You may have noticed on social media a different activity each day… The idea behind this is for us to engage in activities together, as best we can, in order to remind us that even though we are apart, we are connected, and to help us grow in faith and learn about justice.
I've done some of these activities, and I've missed others. That’s OK… but I did watch the documentary film John Lewis: Good Trouble, which was Monday's activity...
At one point in the film, John Lewis is speaking about the struggles of the Civil Rights movement, and how he endured through those challenging times. Was it scary? Did his courage ever fail him?
Apparently not; not when it came to the struggle for civil rights. He said: "I lost all sense of fear. When you lose your sense of fear, you're free."
Well, in today’s scripture, fear abounds. There is plenty of fear to go around. In fact, it almost seems that fear is alive, that fear has become a character in this story, because of the way fear takes control over the disciples.
We’ve all experienced fear. Two weeks ago, when some of our youth did an amazing job leading worship, I was especially moved by Rajal’s poem, in which he talked about the fear that he and the rest of us have experienced these past few months. It’s natural and normal to experience fear. I bet even John Lewis experienced fear; it’s just that he was able to keep fear under control, and fear never kept him from pressing onward for civil rights and for voting rights.
I remember one time, when I was about eleven years old, when I wasn’t nearly as successful in controlling my own fear.
It was my first time at a big waterpark, and I was pretty far out in the wave pool. Friends were laughing as the waves came, but suddenly, I realized that my arms and legs were getting tired, and the edge of the pool seemed a long way away. I used all my energy to swim to a spot where a ladder led up and out of the pool, but there were others there waiting to go up that ladder, and I didn’t have the strength to wait. In fear, I pushed down on some kid who was reaching for the ladder - pushed him out of the way - so that I could get to the ladder before him.
The kid was fine, but afterward, I remember thinking - How did I let fear take such control over me? I was shocked by my own actions.
I remember another time, a few years later, when I was hiking with friends on Mount Waterman, and a lightning storm descended on us without warning, and a bolt of lightning even knocked a friend of mine unconscious. At first, I was frozen in fear, but when it became clear that this friend needed help, the rest of us - myself included - sprang into action. In that situation, I was afraid, but fear did not control me.
When the disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee, fear seemed to be in control of them. However, it’s not so much the wind and the waves that scared them. I’m sure they were frustrated, and maybe a bit anxious, trying to make their way across the lake at night only to have the wind and the waves push them farther away from the shore they were trying to reach.
Rather, what scared them most was the figure they saw walking on the water. What kind of a being is able to walk on water? What kind of a being has power over the wind and the waves?
They should have known the answer to that. But fear kept them from knowing, or remembering. Fear was in control. If they were in control - in control of their thoughts - they would have remembered that there is only one being capable of trampling down the waves of the sea.
Some of our English translations refer to it as a “lake,” but the scripture writers, in Hebrew and Greek, refer to it as a “sea.”
In the Hebrew of the Old Testament, the word is “yam.” Yam means “sea,” and in ancient Canaanite mythology, Yam was also the god of the sea, the god of chaos, the god of turmoil. When Yam got riled up, no one was safe. According to the New World Encyclopedia, Yam “represented the power of the tempestuous sea untamed and raging.”
So the sea itself is personified. The sea becomes a character in this story.
And the ghost-like figure they saw - the figure that frightened them so - wasn’t just walking on the water; it was trampling down Yam himself.
What kind of being could do that?
As I said, they should have known.
That question is actually answered by various Old Testament passages.
In Psalm 65:7, it says that God calms the roaring seas, the roaring waves, and the noise of the nations.
In Psalm 89.9, it says that God rules over the surging sea; and when the waves mount up, God stills them.
In Job 9.8, it says that God is the one who tramples the waves of the sea.
And when the disciples visited the temple in Jerusalem, they would have seen - right near the temple entrance - a giant bowl made of bronze, 15 feet across and filled with water. This giant bronze bowl of water was the sea, and it was there by the temple entrance to remind the people of God’s sovereignty over the waters of chaos.
But did they remember any of that? No. They forgot all that, and fear overtook them.
The disciples thought that what they were seeing was a ghost. And they were terrified. So frightened, they were screaming.
Then Jesus called out, “Hey, guys! Calm down! It’s me!”
And then Peter said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come out on the water.”
And Jesus said, “Come…”
And Peter stepped out and, for a moment at least, walked on the water.
It is just water at this point. The scripture writer doesn’t call it a sea at this point. There is no reference to Yam. Because only Jesus can trample down the sea. Only God can trample down the god of chaos.
But Peter can, for a moment, walk on water. Until fear again overtakes him, and he panics, and he begins to sink.
Fear has again taken control. And when fear takes control, faith is weakened. When fear takes control, faith is debilitated. When fear takes control, faith falls apart.
We all experience fear. Fear is natural. Fear is nothing to be ashamed of. Some say that the point of this Bible passage is to not be afraid, and many Bible passages do say don’t be afraid, yet I think what they really mean is, don’t let fear take over. Don’t let your fear control you and overpower you.
And especially, don’t let your fear become irrational. One could argue that the disciples’ fear was irrational, that it didn’t make sense, because who else could it have been that they saw walking on the water? Was it really rational to think that maybe it was a ghost, when the scriptural testimony should have trained them to recognize that only God could trample down the waves like that? Yet, under the influence of fear, they couldn’t think clearly, and their fear became irrational.
The same could be said about so many fears today. I saw a video the other day of a man in a grocery store yelling at another man, who happened to be a Sikh with a long beard. And the man yelling was completely irrational. He was yelling because his fear of immigrants, fear of anyone or anything who is different, had completely overtaken him. I mean, he just completely lost it.
And there is no basis for fear like that. None. Those who harbor anti-immigrant biases say immigrants bring drugs and crime. This is an irrational fear; the data show that it’s just not true.
And we hear people expressing their fears about wearing masks. They say the masks keep them from breathing properly, that it doesn’t allow them to get enough oxygen, and that the masks won’t stop the virus from getting through. Some even say the masks are an attempt at government control.
These are irrational fears. They have no basis in fact.
But not all fears are irrational. Many are filled with fear given the uncertainty we are in. These are scary times. Economically, we don’t know what’s going to happen. And people are getting sick, and some of them are dying.
It is rational to be afraid, to be anxious, in these days.
But three things can help us keep our fear under control.
Practice. Purpose. And Prayer.
That’s how John Lewis and others in the Civil Rights movement overcame their fears. I look at footage of them marching across the Edmund Pettis bridge, and the oncoming wall of law enforcement, and am amazed that they held their ground. Clearly, they had practiced. They had trained for that moment, in order to overcome their fear. And on top of Mount Waterman, my scouting friends and I had spent lots of time practicing our first aid, so that we would know what to do in an emergency.
Practice and training help keep fear under control.
The civil rights activists also had a purpose. They knew what their purpose was, and they knew it was a good one. A holy one. They knew that they were on the side of what was right, what was good, what was just.
Being sure of your purpose helps keep fear under control.
And they had prepared for that moment with prayer... Before they marched across that bridge, they were in churches, praying; in the same way, Jesus was up on the mountain, praying, before he came down and trampled down the waves of the sea.
Prayer helps keep fear under control.
Time in prayer is more important now than it has ever been. Time in prayer helps us discern our purpose. For many of us, our purpose has become less clear in these uncertain times. What is it that you are living for these days?
Many of us don’t know. We thought we knew, but then the pandemic hit, and now we’re lost. Lost and afraid. How can we get found again? How can we find our purpose again?
Practice. Purpose. And Prayer.
At one point in the movie, John Lewis was asked: “Did you ever despair?”
He said: “No. You have to be hopeful. You have to be optimistic.”
He didn’t say it was easy. Laying on the couch is easy. Wasting these days away, waiting for things to get back to normal, is easy. Letting fear control you is easy.
It takes practice, purpose, and prayer to overcome your fear, and live the life God intends for you to live.
And remember: whatever you’re going through, Jesus is there with you. You may not recognize him, just as the disciples did not recognize him when he came to them across the water. But Jesus is there, with you. The one who has the power to trample down the waves of the sea and trample down all the fear and chaos, is there, with you. And you can rely on him for the strength you need.
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