The Blue Space in the Midst of the Storm 

“Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”   - Matthew 14:27b)

             I can picture, in my mind’s eye, the disciples in their little boat on the Sea of Galilee.  In 1994 and 1996 I traveled to the Holy Land, and a highlight of both trips was a boat excursion on the Sea of Galilee.  We anchored far off shore, quieted ourselves and read this very story from Matthew. 

             The Sea of Galilee is hardly a sea.  It is a fresh water lake about 14 miles long and 7 miles wide fed by melting snow off the mountains to the north. 

             Matthew describes Jesus sending the disciples ahead of him “to the other side” while he stayed behind to dismiss the crowds that he had just miraculously fed.  He then went to spend time in prayerful solitude.  Rather than crossing the middle of the lake, it was likely the disciples cut across the northwestern shoreline of the lake.  They were headed in a west-south-westerly direction towards Gennesaret when a squall suddenly came up, and instead of making forward progress, the severe westerly winds blew them away from the shoreline back towards the middle of the lake.  This was not unusual as the Sea of Galilee is notorious for its sudden intense squalls.

             Matthew includes may details in this short story, which to me is an indication that we need to let the details speak to us to find the story’s meaning for our lives of faith.

             The first detail:  “When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves was far from the land, for the wind was against them.”  (14:23b-24)

             Many of these disciples were experienced fisherman and had spent their lives on that lake.  Nobody knew and respected the lake and that is why, I believe, they were easily afraid.  They knew the awesome power of those sudden squalls, and quite likely had personal knowledge of fisherman and friends lost in lake squalls.  

 Many years ago I was caught in a sudden severe squall on Lake Superior in a small craft with a group of youth.  It was the most terrifying experience of my life.  In a matter of minutes the placid lake turned into a seething cauldron.  We paddled our little craft, a large canoe that seated 12 people, until our arms felt like they were going to fall off.  We barely made it to a safe beachhead when the storm hit with all its ferocity.   Had we been but a few minutes later we would have likely capsized or been dashed against rocky shoals, and who knows what might have become of us?  

Have you ever felt like that?   It sounds like a life-metaphor to me.  Have you ever felt like you were in a little boat at the mercy of wind and waves that threatened to capsize and engulf you?  No matter how hard you tried or how much effort you gave you felt like you were making no headway and the winds kept pushing you father and farther from your destination?  Perhaps it was marriage or family troubles; or health problems; or problems in the workplace; of failed self-improvement projects. If so, then this story is your story, right now, not merely a story that happened 2000 years ago. 

The second detail:  “And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea.  But when the disciples saw him, they were terrified saying, ‘It is a ghost.’  And they cried out in fear.”

Because they were afraid and controlled by fear, the disciples really didn’t recognize that it was Jesus coming to them across the water; that their very salvation was coming directly to them. Their fear blinded them to their best friend coming to save them.  They thought it was a ghost!

Fear is a powerful force.  There is so much that we fear, and we are taught to fear so much, and fear tragically distorts our perception of reality.  The biggest tragedy of 9/11, besides the loss of innocent human life, is the fear that it instilled in our national psyche and soul.  We are a people afraid of so much and so many.  We fear everything and everybody and fear seems to inform so many of our decisions. We allow fear to rule us, and we frequently use fear to arrive at conclusions about things and people that are often irrational and a total distortion of the truth.   Fear exerts incredible power over us in so many ways.  I thought about it and I jotted down a few of the ways I have experienced fear working in my life in my lifetime:

 

-                          Fear has distorted my decision-making and my attitudes by blinding me to facts and the real truth and reinforced my prejudices.

-                          Fear has prevented me from overcoming insecurities, from trusting in others, and from being willing to become vulnerable and take risks in order to grow.

-                          Fear has hindered my being willing to let go of old habits or old ways of thinking in order to change.

-                          Fear has caused me to ignore the imperatives of love more times than I can remember.

-                          Fear has made me resistant to offers of help from others.

-                          Fear has made me hesitant to venture out into the world, making me a prisoner in my own solitude.

-                          Fear has stifled my motivation to pursue goals and objectives.

-                          Fear has kept me locked in self-destructive behavior.

-                          Fear has prevented me from believing in my chances to become a fully functioning, healthy individual.

-                          Fear has been the reason why I have persisted in old ways of acting and believing.

 Fear is a powerful, powerful, powerful force! 

In his book, The Courage to Love, William Sloan Coffin says, "Fear distorts truth, not merely by exaggerating the ills of the world… but by underestimating our ability to deal with them… while love seeks truth, fear seeks safety."

 The third detail:  “But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” (14:27)

 One of the things we have certainly had on our minds in the last few years is hurricanes. We have seen these gigantic pinwheels of destruction wreak their havoc in so many communities on the Gulf and Atlantic coastal regions.  To me, the most ironic characteristic about a hurricane is the calm blue space in the center – the eye of the hurricane.  It is amazing to me that around the eye wall, near the center of the hurricane, winds can be blowing anywhere from 75 to 155 miles/hour.  But yet in the very center, right next to the ferocious winds, conditions can be near calm and blue sky can be seen overhead.

 For me that’s metaphor about Jesus Christ.  The disciples are being battered around in this ferocious lake squall and filled with fear, and Jesus came walking across the water toward them, identifying himself as a friend and urging them to not be afraid.  Jesus is the calm blue space in the center of the storm.  Notice that, in this story, he did not calm the storm.  The storm raged on for awhile.  He was the calm; he was the peace; he was the tranquility; he was the assurance; he was the hope for those frightened disciples.

 The fourth detail:  “Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’  Jesus said, ‘Come.’  So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.”  (14:28-29)

 Peter began to center on Jesus.  For a brief few moments Peter refocused his attention away from his fear and affixed his attention on Jesus; he trusted Jesus.  And look what happened!  Peter “started to walk on the water.”  When Peter focused on Jesus his fear of the raging storm faded into the background and for a few brief moments fear’s power over him was thwarted.  The storm did not go away, but by focusing on Jesus, the storm’s grip on Peter was rendered impotent. 

 The fifth detail:  “But when Peter noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’  Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”  (14:30-32)

 For a few brief moments Peter walked on the water and the storm became secondary.  As long as he was focused on Jesus, the storm was manageable; even more than that, it didn’t matter that much.  But the moment Peter took his gaze off Jesus and focused again on the power of the lake squall, he succumbed to the storm and began to sink.   

I don’t know about you, but I can identify with that.  I know all too well how quickly I cave in and surrender to my fears and lose my focus on Jesus Christ.  On the one had it just seems so much easier, but on the other hand, as I noted earlier, I know what fear does to me; how fear dehumanizes me and others.  I need a resource and power greater than myself to prevent fear from ruling my life; I need a focus.  I need a blue space in the midst of the storm.  

 Jesus Christ is that focus.  Jesus Christ is the blue space.  Jesus Christ is the resource and the power that can neutralize fear from ruling my life. 

 When I look at his life and ministry I see how the storms of hate and fear constantly raged around Him, but I also see Him time and time again never surrender to fear and hatred, but take up His cross of love in the face of it.

While everyone else was afraid of the untouchable lepers, he broke through the barrier of fear and touched them and embraced them.   

 While the religious folks feared associating with the sinners and outcasts of the community, Jesus pursued them and genuinely enjoyed them, getting to know them: the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the rejects and retreads of all kinds. 

 While the religious folks fearfully hid behind phony masks of self-righteousness, Jesus demonstrated, in His life, the genuine righteousness of sacrificial love.

 When his own disciples, out of fear, suggested that Jesus use coercive force to defeat his enemies, Jesus stopped them and in their tracks and sent them into the world armed only with the good news of God’s love.   

When people expressed fear over not having enough material things, he taught them about simplicity and the wisdom of not storing up the treasures that don’t last, but focusing on the things that last eternally. 

 When facing the hurricane of his own death, after his best friends had betrayed Him, denied Him and abandon Him at his most desperate hour, He pressed forward trusting God His father, and forgave them all from his cross.

 My dear friends, storms are going to rage and threaten to engulf us.  We will cave in and be ruled by the fear that it triggers within us.

 In my own life when the storms have raged and fear threatened to rule, I used to pray the first half of Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer.  Do you know to what I am referring? The first half of Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer is:  “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.”  I used to pray that prayer that God would intervene and calm whatever stormy water I was trying to navigate; magically solve all my problems, take away the threat around me.      

I say that used to be my prayer, but it is not so much my prayer any more.  In a world the likes of ours, fallen and sinful, storms and troubles are a given.  What I pray for now is to keep focused on the Lord Jesus so that fear won’t rule my life.   You see, even more than the raging storm, it is my fear that makes things so difficult. 

 In the first part of our story Jesus went up on a mountain to pray.  What was Jesus doing, but focusing his attention on God His father; centering His life on His relationship with God His father.  You see that’s how Jesus handled His own fear.  He was centered and anchored in His relationship with God His father.  That’s why He was able to be the blue space in the midst of the storm for Peter and the disciples. 

Let’s face it.  What’s good for Him is also good for us.  The Lord Jesus sees us being bounced around in our little boats on the rough seas.  He sees how we are being overcome and consumed by fear.   So, He still comes, only now to us, and he says, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”  He invites us to focus on Him and step out of the boat, a step of faith and trust that takes us through and beyond our fear. 

 When you do a miracle just might happen.  You may just walk on water – at least for awhile.  But it is also likely that you will eventually lose your focus on the Lord Jesus; and get distracted and overwhelmed by the storm again; and the fear will return and you will begin to sink.   

But do not despair.  Just because you will have lost your focus on the Lord Jesus, He will never lose His focus on you.  At that desperate moment, He will reach down and extend to you His saving hand.   And he will say to you, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”  And you will hear His words not as words of judgment, but words of grace and love – assuring you that your life and mine need not be ruled by fear, but rather ruled by trust in the Lord Jesus, the blue space in the midst of the storm.  Amen.