In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
Mankind lives amidst a storm of oppressions against us, and we seem unable to deal with them. Diseases, disasters and harsh conditions affect us from without while wars, arguments, cruelties from within, and yet still none can find a solution to the problem of death: we are going to die and our night of toil and tribulation seems only solvable by the inevitable.
And in the first watch of the night God makes a covenant with Abraham in whose seed the whole world will be sanctified; and yet death still reigns and we are subject to his power. And in the second watch of the night God gives the Law through Moses and we, God’s people, are blessed; and yet death still reigns and we are subject to his power. And in the third watch of the night God sends us the Prophets who continue to tell us of coming mystery of the incarnation; and yet death still reigns and we are subject to his power. Yet here, in the fourth and last watch of the night, just before daybreak, God sends to us his Only-begotten Son, “that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting Life,” (John 3:16) and death has been bound, lost his power, and we can be truly alive.
Notice how Christ comes to the disciples—to you and to me—but does not immediately calm the storm: the waves still beat upon them and the winds fight against them. Christ does not come to give us a calm life, a peaceful life, a life of blessings and comfort: Christ comes and we are to take up the fight alongside him, “Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water.”
And I am afraid. Storms I have faced all my life whereas I have never walked on the waves of the sea, yet it is the storms—the cares of this life—about which I am afraid: I have been given power to trample down the seas, the chaos, the abyss beneath us, but seeing the winds I lose my courage. Yet God does not abandon me at the daybreak, at the dawn of the Day of the Lord which knows no evening, and he will hear my cry unto him, “Lord, save me,” and I am brought out of the abyss and out of the clutches of death.
“O man of little faith,” the Lord says to Peter and he says to me, “why did you doubt?” “Why did you allow the trials of this life drag you down towards death?” And entering again the boat, the Church, all is calmed.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we should not be surprised when we face the storms of this life raging around us: Christ comes but does not remove them yet he gives us the opportunity to face them alongside him, and what’s more, we can face down the winds around us which, in turn, is to face down death himself. And if the storm gets too fearsome and we lose our faithfulness, like Peter we too may call on the Lord and cry out “Save me.” And entering the Church we, like the disciples, can worship him, partake of him, be joined to him.
Let us, therefore, turn always to the living God who, in this fourth watch of the night, just before the dawn, raises us up that we may honour and praise him risen from the dead, he who has defeated death and brings to us eternal Life.
That we may offer our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ true glory, honour and worship, together with his unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw – each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are.
— First Corinthians 3:9–17
At that time, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately he spoke to them, saying “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they entered the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.
— Matthew 14:22–34