May 20, 2015

Life in the boat (or really the lifeboat)!

Matthew 8:23-27

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"

But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

Personal Challenge

The early church fathers viewed the boat in this story by Matthew as the Church and how we can count on it to protect us from the storms of life because Jesus still resides with us. The Church is our place of protection from the evils of the world. That does not mean that we will never experience storms and the tossing about that go with them. Sometimes it feels like it is really these times that help to determine who is really committed to staying in the boat and putting their trust in Jesus and not themselves. A winnowing of sorts. The lesson here is that we should be able to be at peace, to sleep as Jesus did, in the protection of our Church, and especially our Lord and Savior who is protecting us while we are in the Church. This also implies that when I step outside of the Church, do things my way because I don't like how the Church is doing it, or because I am an individual and Jesus "Saved Me!" so I don't need the Church, then I no longer have the protection of the boat against the storms of life. Pretty sobering thought, which leads me to the point of believing that if I am to survive in the boat, not only do I need to remain in it and trust Jesus, but I also need to be at peace with my fellow boaters...loving my neighbors and putting their needs before mine. Glory be to God!