HELP!

When was the last time you asked for help? Was it for someone to mow your lawn? To pick up a book you dropped? Was it to watch your children? Or maybe you are someone’s “helper” – are you the one people go to for help? Do you ever get to ask for help yourself?

Our Scriptures this week come from Romans 10:5-15 and Matthew 14:22-33.

The Gospel is a story many people are familiar with – Jesus walking on water. A more surprising story title might be “Peter Walking on Water.” We know that Jesus is miraculous, the Son of God, the One who makes the impossible possible. But Peter? Peter denies Jesus. Peter doesn’t “get it”, time and time again. Peter makes mistakes, just like you and me. And yet Peter walks on water. Surely that is actually the miracle, that is actually the surprising and exciting part of the story!

Peter was probably feeling pretty good about himself – he escaped the terrifying boat and was doing what Jesus told him to. And then he started to slip. We’ve all been there before – tottering on a high ropes course, on the edge of getting our dream job, having a really good date, the cancer leaving. And then it just all goes wrong. We start to sink.

What do you do then? Do you cry out to Jesus for help? Do you call your mom or your son or your teacher or your pastor? Do you fake it, that everything is okay?

If you cry out, is there someone there to catch you? Is there someone there to hear your cry? Is there someone there to build you back up, to bring you back to the top of the water, to offer you salvation?

I invite you to rest in these questions the rest of this week. Do you think Trinity is a place to find salvation, help, the presence of Jesus, people to lift you back up? Do you think Trinity can be that place? How can we do better? What do we need to change?

Hope certainly lives in my heart – that salvation is near, that we can help each other, that we can respond to the call of Jesus in our lives.