It’s such an odd incident here where we see Jesus walking on water. Not the walking on the water part. If Jesus is God, then walking on water or calming the storm; well, that just makes sense. The strange part is the Disciples thought they saw a ghost. Maybe even more absurd, the Jews believed that spirits were physically trapped by water and they couldn’t cross it. Ghosts could not walk on water. Even the false gods of the time couldn’t walk on water, though some could run fast enough to stay afloat. But here we have the disciples seeing Jesus doing something astounding, and Mark says: they thought it was a ghost, and they cried out.
It seems that when confronted with the fact God Himself was about to pass by, they chose to believe in the most far-fetched, ludicrous idea. Something they thought impossible. Even today we see the same attitude regarding the glimpses of God we get in our lives. People try to use science to explain away miracles. The word coincidence is thrown around like a magic salvo. We spend vast fortunes on studies and trials to determine how things happen on a minute cellular level, using quantum physics, chemistry, and complex mathematical models that we never stop to marvel at why.
I think that’s why this little glimpse in the Gospels is put here in the liturgy just days after the Epiphany of the Magi. Emmanuel. God with us. To remind us that God is still with us, still passing by. God is still revealing Himself to us in wondrous and miraculous ways. In the sunrise, in the flowers, in the complex structures of ice and frost. Here in Northern 
Illinois, we have this beautiful phenomenon happening right now called Rime Ice. It almost looks like the ice on the trees is “bubbling over” with joy, bursting like a star! In the eyes of a newborn child, filled with miniature worlds of wonder and excitement, unblemished by the skepticism and coldness of modern thought. Science isn’t a bad thing, not at all. I have a degree in electrical engineering technology and am a big fan of learning! Science is a tool for understanding how complex and beautiful this universe of ours is. The question of why, though, cannot be answered by the “hard” sciences, they only answer the process, the how things happen.
It also brings about the question, why are there storms? The apostles are sitting in this boat in the middle of the water, and the world is rocking around them. They are filled with dread and fear. It’s only when Jesus gets in the boat with them that things begin to calm down. The world is still the same around them, but the storms die down. Many of the storms in our lives, many of the situations that cause us so much pain and discomfort, are caused precisely because we don’t let Jesus in the boat. We try to go out on the ocean of life on our own, and then when we don’t find the happiness, the joy, the peace, we still fear the presence of God and avoid turning toward it.
Our current world is full of anger, pain, and chaos. Society, politics, churches, and schools are all rocked by scandal after scandal. People are hurting one another, and many are suffering from a lack of employment or income. We have to let Him in our boat! We have to let Jesus back into our society, our homes, our schools, our churches, our lives. That’s why, maybe more so than ever, we should always take time in our day to simply sit in awe and listen for God calling out to us from the midst of the storms of our lives, saying, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” God is always present. We just need to notice Him.
A homily for Wednesday after Epiphany (Lectionary: 214): January 6th, 2021