How Not to Sink Like a Stone in the Waves of our Passions: Homily for the Ninth Sunday After Pentecost & Ninth Sunday of Matthew in the Orthodox Church

 

1 Corinthians 3:9-17: Matthew 14:22-34

 

If you are like me, there are times when you become worried or upset over matters of very little importance.  It often does not take much to punch our buttons because we base our sense of self and wellbeing, as well as our hopes for the future, on illusions that cannot fulfill them.  Due to our darkened spiritual vision, we do not see ourselves, our relationships with other people, or where we stand before the Lord very clearly.  When the inevitable challenges of life cause us to catch even a small glimpse of these uncomfortable truths, we usually do not like it and can easily start to sink into the churning sea of our passions.  

 Today’s gospel lesson provides a vivid example of what happens when we attempt to ground ourselves on the weak foundation of such illusions.  St. Peter began to sink like a stone in a raging sea when he turned his focus from entrusting himself to the Lord to being overcome with fear about where he stood in relation to the wind and the waves.  By his own nature and ability, there was simply no way that Peter could have avoided drowning, but he called out “Lord, save me!”  That is precisely what the Savior did by reaching out to Peter and rescuing him as He said, “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?”  The stress of the storm revealed the weakness of Peter’s faith, which is not surprising because he had gotten himself into this dangerous situation by foolishly putting Christ to the test, saying “Lord, if it is You, bid me come to You on the water.”   By his lack of humble trust, Peter literally got himself in well over his head. He had to learn the hard way that he had no other foundation, no other basis or hope for his life, than Jesus Christ.  If left to his own devices, he would have sunk like a stone as he descended into the darkness of a watery grave.   

 That is a destination completely different from the one to which our Lord calls us. The God-Man came to transfigure us in holiness with His gracious divine energies as the distinct persons He created us to become.  The Savior called His disciples to “be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”  (Matt. 5:48)  He cited the Psalms: “You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.” (Psalm 82:6; Jn. 10:34) While we remain human beings by nature, Christ enables us to become like Him by our personal participation in His grace.  That is why theosis is an eternal process, for God’s holiness is truly infinite.  We can never claim to have checked off that box and become ready for some greater vocation.  Our calling does not confirm our proud insistence that we are isolated individuals looking for fulfillment on our own terms, whether in religion or anything else, but instead challenges us to become persons united in love with the Lord and with one another as members of His Body, the Church. We become more fully our true selves not in self-centered isolation, but in relationship with Him and all who bear His image and likeness.

 The contrast between humanity left to our own devices in this world of corruption and the Savior’s restoration and fulfillment of our humanity is starker than the difference between night and day.  It is truly the difference been death and life, between sinking to the bottom of a dark sea of sin and becoming resplendent with the radiant glory of God. Our Lord has conquered death, Hades, and the tomb in His glorious resurrection on the third day.  His divine glory has flooded even the darkest abyss, even the most tragic and painful pits of despair into which we can fall.  He has liberated us from slavery to the fear of death as the God-Man Who shares His restoration of the human person in the divine image and likeness with weak, fearful, anxious, and confused people like us.  When we reach out to Him with faith from the depths of our hearts, as Peter did when he began to sink, He will rescue us as we open our darkened souls to receive His healing light.   

 Instead of remaining captive to our self-centered desires and proud illusions, we must enter into the blessed life of the Kingdom of the Lord Who reigns from His Cross and empty tomb, even as we live in this world of corruption.   That certainly does not mean that all our problems will disappear or that we will get all that we want in this life on our own terms.  It does not mean that at all, as the difficult struggles of the martyrs, confessors, and other saints so clearly demonstrate. It does mean, however, that even our most difficult and painful circumstances present opportunities to grow in embracing Christ as the very foundation of our life as we learn not to entrust our souls to anything or anyone else.  That is how we will find liberation from slavery to the fear of death, which fuels our anxieties and the other passions that come from grounding ourselves in that which can never satisfy or save us. 

 As St. Paul taught, “no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”  No scheme of political reform, cultural progress, or personal growth can have that  place in our lives, for such agendas inevitably worship at the altars of earthly pride, power, and pleasure in one form or another.  No matter how religious or virtuous they may appear, they cannot keep us from sinking under the weight of our own sins.  The Cross of Christ remains a sign of contradiction to the fallen powers of this world, which are all too happy to shout “Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!” whenever they believe it serves their interests.  The darkness roots so deeply within us all, both personally and collectively, and nothing but the brilliant glory of the Lord can overcome it.  Whether we know it or not, we inevitably sink like stones into the abyss whenever we make anything or anyone else, including our own vain imaginations of whatever kind, the foundation of our lives.  All good things have their place in God’s creation and we should despise none of them.  But we will not fully embrace the healing of the New Adam until we ground every dimension of our life on Him, the one true foundation. 

 As St. Paul teaches, we are by no means self-made or self-sustaining.  Our true identity is not a function of any merely human accomplishment, ability, or affiliation.   Instead, “we are God’s fellow workers…God’s field, God’s building…God’s temple… God’s Spirit dwells in you.”  Christ has made us members of His own Body, the Church.  The very foundation of our life, of our identity, and of our hope is in Him, not in our achievements, possessions, personality traits, or any other characteristic.  In order to avoid sinking like stones amidst the raging seas of our lives, we must mindfully turn away from our obsessive illusions about the importance of our own individuality or the uniqueness of any group to which we belong. Otherwise, we will entrust ourselves to that which cannot sustain us and which most definitely cannot lift us up from the ultimate despair of the grave.  We will then become just like Peter as we turn away from humble trust in the Savior and succumb to the wind and waves of worry, fear, and other inflamed passions.

  Let us, then, remain constantly on guard against the temptation to entrust the meaning and purpose of our lives to anything or anyone other than the Lord.  There is no way to do that without cultivating the habits of daily prayer, self-denial for the sake of others, and mindful protection of our hearts from thoughts and desires that fuel our passions.  The next time that you get out of sorts about some small matter, redirect that energy to fuel humble, focused prayer to the Lord as Peter did, saying “Lord, save me!”  He alone can raise us up from drowning in the sea of our passions.