Here is Fr. Davids sermon for the weekend. Crisis. Merriam-Webster defines crisis as a difficult or dangerous situation that needs serious attention. It has an alternative definition that I like a little better, which is: an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending. The general idea of a crisis is a negative one. If I were to ask you if you would like to have a crisis in your life, you would probably answer with an emphatic no. Think about how we have used the word crisis in recent historical events: The Cuban Missile Crisis. The Oil Crisis. The Iran Hostage Crisis. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, people believed that the world could come to an end. For me, the Oil Crisis brings memories of waiting on long lines for gas. The Iran Hostage Crisis brings back a lot of bad memories as well. So, in general, the idea of having a crisis, or going through a crisis is generally not something we find attractive. That being said, there is a rich history of seeing a crisis as being a time in ones life or in our country or in the world as a period where progress can be made. We learned a few things during the Cuban Missile Crisis and our children are no longer hiding under desks during drills at school because we have ratcheted down the nuclear threat. We are coming to terms with the idea that fossil fuels are limited and are exploring new forms of energy, partially because of the oil crisis. We also learned from the hostage crisis. Despite their tendency to create anxiety, good can come from a crisis. Winston Churchill famously said, Never let a good crisis go to waste. Everyone from Dostoyevsky to John F. Kennedy to Lisa Simpson has referenced the idea that in Chinese the symbol for crisis entails symbols for danger and opportunity. It is debatable whether or not that is actually true, but hey, Chinese characters are cool -- just look at all of the tattoos they inspire! The prophet Elijah is at a crisis point in his life in our Old Testament reading. The passage we have today follows one of the most entertaining stories in the entire bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah encounters a group of the prophets of Baal, a fertility god who was the arch-enemy of Judaism, and basically challenges them to a spiritual dual -- Yahweh vs. Baal. I will let you read the details for yourself, but Elijah wins the battle. However, as a result, Elijah angers Queen Jezebel who vows to kill Elijah. Elijah now has a price on his head and he gets scared. All of the confidence that he once had that enabled him to battle the prophets of Baal is gone, and he simply turns tail and flees the country. He ends up completely alone and hiding in a cave. Peter follows an almost identical pattern in our gospel reading. Dont you love Peter? The apostles are in a boat and Jesus comes to them walking on the water. Peter wants to walk on the water, too. I have to admit that if I was in the boat and saw Jesus walking on water, getting out of the boat and joining him would not be a choice that I would consider! And yet, what does Peter do? He gets out of the boat! You have to admire his enthusiasm, even if you wonder about his judgment. Peter is full of confidence and faith, just like Elijah battling the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings. But like Elijah, he faces a crisis. Peter sees the possibility of his own life ending, not because Queen Jezebel is after him, but because of the elements of nature. He realizes that he might drown. Once he realizes this, he starts to sink in the water, and then he is in trouble. I want to zoom in a bit on what Matthew has to tell us about how Peter ends up in this crisis. Peter is in the boat and sees Jesus walking on the water. He asks Jesus to give him permission to come to walk on the water. Peter gets out of the boat and starts walking on the water. He moves toward Jesus. But then what happens? Peter notices the strong wind and becomes frightened. Once he becomes frightened, he begins to sink. Now, where was Peters attention when he was walking on the water? He had his eyes on Jesus. He had to have, since he was moving towards Jesus. But then his attention shifts. He stopped paying attention to Jesus and started paying attention to the wind! I dont blame him, I would too! However, it is the act of turning his attention away from Jesus and towards the threat to his life that causes Peter to sink. Like Elijah, Peter is full of faith until threats begin to appear on the horizon and his own fear takes over. Both of these stories speak to our lives today. We can identify with both Peter and Elijah as we experience periods of our lives where we feel powerfully connected to God. Things are going well. God is acting in our lives. We go charging forward in faith, and, as good things happen our faith is reinforced. We praise God for all of the good things that are happening and our attention is set on God. More good things happen and we are like Elijah taking on the prophets of Baal or Peter walking on the water. We go charging forward, full of confidence in God Like Peter, like Elijah, we believe in God and we can feel God acting through us. This is what it is all about being a religious person -- having faith in God and seeing the great results of our faith. And we do just that. Until something goes wrong. A crisis hits. Something goes wrong, and what do we do? We turn our attention away from God and place all of our attention squarely on whatever is wrong in our lives. The conflict we are experiencing at work. The threat to our health that is scaring us. The weak economy that is keeping us or those we love from finding work. Elijah did this. He turned his focus away from God and could think only of the threat to his life, and he ended up alone in a cave. Peter turned his eyes from Jesus and towards the wind and the waves and he began to sink. In Elijahs case, in Peters case and most likely in our case as well, the problem is not God. The problem is that we give in to our fears and anxieties too easily. While Elijah may have felt alone, God was there. It took a huge display on Gods part to get Elijah back on track (the earthquake, the still small voice). Peter found himself sinking in the sea and lost faith due to his fear, but Jesus hadnt gone anywhere. It wasnt until Peter turned his attention back to God and cried, Lord, save me that Jesus was able to raise him back up out of the waters. We can learn from these two stories for our own lives. First, we need to remember that when a crisis hits on our lives, we all have a tendency to pay a great deal of attention to the threat. Thats human nature. However, if we pay too much attention to the threat, it can cause us to turn away from God and see only the negative. Do we believe that God can work even during the dark periods of our lives? Second, we need to turn back to God, and ask God for help to get through the crisis. Perhaps, most importantly we need to remember that God is there. Elijah ran a long, long way due to his fears. When he finally hit bottom. God was there. Peter began to sink, but when he cried out, Jesus was there for him. Both Peter and Elijah got through their crisis and came out of it stronger and more faithful. In our moments of crisis, we need to try to remember to keep our focus on our faith, not our fear. Dont get me wrong, that is a very, very hard thing to do. But God is there with us. God will bring us through whatever crisis we face and will use it to make us stronger and more faithful. Be strong. Have faith. God is with you. 1 Kings 19:9-18 Psalm 85:8-13 Romans 10:5-15 Matthew 14:22-33
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 15:54:47 +0000
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