7 January 2015 - ain't afraid of no ghost

There are times when we feel like Jesus calls us to go off ahead. At such times we seem to have to fend for ourselves.

Jesus made his disciples get into the boat
and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida,
while he dismissed the crowd. 

He and his disciples are separated for a while. Or so they think. He goes off to the mountain to pray and his disciples are out on the sea. There is distance between them. And Jesus is spending time in prayerful communion with the Father. The disciples must think that they are not even on his mind as he does this. They must think themselves too insignificant to be in his prayers. This is why they don't expect him when he comes. They seldom expect him. They are always more ready to discover a fearful ghost than a God of love.

But when they saw him walking on the sea,
they thought it was a ghost and cried out. 

Yet it is Jesus. He says, "Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!" It seems, moreover, that he has been thinking of them all along. Even from his vantage point on the land "he saw that they were tossed about while rowing for the wind was against them." From the mountain top with the Father he sees them better, not worse. They are always in his heart. These are the ones whom the Father gives him. These are the ones whom he wills not be lost (cf. Joh. 6:39). They are the shared love of Father and Son and are therefore not forgotten even in their most intimate communion. And somehow, so are we.

But we too are afraid. We are so ready to attribute everything we experience to chaos and chance, if not to ghosts and aliens. We are ready to believe that we are forgotten out on the waves of life. Jesus tells us this morning, "Take courage". He comes to us amidst the apparent chaos and chance. He does not abandon us. He does see and know our circumstances. He wants to get into our boats and to calm the storms that surround us. This is the perfect love which drives out fear.  Fear has to do with punishment. But when we learn that we are loved and not forgotten we know that we aren't suffering at the hands of a vindictive God. He allows the storms of life for our sakes. He is guiding us to experience and share a love that cannot be shaken by wind or waves. He himself is this love. But even when he does allow the storms he remembers us. Even the storms are a chance to cling to a peace which is unshakable. This is the peace that is found in Jesus alone.

For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.

Let us, with every nation on earth, adore him!