Readings

1 John 4.11–18 – Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgement, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.

Mark 6.45–52 – Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray. When evening came, the boat was out on the lake, and he was alone on the land. When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the lake. He intended to pass them by. But when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Reflection

In our two readings today, we are invited to reflect on fear and love, and on what it means to trust God when the way ahead feels uncertain.

In the Gospel reading from Mark, the disciples find themselves in a boat, battling against the wind. They are doing exactly what Jesus has told them to do, yet the journey is hard and frightening. The wind is against them, and they are making little progress. It is in the middle of this struggle, in the darkness of the night, that Jesus comes to them, walking on the sea.

Mark tells us that when the disciples see him, they are terrified. They have been with Jesus for some time now, yet in this moment of fear they do not recognise him for who he is. They think he is a ghost. Fear clouds their vision and overwhelms their understanding. And so Jesus speaks those gentle but powerful words: ‘Take heart; it is I; do not be afraid.’ As soon as he gets into the boat, the wind ceases, and they are utterly astounded.

This scene perhaps resonates deeply with our own experience of life and faith. Many of us know what it is to feel as though we are rowing against the wind; trying to be faithful, trying to do what is right, yet finding ourselves tired, anxious, or afraid. Sometimes we pray and wonder why the struggle continues. Like the disciples, we may fail to recognise that Christ is nearer than we think, present even in the midst of the storm.

The letter of 1 John speaks directly into this experience. ‘Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.’ John reminds us that God’s love is not abstract or distant. It is made real in Jesus Christ, and it grows in us as we live in love. Most strikingly, we are told that ‘there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.’

Fear, in the Bible, is not just about being startled or anxious; it is also about what happens when we forget who God is and how deeply we are loved. The disciples’ fear on the lake is not just fear of the wind and the waves, it is fear born of not fully understanding who Jesus is. They had not yet grasped the depth of God’s love revealed in Christ.

In his letter, John, writing to a community learning how to live as God’s people, reassures them that abiding in God’s love changes us. When we abide in love – when we trust that God’s love holds us – fear loosens its grip. This does not mean that life becomes easy or that storms vanish immediately. But it does mean that we are not alone in the boat.

For us, in the life of the Church and in our daily lives, these readings invite us to ask: where are we rowing against the wind? Where are we anxious or afraid? And can we hear again Jesus’ words spoken into those places: ‘Take heart; it is I; do not be afraid.’

So today we are invited to trust more deeply in God’s perfect love, to allow it to calm our fears, and to live it out in the way we care for one another. The wind may still blow, and the night may feel long, but Christ is near, and his love is stronger than our fear.

Amen.