Matthew 14:22-33-“The Weight of Fear”

Synopsis:

After feeding the multitude, Jesus sends the disciples off to set sail while he finally gets away to pray. During the night, a great storm rises and the disciples are battered to and fro. Early in the morning, Jesus defies gravity and transverses the waters to meet the disciples exactly where they are. They think he is a ghost, but Peter asks to be invited onto the water. He begins to walk on the water. Not until he looks around he sees the storms and rising tide and begins to sink with fear. Jesus catches him, but still asks him, why didn’t he trust God with what was first firm beneath his feet. FDR said to our nation in a time when we were facing a Great Depression and an impending World War, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” and in this Gospel story we see how Peter’s fears cause to sink, rather than being still and trusting God is the God of the wind and the waves.

“The Transfiguration, Part Two: A Boy Alone” - Luke 9:37-43a

Leaving the mountaintop experience of the Transfiguration, Jesus is faced with reality down in the valley. His disciples, who he commissioned at the beginning of Luke 9, cannot heal a lonely boy suffering from a spirit of sabotage and self-harm–the only son of a father who brings his boy to Jesus. Jesus comes to set humans free from the destructive cycles of self-destruction and oppression. The broader way we travel this Lent invites us to not be shackled by our past pain but discover hope and healing in God’s light.

Keywords: Lent, Jesus, healing, loneliness, unclean spirits, miracles, family systems theory, power, courage, trust, love, advocacy

"A Triple Temptation" - Luke 4:1-13

Jesus is lured into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the satan, the prosecutorial powers and principalities of darkness, who tempts Jesus in three ways: to abuse his power for his own self-satisfaction (stones into bread); to abuse his power for his own self-promotion and popularity (dazzle the crowds by diving off the Temple); and to abused his own power to bring his Kingdom with immediacy and force (to kneel to the Powers and rule the nations). The earthly Jesus remains faithful to his heavenly Father by trusting the promises of God through scripture and the Spirit. As we travel the broader way in Lent, we learn that even in times of trial God is worthy of our trust.

"The Courage to Be" - Jeremiah 17:5-10

Jeremiah and the Hebrew Prophets preach against three sins of the people: idolatry, ritualism, and social injustice. These three sins are all rooted in giving people a false sense of security, but true trust in God come from the courage (from the Latin cor meaning “heart”) to be authentic, vulnerable, and honest with ourselves, with others, and with God. The Christian practices of confession and repentance protect us from the temptations to live under the weight of legalism and perfectionism which drive us to destructive choices, but Jeremiah tells us that those who trust in the Lord will be like trees planted by water.

Keywords: Courage, vulnerability, authenticity, repentance, honesty, confession, Baptists, Mister Rogers, truth, trust, faith