We lift our eyes up to rise up 

We keep our eyes on Jesus 

as we rise up in the power of resurrection hope with courage & compassion to follow Jesus close enough that we are covered by the dust of His feet. 

Reading 3: Matthew 14: 26-30 

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the waves. 

When the disciples saw him, they did not recognize it was Jesus,

So they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

 

But Jesus immediately said to them: 

“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

 

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

 

“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he looked away from Jesus and looked down to see the wind & the waves, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

 

Friends & beloveds of God. The question before us today is often asked in an accusatory or irritable tone. What are you looking at? Perhaps that’s why it seemed so fitting to me as a sermon title. Because as with so much of the Gospel, the Good news, it transforms everything. And it is my hope that by asking this question together, as we examine these scripture readings we will begin to ask ourselves and to ask each other “what are you looking at” in a way that inspires us to lift our eyes up to rise up with courageous faith and see Jesus, really see Jesus, the Author, the Perfecter of our faith. 

 

In our Gospel reading today the story begins, just as the resurrection story begins, shortly before dawn. It has been said and I believe it’s true — so often the night is darkest before the dawn… 

 

That could be said of Jesus & the disciples in this story before us. You see, before Jesus walks on water, before Jesus feeds the crowds with fish & loaves of bread, enough that the disciples had to collect the leftovers. Jesus & his disciples had just received word that John the Baptist had been beheaded by King Herod. 

 

John — who baptized Jesus; present at that sacred moment when the Light, Presence & Power of God broke through. John who understood Jesus as the Messiah, declaring “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” John, who lived his life to the point of death declaring the kin-dom of heaven has come near in Jesus. John — Jesus’ cousin, holy mischief makers together from the womb when John first leapt in his mother Elizabeth’s womb when Mary visited while pregnant with Jesus. John, arrested, beheaded, dead & buried. 

 

Now I confess, that before preparing this sermon for us today, I had not seen the accounts of Jesus healing the sick, feeding the crowds, walking on water through the raging storms through the lens of such grief & loss. 

 

Matthew tells us— “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” 

 

Jesus was seeking solitude to pray & weep in His grief and instead of solitude He found the multitudes, the crowds seeking Him, waiting to be in the Presence of the Holy One. And here we see Jesus, in the heaviness of his grief — responding with compassion… meeting the needs of all who had gathered… healing the sick, feeding the people… physically and spiritually. And finally. Jesus sent the crowds & the disciples away so he could finally find the solitude He was longing for on the mountainside to spend the night in prayer. 

 

Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

 

And here we find Peter & the disciples. Buffeted & battered by the waves. Surely, on this night, as the boat rises and falls with the crashing waves, they are aware of all the barriers to God’s work in the world and all the possibilities for things to go wrong. John the Baptist is dead. His disciples are lost, grieving without their Rabbi, their teacher. They must be asking themselves: What will happen to Jesus? Would that be their end? Prisoned, beheaded, dead & buried? Were the political powers, systems of oppression & injustice going to win? Was the Roman Empire greater, stronger than the Kin-dom of God? Tempest tossed in the storm — with so much that needed tending, healing, and hope. Storms raging in them. Storms, wind, waves raging around them. All through the dark of the night. And at the darkest moment… Jesus comes to them, walking on the water when there is barely enough light to cast shadows, to see anything clearly. 

 

“Come,” Jesus said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he looked and saw the wind & the waves, He was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

 

And friends, don't we find ourselves here in the story? How many times have we cried out to the Lord amidst our paralyzing fear, our deepest despair, our darkest moments when storms rage inside of our hearts, our minds — and outside of us when we look at the chaos and unyielding, unrelenting tragedies of the world… 

Lord, save me. Lord, save us. 

 

And so my friends, I’m including myself in this question: 

What are you looking at? What are we looking at?

 

And we can hear that great cloud of witnesses who have run their race of faith before us cheer us on, and say, lift your eyes up to rise up — fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. 

 

Now we could call Peter’s attempt a failure if we hear critique or condemnation, perhaps we read disappointment in Jesus’ words & tone: 

“You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

 

Or we could see this as a spectacular step of courageous faith. And Jesus offering to Peter, to us — not condemnation or disappointment but offering kindness, compassion & calling Peter, calling us, to a deeper walk of faith that Jesus knows Peter and yes we too are capable of. Can we hear Jesus say it this way instead: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” What are you looking at?

 

This is a story we should come to, not with judgment, but with an invitation to find ourselves. Peter is both brave & afraid, and wavers in the wind & waves between fixation on fear and moving courageously in the midst of those fears toward what he believes in. We must not decide it’s safer to stay in the boat than to come when Jesus calls, extending an invitation to follow, to show up with all the God-giving capacities we have within us, over and over again, no matter how many times we may start to sink. Even when we waver in the wind & waves, finding our way to be both brave & afraid — yes, at the same time… 

 

And we can hear that great cloud of witnesses who have run their race of faith before us cheer us on, and say, lift your eyes up to rise up 

 

With courage that is deeply rooted in faith, hope & love…

Let your courage be greater than your doubt, than your fear.

 

And so my friends, I’m including myself in this question: 

What are you looking at? What are we looking at?

 

lift your eyes up to rise up 

 

In the Hebrews 12 passage we are called to “Throw off everything that hinders us, that weighs us down, that encumbers us.” Throw off fear, doubt, excuses, comparisons that steal our joy. The Amplified Bible paints a wonderful picture of this, “Looking away from all that will distract to Jesus, Who is the Source of our faith.” Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

 

We are also called to remove sin that so readily entangles us. The Greek word here is hamartia, which means ‘‘to miss the mark.” Another reason I find the biblical languages exhilarating. Can you hear the intentional word play? It would sound something like: let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that causes us to miss the mark… And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. 

 

How do we achieve this? Not by our own strength. No. 

 

We lift our eyes up to rise up 

Keeping our eyes on Jesus. Not the wind, the waves, the storms. 

To find our way to be brave even when we are afraid. 

 

We lift our eyes up to rise up 

Surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us, 

cheering us on. Yes. And this place right here. Look around. Look at us. The church gathered together. These people beside, behind, in front of us. This community of witnesses. Together we remind each another 

We lift our eyes up to rise up 

 

By faith — we gather together to study our holy, sacred scriptures, to lift our voices in songs of praise to God, the Holy One in our midst who changes shame to praise & songs of captivity to songs of freedom. 

 

We lift our eyes up to rise up 

By faith — we are sent from this place: 

With a message of Light that shines in any darkness.

 

We lift our eyes up to rise up 

We keep our eyes on Jesus 

as we rise up in the power of resurrection hope

with courage & compassion to follow Jesus 

close enough that we are covered by the dust of His feet. 

 

We lift our eyes up to rise up 

To run the race set before us, not alone, but together.

And THAT is indeed, the Gospel, the Good News.