Penticost XII, Proper 14, Year A

Jonah, 2:1-9
Romans, 9:1-5
Matthew, 14:22-33

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

For most of our lives, the most destablizing international relationship was that of our nation and the Soviet Union. The hostility produced enormous fear and unease throughout the world. The roost is now ours, and whatever direct threats we face as a nation are probably not the most dangerous conflicts in the world. Instead, hostile relations between lesser nations likely pose the greatest menace to life, liberty, and property, both for this country and throughout the world. It is arguable that the most dangerous of these is the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. Others might argue that the nuclear capabilities of India and Pakistan means that their dispute over Kashmir has a greater potential for chaos, destruction, and horror. In either case, the potential for disaster is frightening. These hostilities could make us despair, but we might find some encouragement in considering that in recent years there has been some significant success in cooling some of the world's other extremely hot spots, notably the Balkans, Sri Lanka, and Northern Ireland. One of the common denominators in each one of these conflicts is religion. In the regions I have mentioned, religion has fueled the flames between Jew and Muslim, Hindu and Muslim, Christian and Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu, Catholic and Protestant. The most violent and intractable conflicts are among people with strongly held religious beliefs. They believe that God is on their side and is glorified in their own victories.

Yet, everyone of these religions opposes violence. The Church, for example, teaches that the use of violence may be just, but it does not please God. At best, violence is a lesser of evils. The scandal of violence and hatred, however, often accompanies religious belief. It fans secularist cynicism about religion. For clearly, believers use God to justify their own ends. They are hypocrites. While our Lord was gentle, tender, mild, merciful with sinners, he was exceedingly harsh against hypocrites, those "whited sepulchres, which appear beautiful outwardly, but within are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness." (Mt 23:27) "Woe to you, hypocrites! Because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in." (Mt 23:13) S. Matthew uses a whole chapter of his gospel to record Jesus berating and cursing hypocrites.

Those of us who have examined ourselves, who have taken advantage of the sacrament of penance and have received absolution, who have trusted in God's mercy, those know that hypocrisy is not reserved for international conflicts. It festers in every human being. Hypocrisy is very ordinary. We all try to make God serve our purposes, our false idols. This is a hideous sin, even though many of our false idols are good things. Every Christian should regularly meditate upon the question: what do I put before God? Nation? Business? Morality? Family? Human rights? Environment? All of these are good things, but they do not come before God. Alas, we often use these good concerns to insulate us from God and to avoid his demands. Our idol becomes primary, God secondary. In other words, we fix ourselves on our own agendas, not Christ's. And when this happens, we begin sinking into the sea. The sea symbolizes chaos, darkness, and disharmony, the home of monsters that swallow us. It is where Leviathan dwells. It separates us from God. In creation, God brought forth order and light from the waters of disorder and confusion. When we place our faith in idols, instead of Jesus, then we begin to sink.

The most fundamental aspect of being a Christian is trusting God; it is not assenting to a bunch of ideas about God; it is not doctrine or morality. Faith is placing our trust and confidence in him and his mercy. We are like S. Peter. We have little faith. When Peter sees our Lord coming to him, Jesus reassures him: "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." This is a loaded statement, not mere pleasantries. First, "Be of good cheer." At the waters of the Red Sea, Moses had used the same words of encouragement to reassure Israel that the Lord would deliver her from the Egyptians. Moses said, "The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still." In other words, Moses said, "Trust God." (Ex 14:13-14) Second, "It is I." (This is not an ostentatious display of proper grammar.) It restates the divine name given to Moses at the Burning Bush: "I am who I am." The disciples think that they have seen a spirit, a ghost. Jesus responds by telling them his identity, that he has a unique relationship to God, a oneness with God. Third, "Be not afraid." This is the constant refrain of heavenly beings when they meet human beings. S. Gabriel greets S. Mary and S. Zechariah this way. The angel says it to the women who find the empty tomb. It reassures, indicating good intention.

Peter hears these three phrases, but still he does not trust. He tests. Instead of accepting our Lord's test to trust him, Peter turns and tests the Lord. "If it is you, bid me to come to you." Like Adam in Eden, Peter wants to do what God does. He wants to walk on water. He forgets that the disciple is not greater than the master. Peter would forget his place again at Caesarea Phillipi when he rebuked our Lord because he did not like what Jesus had said about suffering and being killed. At Caesarea Phillipi, Peter had told Jesus how to be the Christ, what he expected from the Christ, and Jesus told him off, saying, "Get behind me, Satan!" (Mt 16:23) In today's gospel, like Satan tempting our Lord in the wilderness, Peter wants Jesus to prove himself. "Show me what you've got." Unlike in the wilderness, our Lord plays along; he accepts Peter's test. He says, "Come." Peter gets out of the boat and comes to the Lord, walking on the sea, but when he thinks about the storm, he is distracted and begins to sink. He calls out for help. It is the cry of the psalmist: "Save me, O God, for the waters are come in, even unto my soul. . . Take me out of the mire, that I sink not; O let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters." (Ps 69:1, 15) And our Lord reaches forth and caught Peter. "Why didn't you believe?" Despite the failure of Peter's faith, our Lord delivered him. It is not faith that saves us. It is not what we do. It is God's mercy and grace, which saves us and gives us life. We only need to ask for it and to seek it.

The problem is we don't. We are afraid of his presence in our lives because it will reorder our lives. It will change us. We will have to contend with our hypocrisy. We will have to give up idols. In the gospel, the disciples in the boat, tossed by the storm, barely keeping above the waters of chaos and death, the disciples are not afraid until they see the Lord. Chaos and darkness and death do not scare the disciples, but when Jesus approaches them, they fill with fear. His presence, his demands, his word tests them. We are the disciples. If we accept our Lord's test, if we do not ignore it or try to test him, God will change our lives. The test is this: put God first. Trust him, nothing else. We drop our agenda, and take on Christ's agenda. That means we have to live for other people. We have to subordinate our private interests for the larger good. There is no greater good than the mission of the Church, than helping people find Christ. That is what this parish is about. We exist for mission. We do not exist to be a club of like-minded people. We do not exist for maintenance of any sort. We are about knowing Christ, welcoming him, and sharing him, not about a maintaining a club, a doctrine, a moral position, a way of worship. Those things are important, but God takes care of them in his way, in his time. The test of faith for this parish is: do we come to Christ and follow him in his mission? Do we live in compassion and love for people beyond our doors? Do we follow Christ out of our doors and proclaim him? Do we risk for Christ? Do we sacrifice for Christ? When our Lord commissioned his disciples and sent them out to do the mission of the Church, to declare his good news, he said to them three times, "Do not be afraid."

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.