Homily, June 23, 2024
From The Pastor
It must have been quite a challenge to hang around with a man like Jesus. One minute you are inspired with awe over his words and deeds, and the next minute you are dumbfounded by his power. How does a person become a comfortable friend with a man who is God? Even these words have both an awesome as well as a confusing awe-struck reverence. The reality seems too good to be true on the one hand, yet tangibly real and touchable on the other hand. Jesus speaks transforming words of hope and goodness supported by powerful works that give life and newfound freedom.
Jesus has a way of exposing the deepest fears of human nature while at the same time calming these same fears with deeds of love that beg to be believed. Today’s setting is the crossing of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus has finished a series of parables about seeds that call his listeners to faith and trust in the grace of God. God plants seed and inspires growth that can only happen with the openness of the person in whom they are planted.
As the day turns to dusk, Jesus enters a boat with the disciples saying, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Again, a figure of speech that means more than meets the eye. From ancient times to our own, darkness, wind, and water have always stirred primal fears of chaos and the unknown. Jesus is setting the scene to challenge his disciples to a deeper place of faith. Jesus has the task of teaching the disciples who he is without a direct statement of fact. ‘Crossing over to the other side’ does not only mean getting to the other side of the lake, but to the other side of understanding that will lead to a new way of knowing and being. This is the journey each of us must make. Knowing Jesus on the surface of understanding religious teaching is not enough. Jesus as the Divine Christ desires to become known in the deepest part of the believer, in the heart/gut of inner knowing.
Notice the contrast of Jesus and the disciples in the churning of wind and wave. Jesus is fast asleep on a pillow undisturbed. The disciples are terrified. They are out of control in fear of their lives in the darkness of a chaotic and stormy sea. It is a perfect picture of an inner storm. Already perplexed by the parables and teachings of Jesus, now the disciples are further astonished by the inner calm of Jesus in a life-threatening event. His divine power is overwhelming.
The image is universal of all humanity. We have all faced times of inner storms when unexpected and chaotic things happen. We are lost, crying out for help, overwhelmed by the chaos before us. In such times it can feel God is absent, even uncaring of our plight. The disciples know the feeling. “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” It is not difficult to imagine the terrified tone through which these words were conveyed.
Jesus wakes and speaks to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” (Wow, don’t we wish we could solve all our problems like that?) Now, the disciples are confronted with a different kind of awestruck confusion. “Who then is this whom even the wind and the sea obey?” They know God alone has the power over wind and sea. Jesus is revealing his Divine identity without using the Divine name, yet in this moment of crisis the reality is made clear. This is only one of many encounters that will lead to the full identity of Jesus on the Cross.
This encounter of crossing over is very much for all of us. Jesus makes it clear. It is a call to faith that accepts the power of God in and through the person of the Lord Jesus. Times of fear and chaotic challenge become an invitation of necessary surrender to the power of God with humble trust that God is present with loving concern. Such times can also lead a person to emotionally withdraw, hide, or deny the weight of concern before them. Either way, God is present and willing to answer our cries for help.
It is not easy to relax in today’s world. We are surrounded by stress and worry on many fronts. The social, political, and economic challenges as well as more immediate personal concerns can very much feel like a storm on the lake. Faith will always call us to the other side of understanding in the power and wisdom of God revealed in Jesus. As we well know, this does not mean easy or immediate remedies. In times of stress and pain, God will often call us to a new and deeper way of faith, a new trust, a personal surrender beyond our typical rhythm of prayer and expectation of Divine response.
Storms are necessary in life to strengthen faith, inspire a true understanding of the living God, and open our eyes to seeing the power and the will of God on our behalf. Jesus prepared for and accepted the storm of the Cross that revealed his true identity. Mature faith will allow us to look back on the struggles of the past only to see that God calmed the storms and reset our path. Pray God’s will for your life, the Church, and the world. All will be well.
Father John Esper
Recent Sermons
Homily, September 29, 2024
September 28, 2024
Homily, September 22, 2024
September 20, 2024
Homily, September 15, 2024
September 14, 2024