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In a sermon, the Rt. Rev. Michael Curry considers how Jesus sustains us in the storms of life:
In the fourteenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus has sent his disciples, at least some of them, off on a trip on the sea. He tells them to get in the boat and he says, “Y’all go across to the other side. [The “y’all” wasn’t in the King James Version, but that is what he said.] Y’all go across to the other side.”
As they were on the perilous journey on the Sea of Galilee, in the middle of the night, if you will, a storm erupts, and they’re fearful for their very lives, because this is in the middle of the night. This is night with no ambient light. This is night without artificial light. All they had, whatever lamps they had in that boat, that was it. It was night. James Weldon Johnson said, “Blacker than a hundred midnights down in a cypress swamp.” And they were fearful because they couldn’t even see the wind and the rain, and yet they could feel them buffeting them back and forth, back and forth.
And then, when it was darkest, when it was most uncertain, Peter … saw a figure coming toward them…. It was Jesus. He was walking on the water. And Peter, without even thinking, says, “Lord, if you bid me come to you, I’ll come to you!” And Jesus says, “Well come on, brother.” Peter jumps out of the boat and starts walking on the water, heading toward Jesus, and he actually did it. He just saw him, he said, “Lord!” He kept walking. “Lord! It’s you!”
Then, he looked around, and it was a serious “uh-oh” moment. And the text says … that when Peter looked at the wind and the waves and saw the storm around him and lost his focus on Jesus and focused on the storm, that is when he began to sink.
Curry sings an African American spiritual, pointing to the faith of people in crisis:
Remember the song …
I got my hand on the Gospel plow
Wouldn’t take nothin’ for my journey now
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on, hold on
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on
Oh, I bet that there’s some wisdom here, because in Matthew’s version, I want you to notice that the storm doesn’t stop. This is not a story about Jesus calming the sea. The storm rages on. But if you want to know how to walk through a storm? Keep your eyes on the prize. Keep your eyes focused on this Jesus, on his teachings, on his spirit. Abide with him, dwell with him, live in him. And when you live in him, guess what? He will start living in you….
That’s how Peter walks on water. To throw yourself into the arms of Jesus … and hold on.
Reference:
Michael Curry, The Power of Love: Sermons, Reflections, and Wisdom to Uplift and Inspire (Avery Press, 2018), 22–24.
Image credit and inspiration: Pao Dayag, untitled (detail), 2021, photo, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. Like a seedling rising out of the earth, we unfold into the brightness of day, knowing that God is a source of protection and life.
Story from Our Community:
I appreciate how these mediations invite me to engage Scripture with new eyes. This week’s study of Psalm 137 has opened up for and in me a new, expansive view of this psalm in particular and the book of Psalms in general. What strikes me most is the bold act of defiance the lamenters take against their captors. Not only do they refuse to sing, but they hang their instruments from trees—such a courageous, artistic, symbolic act of absolute and awesome defiance! Would I be that brave? I can only hope so.
—Brigitte G
