One of the most memorable stories about faith is found in this weekend’s Gospel of Jesus walking on the water. The waves are pounding, the wind is blowing, and water is spraying on the faces of the disciples as they try to maneuver their wooden fishing boat. Though several of them are experienced fisherman, they are still anxious and afraid. Then, things become even more terrifying. They see a ghostly figure walking towards them on the violent whitecaps. From the darkness, a figure emerges and the disciples soon recognize a familiar voice. It is Jesus. “Courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” Peter asks, “Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water.” Jesus then invites Peter by merely saying the word, “Come.”
If we are honest, most of us know what it is like to be afraid. From mild symptoms of butterflies in our stomach to increased heart rate, to trembling and rumination, challenging circumstances affect our lives. During Peter’s moment of fear, he had the good sense to call out, “Lord, save me.” Imagine all our anxieties, fears, stressors, whatever it is in life right now that we can’t control. Let those be the waves, the wind, and the darkness.
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand to Peter and caught him. When God comes to us in the storms of our life – the busyness, the pain, the anxiety, the trouble, the brokenness, the insecurities – do we recognize Him inviting us to come to Him? And do we have the courage to step out of the boat and confront our fears? Do we trust Jesus, even if it means stepping out into the unknown?
Today’s Gospel teaches us how to navigate through the challenging moments in our lives. Jesus does not come to us from outside our daily life stressors, but from the inside, including the storms and fears raging within us. He came to the disciples walking on raging waters, harsh wind, and in the midst of darkness, to bring them peace. He meets us where we are, even in the eye of the storm. Why do we not look for Jesus in that place, in our storms, doubts, confusion, frustrations, and fears? Where else would He be? He is called Emmanuel, God with us. If Jesus is not in our storms and fears, then he is not Emmanuel. He is not God-with-us.
If all we see in today’s gospel is a gravity defying Jesus, we have missed the true miracle. The description of the wind and the waves are more than mere weather reports. They are descriptive of what is happening within the disciple’s minds and hearts rather than what is happening around them.
The miracle in the story is that Jesus will always meet us in the storms that brew and rage within us. That means divine power and presence has and always will trample on, overcome, and conquer human fear. It means that Jesus is truly Emmanuel, God with us. He will be with us in the most ominous of circumstances. But the disciples could not immediately recognize this truth. Fear has the power to deceive, distort, and drown us. It makes no logical sense to think that the very elements that threaten our lives are the same elements from which new life can come.
Our storms and fears are the very places where we are most vulnerable and feel most abandoned by God. The disciples were abandoned to the open sea, the darkness, the waves, the wind, the futility of their own efforts, fantasies, and illusions. They were abandoned to their own un-self-sufficiency, so that they might abandon themselves even more fully to God.
The very elements that threatened to destroy the disciples became the environment in which they recognized who Jesus really is, the Son of God. What they first perceived as a threat now brings new life, hope, and salvation. Every time we cry out in fear, Jesus promises to come to us saying, “Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid.” That’s the invitation to abandon ourselves to God in the midst of our storms and fears. How hard it is to hear and heed those words when the waves are breaking, the wind is howling, and the ghost is approaching. “Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid.” No matter how high the waves build, they are the waves on which Jesus walks to us. No matter how strong the wind blows, it is the wind through which Jesus walks to us. No matter how dark the night, it is the night in which Jesus comes to us. No matter how great our fear, it is the fear that Christ has already trampled on and defeated.
This weekend pray for all of our students returning to school, in particular for those heading off to college for a new academic year. We send prayers to all of them transitioning from one part of their education journey to the next. Whether they are going to a major public university or a local junior college, we pray that this will be a time of growth and transformation as they are shaped into who God calls them to be. Let us pray for all students in transition, that they may take a quiet moment to envision the role faith will play in their lives over the next four years and beyond.
Fr. Rich Jakubik is Holy Family’s recently appointed Associate Pastor.