Loving God, whenever we wander you call us back to you, renewing us with your love. As we gather together today, strengthen us by the power of your Spirit, helping us to hear your word and to do it, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In many of the sports that are currently on display at the Olympics, the mental game can be even more important than the physical. Athletes can be in top physical condition, but if their mental focus is off, it will cost them. Somebody who is in the middle of a dive and suddenly focuses on some distraction in the crowd will likely mess up the dive. Somebody who is running a race and starts thinking about what’s for dinner might soon find that they have fallen behind. Thinking properly and focussing properly are what sports psychologists deal with. Yet, these are not things which are only of concern in the world of sport.

We could name any number of different activities in our lives where our mental focus makes all the difference. And, if we listen closely to today’s Scripture readings, we will hear the need for a proper focus in our spiritual lives as well.

You may not have caught it simply by hearing today’s first reading, but Elijah had lost his focus. He had been doing great things for God and in God’s name. He had triumphed in the great contest with all of the prophets of Baal, calling down fire from heaven in order to prove that the Lord is the only true God (1 Ki. 18). He had raised a widow’s son from the dead, and had performed many miracles by the power of God’s Spirit (1 Ki. 17). However, the time came when Elijah began to be distracted by other things.

Queen Jezebel wanted to kill Elijah, and Elijah began to focus on her threats rather than on the power of God (1 Ki. 19). When Elijah ran away from her into the wilderness, he had despaired so much that he wanted to die. He sees only the unfaithfulness that seems to be all around him. He is focussed on himself and says, “Poor me. I’m the only one who has been faithful, and now they want to kill me, too.”

However, today’s first reading marks the renewal of Elijah’s focus. Once Elijah gets to Mount Horeb, he is finally able to focus on the presence of God. Twice, Elijah pours out his complaint to God that he is the only faithful one who is left. Yet, God comes to Elijah in the silence, and it is only then that Elijah finally gets God’s perspective on the whole situation.

As it turns out, Elijah is not the only faithful person who is left. In fact, there are at least 7000 others in Israel who have not forsaken God in order to worship Baal. At the same time, God is not finished with Elijah yet. It is not time for Elijah to lay down and die. Instead, by the power of God’s Spirit, Elijah is sent out with further work to be done. Elijah will be fine as long as his focus is on the power of God and the call of God.

Surely we could say the same thing about Peter in today’s gospel. After all, Peter starts out well. Man of action that he is, Peter is not about to stand by and speculate about whether he is really seeing Jesus or not. Rather, if this is truly Jesus on the stormy sea, then Peter wants to jump out of the boat and prove it. Jesus, of course, bids Peter to come, and Peter is just fine until he starts to focus on the wind and the waves instead of on Jesus. In that moment, Peter begins to sink. Peter takes his eyes off Jesus, and is filled with fear, and begins to sink.

However, Peter is not so distracted that he forgets who has the power to save him. He cries out, “Lord, save me!”, and Jesus reaches out his hand to Peter and pulls him up (Mt. 14:30-31). Then, as Jesus and Peter step into the boat, the wind simply stops. As a result, all of the disciples in the boat seem to have a renewed focus, as they worship Jesus and recognize him as the Son of God.

It seems to me that anybody who has honestly tried to follow Jesus and to live in relationship with God has probably experienced getting pulled off course. It is painfully easy to become distracted by any number of things that take our focus away from Jesus. We think that we have been listening to God, and then suddenly we discover that we are not. It happened to Elijah, it happened to Peter, and it happened to me.

I have been distracted for the past few years, pursuing a marriage that was never meant to be. I feel like I can understand Balaam – that Old Testament prophet who rode off on his donkey in order to do what he thought was God’s bidding (Num. 22). For those of you who don’t know the story, Balaam’s donkey kept veering off the road and stopping in its tracks, and each time, Balaam beat his donkey to urge it to keep going. As it turns out, the donkey could see what Balaam could not – the angel of the Lord standing in his path with a drawn sword to stop him from going on his journey.

Over the past few years I have experienced one road block after another being put in my path, not realizing that it was God who was doing the blocking. Hindsight always being much clearer, I can see now where God’s hand was in all of this. In spite of the difficult journey, God was, in fact, present and at work.

Strangely enough, the whole experience fits at least one description of a God-given miracle. Ed Markquart writes: “A God given miracle is a series of events and the timing of events in such a way that convince us that God has intervened in our lives. The result of such miraculous intervention is the experience of awe and adoration. That is, we go “wow!” and then we worship God in thanksgiving for the miracle.” [http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_a_walking_on_water_GA.htm] I have to admit that I’m not quite at the thanksgiving stage, but I’m getting closer. Of course, in the disciples’ case, the miracle was the wind ceasing the moment that Jesus got into the boat. And immediately they give thanks, and they worship.

I mentioned earlier how painfully easy it is to lose our focus and become distracted by many things. Sometimes we become like Elijah and see only the negative things around us. Sometimes we become like Peter and see the causes for fear rather than God’s power to save. Sometimes we simply lose track of what is most important and become caught up in the myriad of details and in the busy-ness of our lives. These things can happen to us as individuals, and they can happen to us as a congregation.

God knows this about us, and God’s response is to save us and to renew us and to send us out once again to be the presence of Christ in the world. And God continues to bring our focus back to Jesus – the one who came that we might have life, and have it abundantly (Jn. 10:10). Let us then worship the one who has saved us and who renews us and gives us life, thanking God for his mercy and grace. Amen.

Lectionary 19(A) Matthew 14:22-33
August 10, 2008 1 Kings 19:9-18
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore

© 2008 Lynne Hutchison Moore All Rights Reserved