This Sunday, August 13, 2023, our Gospel Lesson is Matthew 14:22-33. It may be a familiar story to you - Jesus walking on the water.
The story is this. Jesus has just fed the 5,000 - last week's Gospel Lesson. He has told his disciples to take their boat back across the lake while he dismisses the crowd - and then Jesus goes back up into the hills for a little personal time. Meanwhile a storm has come up and the disciples are getting nowhere out on the lake.
In the morning - in the MORNING!! - the disciples are still at it. Jesus comes walking towards them on the water and they're afraid thinking he must be ghost. Jesus calls to them and says he's not a ghost. Peter says "Prove it!" and Jesus says, "Okay, come on out and join me."
My question is this. Well, first of all my question is how long do you sit in a boat rowing, being blown in the wrong direction, without finally saying, "This obviously isn't going to work. Let's just blow back to where we started and wait for better conditions?" I mean really. All night?! Either that's over the top commitment to Jesus' command, or totally out of control time, or just not too bright. But okay.
I sometimes get uni-focused too. What do they say? "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result?" Okay. Guilty as charged. That's me. But "Stop." "Go back to where you came from and try again later." "Try a different tack." There have to be other options, right?
Right. However, one of those options clearly is not getting out of the boat and walking home!! I mean, who would suggest such a thing?!!
Jesus, apparently.
Hmm . . .
Pr. Dave Brauer-Rieke
