I Kings 19: 9–18 / Psalm 85: 8–13 / Romans 10: 5–15 / Matthew 14: 22–33
This is the written version of the
homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown,
Pennsylvania on Sunday, August 9, 2026, by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.
“SHOWING US WHERE THE ROCKS ARE”
(Homily text: Matthew 14: 22-33)
Let’s
begin this morning with a bit of humor…
There
were three ministers in a community who were very good friends and also were
very good colleagues in ministry together. One day, one of the three proposed
to the other two that it might be nice if they would rent a boat and go fishing
together. Since they all had Mondays off, they chose a date and headed off to
the country club.
The
weather was quite nice for the occasion, and the three began their quest for
fish. But the fish weren’t cooperating very well, and by midday, the sun was
beating down on the three pretty hard.
So one
of them said he was going to go into the club and get something to drink. Over
the side of the boat he went, whereupon he seemed to walk along the top of the
water. Sitting under the awning at the club, he began to enjoy his libation.
Not
long afterward, the second of the three also said he was thirsty, and over the
side of the boat he went. He, too, seemed to walk along over the top of the
water. Reaching the club, he joined the first one.
The
lone occupant of the boat, now seeing the other two in under the awning,
enjoying some refreshment, determined that if the other two could manage to
leave the boat and make their way to the shore, then he, too, could manage the
same. So over the side of the boat he went. But immediately, he began to
flounder in the water. The first one, seeing this unfold, calmly put his drink
down and said to his colleague at the table, “Do you think we ought to show him
where the rocks are?”
This
bit of humor fits well with this morning’s Gospel reading. For in it, we read
that Jesus walked on the water as the stormy seas were churning in the Sea of
Galilee. If we consider the theological point of the account, we come to the
conclusion that it is meant to tell us something about the powers that were at
work in Jesus, powers that God alone possesses, powers over the created order.
Recalling our Gospel reading from last week, the account of the feeding of the
crowd of some 5,000 people, the basic theological truth is the same: Jesus has
power over the creation.
Now,
hold onto that thought as I offer a memory from an event that took place
earlier this week …
Earlier
this week, I conducted a memorial service for a former director of the U.S.
Army Chorus, a group that I was a member of, at the Old Post Chapel on Ft.
Myer, Virginia, which is adjacent to Arlington Cemetery. The former director’s
two daughters were there, and they reminded me of a concert I had done with
their father, many years before. I recalled the concert quite well, and shared
a humorous aspect of what happened when we sang together, something I don’t
think they knew about their dad.
Sharing
that memory with them, sent my mind back to those days in my life. They weren’t
entirely good memories. There was much turmoil and uncertainty back then.
But
from the perspective of many years now, I can see that the Lord was present and
was active in those troubling years. I didn’t know it at the time, but those
difficult times didn’t have the final say in the direction of my life. No, God
was at work, and one-by-one, one difficulty after another was overcome.
Looking
back, I can say that, absent God’s presence and God’s ability to guide, to
support, to create, to deal with a challenge, and then to work out the details
of the next one, I’m not sure I would have made it through those trying times.
Now
then, perhaps each of us could ask a question of ourselves, as we look back
over the years of our lives: “When was it that the Lord showed us where the
rocks were?”.
For
surely, we all have need of the Lord’s support at various times as life
unfolds.
Perhaps
the Lord shows up when we don’t know what will happen next, or how we will face
the events that seem to be headed our way
Perhaps
deep loss comes our way.
Perhaps
we seem to face so many challenges and so many difficult choices that we are
paralyzed by the multitude of problems that seem to lie in our path.
Perhaps
other ideas arise in our minds, and perhaps they are our own personal
experiences and challenges.
It’s
been said that we Christians are a “resurrection people”. That is to say, we
worship, love and adore a God who creates, a God who brings order out of
disorder, a God who is a God of new beginnings.
Perhaps
it’d be helpful to remember those wonderful qualities that God possesses, and
which He makes available to us, often at times when we can’t see His hand at
work in the things that surround or beset us.
For,
as St. Paul reminds us in chapter eight of his letter to the early churches in
Rome, “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus”. (Romans
8:39)
Thanks
be to God.
AMEN.
