Pastoral Letter 23
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
Grace and peace to you all in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I write this week’s Pastoral Letter with a heavy heart. I am devastated by the unprecedented disaster in Beirut, Lebanon. Tuesday 6:00pm Beirut time, a disastrous explosion shook the beautiful city of Beirut and the surrounding suburbs, killing hundreds of innocent people, injuring more than 5000 and releasing toxic fumes. There are still many missing. According to our resources in Beirut, the numbers are much higher. Already today we have confirmation that 11 Armenians were killed and more than 250 injured. We are certain that these numbers will go up with every passing hour. I am not sure how the Lebanese people will be able to cope with this catastrophe. The images and the videos that keep coming to us are very disturbing. All we can do at the moment is pray and if possible, support them in any way we can, including financially. Already the Uniting World, the Middle East National Conference of UCA and the Armenian Missionary Association of Australia have made appeals to raise money as much as possible. Every cent counts. We are grateful to the Australian Government, who has pledged $2,000,000 as a relief donation to the suffering people of Lebanon.
Please pray for Lebanon. May God be with the suffering nation.
In regards to COVID-19, I feel we are heading to more challenging times, while Victoria is in stage 4 lockdown situation. We hope and pray that here, in NSW, we will not face what the Victorians are facing. We should continue praying to God to help us and be with us.
The Elders and the Church Council met last Wednesday to consider the way ahead. After long discussion and thought, it was decided unanimously to keep our church doors closed and continue what we are doing at the moment. So, please join the other members tomorrow morning in worship, following the Order of Service. Enjoy singing the hymns suggested by Mark and Stan and praise God. If you have any hymns to be included in our future Orders of Service, please let me know. Please, light a candle.
Continue to pray and remember the following points in your prayers:
- Pray for Lebanon as the country goes through a difficult time
- Continue to pray for those countries who are still in the midst of the pandemic, where the number of cases of COVID-19 is still growing.
- Pray for those who are struggling financially, those who have lost loved ones and are still in pain and for those who are not well and lonely.
- Pray for world peace.
If you have any prayer points, please let me know and I will include them in the next week’s letter.
Krikor
Don’t Be Afraid.
I Am with You!
Matthew 14:22-33
In our Gospel reading today we are told the familiar story of Jesus walking on water. A story we know by heart since we were in Sunday School. We enjoyed hearing the story over and over again. Even made jokes and told humorous stories about walking on water.
One related story is about a man who went to the ticketing office to buy his ticket for a boat ride on a big lake. The cost of one ticket was $20, but he wanted to pay only $10. When the salesperson asked for the full $20 dollars, the man answered and said that he wanted just one way or half of the boat ride and leave the boat in the middle of the lake, thinking that the captain would not leave him there. But when they made it to the middle of the lake and the boat was getting ready to return to the shore, the onboard officer told him that it was the time to get out of the boat saying that his ticket covered him only to that point only. The man with discomfort responded that he was just joking and he wants to go back to the shore. The officer insisted that he should get out. The man offered to pay the rest of the cost $10. But the officer kept on saying that for him the journey ends here and there is no option to get a ticket to cover the return way. After several attempts and instead of $10, he offered to pay $20, $50, $100, $500, $1000 and went up to $10000, but the officer was not interested. Finally, the man losing every hope to fix the situation, he was forced to leave the boat and get into the water, muttering the following words. “It seems that Jesus was in a similar situation, when he wanted to come to the disciples and could not find His ride, He was forced to walk on the water.”
While by telling similar stories makes us laugh, the Gospel story demonstrates an important truth about our faith and trusting in God. When we are facing challenges, we don’t feel comfortable and instead, our hearts fill with fear, making us anxious and afraid.
As human beings we have and we will always have times when we will feel fear in our hearts and don’t know what to do, or to whom to turn to. Our lives are full of frightening situations and circumstances. Life is not easy. There are always surprises, things happen in a way we have not suspected. We face the fear of sickness, loneliness, pain and death; we don’t know what to do and to who to turn to. Even if we feel that God is near or standing next to us, we fail to put our whole trust in Him.
As we look to today’s passage in Matthew and reflect on this familiar story of Jesus walking on the water and Peter desiring to go to Him walking on the water, we see the following important points.
1. “Jesus made the disciples get into the boat.”
I find the word ‘made’ really interesting. It seems as if Jesus ordered them to get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side of the lake or the Sea of Galilee. After He fed the five thousand and dismissed them and He himself went to the mountain to pray, as He had done many times, to recharge. It obviously was not storming when Jesus ordered the disciples into the boat. Nonetheless, they had to row across the lake which was a lot of work.
Some of the disciples were well trained fishermen and for sure the rest had some kind of fishing experience. But after a long and exhausting day of serving five thousand men, besides women and children, they were not happy to go out on the lake for hard work. Most probably they started complaining: “Why did Jesus send us out here? This is ridiculous! And just what is He doing while we are out here in this storm fighting our way across the sea?”
Sometimes we are ordered to do things and we have to obey, whether we like it or not. If we are asked to do things for which we are not ready, we will have hard time.
“Jesus made the disciples get into the boat.”
The disciples were out there for 12 hours or more, probably the whole day. Why then did Jesus send them out there again? They would have preferred to go with Him to the mountain to pray, or even while He prayed, they could have had a rest. But Jesus made them get into the boat and do more work.
We sometimes have the feeling of getting in the boat of life, even knowing that we will face storms and be uncomfortable. We start rowing with a destination in mind. Yet, the wind constantly beats against us and the waves of life wear us out and we get exhausted. How do we get through the storm to the other side to safety? And sometimes we ask why now? Why not later? Why when things get better and settle down? Are we always supposed to follow the commands given to us?
Jesus had a plan for His disciples, as He has for us regardless what happens around us, He has something special for us. He has a plan. That’s why He makes us do things and orders us to get into the boat and start rowing, even if it means rowing against the wind or facing a storm and turbulence.
2. Struggling against a storm buffeted by the waves, the disciples were frightened.
Who wouldn’t be afraid when facing such a storm, be it a natural storm on the lake or the sea, or facing the storms of life? Fear is present everywhere and every time we face a challenge, uncertainty, and terror. With the pandemic, people are terrified, horrified and petrified. When an unprecedented powerful explosion happens, the blast and the shock make even those who think they are invincible, scared. The graphic images we kept receiving from Beirut in the last few days demonstrates clearly the fear I am talking about. We saw live pictures of terrified young and old people the moment the explosion occurred. Doors and windows blew out, glass shattered everywhere and buildings crumbled.
Fear, as a recurring theme in the Biblical story, plays a major role in our passage. The phrases, “terrified,” “cried out in fear,” “do not be afraid,” and “became frightened” all occur in just 11 verses.
Fear often plays a major role in our lives as well. Perhaps it is fear of getting infected with the virus and infecting others. Fear of not recovering and facing the worst. Fear of losing our strength to move around and do what we have been doing for many years. Fear of needing full time care, as we get older each day and also, fear of losing what we have, including wealth, health and the ability to remember things.
Fear is real and we all at some stage have to deal with it; be it on our own or with the help of others.
In our story we see terrified disciples, as they face a challenging wind and storm. We can notice their fear, even after Jesus called out in “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” They were fearful and didn’t know what to do, even with the experience they had, as they must have been familiar with the storm that frequently happens on the sea of Galilee.
Fear kept all the disciples but one in the boat.
3. Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
When the disciples were caught up in fear, Jesus came to reassure them that He was right there with them. He was in charge and hadn’t abandoned them. Neither will He abandon us in any endeavour to which we have been called, or any challenge we face; be it pandemic, illness, stress, anxiety, violence, war and terror. He has clearly stated that we will have troubles and pain, but His promise stands and He will be with us, to help us, support us, care for us, lift us up and most of all give us eternal joy, which surpasses all understanding.
In the story we see that Peter thinks, perhaps it is Jesus or perhaps not. Can I trust Him and get out of the boat? He said. “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water”. You tell me, You promise to be there for me, and I will come out, I will take the step and trust You. Matthew tells, Christ called, and Peter obeyed. Come, walk on the water. Do the seemingly impossible; do that which seems not possible to humanly do and trust me, believe me. Peter was successful until he began to doubt, and fear filled his heart. The brave and outspoken disciple after making sure that Jesus was the one coming towards them walking on the water, took the courageous step with faith.
We may have faith and believe we are called; but, when the storms of life distract us, we, like Peter, doubt and begin to drown. We lose faith and fail to walk in confidence as Christ commands.
In the midst of their struggling and getting nowhere, Jesus comes and instead of being overjoyed, the disciples are terrified.
Sometimes we feel frustrated, tired and fearful and in the midst of all that, Jesus comes to reassure us as He did to the disciples. Christ Jesus is in charge and has not abandoned us.
4. “Lord, if it is really you”.
Jesus called to Peter to step out of the boat and walk on water and do the seemingly impossible.
If you were in the shoes of Peter, would you abandon the ship and walk on the water or stay in the boat because it was safe? Even when we step out of the boat we are often like Peter.
When the wind and waves of life distract us – difficult family situations, illness, the death of a loved one or mountains of bills, whatever the case, when we see the wind and waves of life, we doubt that our Lord will take care of us.
You can walk on water. But first you have to get out of the boat! Trust that Jesus will be there for you. Look how quickly Jesus acted, “Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.”
While Peter was out taking risks, the rest of the disciples, the sensible ones, stayed in the boat. They stayed in their comfort zone. They would rather go down with the ship than trust Christ Jesus to lead them. The others were focusing on the crisis instead of Christ. The moment Peter took his eyes off Jesus, he began to sink.
If we let fear of failure keep us in the boat, we may be sensible; but we will never accomplish the mission to which Christ Jesus calls us.
It takes FAITH not FEAR to accomplish that which God has called us to do. It takes FAITH not FEAR to face the world pandemic that we are against. It takes FAITH not FEAR to face the terrible explosion and trust the Lord for terrible days people will have in the aftermath of the big and powerful explosion that shocked not only the people of Lebanon and Beirut, but the whole world.
Yes, we live in fear and face the challenges of life, big and small. But we are assured that the Lord is there to help us. He is watching over us and He will take care of us.
I will ask you to look at the cover picture of today’s Order of Service. It pictures Jesus watching over the storm of the sea and the troubled boat. He is there to help and save them. As I look at the picture, I don’t see only the storm and the boat in the waves, but I see Jesus looking over the chaos of the city of Beirut after the explosion. I chose this picture to be the cover page of the Order of Service on Tuesday morning, a day before the Beirut explosion. I believe it is not a coincidence that our Lectionary Gospel reading is Matthew’s narrative of Jesus walking on the water and the disciples’ experience of fear. Fear is real and makes us terrified, but the expectation is to have faith and trust. Paul, in our Epistle Reading, says: “It is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts him will never be put to shame’”.
We are living in those times, when we should believe with our hearts, confess with our mouths and put our trust in Him, we will be saved. We will be able to go through the difficult and stormy days of our lives. He is here, He is with us, He will take care and we don’t need to be afraid, for He is with us!
Amen!