“Where I Am, There Also Will My Servant Be” by Rev. Paul Berghout

“Where I Am, There Also Will My Servant Be” by Rev. Paul Berghout

Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr

Piety

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:6

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.” John 12:24-26

Study

IN THAT BOAT, which the Church has always identified as herself, is where we want to be because it can provide the sure way for us to get to the other shore, to heaven, and, in this life, take us to new horizons. But along the way, we are caught in a storm and face danger.

Perhaps most importantly, we need to pray always.  In 1940, the journalist Edward R. Murrow stood in a church in England while the country endured German bombers night after night. Inside the Church was a crudely written sign which read, “If your knees knock, kneel on them.”

Yesterday, in the readings for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Elijah finds God, not in the thunder and driving wind, but in a gentle breeze. Peter’s fear gets the best of him when Jesus calls him out of his boat in a stormy sea. Peter takes his eyes off of Jesus and would have perished without Jesus’ rescuing him.

Throughout this week, Matthew’s Gospel offers us several familiar and compelling stories as we reflect upon the power of God’s mercy and our call to imitate God’s love.  As we reflect on these stories, let’s remember how Jesus called Elijah out of the cave and Peter out of the boat.  Both of them responded, and in the stories reveal God’s love and mercy to those willing to take the risk to follow.

Jesus has absolute dominance over the sea and the troubles of life. Peter cried out in the Sunday Gospel, “Lord, save me!”  This week, let’s continue considering what do I need Jesus to save me? What burdens make me feel like I might sink?

For over a thousand years, the Church has greeted Mary, the Mother of God, as “Star of the Sea.” (Spe Salvi 49).  She is a star guiding us through the Rosary by her intercession.

As we heard Sunday, Peter gets out of the boat, starts walking on water, and comes toward Jesus.

In Greek and Roman mythology, it was common for men, women, gods, and beasts to run or fly over water. Still, water walking has no parallel in other extant mythological tradition.[i]

“We walk not according to the flesh,” St. Paul writes, “but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8:4); “Not by sight, but by faith” (2 Cor. 5:7).

I saw a cartoon of two penguins walking on ice, and one is reading a bible as he walks and says, “What am I missing here? We walk on water all the time!”

Action 

Have YOU ever walked on water? I think I have If walking on water truly means enduring the storms and disturbances of life do not define our self-understanding. I believe many others have, too, because walking on water means stepping out in faith, walking in obedience, and surrender.

There is an element of a test in Peter’s condition, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” The fact that Peter asked Jesus “to command him” suggests the Peter was willing to align his will with the will of the Lord.

Our hearts have a powerful connection to our feet: “Our hearts have not turned back, nor have our steps strayed from your path” (Psalm 44:19).

When have I tested the Lord’s love for me? What do I need to find the courage to do?

Even though our emotional life and spiritual life are distinct, they are both parts of us, and so they inform and influence each other. Obedience to God is what keeps our spiritual life from becoming subject to the windswept waves of emotions.

For example, in Psalm 42:8, we pray, “Deep calls to deep in the roar of your torrents, and all your waves and breakers sweep over me.”

When we have difficult emotions, there are two simple tools we can use called “listen-in” and “listen-out.”

In our First Reading Sunday from 1 Kings 19, Elijah heard and experienced God in a “tiny whispering sound,” as in contemplative prayer, which is listening-in after we pause when reading a Scripture verse that captures our attention.

Perhaps, in the utter stillness that FOLLOWED THE STORM, Elijah heard a voice and YHWH’s speaking to him, as Elijah “listened out.”

Even more, notice that he heard God after the storm. I call that “Through-ing” -- the only way out is through.

We get through strong emotions by realizing that emotions get interwoven into stories. However, the story is just information. Don’t get lost in the story.  Instead, try locating the associated feeling in your body that the story produces. It is not only an emotional storm raging in us but also a story and belief. However, when we identify the feeling in our body, like a tight jaw or tension in the forehead, we will notice that the feeling will change in intensity, or the feeling may move to another place in our body. The grip of the story in our minds may lessen.

Your insight and understanding of the situation might change, or you might see a bigger picture.

Peter is distracted for a moment as he walks on water. He shifts his focus away from Christ and notices the strong wind. Peter becomes frightened, and he starts to sink.

The feeling of fear is sometimes the tax that conscience pays to guilt as in Genesis 3:9, Adam said, after he fell from grace, “I was afraid.”

Jesus does not rebuke Peter’s feelings. Jesus did not say, “Do not be afraid; it is I. Take courage.” He said, “Take courage. It is I; do not be afraid.”

Befriending our fear means to tame them by inviting God in.  Don’t banish your fears.  Hug the monster. Don’t push away the feeling. The message is not to let our experiences of life overwhelm our experiences of faith.

We can transform our anxiety with Christian hope. The grace of God is with us in each particular moment, and with the courage to affirm the present, because God affirmed it. Amen.

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[i] (BL 135 no. 4 (2016)777 Walk, Don’t Run: Jesus’s Water Walking Is Unparalleled in Greco-Roman Mythology BRIAN D. MCPHEE, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.)