Some time ago, I was with some friends, and we were walking through some fields. All was going well until a stile came up, and I had to clamber over it whilst battling with the feeling of, ‘Help, I am going to fall.’ I am a very clumsy person, and although I didn’t fall on this occasion, it would not have been that big a surprise if I had.
Our readings this morning have reminded me of that ‘Help, I am going to fall’ moment. In the reading from 1 Kings (19:9-18) we heard of Elijah being scared as he was being hunted down. His faith remained strong, but he needed reassurance from God that all would be well. For the disciples, they must have thought that they were going to fall into the water as they went through a storm. They were safe, but then Peter had his moment when he actually did fall.
Those two readings speak of faith. A faith that knows that even when we feel like we are going to fall in our journey of faith, God is still there to pick us up.
In our Gospel reading this morning (Matthew 14:22-33), we heard of the disciples going through a very difficult time when they must have felt scared. They went through a storm, had the fear of seeing a ghost walking towards them who turned out to be Jesus, and, to top it all off, Peter, in his bravery, reached out to Jesus and moved from having enough faith to walk on water to realising what he was doing and starting to lose faith.
I think that this reading can describe our walk of faith perfectly. We can feel very sure in our faith, quite confident, until something comes along that tests us. The disciples had been in a storm before, and Jesus had been with them and calmed the storm, but now they must have felt all alone. Sometimes we can feel that way, as if God has abandoned us, even when we know deep down that He has not.
Or maybe we are confident in our faith but a little too frightened to offer everything to Jesus, as we would like to keep some things to ourselves, and so we stumble in faith and end up in a big mess.
I really like Peter. The account we heard this morning is so encouraging. Peter gained confidence to reach out to Jesus on the water and started to walk, but then he lost that confidence. Peter reassures me; we can mess up, but God never leaves us.
The prophet Elijah always makes me a bit nervous. He always seems very confident to me. The reading today has reminded me that even the most confident prophet can have doubts.
To be fair, I am not at all surprised that he was nervous and questioned God. His life was under threat because, as a result of preaching the message God had told him to preach, he had insulted the queen and others. People had been unhappy with the challenge that he had offered, and so they decided that they needed to get rid of Elijah.
Elijah felt abandoned. God spoke to Elijah and promised to come to him. Elijah waited and saw many spectacular things, but God was actually in the quiet.
Peter and Elijah had both gone to God, reached out to Him, but had then lost their confidence. It was as if they suddenly thought, ‘Help, I am going to fall.’
We can all feel as if we are going to fall in our walk of faith. We may sometimes feel as if God has abandoned us, but we can know that God will not let us fall.
The life of faith is not always easy, but it is the best way to be. We can be ready to ask God for more so that we can experience more of Him, more of His love in our lives. Then we can have confidence and know that even in times when our faith dips and peaks, God is still with us. He never leaves us; He is always there, and all we need to do is turn to Him. We may feel like we are going to fall in the water like Peter, to fall in our faith, but just like He was for Peter, God is always there to pick us up and help us on our way.
Today, I also want to think about the faith of a woman who saw a need and met it. In 1876, Mary Sumner, who was married to the rector of her parish, noticed that there were other women who could use help in bringing up their children. She started a group for every mother, of any background, to work together.
The group was a success, and in 1885, after she talked about the group at the Portsmouth Church Congress, other people did the same in the places where they lived.
She saw a need and thought of how to help. She did something different and stepped out in faith. The Mothers' Union is an incredible movement that began from something small.
This year we are celebrating 150 years of the Mothers' Union. I am one of over 4 million members in over 80 countries.
Mothers' Union is described as “a woman-led international Christian movement dedicated to ending poverty, violence and social injustice in communities in the UK and around the world”. By doing this, they see themselves as “strengthening families and communities and advocating for meaningful change.”
In our Ministry Area, there is a group that meets monthly at St Cadoc’s Church, Raglan. During the intercessions today, we will be praying for the work of the Mothers' Union in our Diocese.
This is not an advert to join the Mothers' Union, although if you are interested, find a member and ask more. I want to think about the simple way in which it began from a young woman called Mary Sumner stepping out in faith to help others.
The readings this morning have encouraged us to step out and trust in God. Like the beginnings of the Mothers' Union, in our lives we can step out and see that, from a small beginning, God can do amazing things.
Faith is like that. We can think of all that might stop us trusting, that may stop us from listening to what God is saying. However, knowing God's promise to be with us always, we can have faith. May we always seek to have faith. Amen
