The Seventh Week of Easter: From FEAR to LIFE

STEP ONE: BREATHE

Take a deep, cleansing breath. Allow the air to fill your lungs and expand your body. Exhale and empty yourself into the room. Repeat three times - once for the one who Created you, once for the Incarnate One who walks beside you, and once for the Spirit whose life fills your being.

STEP TWO: DWELL IN WORD

“On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, ‘You are out of your mind!’ But she insisted that it was so. They said, ‘It is his angel.’ Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. He motioned to them with his hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he added, ‘Tell this to James and to the believers.’ Then he left and went to another place.””

— Acts 12:14-17

A Jesus-Story Retold: After the good news “fear not”

Many years ago, buried in the bowels of an old church somewhere in France, a clay jar was found. When finally opened many years later, it was found to contain the following passage, which scholars debate to this day. Scholars who affirm its veracity believe this sermon of Peter is meant to be placed in Acts chapter 12, between verses 19 and 20. Most scholars (the good ones, anyway) believe this is a much later addition to the text, probably written a couple millennia after Peter’s death. It is offered here as a testament to Peter’s faith following his water-walking encounter with Jesus… (wink, wink…)

Now Peter was making plans to return to Jerusalem from the place to which he had fled. Those who had welcomed him into their home pleaded with him to stay with them until King Herod had died. And Peter said to them, “Brothers and sisters, there is no way I can repay the kindness shown to me during the past few weeks. But make no mistake, now that my body is healed I must return to Jerusalem and be about the work to which my Lord has called me. You fear for my safety, which is right considering the powerful men who seek to do me harm. But, I have faced my own death before.

On the night that Jesus fed the 5,000 on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, my fellow apostles and I were crossing the sea when a large storm came upon us. We strove for hours against this storm, making little progress, until we saw a figure coming through the mist – seemingly walking on top of the waves. We were all terrified, thinking it a ghost, until we heard the voice of Jesus say, ‘Take courage, it is I.’ Curious about the figure, I asked, ‘Lord, if it is you tell me to come to you on the water.” The voice said, ‘Come,’ and I stepped out onto the water.

The wind and the waves swirling around me took my focus from Jesus for an instant, and I found myself sinking into the sea. In the midst of a great storm, too far from the boat to make it back in time, I knew I was lost. Death was dragging me down into the sea, but I called out to Jesus, ‘Lord, save me.’ I’m not sure even quite how, but I found myself back in the boat with Jesus and the other disciples.

I was confused and afraid when Jesus questioned my faith that night. It wasn’t until after his death and resurrection that I could fully understand what true faith in Jesus means. Not only can Jesus walk upon the stormy chaos of our world, but in fact Jesus is the one who cannot be held by death. Life is more than this world, and the forces of this world can truly do nothing to touch the life that we have which is hidden in Christ, safely kept for us for all eternity.

Brothers and sisters I beg you,” Peter continued, “Do not fear for my life. My life is hidden in Christ, the one who was touched by death but broke death’s grasp. While I do nothing in this world in a foolhardy manner, I pray that I will always have the strength to step out of the boat, to step toward Christ, no matter what chaos swirls around me. I should be dead several times over, but in Christ I am alive. With Christ on my side there is no reason to fear those who can only harm this earthly form. For my part, I will not fear, but I will continue to give my every breath to the one who has died to death and still lives on.”

Peter then left for Jerusalem, and none of the believers hindered him further.

STEP THREE: PRAY

God of Life, we praise you for being the God of the Living. Give us the strength to look death in the face trusting in your love for us more than the reality we see with our eyes. Give us the wisdom and patience to put the wellbeing of others over our own preferences and desires, so that we do what is best for our neighbors no matter the demands it makes of us. Most of all, give us insight so that all of our choices bring abundant life to all those we encounter. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen

Today’s devotion is by Pastor Amanda Applehans.