Matthew 14:22-36
They say there are three things that are certain in life: death, taxes, and the resurrection. To that I would like to add a fourth: we will all make the mistake of moving without thinking and getting into a silly accident as a result. It is not an age thing, either. Consider the small children: they look across the room and decide they want to be over there, and so they just throw themselves in that general direction, and quite often they’ll stumble on their way as a result. We do it as adults, too; we might speak before thinking and say something silly, or might act quickly on the spur of the moment and end up creating a mess.
St Peter looked out across the water, saw the Lord, and decided that he wanted to be over there, and just jumped over the side and got going. Half way across the water, he began to sink. To be fair, he did call out to make sure it was Jesus first before he jumped out of the boat; but let’s listen to our Lord’s reply and have a think before moving.
He says “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” Twice, in two different ways, he says that it’s OK: “take heart; do not be afraid”. Why does he feel the need to repeat himself like this? It is because of the middle part: “it is I.”
Another way of translating that into English might be “I Am”. And if those two words in that order ring some memory bells for you, then good, because that is what name God gives to Moses at the Burning Bush.
So what’s going on here in this stormy night? The disciples are in a rickety wooden boat, beating against a strong wind, and they see an apparition across the dark waves, who calls out to them “Ho there! It’s the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth and all that is coming towards you!” No wonder our Lord repeated the command to not be afraid.
I wonder what was going through St Peter’s mind when he heard that. Had he thought about the fact that Jesus had identified himself with Yahweh? Or did he just act first, and think later? I don’t want to speculate, but rather turn the question on ourselves: when we consider that Jesus is calling out to us, do we stop and think about the fact that this is God Almighty doing the calling?
In the Chronicles of Narnia, there is a character called Aslan the lion, and he is who Jesus would be, if Narnia were a real place. At the beginning of one of the books, a couple of children have just landed in Narnia, and some talking animals come up to them and have a conversation. The animals decide the best thing to do is to take them to Aslan, because he will know what is to be done with these children. To this, one of the children ask about this lion: is he safe? The animals laugh and say, no, he is not safe at all! But he is very, very kind.
This is a wonderful description of our Lord. He is the great I Am, Yahweh, the Almighty, the Lord of the armies of heaven. He is not safe, as he is burning white-hot in his perfect holiness. Fear is a natural human response. But he is very, very kind, as he examples to St Peter: “take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
Why does our Lord tell us not to be afraid in his presence? I think it is because we are so ready to be afraid. There are many reasons for us to be afraid in the presence of the Lord of heaven and earth. Perhaps it is our guilt; maybe we are worried about something we have done, or something about who we are. Perhaps we are afraid he will let us down; that pinning all our hopes to him might not be a “safe bet”. Perhaps we are afraid he will change his mind about us; that while he loves us in this moment, he might not love us in the next, and his holiness will change from beauty to terror.
The common theme in all fear is, I think, ourselves. We think about ourselves, and we look down at the waves, and we get afraid, and we sink. But Jesus doesn’t say “you’re alright”, he says “it is I”. Jesus points to himself. So let us look to where he is pointing.
Focus on Christ. Keep your eyes on him, not yourself and your fears. Are you moving somewhere? It might even be just to the kitchen to get a sandwich. Look to him. Slow down, think on him, then move. Are you in conversation and a response is demanded of you? Slow down, think on the Lord Jesus, then speak. Is there a family situation that you are deeply involved with and you need to do something about? Slow down, think on Christ, look to him, then move.
Let the fear billow around you like the waves and the wind did St Peter. But as you look more and more on the Lord, they will fade out as he comes into focus, and you hear his voice, saying “take heart; I Am. Do not be afraid.”
And if you do end up moving without thinking, and having a silly accident, and feeling yourself go red with shame, cry out with the apostle “Lord, save me.” And what happened next to him will happen for us: “Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him.”