By Don Schatz

Safety

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“Then [Jesus] got into the boat and his disciples followed him.”

Matthew 8:23 New International Version

I grew up in the Christian Church.  The Lutheran part of the Christian family.  I have never been apart from the church.  One of my deepest joys is Worship–whether on Sunday or any other day of the week.  The community and fellowship of the Church gathers and worships as one.  One voice.  One heart.  One purpose.  We worship and adore God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  When the recent pandemic precautions allowed gathering together again in person for worship, I was in the pew the very first Sunday.  That felt so good.

The boat is an ancient Christian symbol for the Church.  Jesus got into a boat.  More than once.  But I am interested in the occasion mentioned in Matthew 8:23. Wisely, Christ’s disciples followed him.  Into the boat.  Sometime later, Jesus slept.  The wind came up.  Not a spring zephyr, but something closer to the gales of November.  Or so I imagine.  The disciples quaked, wet and shivering from fear.  They woke Jesus.  He calmed the storm with a word.

The boat was the safe place to be in that storm.  But even in the boat, fear claimed the disciples.  Jesus was in the boat with them.  They cried out to him.  Seems like the right, even faith-filled thing to do, don’t you think?  But they cried out in fear, not in faith.  Do you think one can cry out to the Lord in fear-and-faith at one and the same time?  I think so.  I think that’s what Jesus wanted to teach them when he said, “You of little faith, why are you afraid?”

I walk through life in the boat of the Church.  Christ is with me.  Storms of life have been known to batter me around from time to time.  Fear has claimed me.  Sorrow has defined me.  Crisis-induced confusion, indecision, and immobilization have been occasional companions.  You too?  A little?  A lot?  In the waters of Baptism, I was swept up into the arms of Christ and given a place in the Boat of the Church.  You too?  Stay in the Boat.

Hear the voice of Jesus to all humankind, “Hey y’all, come, get in the boat.”

Copyright, Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado