1 Kgs 19:9,11-13; Ps 84(85):9-14; Rom 9:1-5; Matt 14:22-23
Theme: Be Calm, the Still Voice Comes after the Storm
- On our way to encounter the Lord
The first reading and the gospel present us with two figures who were on their way to meet with the Lord. Elijah was asked by God to come and meet him at Mt. Horeb while Peter was asked by Jesus to walk through the water to come and meet him. In both cases, the two men were in the state of confusion and afraid of their lives (1 Kgs 19:2-4/ Matt 14:26), and they needed the strength that would come from this encounter with God. It is important to note that in both situations, the two men were invited by God/Jesus to come and meet him (1 Kgs 19:11a; Matt 14:28-29a). We can therefore rightly say that both Elijah and Peter were trying to reach God, the only person who can guarantee them security and peace. They were longing to take hold of God who alone can resolve their crisis and difficulties. We are all Elijah and Peter. God invites us to come to meet him, to come and receive our answers from him. He wants to have this meeting with us in order to restore to us the confidence and meaning of our lives. But the problem is that once we take off this journey to encounter the Lord, forces that would not like this encounter to happen begin to surface.
- The Rising of the Wind and Storms
Every journey to greatness and goodness attracts great distractions from forces that militate against that journey. The attempt of these forces is to distract and discourage us from undertaking such a journey. In the case of Elijah and Peter, immediately they responded to this invitation to encounter God, and they initiated the process of responding to the call, came the forces of wind and storm. Have you ever noticed that whenever you decide to undertake any positive journey, be it spiritual or physical, that would bring a positive and awesome change to your life, come from all sides, many factors that aim at making sure that you do not embark on such a journey? Elijah and Peter had the same experience. But the most interesting thing to observe from these two scenes is that even in the midst of those storms and wind and fire, God/Jesus still remined present. In the case of Elijah, God allowed those storms, but he kept waiting for Elijah. In the case of Peter, Jesus was just watching Peter as he was sinking because of the strong wind. Yes…God calls us to come to him, he stands waiting for us to come, but he wants to see how we will react to other things that try to distract us from undertaking those steps that would bring us to greatness. So what did Elijah and Peter do?
- Remaining Focused (Elijah) vs Calling on Christ when we lose our Focus (Peter)
Elijah was calm in the face of the turbulence. He did not run away from them; he did not begin to shout in order to attract attention; he did not begin to curse God and to lose focus. No…he was rather studying the situation, listening to all that was happening, so much so that he was able to know when the roaring turbulence gave room for a still small voice (1 Kgs 19:12). Elijah was hopeful and confident that the wind, the earthquake, and the fire, would come and go, and he was patiently waiting for them to pass, so that he would hear the voice of the Lord directing him to Himself. It is possible that that still small voice which Elijah heard, indicating the presence of God, was on all the while there was wind, earthquake and fire, but Elijah could not hear it because of the raging wind, earthquake and fire. So, when they finally stopped, he was able to hear the still small voice. Hence, the storms did not take Elijah’s mind away from the reason he was there. He remained attentive and focused, and as a result, he was able to hear the still small voice. Like Elijah, we must never run away from the challenges that attempt to stop us from encountering God. We must not be distracted by certain things that become obstacles in our way to making great positive achievements and undertakings. The challenges may last for quite a long time, and they may keep changing from wind to earthquake to fire. Sometimes when we see such challenges, we are forced to ask ourselves “are these signs not God’s way of telling us that this journey is not worthwhile? We must rather ask ourselves: “are these not temptation on our way to a positive experience?” The voice that directs us to God and to greatness is always soft, calm and constant, that even in the midst of the life’s turbulence, it keeps on calling us. But because of the wild sound of the wind, earthquake and fire, we may not hear it immediately. Hence, we must be patient and focused so that when all these challenging sounds finally fade away, we may still be awake and alert to hear the voice calling us: “Come, I am here waiting for you”. In the case of Peter, we see how a courageous man, ready to make a great achievement, can all of a sudden become a timid and fearful person, not even able to move a foot. When Jesus came to his apostles, and they feared him to be a ghost, Peter requested Jesus to command him to come to him walking on the water.(N.B: while the gospel says that Jesus was walking on the sea θάλασσα (Thalassa), it says that Peter requested only to walk on water ὕδωρ (hudor). I agree with some exegetes that hold that there is a reason why the evangelist did not use θάλασσα to speak of Peter. Jesus’ walking on the sea shows his power over both the water and every other thing living in the water, that his, his power over nature. Peter walking on the water does not make him equal with Jesus, rather Peter, through Jesus’s power, walked on the superficiality of nature).
When Peter, upon Jesus’s command, stepped onto the water, he was relying on Jesus and on Jesus’s word: Come (Matt 14:29). Although the strong wind was still on even before Peter stepped out of the boat, Peter did not care because he based his courage on the person who invited him. Peter began to sink when he changed from seeing/looking at Jesus to seeing/looking at the wind that has been on even before he stepped out of the boat. This teaches us that sometimes in life, what pulls us down are not the challenges surrounding us but what we make of those challenges and where our focus is. If we remain focused and concentrated on achieving our goals, we may not even recognize the challenges beneath our feet. When we have something stronger and more purposeful attracting us, and keeping our heads up and our eyes focused, we barely recognize other things that militate against our success, no matter how proximate they are. But once we begin to pay attention to those factors, we begin to make them relevant, and we begin to give them power to control us. And the result is that we begin to sink like Peter. We must keep our gaze on Christ who has called us and to whom we are going. There are many things under our feet, behind our backs, on our two sides, etc., which want to pull us down. But once we remain focused on Christ Jesus, we will keep moving irrespective of what they do.
However, when Peter recognized that instead of advancing towards Jesus, he was instead sinking. Jesus was there watching Peter as he was sinking. He did nothing until Peter beckoned him for salvation. If it took Peter’s request for Jesus to call him to walk on the water, Peter’s cry for help to Jesus is also needed for him to get the attention of Jesus. We can get distracted on our way to meet Jesus. We can get diverted by a single mistake that may take our focus to other things. But we must be able to recognize that we are no longer moving, rather that we are sinking. And we must raise our voices high and call to Jesus: Lord, save me!
WISHING YOU A WONDERFUL SUNDAY
Fr. Nnamah Henry Chukwuezugo.