Pentecost 12

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

SEASON: Pentecost 12
PROPER: 14A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: August 11, 2002


TEXT: Matthew 14:22-33 – Jesus & Peter Walk on Water
“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: The story of Jesus walking on the water has great meaning for a world facing very difficult times. In spite of the storminess and the overwhelming problems of our age, the story tells us to keep focused on Jesus Christ. Keep looking at him, and dare to step out on turbulent waters and walk with him. This daring call is in contrast to our merely trying to hold on in the boat and hoping for the best, and letting the chaos and evil spirits have their way. It is also again a story calling us to loyalty and faith, and responding to the loving call and grace of God.
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The story of Jesus walking on water has surely been one of the challenging stories of the Christian Scriptures for many people. In a sophisticated, technological, and scientific world, the story often lends itself to jokes, and sarcasm. It is often used in derogatory way about aggressive or proud people, i.e. “He thinks he can walk on water.” When I was in seminary, our professor of New Testament Studies dismissed the story of Jesus walking on the water as just that, a folk story about Jesus that had developed from folklore, with no other significant meaning.
The appearance of Jesus in this ghost like way, walking in a storm on the Lake, and thought to be a ghost by the distraught disciples was thought to be by some, a misplaced Resurrection Story. It gives to the person of Jesus more than human quality. It can easily be seen as a very mystic presentation of Jesus.
But with a more careful consideration, the story of Jesus walking on the water can and does have some very significant meaning for our time, and it fits extremely well where it is in Matthew’s narrative. Let me say up front that I don’t mean that the story is to be understood literally. Actually, if you do take the story literally, it loses meaning. Jesus literally walked on the water, so hip-hip hooray for Jesus! He is seen as something of a magician. But if the story is understood metaphorically, or as a poetic statement about the Lord, the story becomes rich in meaning.
First, let’s understand the story in the Matthew’s context. Just prior to the walking on water, Jesus had withdrawn to the wilderness to pray, after the horrendous death of John the Baptist. The wilderness, a place of evil spirits, and the cruel demise of John the Baptist by Herod told much about the world of that time. Many people followed Jesus, and he orders his disciples to feed them, They bring to Jesus what little they have to offer, two fish and five little barley loaves and the multitude is fed. It is a story reminiscent of Moses’ feeding the his people in the wilderness with manna, and of Elijah feeding prophets, with food left over. And now with Jesus, God has not abandoned his world to the impoverishment and evil spiritedness of the world.
Once again, in the walking on water story, Jesus remains alone to pray, while his disciples have left him, and attempt the crossing back across the Sea of Galilee. Not at all unlike the wilderness, the sea was also a place of what could be evil spiritedness. The wind was for these people a spirit. Storms came up very quickly and often with great force on the Sea of Galilee, and boats and their crews were lost. They easily lost control of their lives. Fishermen had little control of their lives as it was. In order to fish on Lake Galilee, you had to have a license from the Roman Government, which you bought through a tax collector at an exorbitant cost. Your catches varied; sometimes fish was good; sometimes bad. In order to survive you needed help from something or someone stronger. You needed a more powerful spirit.
This storm on the sea as Matthew presents it is very reminiscent of Hebrew Scripture writings. Moses with the help of God led his people across the Red Sea to their eventual new home in the Promised Land. In one of Job’s speeches of faith in which he praises the power of God, he says: [God] alone stretched out the heavens, and trampled the waves of the sea, (or trampled back the sea dragon.) (Job 9:8) The great old story of Jonah, part of which we read today, Jonah 2:1-9, tells of his loss of control and the horror of his drowning: “The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around my head at the roots of the mountains. As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer came to you . . . Deliverance belongs to the Lord!” Job is spit up on the beach from the belly of the great fish.
Listen to Psalm 107:23f –
Some went down to the sea in ships and plied their trade in deep waters;
They beheld the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep.
Then he spoke, and a strong wind arose, which tossed high the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to the heavens and fell back to the depths; their hearts melted because of their peril.
They reeled and staggered like drunkards and were at their wits’ end.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
He stilled the storm to a whisper and quieted the waves of the sea.
Then were they glad because of the calm, and he brought them to the harbor they were bound for.
Notice how Matthew’s gospel crafts these stories and verses. Without their even asking, Jesus calls to them in the boat, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” (“It is I.” carries with it the meaning of God’s name, “I AM.”) Again grace comes to these men in their fear and in their distress. Jesus who has been again praying in the wilderness comes to his community with saving grace. He comes as the stronger spirit, the Spirit of God in the wind and storm. He comes as the presence of God for his people. God comes through Jesus Christ. Again Jesus stands with the greatest, with Moses, Job, Jonah. He is truly at one with God, and is Son of God.
In the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus commands his disciples to take responsibility in feeding the multitude. Look what happens in this story. Peter says, “Lord if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” This statement is another way of saying, “Let me also overcome the evil spiritedness of the world.” Jesus gives the command: “Come!” Peter steps out of the boat and begins to walk to Jesus, but he becomes distracted by the strong wind and the waves, and begins to sink. Turning back to Jesus, Peter says, “Save me.” And he is.
Consider what this means. We know that as profound as our faith and loyalty to Christ is, we are not going to be able to walk on water. Such and act defies the laws of nature. But metaphorically, when we keep focused and aimed for Christ, and do not allow ourselves to be distracted and fearful of the evil spiritedness of the world we will find our place, our rescue, our place with Christ. Without our focus and aim on God, who is revealed in Jesus Christ, we cannot overcome the evil spiritedness of the world. But rather than be blown away by the safety and comfort of the boat, Peter dares to walk with Christ on the sea.
This story was a story of hope and strength for the early Christian Church in greatly troubled times. This story assured them of the presence of God in Jesus Christ. It called them to walk loyally, faithfully, and courageously with Christ, and not let the world destroy them. As surely as the disciples could feed the multitude with what little they had. They could also walk with Christ in troubled, frightening and evil spirited times.
These too are very troubled times for the church of God, and for us as God’s people. All around us we can find evil spiritedness. We have the great fear and uncertainty of terrorism. We are now living with the threat of still another very costly war with Saddam Hussein in Iraq, when there are important issues of drug abuse, prescription drugs for the elderly, and a failing school system, and human suffering and starvation in the world. We live with all the indignities of the security checks and our being under suspicion. We live with the uncertainty of the market place, which can have a profound effect upon the elder population. We live with incivility, anger, and rage around us everywhere. We are often torn by what our loyalties really are in a world that demands so much of our attention, and can seem so overwhelming.
There are choices we have to make. We can stay hanging on in the boat seeking some kind of comfort only eventually to go down with the ship. We can feel so powerless as to surrender to the world in hopelessness and despair. Or we can choose to get out of the sinking ship and walk with Christ focused on him, focused on his love, focused on forgiveness, focused on the hope of renewal and resurrection in the middle of the turmoil and distresses of our lives. We can dare to live focused on Christ in hope as we walk through the darkness and the evil waves to the shore of a new dawning day of new life, love and hope.
AFTERTHOUGHT: Notice also the Baptismal implications of the story. Peter is raised up, i.e. resurrected to new life and the dawning of a new day.