I have found
that a very popular theme that often comes up in various stories in
our culture involves the old axiom, “Appearances can be deceiving.”
Sometimes a character chooses to disguise themselves to fool another
person. Other stories have a character who is forced to take on
another appearance, like a curse or a trick in fairytales. Still
other stories have characters who simply look different than what
their character is really like. In the classic fable of the “Ugly
Duckling”, the supposed “duckling” appears to be the ugliest
and most awkward of the ducks, until he discovers that he was simply
in the wrong nest. Fairytales like “Beauty and the Beast” and
“The Princess and the Frog” involve cursed princes who appear to
be ugly and deformed. They must convince their lead female
characters that they are worth loving despite their grotesque outward
appearance.
William
Shakespeare loved using this theme of mixing up appearances in his
comedies. He would often have a character dress as something
completely different than who they really where. A king dresses up
as a servant as a servant becomes the king in his absence. The king
spies on the servant to see what happens. Sort of like an early
version of “Undercover Boss” if you remember that show. In
another play a woman dresses up as a man and becomes the servant of a
duke. He sends his new servant to ask a duchess for her hand in
marriage. The duchess can't stand the duke, but falls in love with
the new young man, not knowing that “he” is really a her. The
servant runs and hides. Meanwhile, her twin brother (who she thought
was dead and of course looks exactly like her) shows up. The duchess
sees the brother, thinks he is the duke's servant, and proceeds to
talk to him about marriage plans for the two of them. As you can
imagine, a lot of chaos ensues as they try to figure this mess out.
My point is
that there are many stories out there that play off of this theme of
deceiving appearances. Even modern movies and TV shows love to
include characters like this. They may be disguised as one person
and turn out to be someone else. They may give a negative first
impression at the beginning, but then prove the hero at the end. The
fact that so many of these types of characters have shown up in
stories through out the centuries shows that people are intrigued by
them and like hearing stories that have that type of plot twist.
The Bible is
no exception to this theme of “Appearances can be deceiving.”
Look through Sacred Scripture and we can find numerous examples of
people whose appearance gave a very different impression than who the
person really was. Of course, these are not made up characters, but
real people. Consider Moses: raised in Pharaoh's court, exiled for
murder, by his own admission was a terrible public speaker, but ended
up leading the Israelite people to freedom. The mighty King David:
the youngest of eight brothers, a young shepherd boy when he
volunteers to slay Goliath, yet he slays Goliath and is still revered
as Israel's greatest king. Our Lord Jesus was totally not what
people were expecting: born to the wife of a carpenter in a feeding
trough in a stable, never ascended to the royal throne, executed as a
common criminal, yet He saved us from our sins and is acknowledged by
Christians everywhere as the Son of God and King of Heaven and Earth.
Today's
readings are also about appearances and what we expect, but instead
of looking at a human person and his or her appearance, we are
looking at God and how God's appearance does not always match what we
expect. We all have an idea in our minds of who God is, how He is
going to act, and how He will appear, or more appropriately, how He
will manifest His power and might. That picture in our minds of how
God will look and act and speak might not always match what we find
in the Scriptures.
Let's
consider the first reading from the First Book of Kings. Elijah the
prophet is on Mt. Horeb, seeking shelter in a cave. God tells him to
come out so that he can witness Him as He passes by the mountain. It
isn't that Elijah will actually see God walking around in bodily
form, but will instead be able to experience the manifestation of His
presence there at the mountain. The prophet experiences a strong
wind that crushes rocks and earthquakes and a fire, but God isn't in
any of those. Then he hears “a tiny whispering sound” and hides
his face because he knew that God was there. I don't know about all
of you, but when I was quite a bit younger my expectation would have
been for God to come in of those more dramatic examples, like fire or
lighting. After all, in other Scripture passages, God makes Himself
known in a booming voice and earthquakes and burning bushes. Now
that I know God a bit better, God coming in a quiet fashion makes
much more sense.
My point is,
I think many people would expect God to come in a loud sound like a
wind rather than a tiny sound. Perhaps it is because God is so
powerful that we expect Him to make a more powerful and flashy
entrance. Elijah is able to recognize, however, that God has come in
this unexpected way. It is because of his faith that he recognizes
his Creator and doesn't brush it off as hearing things.
The Gospel
reading is also full of unexpected things. Nobody would expect to
see their friend walking across the open sea towards their boat. I'm
sure the other eleven were surprised to see Peter get out a walk on
the water as well. No one can blame the Twelve for not expecting
this. What Jesus emphasizes here is their lack of faith. Had they
had faith they would not have been afraid in the storm because they
would have known God was with them. They would not have freaked out
at seeing Jesus walking on the water because they would have known
that Jesus was the Son of God. All Twelve may have gotten out and
walked on the water because of their faith. But they doubt and so
fear takes over. They miss out on an opportunity to experience the
presence of God as Elijah does when he shows his faith.
We may never
experience Jesus walking on the water or God coming past a mountain,
but there are times when God is doing something in our lives that we
do not expect. Will we respond with faith like Elijah did and
welcome God's presence in our lives no matter how complicated it is?
Or will we respond with fear and doubt because we do not want to
accept what God is doing? Let us not sink as Peter did, but walk
with faith in Christ.
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