周曉彤於二〇二六年八月九日在聖馬田堂之講道
經課：創世記 37:1-4, 12-28；詩篇 105:1-6, 16-22, 45；羅馬書 10:5-15；馬太福音 14:22-33
A Sermon preached at St Martin-in-the-Fields on 9 August 2026 by Anne Chow
Readings: Genesis 37.1-4,12-28; Psalm 105.1-6, 16-22, 45; Romans 10.5-15; Matthew 14.22-33
不知道大家有沒有試過，一個挑戰毫無預警地來臨？也許是一個突如其來的診斷、一份工作被裁員、一段關係突然破裂、一個深夜的電話，又或者只是半夜驚醒，心裡充滿莫名的焦慮，不知道自己為甚麼會如此驚慌。
當這些事情發生時，我們的本能往往是找一個人。在這個時候，我們會找誰？會向誰求助？我們可以信靠誰？
我記得有一晚，我突然從惡夢中驚醒，夢境真實得令我心跳加速。和很多人一樣，我第一個反應，就是伸手去找睡在身旁的人。結果我發現，他睡得十分安穩，而且還打著呼嚕！我找不到安慰，甚至還翻看了手機裡的聯絡人名單，但又覺得，總不能因為一場惡夢，就半夜把別人叫醒吧。最後，我只能做一件事：禱告。
有時候，上帝會很溫柔地提醒我們：即使是我們最愛的人，也不能在每一個時刻承擔我們的重擔。有些時候，唯有上帝能真正來到我們所在之處，與我們同在。
今天四段經課，都在問同一個問題：
當一切都變得不確定的時候，我們究竟可以信靠誰？
一、約瑟─：人會失信，但上帝沒有離棄我們（創世記 37章）
讓我們先看看今天的舊約經課。
故事的主角是約瑟。他是雅各和拉結所生的愛子。拉結是雅各深愛的妻子，也是他甘願為她服事十四年的人。當約瑟奉父親的命去尋找哥哥們時，他根本沒有想到將會發生甚麼事。可是，他的哥哥們卻出賣了他，剝去他的外衣，把他丟進坑裡，最後把他賣作奴隸。
從約瑟的角度來看，上帝似乎完全沉默。
特別的是，《創世記》第三十七章從頭到尾，沒有提到上帝做了甚麼。整個故事讀起來，就是一個充滿嫉妒、殘忍和家庭破裂的故事。很多時候，當我們身處人生的深坑時，也有同樣的感受：四周一片寂靜，好像上帝離開了我們。
可是，到了今天的《詩篇》第一百零五篇，詩人回顧同一段歷史，卻說：
「在他們以先打發一個人去——約瑟被賣為奴僕。」（詩篇105:17）
多年以後，約瑟回頭看整件事，對哥哥們說：
「從前你們的意思是要害我，但神的意思原是好的。」（創世記50:20）
希伯來文裡，「意思」chashab的含義是深思熟慮的籌劃。別人處心積累，想用來傷害我們的事情，上帝卻能默默地使用起來，編織成一幅拯救的圖畫。
當時被背叛的約瑟看不見。很多時候，我們也看不見。
人生總有一些時候，我們看不明白上帝正在做甚麼。但這並不表示，上帝沒有作工。這並不是說，我們生命中所經歷的每一件痛苦的事情，都是上帝造成的。這只是說，即使是人所作的惡，也不能阻止上帝在我們生命中施行祂救贖的工作。我們的信靠，不是建立在今天眼前所看見的事情上，而是建立在上帝一直以來的信實上。
二、風浪──信靠那位向我們走來的主（馬太福音14章）
現在讓我們看看今天的福音書。
門徒在加利利海上遇上了一場可怕的風浪。他們本來就是經驗豐富的漁夫，如果有人懂得怎樣應付風浪，應該就是他們。可是，這場風浪已經超出了他們所能控制的範圍。馬太形容這是一場極其猛烈的風暴，令人感到自己十分渺小。
就在這個時候，耶穌來了。
祂不是立刻平靜風浪。
不是安全地站在岸上。
而是踏著海面，向門徒走過去。
恐懼所在的地方，反而成為基督顯明自己的地方。
彼得相信耶穌，所以敢踏出船外。
他的問題並不是沒有信心，而是他的目光由耶穌身上，轉移到那洶湧的風浪。
於是，他開始疑惑，下沉。
我們不也是常常如此嗎？我們本來信靠基督。可是慢慢地，我們所有的注意力，都被人生的風浪吸引了。帳單。病情。未知的將來。各種不確定。
然而，就在彼得呼喊：「主啊，救我！」（馬太福音14:30）時，
耶穌立刻伸手拉住他。耶穌沒有等彼得先冷靜振作起來。彼得還未抓住耶穌，耶穌已經先抓住了他。這就是恩典。
三、記念上帝的信實（詩篇105篇）
今天的詩篇，一再提醒我們：要記念。
我們的記憶往往很有選擇性。我們總是比較容易記得自己的憂慮，卻很容易忘記上帝的信實。前陣子，在一個團契聚會裡，我們嘗試回顧一年半前查考《路加福音》時得著些甚麼，結果發現，原來自己的記憶有很多空白，並不可靠。
可是，聖經所說的「記念」，並不是翻看舊照片、懷緬過去。在聖經裡，「記念」（zakar）的意思，是把上帝昔日所成就的工作，帶到今天，成為我們在恐懼中的依靠。
詩人提醒以色列人：約瑟所受的苦，並沒有白費。甚至饑荒，也成為上帝拯救祂百姓計劃的一部分。每當我們回望過去，我們就能更有信心地面向未來。
也許今天，你也能回想一些時刻：上帝一直在你那些你以為自己撐不過去的日子扶持著你。詩篇告訴我們，我們所記念的，不只是自己生命中的故事，也是我們作為上帝子民所共同擁有的故事——那位世世代代一直信實的上帝的故事。
這些回憶，就能夠成為今天在風浪中的定錨。
四、羅馬書──我們最終信靠的是基督
來到今天的新約書信，保羅把問題帶到更深一層。我們最大的問題，不是焦慮，不是疾病，也不是人生的不確定。我們最大的問題，是我們與上帝隔絕。
保羅說，救恩不是靠我們努力攀上去得到的。基督已經來到我們中間。我們不是靠自己拯救自己。我們所信靠的，是那位已經完成一切救恩工作的主。
正如保羅說：「你若口裡認耶穌為主，心裡信神叫他從死裡復活，就必得救。」（羅馬書10:9）
有一天，所有我們倚靠的東西，都可能失去。健康。工作。財富。甚至我們最愛的人。唯有基督的信實，永遠不改變。
真正信靠主，在生活中是甚麼樣子？
那麼，真正信靠主，到底是甚麼意思？
信靠，不是假裝一切都很好。信靠，也不是從此不再害怕。
彼得信靠耶穌，但他仍然害怕。約瑟信靠上帝，但他仍然經歷奴隸和監牢的日子。
信靠，是一次又一次地，把自己的生命交在上帝手中，即使我們仍然不知道結果如何。
前陣子，教會舉行了神學退修日。當天，Sam 牧師分享了一句一直留在我心裡的話。
他提醒我們，不要把所有注意力都放在邪惡上，而是要讓聖靈的豐盛充滿我們的生命，以致邪惡沒有空間佔據我們。
我想，彼得在海上的經歷正是如此。
風浪是真的。狂風是真的。海浪也是真的。
耶穌從來沒有否認這一切。可是，當彼得定睛仰望耶穌時，他竟然做到本來不可能做到的事。直到他的注意力完全被風浪吸引，恐懼便開始控制他，他也開始下沉。
我們不也是這樣嗎？
如果我們每天都把目光放在風浪上，把心思都放在焦慮、惡訊、失望和失敗上，我們便越來越難看見耶穌。恐懼充滿我們的視野，信心便開始縮小。但當我們刻意定睛仰望基督，一切便開始改變。
風浪未必消失。
可是，在我們眼中，耶穌卻比風浪更大。
這同樣適用於我們怎樣看自己。
世界告訴我們，我們的價值由失敗、恐懼、成就，甚至別人的評價來決定。
但福音不是這樣說。彼得的身份，不是建立在那一次下沉；他真正的身分，是建立在那位呼召他的主裏面的。
同樣，我們真正的身份，也是建立在基督裡。藉著基督，我們已蒙救贖。我們是上帝所愛的兒女。正如 Andrew 牧師上星期所說，我們首先是屬基督的人。我們的身份，不再建立於環境，也不再建立於自己的背景，而是建立於那位呼召我們屬祂的主。
當我們一次又一次回到這個蒙救贖的身份時，我們便開始學會信靠。不是因為我們變得更剛強。而是因為我們記得，自己究竟屬於誰。
那麼，信靠上帝，在明天早上可以以甚麼樣子顯示出來？
可以是誠實地去見醫生，同時把結果交託給上帝。
可以是努力尋找工作，同時相信真正的保障不是工資，而是上帝。
可以是繼續為一位迷失了方向的人禱告，相信上帝正在那些你到達不到的地方工作。
可以是當別人傷害你時，選擇饒恕，而不是苦毒，相信上帝仍然能像祂在約瑟身上所做的一樣，使惡事變為祝福。
可以是半夜因焦慮醒來時，深深吸一口氣，輕聲說：「主耶穌，你在這裡。」
信靠，不是消極等待。而是在每一天，踏出下一步忠心的腳步，並把結果交在上帝手中。信心，不是相信上帝一定會照我的心意去做；信心，是相信無論上帝怎樣做，祂仍然是信實的。
這就是約瑟所學到的。
這就是門徒在海上所學到的。
這也是詩篇一百零五篇提醒我們要記念的。
因此，保羅才能宣告：
「凡求告主名的，就必得救。」（羅馬書10:13）
我們的信心，不在乎自己。不在乎環境。甚至不在乎我們信心有多大。我們真正信靠的，是耶穌基督永不改變的信實。
所以，不論這個星期你將面對甚麼風浪，都讓我們再次記住主耶穌的話：
「你們放心！是我，不要怕！」（馬太福音14:27）
願我們每天都選擇，不讓風浪決定我們的眼光，而是定睛仰望基督，被聖靈的豐盛充滿，活出上帝兒女那穩固的身份。
因為當我們定睛仰望祂的時候，就會發現：
那位我們所信靠的主，其實一直都在扶持著我們。
阿們。
I wonder if you have ever faced a challenge that seemed to come completely out of nowhere. Perhaps it was an unexpected diagnosis. A redundancy. A relationship that suddenly broke down. A phone call in the middle of the night. Or simply waking up overwhelmed by anxiety, unable to explain why. In moments like these, our instinct is often to reach for someone. Who do you call? Who do you turn to? Whom can you trust?
I remember a night when I woke suddenly from a nightmare. It felt so real that my heart was racing. Like many people, my first instinct was to reach for the person sleeping next to me. I discovered that he was sleeping very peacefully… and snoring too! There was no comfort to be found there. I even looked through my contacts, but it didn’t seem right to wake anyone in the middle of the night because of a nightmare. So I did the only thing I could do. I prayed. Sometimes God gently reminds us that even the people we love most cannot always carry us. There are moments when only God can meet us where we are. Today’s readings all ask the same question: when everything else feels uncertain, whom can we trust?
1. Joseph – Human beings may fail us, but God has not abandoned us (Genesis 37)
Let us start with our Old Testament reading. We are introduced to Joseph, Jacob’s beloved son by Rachel, the wife whom Jacob loved and for whom he worked fourteen years. When Joseph went to find his brothers, he had no reasons to expect what was about to happen. Instead, his brothers betrayed him. They stripped him of his robe, threw him into a pit, and sold him into slavery. From Joseph’s perspective, God seemed absent. Interestingly, Genesis 37 never even mentions God’s actions. It reads like a raw, painful story of human cruelty, jealousy, and family dysfunction. When we find ourselves in our own pits, that is often how life feels—quiet, empty, and entirely abandoned by God.
Yet Psalm 105 later looks back at the same story and says: “He sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave” (Psalm 105:17, NRSV). Years later, Joseph looks at his brothers and essentially says: You planned evil against me, but God planned it for good. In the original Hebrew, it is the exact same word for a plan. The very thing others intend for harm, God can quietly pick up and weave into a tapestry of rescue. Joseph could not see it then. Sometimes neither can we. There are seasons when we cannot trace God’s hand. But that does not mean God has stopped working. And this does not mean that God causes every painful thing that has happened to us. It just means that, even human evil cannot put us beyond God’s redeeming work. Our trust is not based on what we can see today, but on God’s faithfulness over time.
2. The Storm – Trust the One who comes to us (Matthew 14)
Let us now turn to our Gospel reading. Here, the disciples found themselves in a frightening situation on the lake. They were experienced fishermen. If anyone knew how to handle a storm, it would be them. But this storm was beyond their control; Matthew’s Gospel describes a storm of overwhelming force, the kind that makes you feel utterly small. Then Jesus came. Not by removing the storm immediately. Not by standing safely on the shore. But by walking on the water towards them. The place of fear became the place where Christ revealed himself.
Peter trusted Jesus enough to step out of the boat. His problem was not that he had no faith; his eyes simply shifted from Jesus to that towering, overwhelming force, and he began to sink. How often do we do the same? We start by trusting Christ. Then our attention becomes consumed by the storm: the bills, the diagnosis, the future, the uncertainty. Yet even when Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:30, NRSV), Jesus immediately reached out his hand. Jesus did not wait for Peter to pull himself together first. He reached out while Peter was still sinking. Grace reached Peter before Peter reached Jesus.
3. Remember God’s Faithfulness (Psalm 105)
And when we read today’s Psalm, it asks us to remember. Again and again, it says: remember. Our memories are often selective; we remember our worries far more easily than God’s faithfulness. Just recently, in one of our fellowship groups, we had a hard time trying to remember what we had studied eighteen months ago. We quickly realised how unreliable our memories can be. But when the Bible tells us to remember, it does not mean just reminiscing about the past like looking through an old photo album. In the ancient biblical mindset, remembering (zakar) means reaching back into history, holding on to what God did back then, and dragging it right into the middle of your present terror to use as an anchor.
The psalm reminds Israel that Joseph’s suffering was never wasted. Even famine became part of God’s saving plan. Looking back helps us trust God moving forward. Perhaps today you can remember moments when God carried you through difficulties you never imagined surviving. And we remember not only our own stories, but the stories we share as God’s people – the stories of a God who has remained faithful from one generation to another. Those memories become our anchors for today’s storms.
4. Romans – Our deepest trust belongs to Christ
When we look at our New Testament reading, Paul brings the question to its deepest level. Ultimately, our greatest problem is not anxiety, illness, or uncertainty; it is our alienation from God. And Paul says salvation is not something we climb up to achieve. Christ has already come to us. We do not rescue ourselves. We trust the One who has already done everything necessary. As Paul writes, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, NRSV).
Every other security will one day fail. Our health, our careers, our finances, even the people we love. But Christ remains faithful forever.
What Does Trusting the Lord Look Like in Real Life?
So, what does it actually mean to trust the Lord? Trust does not mean pretending everything is fine. Trust does not mean we never feel afraid. Peter trusted Jesus, yet he still became frightened. Joseph trusted God, yet he still spent years as a slave and in prison. Trust means choosing, again and again, to place our lives into God’s hands, even when we cannot see the outcome.
Recently, the church had a Theology Away Day. There, our vicar Sam reminded us of something that has stayed with me. Sam encouraged us to fill our lives so fully with the abundance of the Holy Spirit that evil has no room to take hold. I think that is exactly what Peter experienced on the lake. The storm was real, the wind was real, the waves were real; Jesus never pretended otherwise. But when Peter fixed his eyes on Jesus, he did something that should have been impossible. It was only when his attention became consumed by the wind and the waves that fear took over and he began to sink.
Perhaps that is true for us as well. If we spend all our energy looking at the storm, filling our minds with our anxieties, the headlines, our disappointments, our failures; it becomes increasingly difficult to see Jesus. Fear fills our vision, and trust begins to shrink. But when we deliberately keep our eyes fixed on Christ, something changes. The storm may still be there, but Jesus becomes bigger than the storm in our eyes.
And that is also true of how we see ourselves. The world often tells us we are defined by our failures, our fears, our achievements, or what other people think of us. Yet the Gospel tells us something different. Peter was not defined by sinking. He was defined by the One who called him. Likewise, our identities are rooted in Jesus. Through Christ, we have been redeemed. We are beloved children of God. Our identity is no longer rooted in our circumstances, or in where we come from, but in the One who calls us his own. As Revd Andrew said last week, we are first the people of Christ. When we keep returning to that redeemed identity, we find that trust begins to grow: not because we suddenly become stronger, but because we remember whose we are.
So, what does trusting God look like tomorrow morning?
- It may look like going to the doctor’s appointment with honesty, while entrusting the outcome to God.
- It may look like looking for work with diligence, while believing that your security ultimately rests in God rather than in a salary.
- It may look like praying faithfully for a loved one who has wandered, trusting that God is already at work in places you cannot reach.
- It may look like choosing forgiveness over bitterness when others have wounded you, believing that God can bring good even out of evil, just as he did for Joseph.
- It may look like waking in the middle of the night with anxiety, taking a deep breath, and whispering, “Lord Jesus, you are here.”
Trust is not passive. It is taking the next faithful step while leaving the results in God’s hands. Faith is not believing that God will do exactly what I want; faith is believing that whatever God does, he will remain faithful.
That is what Joseph learned. That is what the disciples learned on the lake. That is what Psalm 105 calls us to remember. That is why Paul can proclaim that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Our confidence is not in ourselves. It is not in our circumstances. It is not even in the strength of our faith. Our confidence is in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.
So whatever storm we may face this week, let us remember His words: “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27, NRSV). May we choose, each day, not to let the storm define our vision, but to keep our eyes fixed on Christ, to be filled with the abundance of his Holy Spirit, and to live from the secure identity we have as God’s beloved and redeemed people. For when our eyes are fixed on him, we discover that the One we trust has been holding us all along.
Amen.