( Matthew 14:22-33 ) - [ Deutsch ] - [ Announcements739.9 KB ]
Read verse 22 and 23a
Alone at last. Finally, out of the crowd. All the many people around him, constantly looking at him and calling out to him. Many had followed him. Just like that. Of their own accord. They hung on his lips when he told them about God's kingdom, they came to him because they wanted to be healed in body and soul. But now he wanted to be alone.
I am not Jesus... But I know such moments well. I want to be alone. And it is often the same as in Jesus' story: the desire to be alone is often particularly strong when it is simply not possible. Even when you are doing voluntary work, this feeling can come up. It's actually fun... but it takes time and sometimes nerves. In the evening, a meeting is scheduled after a hard day at work. Sometimes it can be too much... It is important to seek silence in order to gain strength... Jesus did the same on that evening. He sought solitude in order to pray. On the mountain. The place of encounter with God..
Listen to what happens next in the sermon text.
Read verse 23b-33
Jesus wanted to be alone on the mountain. So, he sent his disciples ahead, alone on the lake... in the evening... it was already night.
That's when the storm came... And if they were brave at first... they are not now. They are afraid... left to fend for themselves. They are struggling, the wind and the waves are giving them a hard time. I know this too... this feeling: everything depends on me... I struggle... alone on the stormy sea of life. I may have wanted the adventure, but suddenly I feel alone... in the dark... exposed to the forces of nature.
Where is God?
Where are you? Show yourself...
And then when he comes, we may not recognise him... think it's a ghost... to be afraid of.... threatening.
People in the Bible who get scared, come to mind... the angels announce to the shepherds in the field "Do not be afraid."
This sentence runs through the Bible like a red thread. God knows how easily we humans become afraid - and that we need encouragement every day.
If only it were so easy to put away our fears. Unfortunately, it is not. In a world characterised by much hatred and destruction, it seems anything but easy not to be afraid. God has not said that whoever lives with him will have no more fears. That all problems will be solved immediately and that I will succeed in everything from now on. Fears are part of life. But God is there and goes along. Even if he does not protect me from all calamities, he promises to be at my side and to give me the strength and power I need in difficult times.
"Fear not" - that is the message of Christmas. The Saviour, Jesus Christ, has come into our dark world.
It is I. Jesus says here in the middle of the dark night to the fearful disciples in the boat. Look at me. Recognise me. It is I
And one is brave... Peter... And he asks Jesus to command him to come to him. He wants to be near Jesus. And Jesus invites him: come to me. It goes well at first... then he becomes afraid of the wind and the waves and sinks... Suddenly the doubts are greater again than the gaze on Jesus... And somehow you hope that a great miracle will happen and God will clearly show Himself and you can't go below that... and you really have the opportunity to bathe in your ideas and fears... and to sink into them and then....
Jesus grasps his hand
Peter... sometimes weak and sometimes strong, like all of us. All he has to do is grab it... and he does.
He seizes the opportunity and Jesus' hand... that is his only salvation at that moment.
Dear congregation, this is not about a spectacular miracle. That was never what Jesus was concerned about, by the way. It is about the inconspicuous, sometimes seemingly banal. That saves our lives, at the right moment. And the right moment in the story is the moment when all those involved realise, deep in their hearts: there is a cure for fear, namely that someone is there and says: give me your hand.
This is what the evangelist Matthew wants to tell: Jesus reaches out his hand to those who no longer want to believe in themselves alone. Or he tells his disciples and us: Reach out your hands to one another. Do not pull them away, do not refuse them. Reach out to each other - if necessary, even with clenched teeth, if perhaps you don't like each other. This is supposed to happen: in families, in communities, in the neighbourhood, among strangers, unknown people. Sometimes people hesitate, or look elsewhere, or don't want to hear about the need and the misery. Jesus simply says: Please do not be indifferent to one another. Please never be indifferent to one another. And please don't tell yourselves that you didn't know anything about anything.
With water, wind and waves, Matthew wants to tell us something very delicate. There is someone who says: Give me your hand; or: I give you my hand. There should always be someone who says: Give me your hand; or: Take my hand. And maybe sometimes it's me who has to say it, or you to each other. To friends or to complete strangers.
Then the miracle happens. Those I hold, they hold me too.
Amen