Stories that Stick: Jesus Walks on Water

Matthew 14:22-33

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Last Tuesday, your church council met via Zoom for their monthly meeting.  Every meeting begins with a council member leading the group in devotions and prayer.  Council member Joan Flaaten shared the following image:

She successfully tapped into what so many of us are feeling and shared with us how hard it is to answer the question:  How are you?  

Where do you start? We’re in the midst of so much chaos it’s hard to find words to describe how we’re doing at any given moment. 

Hurricane Laura struck Louisiana and is one of the most powerful storms in U.S. history. Iowa is trying to rebuild from the August 10 storm that left more than 400,000 Iowans without power and damaged homes, businesses and more than 10 million acres of crops. Western wildfires rage, having burned more than 1.8 million acres to date. The coronavirus has claimed over 180,000 deaths in the U.S. We don’t yet know the full economic and mental health impact the disease will have. An increased awareness of racial injustice is shaking things up and has rocked us to the core. This past week another shooting of an unarmed black man, Jacob Blake — It’s only three months after George Floyd was killed.  

This is the reality we’re navigating right now. No wonder it’s hard to answer, “how are you?”

Please join me in a collective deep breath… Dear Jesus… Amen. 

We encounter weariness in the face of a storm in the gospel story today, too. 

This is the second story in Matthew’s gospel involving the disciples and Jesus being out in rough seas. In the earlier story, (Matthew 8) Jesus is asleep in the boat when a storm comes up; the disciples are afraid. They wake Jesus with cries of, “Save us!” Jesus commands the storm, it’s a word for the disciples too:  “Peace, be still.”  He demonstrates his authority over wind and sea.

In today’s scene, the disciples are in the boat alone with their exhaustion and grief. 

Back up a bit, Jesus and the disciples are mourning the recent murder of John the Baptist. They’ve had no time or space to grieve. A hungry crowd showed up needing to be fed. Jesus turns what little the disciples have to offer into more than enough. The crowd is satisfied. But they don’t leave. So Jesus takes care of his team; he makes his disciples get in the boat, sends them away to the other side of the lake — I imagine Jesus telling them to take some time, rest, reflect, do something that feels good and familiar: go fish. After he dismisses the crowd, Jesus goes to the top of the mountain, alone, to pray.  

That’s when the storm blows in. The disciples fight the wind and the waves again, but this time Jesus isn’t in the boat with them. Fear doesn’t show up until dawn after having battled the storm all night. The disciples are terrified when they see a figure off in the distance, walking on water, coming toward them. How is that possible? Who could it be?

The disciples cry out with fear. Jesus assures them:  “Take heart, it is I.” Or in other words:  I AM. Jesus is their Lord and God. 

The disciples take Jesus at his word. They stay in the boat and wait for him to join them. Except for Peter. He wants proof. The Word is not enough. He asks for a sign: “If it is you, command me to come to you.”

His request strikes me as odd. When I’m in the middle of a storm, I want Jesus to make the storm stop. Settle the waves, Jesus. Calm the wind. Show your power to control the chaos, PLEASE.  

But not Peter. “If it is you, command me to come to you.” Jesus complies. He calls out to Peter:  “Come.”

Now there are a variety of interpretations about the story from this point on. That’s the power of stories that stick after all. They speak to us in different ways at different times. A story can be about so many things all at the same time.

I’ve often heard this story focus on the Peter in each of us, wanting to walk on water, able to overcome all obstacles and rise above any challenge — like God, if you will.  The lesson: just keep your eyes on Jesus and you will prevail. Except, try as I might, I fail. Again and again. I sink. We all sink. We mess up, let others down, we get overwhelmed by any number of things… If only I had more faith.

But what if we heard Jesus’ response differently? What if “you of little faith” isn’t because Peter got distracted and failed to keep his focus on Jesus, but because he left the others in the boat? What if Jesus was talking about having enough faith to stay with the others in the boat, so they would weather the storm together? What if this story is not about Peter’s personal failures (and ours) but Peter’s need for community (and ours) and about Jesus, who saves, to restore community?   

When Peter began to sink, Jesus immediately reached out his hand to catch him.  Then when they got back into the boat together, the wind ceased. Jesus returned Peter to the others and the community was restored.

Years ago, when I was about 7 years old, my family was on vacation at my grandparent’s cabin. My grandparents, along with their small group from church, had bought property and built cabins near each other on the same lake. There was a long history that our families shared together.  

One hot summer day, about 20 of us were having all kinds of fun swimming and boating. But the fun quickly changed to fear for me. I’d been swimming with the others at the floating dock less than 20 feet from shore. I remember wanting a break so I left the others to swim in. Thinking I was close enough to shore to touch the sand, I stopped swimming and put my feet down to walk the rest of the way in. But I had miscalculated. The bottom wasn’t where I thought it would be. I was still in over my head. I panicked and began to sink. I remember seeing the legs of those around me under water but I could not cry out for help.

Suddenly, hands swooped in and took hold of me. Dave, one of the parents, had seen me struggling. He lifted me up and walked me to shore. Sitting with others beside the lake, I was pretty shaken up and beyond grateful.  

Our culture values independence and self-sufficiency which keeps our focus more on “me” than “we”. But we are in the midst of a reckoning, relearning an important truth that we belong to each other. We need each other. We are better together. The welfare of one is interdependent with the welfare of the whole.

Jesus reached out his hand and saved Peter by leading him back to the others. When everyone is together things get better. The boat isn’t necessarily comfortable but Jesus makes it a holy space where community is restored.

We are living through an incredible storm. And Jesus calls us to follow him, to move from where we are to a place where community is restored. We’ll be doing this in intentional ways — both for this congregation and for the greater community.  

I have two invitations for you:

• We’re launching a new initiative for connecting in small groups using a curriculum written by Pastor Meta called, “Living with a Spiritual Lens.” How might the world look different if every person who tuned in for worship on Sunday was part of a shared experience in which people were loved, cared for, challenged, and supported? For the welfare of the most vulnerable we need to stay a part — but we belong together, so this one way we’ll stay connected. It’s for you but it’s not just for you — it’s for the sake of who Bethlehem is and who Bethlehem is becoming, who God calls us to be:  Christ’s church sharing in the work to restore community. 
• Bold Conversations with Sparks of Change starts this Thursday at 6:30 pm and continues on the first Thursday of every month. In these 90-minute Zoom sessions we will do the hard work of learning how to engage effectively and appropriately with people who are different than ourselves. This is an important step in our learning and desire to act for social justice and racial equity. 

Details for small groups and Bold Conversations are on our new website. Check it out — make a commitment, engage. 

In God’s infinite wisdom we are created to be in community. And it is Jesus who calls us to a one another kind of faith:  love one another, forgive one another… bear with one another… pray for one another… confess your sins to one another… honor one another… speak the truth to one another… provoke one another to love and good deeds… until all are assured they are valued and a beloved child of God. 

May you be blessed by that truth revealed in God’s son who is the one who saves us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.