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Matthew 14:22-33 There’s a story that is told about a devout abbot who lived in a monastery beside a lake. The abbot is like the leader of the monastery, and one day he decided to undertake a prolonged spiritual retreat in a small cabin located on a remote island in the middle of this large lake. He told his fellow monks that he wanted to spend his days in prayer so as to grow closer to God and as Christlike as possible. For six months he remained on the island with no other person seeing or hearing from him in all that time. But then one day, as two monks were standing near the lakeshore soaking up some sun, they could see a distant figure moving toward them. It was the abbot and he was walking on the water, right toward them. One monk turns to the other in complete astonishment and says, “Would you look at that! Six full months in nothing but prayer and the abbot is still as stingy as ever. The ferry only costs 25 cents!” You know, its amazing how easily we can sometimes miss the significance of something that is right in front of us. Even if you’ve never read the Bible, you’ve probably heard the phrase, “someone who walks on water” used to describe someone who is perfect or at least thinks they’re perfect. There a VBS Program out right now that uses this story to teach the kids about faith and they have a formula where you if you add a lot of corn starch to ordinary water – and I mean a lot of corn starch – you can actually have your children walk across the water. I’ve seen magicians walk across water on TV, and I’ve even seen Sports Illustrated swimsuit models photographed while walking on water. This image of Jesus walking on the water and the story of Peter attempting to is so popular that it has become part of our pop culture. And because its so familiar, I think we tend to either overlook its importance or dismiss its significance. So why is this story so important? Two reasons – First, for what it says about us as disciples, and second, for what it says about Jesus. Let’s start with us. In our Tuesday morning Bible study this week, we had two statements come up that epitomize what this walking on water story says about us as human beings, as Christians, and as disciples of Jesus. One of the ladies at the Bible has been enduring some incredible storms in her life recently. Her daughter has struggled with cancer for several years and passed away about 2 weeks ago. Her statement on Tuesday morning was this, “My faith must not be strong enough for God to answer my prayers.” How many of us have had that exact same struggle floating around in our head and just never had the courage to say it? Especially given that she has lost a child, how could anyone not wonder about that? Later that morning, when talking about a different topic, someone else shared her faith struggle. She said, “I’m a Christian. I study the Bible and come to church. So why can’t I love everyone unconditionally? I can’t help judging people and I certainly can’t love everyone unconditionally. I just can’t.” How many of us, if we’re honest with ourselves, are in that same boat? We can’t help judging others who are different and our love always seems to have conditions attached to it. These two courageous women are faithful Christians, who are bold enough to share their struggles with other Christians, and they have voiced what most of us are unwilling to admit – that we all struggle with our faith. We struggle with believing and trusting God. We struggle with acting on our faith and living up to the standards that we feel God has for us. In our gospel story this morning, we are all Peter – caught somewhere between great doubt and great faith. What great doubt he must’ve had to question who was out there on the water when Jesus said, “It’s me!” What great faith he must’ve had to climb out of that boat onto a stormy sea, hang his feet down onto the water, let go of the boat, and actually walk on water. What great doubt he must’ve had to begin sinking into sea. What great faith he must’ve had to call out in fear, “Lord, save me.” Here’s a cute little cartoon that describes this… Once again, Peter is me. Peter is you. Peter is exactly what it means to be a disciple – sometimes getting it, sometimes missing it completely. What great faith it takes to come to church every week, to bring your children to Sunday school, to sacrifice your time and your money in service, to love and welcome total strangers, to believe that Jesus actually died and rose again from the dead. What great doubt it takes to not pray everyday, to not open the Bible and read it for yourself, to put yourself before others, to not tithe a full 10%, to be critical and selfish when you don’t get your way. We are Peter – with his little faith, but faith nonetheless. What this story says about us as Christians, as human begins, is that its okay to be stuck somewhere between faith and doubt, to struggle and wrestle, to succeed sometimes and to fail at other times. Luther’s famous quote about this is Simul Justus et Peccator. Each one of us is simultaneously saint (Justus) and sinner (peccator). Yes, its true that Jesus does scold Peter for doubting. But two sentences later Peter is worshipping. That word for doubting is only used one other time in the entire New Testament, and both times that it is used, it is followed very closely by worshipping. True disciples are those who doubt and worship at the same time. If this is you, welcome to the club. You’re certainly not alone. Faith is not about being able to walk on water – only God can do that. Faith is daring to believe despite all evidence to the contrary, that God is with us in the boat, in the storms of our lives. And whether you believe that or not, doesn’t change the fact that it is true. God is with us in the storms of our lives. And I guess that brings us the second reason why this story is so important. Not only does it tell us about who we are, but it also tells us something very important about Jesus. This story, at its core, is about recognizing Jesus as God and realizing what kind of God we have. Some of you may be thinking, “Well, duh, we know that Jesus is God.” But do we really? We recognize God when we’re out in nature and that’s when God makes the most sense to many of us…but that could just as well be a nebulous creator, evolution, Buddha or Allah. We say that Jesus was a really good teacher, philosopher, and giver of wisdom…but so was Gandhi, Socrates, and my third grade teacher. Matthew is being very clear – Jesus is God. God is Jesus. Outside of the gospels, there are only three other places in Scripture where it talks about someone walking on water. In every instance, it is only God who walks on water. No one else. Jesus is God and the way that Jesus is with his disciples is the same way that God is with us. First, we are reminded that Jesus is with us in the storms of life. When the seas got rough, when chaos reigned, when the disciples got scared, Jesus showed up. He was with them in the storms and he is with us in the storms. He’s there when our children die, he’s there when we fail to love, he’s there when we’re scared and lonely and even suicidal. Jesus is always with us, even when all the evidence says he’s not. Being God, Jesus ultimately has everything under his control. And although, the stormy seas don’t immediately subside and the waves are still crashing all around, Jesus reminds them that he is there. “Take heart. It is I. Do not be afraid.” And second, we learn that it is only Jesus who saves us. He didn’t let Peter, with all his little faith, sink to the bottom of the sea. Jesus reached out, grabbed his hand, and saved him. My friends, it is Jesus who saves us as well. He saves us by reaching out his hand. He saves us by dying on the cross. He saves us by rising from the dead. He saves us by giving us forgiveness and strength through Holy Communion. He saves us by giving us each other as support when the seas of life get really rough. He saves us by coming to us and by catching us, just as he caught Peter. The kind of God that we have is one that saves people – no matter where they are in their faith journeys. If I ask you the question, “What happened to Peter with his little faith and all his doubts?” there are two possible answers. 1) He sank into the sea. This is true. He couldn’t walk on the water by himself. He wasn’t perfect. He indeed doubted. But the 2nd answer is this: What happened to Peter? He was saved by Jesus. There are lots of ways of sinking in our faith and we often do. But in spite of our “little faith” there is only one way to be saved, and that is through Jesus. And save us he does. To me, at least, that’s pretty significant. Amen. FOR LIFT: Intro to Video – This is humorous little clip about what it takes to be a true disciple. In just a few minutes I’m going to a passage from Matthew that has some important things to say about what it means to be a disciple. But first I thought we’d get some chuckles out of this… Discussion Questions:
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