“Do not stand back…” On duties towards our enemies & walking on water

“If you come upon your enemy’s ox straying, you
will take it back to him. If you see the donkey of
someone who hates you fallen under its load, do not
stand back; you must go and help him with it.”
–Exodus 22:4-5

There is a wonderful connection between this morning’s Gospel –Peter walking on the water (Mt 14: 22-33) and what I am reading in Exodus these days. In Exodus, I have just reached the part where God gives the people the ten commandments, and then He has Moses flesh them out with specific instances and examples. And in the midst of discussions of stealing and treatment of slaves and orphans and keeping the Sabbath, I came upon this: duties towards enemies. First, I was simply delighted by the oddness of such a thing: obligations or duties toward people who hate us. That kind of teaching seemed quite appropriate for this morning –with the news of the protests and killing in Charlottesville yesterday. As a country we need to realize that we even have obligations and duties towards those who hate us, even those who might call us an enemy.

And then at church this morning I heard the Gospel about Peter trying to walk on the water, and I was struck by these words:

“Jesus said to them: Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.
And Peter said to Him: Lord, if it is You, command
me to come to you on the water. Jesus said: Come.”
–Matthew 14:27b-29a

I felt immediately that there was a wondrous connection between these two seemingly unrelated passages. It felt like God was actually speaking to me, but that He needed me to wake up early this morning and read that chapter from Exodus before I went to mass and heard that Gospel from Matthew. And only then, only together would they form the message I was supposed to hear.

What is God asking of us in Exodus? He is asking us to go somewhere unnatural, somewhere we are too often certain we cannot go. He is asking us to –in a sense—walk on water. To treat our enemies with kindness, and compassion. We are called to “not stand back” but to go toward those who hate us, and to help them when they are in need. That can seem not only foolish, but reckless and even dangerous. Like trying to walk on water. But that is what God is calling us to do.

And yet when we are stepping out of our safety zone, our boat, onto the waves, what do we hear? “Do not be afraid. It is I…” When we step out of our boat (our comfort zone) and onto the waves –into the unknow—and reach out our hand to help those in need (even –perhaps especially-- our enemies), we must remember that in truth it is always Jesus we serve. It is always Christ who waits for us in the needy and the poor, and perhaps even in our enemies.

So don’t be afraid. And don’t stand back. When you see someone in need, get out of your boat and step onto the waves. You may look crazy, and yes --there is always some risk. But, take courage. It is Jesus we go to meet. It is Jesus we are walking toward. It is Jesus who calls to us: Come.