August 13, 2017
1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a; Rom 9:1-5; Matt 14:22-33
Brookdale
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus walks on water at the Sea of Galilee. He invites Peter to join him, but Peter loses confidence and Jesus saves him as he starts to sink. The first question most people I know would ask about this story is whether it is true. Did it really happen? You can think of this as the Joe Friday school of scripture study: I just want the facts, ma’am. Is this historically accurate?
But the Gospels were not written to give us facts or history. They were written to tell us who Jesus is, call us to discipleship, and tell us how to be disciples. So to focus on what Jesus ate for dinner or whether he got his feet wet when he walked on the water is to miss the point.
What was it like to be one of the disciples in the boat that night on the sea of Galilee? Jesus sent the disciples on the boat alone, saying that he would see them later. That’s already strange. If they are crossing the sea, or even a part of it, on a boat, how can he possibly catch up later going around by land? And why is he sending them off alone?
The story also says that the disciples are out on the sea in their boat at night. Nighttime is a time of the unknown and mysterious, even though these men are fishermen who are used to fishing on the lake at night. Presumably there is some light from the moon, because late in the night they see what looks like Jesus walking toward them on the lake. And they are afraid. Who wouldn’t be? Our translation says that they thought it was a ghost, but the original word just means spirit, which could be a ghost, or an evil spirit disguised as their rabbi, but the apparition claims to be Jesus and orders them not to be afraid. It’s an eerie moment, beyond reason, filled with mystery. If Jesus were there, he would tell them what to do, but they don’t know if this apparition is really him.
As usual, Peter is the first one to act. He reaches out in faith and asks Jesus to tell him what to do. “If it is really you, order me to come to you.” And when Jesus says, “Come,” he steps out of the boat and walks on the water.
This summer my six-year-old granddaughter learned rock climbing in summer camp. Roped up for safety, she climbed up a thirty-foot climbing wall. At one point, the counselor said, “Don’t look down,” whereupon the mischievous boys in the group called out, “Look down! Look down!” (She didn’t look down.) Unfortunately, Peter looked down. Below his feet and the surface of the water lay the black and unfathomable depths of the Sea of Galilee, which contained strange creatures and the wrecks of many fishing boats like his. And he panicked, and started to sink. But then he cried out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” And Jesus did.
The Gospel tells us that Jesus scolded Peter for having little faith. “Why did you doubt?” Note that he doesn’t scold Peter for questioning the doctrine of the Trinity, or for doubting the virgin birth. He wants the disciples to have faith—trust—in God and in him, so they will have the courage that is born of that faith. He wants them to believe in and rely on the power of God.
Personally, I think that Peter in this story is a wonderful model for all Christians. Christ has sent us out without his physical presence and guidance, as he sent the disciples out alone in the boat. There in the dark of night, when Peter thinks he sees Jesus, he wants to go to him: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you.” Isn’t this what we all should do when we feel God’s absence, turn to Jesus and ask him to call us to himself?
When Peter gets the call he asks for, he acts on it with courage, fully trusting in Jesus’ command. As Jesus expects us to do. And later when he is overcome by fear—I’d be afraid too if I suddenly found myself standing in the middle of Cayuga Lake—he turns again to Jesus to save him. If I had Peter’s faith, I’d be a saint too. Maybe I’d even be Pope. Jesus expects a lot from us, but what he really expects is for us to depend on God.
God so often seems absent from our lives. We feel that we are alone in the dark without God’s comforting presence to guide us and help us. That’s when we need to pray that Jesus will call us to come to him. And when we are assailed by fears and feel God’s absence most strongly, we need to ask God to save us. And he will, as he saved Peter. Today’s Gospel passage promises that he will be there for us whenever we depend on him.