2008-08-10 Pentecost 13

“Confessing Christ in Fear” Matt. 14:22-32 Pentecost 13—August 10, 2008 “Seeing the wind, Peter became afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, Save Me.” Peter, the rock, is afraid. He’s afraid of the wind and the waves. Along with the other disciples He’s afraid of ghosts. He’s afraid of darkness and drowning and death. Jesus comes to Peter and the disciples in the midst of their fears and saves them. And that is why we see them confessing Christ in their fear, and worshipping Him. And Jesus does the same for us. He comforts us in fear, and saves us from that which we fear the most—death. And that is why we, like the disciples, worship Him and confess Christ as the Son of God—the One who has power over all things, be they great or small. So what ARE you afraid of? Children would confess to being afraid of goblins and ghosts, afraid of falling and failing, afraid of bees, bugs and bullies. Adults tend to be afraid of losing—whether it be in games, or in the game of life. We are afraid to lose our job, our home, our children, our finances, our marriage. All of us are afraid of the darkness. If not the darkness of night, then certainly the darkness of sin—or at least the consequences found therein. Furthermore, as Christians we are afraid of confessing our sins. And because we are afraid to confess the truth that we are sinners, in the process we fail to confess Christ. But though we may fail to confess our sins, we can’t help but recognize their consequences—the most serious of which is death. 1

Again, if we are honest, we would have to confess that we are afraid of death. We don’t like the thought of dying. Granted, the eternal life that we partake of after death is comforting for Christians, but the process of getting there is painful. Sometimes we speak of a good death, or a blessed death--but death is not good, and for the unredeemed it is anything BUT blessed. For death is the alien work of God. No matter if it is a “natural death” like dying of old age, or unnatural, like getting eaten by alligators or sharks, or getting stomped on by an elephant, death is horrible, and hard to face. And therefore we are afraid to die. Though we will never be able to avoid sin or death or the fear that accompanies us throughout life, we can escape their consequences, both temporal and eternal by confessing Christ, and worshipping Him. The fear of death causes us to look to the One who gives life. The Fear of sin results in confessing Christ as our Savior. The Fear of God causes us to repent of our sin, and receive the perfect love and forgiveness that drives out fear, as St. John tells us in his epistle, and as Jesus reminds us in Matthew 10:28-“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” Yes, it’s true, dear friends, of all our fears we should fear God the most, For He has the power over heaven and hell, over wind and wave, over earth and all creation. Only occasionally do we, like Captain Dan on Forrest Gump, recognize this divine power. But it is on those fearful occasions, like the one that Peter is experiencing today, that we remember how small we are, and how great He is. And it is then that we recognize the only hope we have for deliverance from our fears, 2

whatever they might be, is through the one who courageously, and fearlessly faced sin, and death, and the devil on our behalf. That is what Jesus did. Not by walking on water, but by walking to the cross, where He delivers us not only from our FEAR of sin and death—but from the consequences of them. He has been drowned in his own life-blood, descended into the depths of hell, willingly given His life so that we can be certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height of mountain nor depths of the seas will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. This Friday the church marks a seldom celebrated holiday—it is the day dedicated to Mary, the mother of our Lord. If you remember, say a special prayer on Friday, not TO Mary, but FOR Mary. For though she was a mere maiden, a young child, facing some very frightening circumstances, nonetheless in faith she overcame her fear and gave birth to Jesus Christ, The Son of God. Do you remember the message that the angel brought to Mary when He told her that she was with child? “FEAR NOT” And do you remember the message that the angels brought the shepherds at the birth of Jesus? “FEAR NOT” And do you remember the message that the angels brought the women on the day of Christ’s resurrection from the dead? FEAR NOT. And do you know the message that the Holy Spirit brings to us in God’s Word whenever we are afraid? FEAR NOT. And it is the message that Jesus brings to us Himself as we are in the boat. Did you know that’s where you are? You are in the church, in 3

this place called the nave, the ancient word for boat. Here in this boat, this nave, the Lord Jesus comes to you in His Word and Sacraments, inviting you, as He did Peter, to come to Him. Assuring you that He has lifted you out of the depths by means of the water of baptism. Reassuring you that your most fearful sins—the ones that you don’t want to think about, let alone confess—have been forgiven. And promising you that one day He will raise you up from the depths of the deep, from the darkness of death, so that you can sit with Him in eternal light and glory in heaven. Therefore the next time you find yourself afraid, no matter what it might be, simply confess Christ. And cry out to Him—“O Lord Save Me”. And then be assured that He already has. Amen.

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