Rev. Dr. Niveen Sarras 

Matthew 16:13-20 and Exodus 1&2: your faith is your lifeguard

August 23, 2020

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and Jesus Christ, our Savior, Amen.

 One time I went to the YMCA to swim. During swimming, I had a severe leg cramp. I lost my balance and began to sink. I felt that was the end of my life. After a few minutes of struggling to survive, I heard the voice of the lifeguard asked me to hold on the rescue tube. The lifeguard saved my life. I had mixed feelings of fear and joy, so I cried.

Troubles of this world overwhelm us. Suffering and injustice can break our spirit. Sin, pain, and oppression can feel like cramps that make us sink in deep water. If you don’t have faith, you will sink and die. Faith is your rock when the ocean waves from a storm slaps your face. The kind of faith that sustains you is the faith of the apostle Peter, who confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Your faith can move mountains. These mountains are your anger, sickness, addiction, or whatever your challenges are.

Your faith in Jesus Christ gives you strength in times of trouble. It gives you courage against your fear. The story of the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, and the mother of Moses and his sister Miriam is the story of women's faith that gives them the courage to be resilient and to face Pharaoh’s oppressive policies and genocide. Because the midwives feared God, not Pharaoh, they refused to kill the Hebrew baby boys. Moses’ mother refused to give up her son to the Egyptians to throw him in the Nile but accepted Pharaoh’s daughter to raise him as hers. The faith of the Israelites sustained them amid their slavery. Their faith helped them to endure Pharaoh’s cruelty and xenophobia.

We face pain in our lives. We will face many challenges. We might lose loved ones, and we might endure sickness or face tragedies. Without these challenges, we will not learn what faith in Christ is. God works behind the scenes to help you to make it through. God worked through women nurturing love to destroy Pharaoh’s power. God’s sovereignty is manifested through compassion, care, and grace. Even though your problem and pain consume you, God is working in your life to help you. Your faith in Christ Jesus is like a lifeguard that saves you from sinking into deep water. Hold onto your faith to help you.

In good times it is easy to talk about faith and to encourage others to keep their faith. But the challenge is to keep faith in difficult times and to trust in the steadfast love of God to sustain you. In difficult moments, you pray sincerely and ask Jesus Christ to intervene immediately to solve your problems. Many times, Jesus does not answer your prayer in the way you want. So, you become tempted to be upset and be angry with God. Here faith is your lifeguard. Do not stop praying but ask our Lord to strengthen you and to help you to remain strong even though your difficult situation does not change. Ask God to guide your steps and open your heart to the Holy Spirit to comfort you.

When you feel the struggle and the challenges heavy on your shoulders, read your Bible, and surround yourself with faithful Christian friends. Since I learned about my father’s sickness, I rely on scripture more and more to stay strong. I put some encouraging verses from the Bible, where I can see them, to remind myself of God’s promises to my father and me. Stay in the word of God when tough times hit you. Trust in what the apostle Paul says in Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to God’s purpose.”