11th Sunday after Pentecost

 Matt 14:22-33

So last week while I was away you all got to hear the story about Jesus feeding the 5000 with only 5 loaves and 2 fish.  And you learned that God is Good, all the time and will always provide what we need.  And then today we pick the thread back up and hear this story about Jesus and the storms on the sea.  And it provides with yet another great opportunity to think about how God is present with us in good times and bad.

At the beginning of our story, after accomplishing this great feeding miracle Jesus is very worn out, so he makes the disciples go on ahead of him to the other side of the sea.  And this is a bit of an interesting choice, because in the Gospels crossing to the “other side” of the sea is almost always a metaphor for going out to do ministry in the midst of new people in the world.  Often among gentiles or less receptive crowds.  And so in this way, it is not so different than other stories we have heard in our season of discipleship.  Here is Jesus accomplishing a great miracle and then immediately sending his disciples out into the world ostensibly to do the same.

Except today the disciples have a really hard time of it.  They set out but the wind is against them so while they are able to successfully clear the shore, they can’t get very far.  The Sea of Galilee isn’t really that big, it’s maybe twice the size of Lake St Clair, but they don’t have a motor, and it’s specific geography means it is susceptible to some really big storms and so after trying from sunset until 4:00am, they still haven’t gotten across.  They just can’t get it done without Jesus.

And in certain ways, I bet this feels familiar.  This being battered by waves and storms and strong headwinds.  When I think of the health challenges of some of our members, or of the tragedies some experience, or of the struggles of our country and culture or the difficulties of starting something new.  I think we can probably all think of a time when we have faced what seem like insurmountable head winds, where we have felt like the disciples stuck in a floundering boat, feeling like we can’t make progress.

And then all of a sudden Jesus shows up, out of nowhere, walking on the sea.  And the disciples freak out.  And honestly can you blame them?  Jesus is standing unassisted in the middle of a lake in a storm in the dead of night.  And he shouts to them “Take heart, it is I.”  But this “it is I” “ego ami” in Greek, is also a form of Divine address in the Old testament, like this is how God answers Moses from the burning bush.  Suddenly Jesus is leaning into his divinity here, which may or may not be very comforting to these poor terrified disciples.

But Jesus has told them not to be afraid and he means it, even if the disciples don’t believe it yet.  Because he knows they truly don’t need to be afraid.  Because he knows they already have everything that they need.

And Peter, he takes it to heart.  And so Peter being Peter is going to go all the way.  He wants to be a disciple, he is wants to do the things that Jesus does, so he is going to walk out to Jesus.  And does it, he is fine at first.  He gets out of the boat.  And he really does walk on water.  He works a miracle.  But then he stops looking at Jesus and starts looking around a bit.  He sees the wind and the water and the waves and everything he is up against and he gets scared again and he starts to sink.

Have any of you guys had this Peter moment in your lives?  Where you get really excited about an idea or a project or an activity and you jump right in with both feet.  But then all of a sudden it starts to get hard.  Things don’t go just right, you hit a snag or recovery is slower than expected, the naysayers get louder and doubt begins to creep in.  And suddenly Ope, you are right up to your neck.

But then Peter suddenly remembers Jesus again and cries out “Lord, save me!”  And Jesus is right there.  The bible tells us ‘Immediately’ which is a rare word in Matthew, “Jesus reached out his hand and caught him saying ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’” And those words could sound really harsh.  Like Peter wasn’t strong enough, or didn’t have enough faith.  Like maybe he shouldn’t have tried, should’ve stayed in the boat where it was safe.  Ope here comes the wind and the waves again.

But that is not it.  Because Jesus tells us in the very next chapter “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Peter already had everything he needed.  His faith was already and always more than enough.  Peter didn’t get in trouble because he didn’t have enough.  He got in trouble because he forgot about Jesus.  As soon as Jesus gets back in his mind, everything is fine.  In fact, as soon as they get back to the boat the wind stops entirely.  All those things Peter was so afraid of, when Peter is with Jesus and his friends in the boat, they are all completely gone.  And they all see and worship Jesus.

And it is easy to think that the moral of the story is going to be, don’t be like Peter.  I mean, we’ve met, the moral is usually going to be don’t be like Peter.  But no, not today, today, be Peter.  We need you to be Peter.  Peter is still the hero of the story.  Because Peter becomes the witness that lets all the disciples see who Jesus truly is and leads them to worship him.  Today we learn from Peter to Do the hard thing.  Do the scary thing.  Keep working even, no especially when it is hard.  But most importantly, to keep watching Jesus.

That is the key.  In every storm, in every struggle, on every hard day, just keep watching Jesus.  Because Jesus tells us today and every day that we already have everything that we need.  That we have what we need to weather the storms of life, that we have the power to push back against the headwinds of suffering, injustice and pain.  And that when we cry out “Jesus save me” he is always right there reaching out his hand, being exactly what we need no matter how much the storm rages.  Amen.