“Signs and Wonders: Walking on Water” by Rev. Cody Sandahl – August 7, 2016
Introduction
We are still in our series looking at the signs and wonders of Jesus. Last week Pastor Carol talked about the feeding of the 5000 – which was probably 10-15,000 once you added in women and children. Our text today happens right after this miraculous meal on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
If you remember, the crowds, after some miraculous bread and fish, were ready to forcibly crown Jesus as King. Now in their defense, as Napoleon remarked, “an army marches on its stomach,” so having a king who can conjure food from thin air is pretty useful if you’re going to try to overthrow the Romans.
But Jesus doesn’t let it happen. In fact, our text says he IMMEDIATELY sent the disciples away – maybe he didn’t want them intoxicated by the easy fame and adoration of the crowd. And then Jesus sends the crowd away. If you remember, the devil tempted Jesus with the same thought earlier in his life – take over, Jesus. Become King. Control it directly. Then you won’t need to go to the cross. This was another opportunity to skip the cross and take over. But he dismissed the crowds and got his disciples away from the temptation. And then listen to what happens next.
Matthew 14:22-33
22Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.25And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea.26But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” 28Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Moral of the Story?
I hate the story of the tortoise and the hare. Well, to be fair, I don’t hate the story itself. It’s a good story. A rabbit races a turtle, but falls asleep during the race and loses. And what’s the moral of the story? Slow and steady wins the race. Yeah, tell that to Usain Bolt at the Olympics. Slow and steady ain’t gonna bring home the gold in the 100-meter race.
And it’s not going to work in the marathon, either. The gold medal winner at the last Olympics averaged 4:52 per mile. For 26.2 miles. The last time I did just a one mile race the best I could do is 5:35. Slow and steady won’t bring home the gold even in the marathon. You need fast and steady.
And that’s why I hate the tortoise and the hare. Because the moral of the story isn’t “slow and steady wins the race.” It’s to keep your eyes on the prize. Because fast and steady will beat slow and steady every time.
Similarly, different people take different lessons from our text today. And it typically hinges on how they look at Peter.
Some people see Peter as foolish. Such audacity to ask Jesus to walk on water. It’s a foolish request and he winds up with a foolish result – having to be rescued after sinking beneath the waves. I see that, but Jesus apparently doesn’t think it’s foolish – he tells Peter to come on out.
Some people see Peter as well-intentioned but lacking faith. After all, Jesus calls him, “you of little faith.” I see that, but frankly I have to give Peter some props, too. However many steps he got out on the water before he sank – that’s how many more steps he’s walked on water than I have. He has me beat there.
Still other people get a totally opposite moral from this story. They see Peter’s boldness as the key lesson – he was doing great until he lacked courage. So we should jump out of the boat! All overboard!
So what’s the real moral of this story?
Well, those three morals all have the same problem – they’re looking at the wrong person. This story, just like the other miracles, is about Jesus. Not Peter.
The disciples are afraid for their lives in the middle of this storm. From the other accounts of this miracle we know that the disciples have been “laboriously” rowing for about ten hours. It’s now about four in the morning. In those ten hours they’ve only made it about three miles – just enough to be in the middle of the lake. And even though they are skilled fishermen and strong swimmers, they’re afraid for their lives. Without Jesus, this would’ve been the end of their story. This would be George Clooney in the Perfect Storm – Sea of Galilee Edition. But Jesus is there.
Or let’s imagine Peter trying to walk on water without Jesus there. How would that have gone? As with Luca Brasi in the Godfather, Peter would sleep with the fishes.
Jesus has power over the storm. We don’t. Jesus has power over the laws of physics. We don’t. Jesus is the Son of God. We aren’t.
But when we are with Jesus…we just might be able to walk on water, too.
Get Out of the Boat…IFF Jesus Is There
And that is, to me, the moral of this story. Jesus has power over everything. If we are standing with him. If we are following him. If we are heeding the sound of his voice – anything is possible.
We can’t calm a storm. But if we’re following Jesus in a storm he might do it. We can’t walk on water. But if we’re following Jesus out onto the water he might make it happen.
The moral of this story isn’t to hide in the boat and wait for Jesus to do his thing. And the moral of the story isn’t to jump out of our boats, either. Because if Jesus isn’t out there, we’re just going to sink.
This story is about following the One who has power over the wind and the waves and everything else.
It kind of reminds me of John, who is my de-facto brother. He’s been a part of our family since I was in high school. And John is both incredibly strong and an amazing fighter. If a University of Texas football player needs to be kicked out of the bar, the bouncers can’t do it. But John can.
One night my brother and two of his friends were being threatened by a group of ten pretty stout guys. Three on ten is a bad proposition. But it was at John’s bar, and he came out from behind the bar and said, “I’ll take six of them.” If my math is right, he actually took out seven. Three against ten is a bad idea. But if you add John to the three, it’s a mismatch in the other direction. John’s not there? Run. John’s there? We’re good.
Jumping out of a boat in a storm is a bad idea. But if you’re following Jesus out onto the water then the waves are no match. Jesus isn’t there? Stay in the boat. Jesus is traipsing about on the waves? We’re good.
In my logic classes from college there were two different kinds of “if.” There’s regular “if,” and then there’s a stronger “if” called “if and only if.” Jump out of the boat “if and only if” Jesus is there. Make sure you’re following Jesus, not a ghost. Make sure you’re following Jesus, not just being a daredevil. Make sure you’re following Jesus, not trying to show your own skills. Jump out of the boat “if and only if” Jesus is there. That, to me, is the moral of the story.
Where Is Jesus?
There’s another dynamic, though, that I find intriguing. The story starts with an adoring crowd, everyone’s well fed, and they’re standing on safe, solid ground. And immediately Jesus sends his disciples out onto the lake. Into a brewing storm. Into danger.
Or when we fast forward to the boat in the middle of the storm. Let me ask you – if you could choose to be inside the boat in the storm or outside the boat in the storm, which would you pick? Which one is safer? Inside the boat, right? And yet Jesus tells Peter to “come” out onto the waves.
Jesus doesn’t typically send us into safe and comfortable spots. He’s not really in the business of asking us to do what we’re already capable of doing on our own. He tends to send us where we’ll need HIM, not just our own hands. In this story, Jesus even sends the disciples out to do something they’re good at – fishermen know how to handle boats – but he sends them into a storm they can’t handle without him.
If we think we know where Jesus is sending us and it doesn’t scare us a little, we’re probably missing something. If we are following Jesus and we think, “yeah, we can do that.” We’re probably missing something. Are our dreams and visions and goals merely attainable? Or do they REQUIRE Jesus to be there? Jesus wants us to go where HE is, not where we can go on our own.
Jesus sent the disciples from the safety of the dry land into the danger of the storm so that they could experience something amazing in the middle of the lake. Are we still on safe, dry land? Are we the well-fed crowd, or the people who follow Jesus out onto the water?
Possible Visions
As a church we are trying to listen closely for Jesus’ voice in the midst of the wind. We are trying to look around and spot Jesus scooting about on the water. We are trying to figure out where Jesus is asking us to follow him. A big part of this is prayer – asking for clarity, asking for Christ’s leadership, not our own ideas.
Let me share with you some of the ways we’re looking for Jesus and listening for his voice.
There seems to be something brewing with hunger. We’ve shared a few times about the free community dinner we had in June. We have another on September 13. We have the Thanksgiving meal in November. And that team is exploring whether Jesus is sitting down to dine with us. That team is hoping it will blossom into a monthly community meal next year.
So far, Jesus has been in it. If you remember I had to do an anti-announcement for the first meal. We had the money, we had the supplies, we had the volunteers, we had the leadership. The county certified our kitchen. The city was excited for us to do it and helped get the word out. The local newspapers picked up on it and publicized it a bit even though we didn’t tell them. The obstacles have been falling – if that continues to happen and if we find that the meal reaches a group who needs it, maybe that’s a way that we can follow Jesus out onto the water.
But once a month is a lot. We don’t have the money for that. We don’t have the supplies for that. We don’t have all the volunteers for that. We don’t have the leadership for that. We can’t do that on our own. We need Jesus to move people to step out of the boat for that to happen.
There seems to be something brewing with homelessness. We have had a noticeable uptick in our encounters with some of the local homeless population. And I feel like Jesus is up to something there, because we’re seeing some of the same people enough times to get to know them a bit. To help beyond just a little food – we helped one man connect with a residential rehab program and he’s been able to find work at the same time. And our mission committee is exploring a partnership with Family Promise. They used to be known as InterFaith Hospitality Network, and this church actually did this not too long ago. It’s a program where local churches host a few homeless families in the church for a week at a time, and the families rotate between the churches so each church only has to host a few times a year. We’re exploring whether Jesus is calling us to be a host church next year – maybe even just one week in the summer. But even that is a big deal. It’s a lot of organization, and it will take a dedicated leader. It takes a lot of volunteers – driving vans, setting up rooms, meals for four families each day, a couple of people to stay overnight each night. We can’t do that on our own. We need Jesus to move people to step out of the boat for that to happen.
There seems to be something brewing with relationships across the generations. For one example, we started a Sunday night worship service led and planned by the youth. But it’s not just for the youth. The youngest person to worship on Sunday night was less than one-year-old. And I believe the oldest was 92. That’s a decent spread, right? We’re trying to figure out how we can have more contexts like that for relationships to develop across generations. We want the adults to get to know the youth and children without being asked for money in return. We want the youth and children to get to know the adults without being asked to lift heavy objects or sweep things in return. Not transactions. Relationships. And so the youth had a serve day where multiple generations worked together at David Clifton Ministries – they work with the homeless population near downtown Denver. We’re exploring whether we can expand that to be an all-church invitation. Where our whole range of generations can work together, rub elbows, and get to know each other while serving the homeless. We’re also in the earliest stages of looking at bringing back a weekend church camp for all generations. But we can’t do these things on our own. We need Jesus to move people to step out of the boat for it to happen.
Summary
Sisters and brothers, Jesus doesn’t tend to send us to solid ground on a sunny day. It’s usually a bit stormy out there. Because Jesus doesn’t send us where we can handle things on our own. He sends us where we need HIM. If we’re out on our own, we should probably stay in the boat. But if Jesus is there, the waves are no match for him.
I invite you to pray for our church to hear Jesus’ voice, to spot Jesus out on the waves, and to step out of the boat when we find where Jesus is sending us. Step one is finding Jesus. Step two is going there. Step three is getting out of the boat. We’re going to find him because we’re seeking him. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure we go where we find him. But then we have to decide if we’re going to get out of the boat. Amen.
