First Mennonite Church
November 3, 2024
What Are You Afraid Of?
Text: Matthew 14:22-33
Last week, people who like to be scared for fun must have enjoyed the opportunity that Halloween provides for that kind of entertainment. I know many people like this holiday for the “trick and treat” part. It’s not my favorite holiday; I must admit. But, some take advantage of this holiday to watch scary movies, visit haunted houses, hold Halloween parties, or decorate their homes with all kinds of interesting objects. As we know it, some people like to be scared for fun. But what is it that really scares you?
Last year, Chapman University[1] surveyed what Americans are afraid of the most. Among the top ten fears are: having a corrupt government, economic collapse, the US entering another war, the use of nuclear arms against the US by enemy countries, and not being financially solvent in old age. What are you afraid of? Is it one among those I just mentioned or something else?
We normally avoid putting ourselves in the way of danger. In the best of scenarios, we prepare ourselves if what we need to do poses danger of some kind. So, drive carefully, obeying traffic rules. We set aside something for the “rainy days.”
The background of our story this morning is that Jesus was going to a solitary place after he heard that his cousin, John the Baptist, had been killed by Herod. Jesus possibly was seeking a place of solitude to mourn the death of John the Baptist. But when the crowds found out where he went, they followed him. Matthew tells us that upon seeing the great crowds, Jesus felt compassion for them. He even healed the sick among those that came to him. After a long day, the crowd had spent with Jesus listening to him teach and as evening was coming, the disciples approached Jesus and said to him, “Dismiss the crowds. This place is quite remote and they need to find something to eat.” But Jesus said to them, “No. They do not have to go. You give them something to eat.” It was here where Jesus multiplied the few loaves of bread and fish to feed 5000 men and most likely twice as many women and children. After everyone had eaten, Jesus began to dismiss the people and while doing so, Matthew says, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and sent them across to the other side of the lake.
The way Matthew describes Jesus’ action seems to show that the disciples did not have much of an option. Jesus sort of “forces” or “compels” his disciples to get into the boat and asks them to leave. Was it because they knew he was staying behind? Possibly so. And we wonder, why didn’t they help Jesus dismiss the people who had gathered that day? So, Jesus does not only dismiss those who had come from all over but also his disciples.
Once Jesus was left alone, he went up the mountain to pray and it was night. We need to remember that in Matthew’s gospel, the mountain is always a place of encounter with the Divine.
As the disciples were going, we can only wonder what their conversation must have been that evening. There was certainly a lot they could talk about: John the Baptist’s tragic death, Jesus’ desire to be alone after he heard of John’s death, Jesus’ compassion for the people who came to him despite his grief, the miracle of multiplying fish and loaves of bread, or the way Jesus had put them into the boat and sent them. But whatever the conversation was as engaging as it could have been was overcome by the storm that arose in the lake. For most of the night, the disciples were fighting to stay afloat, literally. Close to the morning, and in a death-defying act, Jesus came to his disciple walking on the rough waters. Either because of their exhaustion and the spray of water in their eyes due to the force of the winds, but the disciples thought they were looking at a ghost. So they cried out in fear, “A ghost!” But immediately, Jesus spoke to them, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
“Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid,” (14:27) are Jesus’ words to the disciples. Jesus will say the same thing in Mark (6:50), and also in a boat scene. In John, “take heart” appears in Jesus’ last words to his disciples before turning in prayer to the Father (16:33), “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (16:33 NIV). Why “take heart”? What is Jesus saying to the disciples with these particular words?
Once Jesus identified himself as the one walking on the water, Peter asked Jesus, “Lord if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” And Jesus said to him, “Come.” One wonders, why did Peter want to walk on the water? Did he want to prove his faith to the Lord? Was he testing Jesus’ power? Regardless of the reason, Peter jumped out and began to walk toward Jesus. Yet, upon noticing the strong wind, the waves, and the danger surrounding him, Peter began to sink; so he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately, Jesus took hold of Peter. Jesus caught Peter and would not let him sink or drown. And he certainly will catch us as well. Jesus will also ask us the basic and simple question: “Why were you doubting me in the middle of your storm?”
So let me come back with the initial question: what are you afraid of?
In Matthew’s Gospel, this story is meant to reveal who Jesus is. Jesus is Lord and Savior. Jesus is the embodiment of how Job describes Yahweh, the “I AM.” Yahweh not only created the seas but he “journeyed to its very sources and walked on its deepest recesses (38:16). So Matthew presents Jesus as the one who not only calms the raging sea but more so he calms the troubled hearts of his disciples. His command to take heart is a command he also gives us today. However, the revelation that Jesus is the one who calms our hearts is only possible in the midst of the chaos. You see, if Jesus had not forced the disciples to embark on this uncertain journey, they would have missed the opportunity to see God revealed in their midst.
So what is troubling your heart? What are you afraid of? Is it what you do not know is brewing inside your body in terms of illness or disease? Is it what will come next after you finish school? Is it the world in which your children will grow up? Is it whether or not you will have enough once you cannot work and earn a living anymore? Is it the outcome of this election cycle and what will follow next? Is it about the church’s future? Is it what will become of this country culturally, morally, and spiritually?
Life as we know it is like a raging storm. There is danger lurking all around. There is a lot that can fill our hearts with fear. And there are occasions where it seems that instead of having a clear view of who God is to us, we seem to be looking at a ghost. The stress we bear, the blurred vision worry has caused us to have, or the doubts that arise in our hearts, but the truth of the matter is, we can’t see God’s presence any clearer. Yet, there is in the midst of our storms a voice calling us, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Let us, therefore, not lose sight of him who is calling us. Let us remember the words of the Psalmist who said:
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.[c
(The Lord) says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
(For)The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
But above all, let us hear the words of Him who calls us in the midst of our storms: “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” We will be able to walk through the storm if we only keep our eyes on him who walks on troubled waters. Amen!
Pastor Romero
[1] blogs.chapman.edu/wilkinson/2023