Pentecost 11

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: Pentecost 11
PROPER: 14A
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: August 8,1999

TEXT: Matthew 14:22-33 - Jesus Walks on the Sea, and Calls Peter to Join Him.
"Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, " Lord, save me!" Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

ISSUE: Following the wilderness place of chaos where the great feeding took place, the new scene is on a stormy lake, another place of fear, chaos, and evil spirits, Jesus appears to frightened disciples. If they are faithful (loyal) they shall be able to walk with him on the chaos and command it to be calm. Keeping focused on Christ is the ultimate salvation of us and Christ's church. The passage also begins to emphasize the divinity of Jesus which seems coupled to his close prayerful relationship with the father. In both instances of feeding and calming storms Jesus' power comes after prayerful times.
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The biblical stories about Jesus walking on water, and Peter also being called to step out on a stormy sea has sometimes been met with humor if not some ridicule. These stories of Jesus walking on water are not quite as palatable as others biblical events in this scientific and technological age. But before we right the story off completely, I think it is helpful again to appreciate the story and its meaning, especially as it was addressed to the people of the first century. It is essentially the meaning of the stories that we are after. What was intended to be conveyed by Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, or Paul even, as they related stories that had come passed down to them. Ancient peoples may in some ways have lacked in sophistication as we understand it, but they were not stupid people. The concept of Jesus walking on the water had meaning for them.
Some scholars suggest that the story may have been a misplaced Resurrection Story, which depicts Jesus walking like a ghost on the water. At first like so many of the resurrection stories Jesus is not recognized. This interpretation is a possibility, but Matthew has placed it, I believe in a significant spot in which it follows the Feeding of the 5,000. The account of Jesus walking on water follows in Matthew right after the Feeding of the 5,000. The Miraculous Feeding story took place in the wilderness or a green hillside away from towns and villages. Wilderness or desert places were seen as places where evil spirits prevailed and dwelled. In this place Jesus who has gone there to pray alone seems to be a holy man who has control over the power of spirits. This place to be feared, this place of chaos, became a place of feeding and nurturing. Disciples were invited to participate in the feeding in the conveying of the nurturing nourishing power of God. In this empty but spirit laden place, the power of God was present in Jesus.
In this next scene Jesus again goes away to pray, to be alone with the Father. Matthew indicates that Jesus made or commanded his disciples to get into the boat and return to the other side of the lake. Jesus seeks a solitary time for being with the Father.
Now Jesus' disciples many of whom are fishermen set sail and begin the crossing of the Sea of Galilee. Keep in mind what it was like to be a fisherman in this period. It was not an easy occupation and it certainly was not lucrative. The right to fish was granted by tax collectors who worked for the Roman government. The right to fish, and the tax on the right, was costly. Catching fish is itself risky. Sometimes you had a good catch, and sometimes the nets were empty. After the tax, you were subject to the market and its varying prices. It was an extremely difficult way to make a living. No one got rich or attained much status by virtue of being a fisherman.
The sea so far as the Jewish community was concerned was another place of chaos where evil spirits dwelled. The wind was a spirit and was totally unpredictable, often quite destructive. In fact, the sea was what in creation a place of great chaos, and it was what God pushed away in order to form the dry land. The place for Adam and Eve to live in the Garden. The Red Sea block Moses and his people from cross into the Promised Land, until God pushes the sea aside for the saving crossing. The sea for these people was very suspect. There were weird and strange creatures in it. Israel never had a navy. They were never a seafaring country. What's more, is the fact that the Sea of Galilee which was not really terribly large was given to some really forceful storms that came quickly, abruptly, off the surrounding desert.
In this story as it is told by Matthew you have very poor peasants who have been selected to be Jesus disciples. They are the inhabitants of a chaotic and unpredictable world. They are subject to the chaos and the fickle evil spirits. They are in the dark.
Again, however, you have the dawning of a new day. Jesus, having come down from the mountain where he was praying sees the distress of his disciples and walks out on the water and calls to them in the terrified distress not to be afraid, but to take courage. Peter, who is the traditional spokesman for the group says, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." Jesus tells Peter to come, and he dares to step out of the boat on the rough storm sea and walk to Jesus. But when Peter loses his concentration and notices the real roughness of the sea, he begins to sink, if not drown. But Jesus reaches him and reminds him not to be afraid, but to keep focused, have faith, which means to remain loyal. In this instance Peter is very Jonah like. He is about to be swallowed by the sea, but finds and ultimate salvation in God. Peter finds his salvation through Jesus Christ. When Peter and Jesus get into the boat together the wind and storm cease.
What is Matthew attempting to convey in this story. There are several things, I believe. The poor and the disenfranchised are acceptable to God through the inviting and hospitable Christ. The world that they live in can be and is chaotic. They must not be afraid, but remain loyal and Jesus Christ will see them through the storms. Matthew is addressing the early church of largely peasant peoples who were facing significant chaos, oppression, and persecution. They lived in a world of a great deal of evil spiritedness. The message of Jesus is to be faithful, to remain loyal, and to keep focused on him, and they will be able to venture out on an impossible mission, as impossible as walking on the sea. What we also see in this story is the developing understanding, or a developing theology that Jesus is Lord, that truly unmistakably Jesus is the Son of God. He has power over both land, where the Feeding of the 5,000 took place, and over the sea. He is Lord who calms and claims the chaos of the world. And those who keep loyal and focused on him will participate in the impossible mission of restoring God's Kingdom, Reign, or Domain to the world.
I think there is still another significant point to this story, as there was in the story last week of the Feeding of the 5,000. that Matthew is making. In each instance Jesus has gone away alone to pray. That is, Jesus has gone to be in communion with God the Father. Jesus is like the broker of God's power. Through that close prayerful connection with God the Father, Jesus becomes empowered. He then conveys that power to the disciples. "You feed the multitude," he tells them. "Yes," he says to Peter. Step out on the sea and come to me. Dare to risk the impossible because the power of God is with us through prayer, through union with God.
You see, the story as Matthew tells it is not concerned with the literalness of whether or not people can really walk on water. It is about the power of God revealed in Jesus Christ to bring new hope to a dawning day. In storminess, in chaos, in evil spiritedness keeping focused on Christ who is with God, we are given with Christ the power to overcome the chaos. Just keep loyal and focused on Jesus Christ as Lord, and you enter into a new world, as impossible as that may seem, a world where love, compassion, mercy prevail over punishment, judgmentalness, feuding, hatred, violence, and misunderstanding.
The passage for us today dares us to step out in faith and loyalty. It is often much more comfortable for us to stay in the boat, and try to ride out the storms, but even that can be riskier than stepping out to walk with Christ. Boats sink, even the best of them, the Titanic. We like security, but stockmarkets sink. We can lock our doors and bar our windows against madmen and terrorists with hammers, guns, but you have to step outside sometime or die or drown in the prison of our own making. The passage of scripture this story of walking on the water calls us to walk with Christ on the battering waves. Dare to do the impossible. Keep loving, keep caring, keep sharing, keep being merciful, being compassionate, doing your part in God's plan. Keep focused on Jesus Christ as opposed to the turmoil, keep in union with him. Will there be moments of doubt and slipping? You bet, the best do, as Peter did. But the saving hand of God revealed in Christ still prevails.
"God changed the sea into dry land; our ancestors crossed the river on foot. There we rejoiced because of what he did." Psalm 66:6