A reading aid. The German text is the original.

At night on the lake, a headwind, the boat is making no progress. Then the disciples see someone walking on the water and cry out in fear, because they think they are seeing a ghost. The first sentence they hear is: it is I, do not be afraid.

Three further texts come with this Sunday. Elijah at the mountain of God hears storm, earthquake and fire, and God is in none of them (1 Kings 19). The psalm says that mercy and faithfulness meet one another (Psalm 85). And Paul writes that he would be willing to be cut off from Christ himself if it would help his own people (Romans 9). We listen to what comes across. For me this Sunday is about an order of events.

Peter does not believe the ghost that it is Jesus, and demands an order. If it is you, command me to come to you. He builds himself a test in which he is the stake, and he does not want to decide, he wants to be told. The answer is a single word. Come.

He climbs out of the boat and walks. Then he sees the wind, becomes afraid and sinks. He calls out, and Jesus takes hold of him at once.

Only then comes the reproach. You of little faith, why did you doubt. It stands after the grip, and this order runs through the whole passage. Before the disciples know who is in front of them, they hear that they need not be afraid. Before Peter has to explain anything, he is already out of the water.

Anyone who works with people knows the temptation to do it the other way round. Clarify first, then help. What was the cause, what went wrong, how could it come to this. The questions are legitimate and usually overdue as well. They help the person asking them, and not the person standing in the water. Though he does have to call out.

The first reading of this Sunday knows the same order, in a quite different place. Elijah is on the run and has shortly before asked to be allowed to die. At the mountain of God come storm, earthquake and fire, strong enough to break rocks, and God is in none of them. Only afterwards comes something very quiet, a barely audible sound, and at that Elijah steps out of the cave and covers his face.

The reproach stays. You of little faith: that is a you-message of the kind every training course tells you to avoid, and here it stands, broad and serious. Peter hears it while he is already on dry land.

When they are both in the boat, the wind drops.

Zugemutet reads the four texts of the Catholic lectionary each Sunday for what they say about living together. Nothing is chosen.

Here is a link to this Sundays texts: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080926.cfm