A Word for the Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

Today, beloved brothers, the deacon read the Gospel of the Savior’s solitary prayer on the mountain; of His command to the Apostles to cross over in the boat to the other side of the sea; of their difficult sailing against a contrary wind; of Jesus Christ’s walking upon the sea as upon dry land; of the Apostles’ fear at the sight of a man walking upon the water, and of their encouragement by the Lord; of the Apostle Peter’s bold request to come to the Lord upon the water, and of the permission granted him; of Peter’s walking upon the water at first, until his fright, and his sinking afterward; of the hand of help stretched out by the Lord, and the rebuke to Peter for his little faith and doubt; of the sudden stilling of the wind; and, finally, of the confession, by those in the boat, of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. It is a Gospel of the utmost instruction and edification, especially when we reflect that the persons and things depicted in it—excepting the person of the Lord Himself—depict us, you and me.

First, today’s Gospel teaches of the benefit and necessity of solitary prayer. Jesus Christ Himself, God and man, prayed often, as man, in solitude. In solitude a person can give himself fully, with his whole heart, to prayer, because nothing and no one then hinders him from praying—whereas among people given over to their usual worldly bustle, it is very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to give oneself fully to prayer. Of course, solitary prayer can sometimes happen even among people, when someone prays in his own heart, as in a solitary chamber—and such prayer is pleasing to the Lord; but not everyone can pray this way, only those who are experienced, who have learned to converse with God everywhere, in every place.

Second, today’s Gospel teaches us courage and fearlessness in life’s difficult circumstances, or in dangers, temptations, and misfortunes, in the assurance that the Lord is always with us and will not allow those who trust in Him and love Him to perish before their time. Thus the Apostles were in a most difficult position when they were in the boat in the middle of the sea, against a contrary wind; and the Lord, wishing to bring them out of their difficulty, went to them upon the sea; and they, seeing the extraordinary sight of a man walking upon the water, took Him for a phantom and cried out for fear—but when Jesus spoke to them in a voice they knew, saying: be of good cheer, it is I, do not be afraid—they were calmed. The Apostles, who were then still imperfect, only beginners in faith and in life, depict us, you and me; the sea signifies this present, vain life, tossed by the wiles of the devil and by worldly passions and misfortunes; the boat signifies our easily-broken body, in which, together with the soul, our spirit sails across the sea of this life, and which the enemy of our salvation is always ready to sink by fleshly passions. So, my brothers, we all experience, in various degrees, a storm of misfortunes and troubles in life, as sailors on the sea, and our imagination, our thoughts, our hearts, and our will are made sick by sins and by worldly temptations; sometimes we are afraid of everything and everyone, of our own shadow, of the rustling of leaves on a tree—but this is because our faith in Jesus Christ is still weak, because we are not yet united with Him; whoever has believed in Him with his whole heart and is closely united with Him fears no one, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor in the abyss. «The Lord is my light and my Savior; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defender of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?» (Ps 26:1). Though a host of demons should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though demonic war should rise up against me, in Him I trust. See how bold and courageous, how fearless, is the one who believes in and loves the Lord!

Further, the Gospel speaks of the Apostle Peter’s bold request to come to the Lord upon the water, which was permitted, of his walking upon the water at first, and of his sinking after he became frightened. Peter’s request is, on the one hand, worthy of praise, as a fruit of his faith in Christ and love for Him; but on the other hand it is imprudent, for, not yet being established in faith and love, but having only the beginnings of faith and love, he desired, without need, a miracle which would give him occasion to be lifted up in thought above the other Apostles, who did not dare ask the Lord for anything of the kind. So, when the Lord allowed him to walk upon the water, he walked upon the water; but soon afterward his faith weakened, he doubted, and began to sink. So it often happens with us too: when we do or say something with faith and confidence, then our speech flows smoothly, and our work is done properly; but as soon as we begin to waver, to doubt, to fear, then our word falters, and our work goes badly. Take prayer, for example. When we pray with faith, hope, and zeal—see how fervent, how easy, how profitable your prayer becomes; but if we doubt, or forget the presence of God, or let ourselves be distracted by outside thoughts and daydreams, then our prayer goes out, and we feel a spiritual shipwreck, a sinking of the heart, a death of the spirit. So harmful and so ruinous is little faith and doubt! So much does faith matter! Let us not, then, be among the wavering, to our own perdition, but among the believing, unto the salvation of the soul (Hebr 10:39). Lord, save me! — cried Peter, as he began to sink. The Lord stretched out His hand to him, held him up, and said to him: O man of little faith! Why did you doubt?

We are all sinking in our sins, as in a sea; and therefore we too, like Peter, must turn to the Savior with a strong cry of repentance: Lord, save me! The sinking Peter signifies us, perishing in the sea of this life. And the Lord will never let those who sincerely repent and pray to Him perish: He will at once stretch out His hand of help; this has been experienced, and is being experienced without ceasing, by millions of repentant sinners—of whom I am the first. «Who has come to You weeping, and was not at once saved? Who has cried out fervently, and was not at once heard? But O Master! Quickly You are found for the salvation of all who pray to You, for You are unconquerable in mercy»—so it is said in the common daily service to our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord reproved Peter for his little faith, showing thereby that if he had not wavered in faith, he would not have begun to sink, but would have walked firmly upon the water and reached the Lord. Peter’s own little faith was the cause of his sinking. And how many misfortunes, how much sin, do we ourselves experience because of little faith? There is no numbering our falls, our sinkings! If we always believed with our heart, we would walk firmly toward the Lord along the path of keeping His commandments, along the path of love for God and neighbor; but since we are of little faith, we fall every day into the depths of sin and sink—now in intemperance, now in anger and rage, now in envy, now in worldly luxury, now in love of money and hardheartedness, now in fleshly impurity. Oh, let us at least turn more often, in repentance, to the Lord with the prayer: Lord, save me, I am perishing. When the Lord got into the boat, the wind immediately ceased. So too the storm of sin immediately falls still in us, when we turn to Christ with sincere repentance; a longed-for stillness of thoughts and feelings comes to be in us. Oh, how good it is then for the soul! Then, too, in a deep feeling of faith and gratitude toward the Lord, it draws near to Him, falls down before Him, and says to Him, as the Apostles said in the boat: truly You are the Son of God! You are my Savior! You are my life. You are my God! Amen.