Pentecost 9

Pentecost 9 (Matthew 14:22-33)

‘Take heart. It is I. Do not be afraid.”

Human beings generally experience three basic types of fear.

The first is fear as a response to a threat. We are all descendants of people who had a healthy response to threats. People who did not respond to threats did not survive.

There are three basic responds to threat: fight, flight, or freeze. Each is a unique survival strategy designed to keep us alive. Unfortunately, the human brain does not distinguish between actual threats in the environment and imagined threats that exist solely in our minds.

The religious and political elites in Jesus’s day convinced themselves that Jesus was a threat. They reacted with fear and chose the path of aggression to deal with that fear. Jesus was  no threat to them or anyone. The perceived threat was grounded in belief not fact. But the brain makes no distinction between fact and fantasy when it perceives a threat. It simply reacts.

A second form of fear is the : “fear of the Lord.” This form of fear is reverence. Reverence is a deep abiding respect. The Bible teaches that the fear of the Lord (a deep abiding respect for God) is the beginning of wisdom. This fear proceeds from the place of humility- a recognition that we are created beings who are dependent upon the Creator for our very existence. It is also the recognition that God designed us to live in a set of interdependent relationships with other people.  That is why the Bible teaches that the basic unit of society is the family not the individual. The poet priest John Donne summarizes this teaching in his statement: “no man is an island.”

The distortion of reverence is irreverence. Irreverence manifests either as disdain for or indifference to the Creator. It proceeds from a form of pride the Greeks called “hubris.” This form of pride is the exaltation of the individual will to power in life and in our relationships.  The voice of hubris says: it is all about me therefore do it my way.

A third form of fear is what early 20^th century philosophers called “existential fear.” By and large the philosophers lacked the grounding in Biblical principles to understand this type of fear.  The authors of scripture observed this kind of fear in human experience. They concluded its source is separation from God.

Because people have chosen to separate from God we are lost and cannot find our way back. The existentialist solution to this kind of fear was the assertion of the will to create our own meaning and purpose. The religious form of this assertion is called “the blind leap in the dark.” The premise of this blind leap is that the lost have no way of discerning the reality of God, meaning or purpose. We must simply assert by will alone that God exists and then take a blind leap of faith into a dark, meaningless universe to create meaning.

The secular form is simply the assertion of the will to power. Since we are lost all we have is ourselves. By my will and my will alone I can create my own meaning and purpose. It is all about me and only I can create my own reality.

Peter experienced the first and third forms of fear. He took his eyes off Jesus and perceived a threat to his existence. He was still thinking in terms of separation and his own individual ability to react or respond to the world, other people and God.

Jesus invited Peter into faith through reverence Jesus does this by reminding Peter that he is there. Essentially, Jesus tells Peter: I’m here. I am in control. I want only your highest good. Trust me. Keep your eyes focused on me. Alone you are lost and will perish. Together, we will walk on water.

Fear proceeds from the place of separation. From the place of separation we believe it is all up to me.  We miss the blessing God designed into the universe and into our species. God the Father designed us according to the pattern of God the Son by the action of God the Holy Spirit.God designed us to live and move and have our being in a set of personal life giving grace filled relationships.

No one of us is an island. Life itself is a divine gift. Meaning and purpose emerge from within the context of the three forms of love: love of God through worship, love of other people through acts of kindness and compassion, love of our authentic self through a never ending process of maturation and change.

Peter and the disciples experienced an amazing lesson in life that day Jesus came to them walking on the water. They had never seen anyone do anything like this. They initially react to the unknown with fear. Peter senses the opportunity for faith. He calls out to Jesus. Jesus invites him to take a step onto the waters by faith. It is not a blind leap in the dark. Jesus is already there.

It becomes a blind leap in the dark as Peter takes his eyes off of Jesus and sees only the impossibility of his situation. Jesus rescues him and asks: why did you doubt? Why did you allow fear to distort and subvert your faith. I am right here.

Whatever we are facing in this life Jesus is right here. He is the good shepherd who seeks the lost and finds the lost. His is the real presence of God in our midst. He is the assurance that God is real, God is persona, God is love.

Christian Faith is not a blind leap into the dark. Christian Faith is our response to the Light of Light shining upon us, showing us the Way, showing us that in Jesus we are no longer lost but found and held up secure in the divine presence.

It is clear from scripture and tradition that it took Peter the rest of his life to understand the lesson of that day. Peter reminds us that we grow in grace. Peter reminds us that faith proceeds from the personal relationship Jesus initiates and the Holy Spirit cultivates.

When you experience fear, and you will, notice your fear, Observe your fear. Remind yourself: this is fear. This is what it feels like to be lost in separation from God, from other people, from my authentic self. Then, ask Jesus to transform your fear into Faith by his own Presence in your life. Memorize this verse. Repeat it to yourself often. As you do this, the Holy Spirit will bring it to your conscious awareness when you feel overwhelmed by fear.

Take heart. It is I. Do not be afraid.”