presence is always unforeseen, then how can we expect to experience G-d in church, or anywhere? Simple, one Sunday you might experience G-d in the Word, while G-d may be speaking to me in the hymnody, or the meal. And the next Sunday you may experience G-d in the presence of your brothers and sisters in Christ and the gathering of the assembly.

You see, G-d’s coming is unforeseen, for we just never know where the Holy Spirit will enter our lives, our very hearts, to comfort us, confront us, or even convict us.

When we repent of our sins, and when we come to our senses to realize how “wise” are the words of G-d, and how mysterious our G-d really is, we are always grateful for the forgiveness that amazes us and surprises us.

Understanding how we fit into this world can be very hard. The same is true with understanding the many ways G-d works in our lives. But when we repent of our sins before G-d and realize how wise G-d’s wisdom truly is, we increase in knowledge, and see better the ways of Kingdom living. 

Pastor Dave