SUNDAY, AUGUST 13, 2023 | AFTER PENTECOST - Proper 14 (A)

Notes

Recording:

https://recorder.google.com/e85b3386-9a5f-4295-a5a0-6f63eab6de5e

Psalm:

Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land

Romans:

In faith, we are equals, but let's not take it as it is so in the world - there are differences among us and to pretend it is not so is dangerous.

Matthew:

More importantly Peter doubted he sees Jesus - his command was supposed to be the proof . So of course he was shaky

News:

Niger coup: Wagner taking advantage of instability (BBC)

(Wagner group may be involved in the coup)

July hit a crucial warming threshold that scientists have warned the world should stay under

(In July, we have seen world’s average temperatures being around 1.5 C warmer, which may lead to many bad things in the future)

Tunisia, EU scrutinized for harsh treatment of migrants along route from Africa to Europe

(Over 300 people are still currently trapped at the Tunisia-Libya border in the desert, and they have been trapped there for weeks.)

A new COVID-19 subvariant has arrived. Here's what we know about Eris

(If you look at the global figures, we've still had over a million cases in the last four weeks and over 3,000 deaths, so while the public health emergency has been declared over ... it's clear that the threat has not gone away,")

Judge Orders Southwest Airlines Attorneys To Take Conservative Christian Group’s Religious Training

(Ordering employers to take steps after discriminatory conduct is not uncommon, but ordering them to undergo training by specific groups is unusual, Reuters reported, noting that the Alliance Defending Freedom has often been involved in high-profile cases, including helping to draft a Mississippi abortion ban later upheld by the Supreme Court.)

Good morning,

Another week full of heavy rain and high heat and perhaps it is better we are inside, so that we can enjoy the special music piece by Kenny Yao, assisted by Jim and Lauren. I can’t wait!

But back to our gospel reading - We continue Matthew’s enumeration of Jesus’ deeds of power or as we commonly refer to them as miracles. And I just wanted to take a quick pause here and say that perhaps sometimes I spend a lot of time on the cultural and ethical consequences of these miracles, so it may come across that I am “explaining them away” in the modern sense. However, I would like to stress that for me there is no reason not to believe that Jesus performed miraculous deeds that we cannot quite explain, that surpass our current scientific understanding. After all, compared to raising from the dead, most of them are quite minor! What is a bit of light levitation compared to that! And at the same time, I affirm their theological significance.

In our story today, I think it could be easily named “doubting Peter requires a proof that Jesus is who he claims to be” - we give a lot of unfair grief to Thomas for not believing his fellow disciples for seeing the risen Jesus, but what about Peter, who questions Jesus’ presence and him not being a ghost?

Through the power of Jesus’ command, Peter was then able to walk on water towards him until he became self-conscious about the whole thing and started drowning and thus requiring an intervention from Jesus.

I think it talks about an important facet of faith, faith as trust. There are not necessarily interchangeable - trust in God and believe in God are not quite the same. But faith in God has an element of trust - like in any relationship, there is no way we can ever understand the other, especially if the other is God! So that is where trust comes in. How can Jesus walk on water? Through the mysterious power from God, but that is that.

And Peter needed that extra nudge to trust - if Jesus can make him do it, then he can perhaps trust more. However, trust doesn’t always translate into faith entirely and we all, just like Peter, may falter from time to time and will be needing an intervention from God to have our faith renewed.

Y’know, it is normal that non-believers do not trust in God, but it is alarming when believers do not either. I think much violence and harm has sprung from that - distrust can be a dangerous thing. Choosing to dominate and oppress as Christians is a distrust in God’s plan for the redemption of the whole creation - choosing to burn up the weeds ourselves rather than trusting in God’s justice in God’s time. Not trusting that God will provide, often leads the humanity to exploit everyone and everything for our benefit (kind of like when the Israelites were trying to save up the manna) - nature, animals, and other people. I have talked enough about the crusades and colonization, but let’s just look at the consequences of this distrust just in the news this week - in July, we hit a grim climate milestone - the increase of the earth’s temperature averaged at 1.5 degree of Celsius, which has been set as THE increase that will have catastrophic consequences for our planet if experienced long term; Tunisia and the European Union are scrutinized for their harsh treatment of migrants from Africa as for weeks, there have been more than 300 migrants stuck in the desert at the Tunisia-Libya border; or perhaps we can take a note of a 3-year-old asylum seeker that died aboard one of the highly politicized buses from Texas to Chicago, where vulnerable people are often tricked into getting on the buses under false promises.

In every and each case, God has something to say about these things - be it responsible stewardship of the whole creation we have been entrusted with, welcoming the foreigner in our lands, or simply caring for the least of these, especially endangered children! If we claim to believe in God, then by doing the opposite we choose to distrust God’s wisdom in regards to these things. And as we can see in the text, Jesus is NOT happy about doubt rooted in distrust.

Beloveds, we ought to believe AND trust in God and God’s wisdom and justice and we pray to God that through the Holy Spirit we may be empowered to do so. But I think we also need to pray and speak up, so that others may put their trust in God, especially those that already claim to believe in God. Kingdom of God can come a little closer every time someone embraces the wisdom and justice of this kingdom that provides love and peace out of this world. We know whom and what to trust for thousands of years and we are being invited again and again to do so, in an ever returning circle of love and care originating with God, coming to us, and then returning again to God. God loves and care for us and wishes for us to trust God and the plans prepared for us. Amen..