Be En-Couraged

Matthew 14:22-33, NRSVue

22 Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

28 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Intro

This week, we conclude our sermon series, “Re-Shaped:  What We’re Made For.” Throughout this sermon series, we acknowledge that, sometimes, change is difficult for us to embrace. Yet God made us to change. As we hold these two ideas in tension, this sermon series helps us open our minds to God who created us and the ongoing call God has on our lives. We began with the prophet Jeremiah, acknowledging that we were made for this, and we embraced our call to remain as clay on the potter’s wheel, being refashioned and reshaped for the purpose God has for us, both as individuals and as a congregation. Then, we built on this as we explored Jesus’ baptism and our own call to be transformed from the inside out as we change our hearts and lives, use all of our emotions, and grow into the people God has called us to be. Last week, we explored our call to 'Let it Go,' to release our default responses. We are to live so that, when others look at the church, they might see Jesus in us. This week, we conclude that we might be En-couraged. 

This morning, we encounter Jesus and his disciples just after they have finished feeding the 5,000 from 5 loaves and 2 fish. As they were finishing up, Jesus told the disciples to go on ahead of him while he finished dismissing the crowd. Knowing where they had to go, the disciples head to a boat to cross the water, a typical method of transportation for their time period. As Jesus takes time to pray, the disciples are met with a storm on the water. The waves come up and scripture tells us that “the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them” (Matthew 14:24, NRSV). How often in life are we doing what we usually do when suddenly it seems like the “winds” of change or of life are going against us, and we seem to be far from where we planned? 

In life, just like in the journey of the disciples found in our Gospel lesson, we find ourselves in places where we weren’t expecting to be. Even looking back to before the COVID pandemic, there were more people here. Even as we have worked together over the last three years to re-engage in mission and ministry, relaunching the youth group, ECHOES, and various other ministries, we sometimes yearn to reach the shore. And yet, it seems like the shore we used to know is unattainable. 

Even as we have grown in faithfulness and in service, we would rather be in a safe place, a calm place. We want to know where we are headed. We want to map out the future, to understand where we are going, and to know that things are smooth sailing. We would rather get on the highway, set the cruise control, and just go. Or perhaps we would rather be in those mountaintop moments of solitude, where Jesus is praying alone and all seems right and calm in the world. In our minds, we know that Jesus said He would be with us, but sometimes it is hard to see where He is. This is where the disciples are, too. They are on the boat, not where they want to be headed, working against the wind, they know Jesus isn’t there, and they don’t really know what to do.

As the disciples find themselves in the midst of the storm, they find themselves in a situation that is somewhat familiar to at least some of them. The fishermen in the group certainly experienced storms in their work, but this storm was especially grueling. From evening until early morning, the text indicates to us that the disciples have been battling the wind and the waves for hours. They are probably exhausted when Jesus finally appears before them. From the distance, as the disciples looked onward through the onslaught of the howling rain, they mistake Jesus for a ghost. Unsure of what is walking towards them and surely thinking their minds are playing tricks on them, they hear a voice that sounds familiar. Maybe it is Jesus, but this Jesus is different from the one they have experienced before.

After the disciples get over their initial shock, Peter still isn’t sure. With a voice of uncertainty, he cries out to Jesus, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come.” Be careful if you ask Jesus to tell you to come out on the water, because he might tell you to come. Jesus will challenge and push you. Perhaps Peter secretly regrets the words the moment they come out of his mouth. Maybe he thinks to himself, “Did I really just say that?” Regardless of what Peter is thinking, Jesus immediately responds with one word: “Come.” 

What happens next is astounding! To the surprise of the rest of the disciples, Peter jumps out of the boat and begins walking on water. I imagine that even if we haven’t been in the place of Peter, we’ve been in the place of the disciples. We watch on the sidelines as someone does something crazy that we never think will succeed. We believe “That’s never been done before. You can’t do that!” Maybe someone we know quit their well-known, good-paying job to start their own business. Maybe someone decides to go back to school later in life, and we are shocked by the risks they have decided to make. We don’t do those things. We stay in our areas of comfort where we don’t take risks. We often hear this in church growth strategies: we long for people to come to our building, we want more people in church, but we don’t want to go where the people are, because it might take us to somewhere uncomfortable. We want to know the plans for bringing in children, without having to go to where the families are or making changes to be more hospitable to those families.

The cynical persons that are found within each of us are not surprised by what happens next to Peter. As quickly as it started, Peter’s venture out of the boat takes a turn for the worse. For a moment, we are surprised that Peter is able to walk on water. We begin to get our hopes up! Maybe the impossible is possible. We sometimes feel this on Sunday mornings, when we see visitors, but they may not return. Peter finds himself in this place as, all of a sudden, he realizes that he is walking on water away from the boat in the middle of a storm. His focus shifts from his master and goes to the winds, and he immediately begins to sink. He takes his eyes off Jesus.

What I find interesting about Peter today is that in order to get past the storm, Peter is being called to do something different. You see, Peter had never walked on water before. And yet, to follow Jesus and escape the storm he is in, Peter must step out of the boat. By stepping out and trusting God, he does something new.  Further, in doing something new, God never leaves Peter. Jesus does not cause Peter to sink. Instead, when Peter begins to walk, he doubts himself and what he is called to do.

 In losing sight of the God who has called him to do a new thing, Peter sinks. And when Peter does sink, he is caught and rescued by Jesus so that Peter can continue to do this new thing. You see, Peter and Jesus still have to get back to the boat. Jesus rescues Peter so that he can continue to walk on water until they both return to the boat. It is only after they walk back that the storms cease. Thus, Peter is called to return his focus to God and to continue in faith, walking on water until they return to the safety of the boat. 

As a congregation, we find ourselves in a place in our lives where we are in the boat amidst the storms. In the chaos that is this political season, in the insanity that is our broken world with violence and destruction, in a world where more and more people seem to be leaving the church, we are in the storm. So, we wonder how high the waves will come before we face destruction. And in the middle of the storm, God stands before us. Our savior is walking on the water. Do we believe that it is Jesus? How do we move forward? Maybe some of us will step out into the waves, but many of us prefer to stay here in the safety of our boat.

We move forward by acknowledging that we are made for change and stepping out of our comfort zone. We move forward by figuring out the new thing that Jesus is calling us to do by getting out of the boat. We move forward by trusting God. God is calling us to do something new. God has given us a new vision. At Saint Luke’s UMC, we are “cultivating a community that lovingly affirms all people as children of God, generously gives in response to God’s grace, and compassionately serves the world in Christ’s name.”

What do we mean by that? You see, God is calling us to create a community that loves everyone, accepts and respects everyone. It’s a community where we aren’t all of one mind, where we don’t all agree. It’s a community where, despite our differences, we can come to the one true center, not of politics, but Jesus. We acknowledge that no matter how different we may be, no matter what the world tries to tell us, we are one in Jesus Christ. We are this way because we are trying our best to follow after Jesus. That is so different from the storms of the world around us, where boats are battered, people are beaten, and storytelling, where we get to know someone has been forgotten. 

You may be asking, how do you know that God is calling us to step out in faith? And, if God is calling us out on the water, how do we know that we can walk on water? How do we know that we can do a new thing? How do we know that we can get out of the boat? That’s just Peter, who got out. I don’t see the rest of the disciples getting out of the boat! While that may be true, God, throughout the Bible, has called different people out of their “boats” to do a new thing. 

Jonah was called to a place he had never been before to proclaim salvation to his enemies. Joseph was called to trust God through the setbacks as God continued to work through the mess to do a new thing through him. Ruth and Naomi are called into a new relationship. Time and time again, God calls people to step out in faith as they do something new. Mary, you are called by God, and you are going to conceive in a way that has never been done before. I’m calling you to do a new thing. 

And all throughout this sermon series, we have learned that we were made for change. The God who created us made us for change. It is God who equips and empowers us to embrace the change that God is calling us to do. For if we fix our eyes on the Savior, if we really believe that what we are doing is the work that Jesus calls us to do, then friends, we too can walk on water. That is, when we fix our minds on who God is calling us to be and how God is calling us to change, God will guide us step by step and make it possible. For with God, all things are possible.

There is one other aspect of this story that we must pause to examine. As Jesus is rescuing Peter, he begins moving toward a teaching moment, asking “You man of weak faith! Why did you begin to have doubts?” I think for many of us, we believe that Jesus is asking Peter this question. After all, Peter began to sink once he looked at the winds whipping around him. I have often wondered whether this question was directed only at Peter. In other translations, “You man of weak faith” is translated “you of little faith.” Could Jesus have also asked this question of the disciples? After all, it was only Peter who stepped out of the boat while the remaining 11 disciples stayed behind, and the other disciples certainly heard this exchange too. I firmly believe the voice of God is louder than a storm. The other 11 certainly heard what Jesus was saying.

Regardless of who the question is directed at, this was a life-changing experience for the disciples. The last time the disciples had been on a boat with Jesus in the middle of a storm, Jesus had been with them, sleeping on the boat. After Jesus calmed the storm, the disciples wondered who Jesus was. This time, all the disciples, Peter and the 11 who stayed on the boat, worshipped Jesus and proclaimed him to be the Son of God. This story is meant to give the disciples and us a glimpse into the true identity of our savior. However, this glimpse is only possible because of the chaos of the storm in which the disciples found themselves. If the disciples had not found themselves in this place at this time and if Peter had not stepped out of the boat, none of this would have been possible. 

Bishop Will Willimon reminds us that this holds true for us as well. “I wonder if too many of us are merely splashing about in the safe shallows and therefore have too few opportunities to test and deepen our faith. The story today implies if you want to be close to Jesus, you have to venture forth out on the sea, you have to prove his promises through trusting his promises, through risk and venture.” 

In the midst of our storms, we are called. Perhaps we are in this moment of change because the storms of life are raging around us. Perhaps we are in this moment because we have endured the storms for so long, or maybe we are in this storm because we follow our Savior, no matter where He leads us. Either way, as we acknowledge that we continue to wrestle with discerning what God is calling us to do, we know that Jesus leads us. Jesus calls us to step out of the boat, to do a new thing, to create a beacon of hope for Danville, and beyond. We are called to step out in faith and trust God. Will we step out of the boat together?

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.