Called out upon the water
Readings: Matthew 14. 22-33
Have you ever seen the sea when it’s stormy? When out in the waterway the waves are high and the boats are rocking. You see nature in full force don’t you as the wind whips the sea up into a writhing mass of chaos. Perhaps you’ve been out on the water during such a storm, perhaps this Gospel reading is very real to you, perhaps not.
We join Jesus and the disciples right after the feeding of the 5000 just as they split up briefly; Jesus sends the disciples on ahead and he heads up the mountain alone to pray. Shortly after this as the evening draws in the winds pick up and a storm hits, and the disciples are far from the shore, perhaps they can’t see either shore anymore at this point, all they can see is the writhing sea. And they’re battling this wind and the waves all night. Notice how it says that they’re in difficulty in the evening and then jumps ahead to early in the morning when Jesus appears walking on the water. They’ve been straining at the oars all night, the wind whipping up the sea spray and peppering them with the cold water.
And in their exhaustion, in their desperation they look out across the sea and see this figure walking towards them. And they cry out that it’s a ghost, in many ways it’s a logical conclusion isn’t it. People don’t walk on water, this isn’t an animal or fish, it’s a person, walking upon the water, of course it’s a ghost, what else could it be.
Except it’s not, it’s Jesus. The moment they cry out in fear because of him, he reassures them of who he is. Take heart, take courage, it is I. And in that statement is a double reassurance. Firstly he’s reassuring them that he’s not a ghost, that it’s Jesus, their Lord and Master, he’s here with them on the waves, don’t be afraid. And secondly, in the Greek Jesus uses the emphatic pronoun which is used pretty much exclusively of God in the Old Testament. Which means there are strong overtones of the divine here in what he says. Take heart, it’s God on the waves with you. In telling them not to be afraid he makes himself known, it’s me Jesus, and he makes himself known it’s me, the Son of God.
And then something very unusual happens. Only Matthew records this part. Peter speaks up, Peter who has a habit of speaking first and thinking, and likely regretting, later. And Peter, full of confidence that this is Jesus cries out ‘if it’s you, command me to come to you on the water’. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this before, I’d never really paid much attention, but Jesus doesn’t call Peter out of the boat, Peter asks Jesus to call him out of the boat. Peter volunteers for this venture, and Jesus responds. In many ways this is starts as a declaration of faith from Peter, faith in Jesus and who Jesus is ‘if it’s you Jesus, tell me to do this, and I’ll do it and I know you’ll enable me to do it’.
And what happens, well that faith it seems is well placed. Peter steps out of the boat and starts to walk towards Jesus. And it’s easy to forget over the course of the disciples seeing Jesus and thinking he’s a ghost, to the following conversation between Peter and Jesus and him getting out of the boat, that there’s a massive storm going on. The waves are still crashing, the wind is still blowing. I’d always imagined the conversation going something like ‘hey Jesus, if that’s really you out there, could I wander across this nice glassy pool towards you’. In reality it’s something more like ‘LORD….IF THAT’S REALLY YOU….COMMAND….COMMAND ME TO COME TO YOU ON THE WATER…’
And so Jesus commands him. and Peter steps out onto the writhing sea. And he starts to walk towards Jesus, walking on the surface of the water. Now we don’t know how far Jesus is away from the boat, but to start with this is all going well, he’s walking, his faith, as I say, is well placed, and he’s making his way towards Jesus. And then he takes his eyes off Jesus and realises the magnitude of what’s happening, the impossibility of current events. He’s not just walking across a lake, which is impossible, he’s walking across a lake in the middle of the storm which is not just impossible, it seems pretty reckless, dangerous even.
And in that moment his faith fails him, he can’t do this, it’s not possible, he’s going to drown, and immediately he starts to. But his faith isn’t entirely gone is it, he may have lost confidence, but he still trusts, because he cries out to Jesus ‘save me’. He knows who to call to. And immediately Jesus does doesn’t he.
Now Jesus could have saved him with a word. He could have said something and Peter’s feet would have been on the water again as solid as dry land. Jesus could have stopped the storm in a display of his power to reassure Peter and Peter may have found faith again to stand upon the water. He doesn’t do any of those things. He doesn’t chose a display of divine power, he does something much more human, something much more comforting to Peter, he reaches out and catches him. Grabs him by the arm and sets him back on his feet. Jesus won’t let him drown, and more than that Jesus is less concerned with displays of power than of demonstrating compassion. ‘It’s ok Peter, I’ve got you, should we perhaps head back to the boat’. And the moment they’re back in the boat, that’s when the storm ceases, that’s when things become calm.
We’re right at the beginning of a new chapter here at St David’s aren’t we. Venturing out into something new like the disciples in their boat. And let’s be honest, I haven’t arrived at a calm time, a relaxing time have I, however much we might hope it is. Instead the seas are churning aren’t they. There are challenges in the life of the church with resources and relevance, changes in belief and structures. There are challenges outside the church in our wider lives, the cost of living crisis, climate change, leaders who don’t seem to entirely know what they’re doing, the ongoing wars and conflicts. As we begin this new chapter the seas are raging, but take heart, Jesus walks on these seas, for him all this flux, all this chaos, he walks through it like it’s nothing.
And that should give us confidence, because at some point we’re going to have to step out in faith, step out in trust. To pass our faith on, to share the hope we have we’ll need to get out of the boat, step out of the church.
And we can do so full of confidence, we have a plan, a strategy, an idea, we’ve fixed our eyes on Jesus ready to do as he asks. We’re going to step out into the storm with him. And then suddenly, at some point, we’ll realise what we’re doing, the magnitude of it all, the impossibility of it all. And we’ll start to sink. We’ll panic about the future, about the funding, about the changes, about the scale of the task, the seeming impossibility of success. And we’ll start to sink. Take heart, Jesus won’t let us drown. We might get wet, we might get a little battered, but Jesus won’t let us sink without a trace.
‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ Chances are it’s because we forgot we were doing it in his name and strength and power and for a moment thought it was all down to us. Saw the waves and thought ‘I can’t do this’, no you can’t, but Jesus at work in and through you can.
So as we begin this new chapter, as we venture out upon the water once again, let’s do so with our eyes fixed on Jesus, our faith and hope and trust in him. And together, let us step out of the boat, knowing that he won’t let us drown.
Amen.