Matthew 14

God invites us to eat—but also to serve.

There are no ideal conditions for a miracle.

The Bible offers conflicting answers.

Now we tend to see it as a virtue—at least for some people.

A few reflections on this passage from Matthew

 God wants God's people to be free.

Both Elijah and Peter face a stark reality: fear.

I can’t fathom a God who isn’t personal—and personally accountable.

You knew about weakness before you were ordained. Yet something made you get out of the boat and try to walk.

“Many were coming and going, and they had no leisure, even to eat.” I think of the many lunches spent at my computer with a sandwich.

Years ago, at a denominational gathering, I heard a visitor from the global South say the following about North American Christians:

They have so many things. They don’t need anything. Yet it seemed like the people were very thirsty, like they were in a desert and we were bringing them drops of water.

These words refuse to leave me.

The people are hungry. Jesus' solution is even more improbable than the disciples' solution.

These Gospel stories can seem so familiar. But sit with the disciples in the little wooden boat, and Jesus' power will render you speechless.

The lectionary reading from Matthew's Gospel is the story of Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a storm. In a couple of decades, anyone will be able to cross the Sea of Galilee on foot because of climate change.

I am writing a sermon on Matthew 14: 22-33, the passage wherein Jesus invites Peter to get out of the boat and walk on the water with him…in the midst of a storm.  Peter has always seemed to me to be the naïve, overeager, overachiever type.