Matthew 14:22-34

Immediately Jesus urged the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed the crowd, he went up onto the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. 24 By then the boat was quite a distance from shore, being pounded by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 In the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came toward them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and cried out in fear, “It’s a ghost!” 27 But Jesus spoke to them at once, saying, “Take heart! It is I! Do not be afraid.” 28 Peter answered him and said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 Jesus said, “Come!” Peter stepped down from the boat, walked on the water, and went toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong wind, he was afraid. As he began to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 Those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God!” (EHV)

What makes your heart sink? What scares you? Is it loneliness? Are you afraid to go out on a limb for Jesus—to share your faith, or to really put your faith into action? I read a religious article that suggested most people are afraid of silent time alone. That’s why they flip on the radio or TV the minute they get home. They’re afraid of the quiet because they might find themselves alone with their thoughts, and those thoughts get scary.

Are you ever afraid? Then God has something to say to you today.

We Needn’t Fear

One night Jesus’ disciples were very, very anxious. It was past three in the morning. They were out on the sea in the dark, rowing feverishly against the wind to get across to Peter’s hometown. They had intended to sleep there and meet Jesus the next morning. Jesus wasn’t with them because he had gone off to be by himself and pray. They were getting exhausted. Their nerves were on edge, when suddenly they saw something. They saw something white moving across the water, getting closer and closer to them. They could see it had the form of a man—but he was walking right across the face of the water! What conclusion would you draw? We’re told the disciples assumed it had to be a ghost and they were very scared. How totally unspiritual! These same twelve men had just witnessed Jesus feed five thousand men, plus women and children with five loaves of bread and two fish. But they didn’t get it. They didn’t realize that God Himself had come down to earth in Jesus Christ. They were thinking just like ordinary, unspiritual folks—that is until Jesus heard their ridiculous remarks and saw that they were terrified. He called out to them “Take heart! It is I! Do not be afraid.”

Peter was one of the twelve timid little men cowering in the boat, until Jesus said, “It is I.” But Jesus’ Words had the desired effect on him. Suddenly Peter the Petrified Pipsqueak became Peter the Proud and Powerful. “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”

“Come!” Jesus said. ‘Come out to me on the water.’ Jesus’ response is pretty astounding when you think about it. It was really kind of an impetuous, goofy suggestion Peter had made, but Jesus said “yes” to it anyway! So Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. Wow! Peter—human through and through, heavier than water, just like you and me, got out of the boat and actually walked on water! For a brief moment all his fears were totally gone as he focused on Jesus and followed His command to come.

How long can a human being focus so intently on Jesus and His Word that he totally puts his other thoughts and his fears aside? Well this example, at least, says “not very long at all.” Peter wanted to trust Jesus. Peter started trusting in Jesus. But there were some other things on his mind—other things in his vision—that simply pushed Jesus out of the center of his attention: When he saw the strong wind, he was afraid. As he began to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Peter sank, because even in the presence of the Lord he still had fears and let those fears get the better of him. He focused his eyes on the impossible, and forgot that with God, “all things are possible.” He focused on the fact that he was just a mere mortal, rather than on the fact that Jesus who was standing right before him is God. He focused on the powers of nature, instead of on the almighty power of the Creator of nature. And down he went. Glub, glub, glub.

We can certainly put ourselves in his soaking sandals, can’t we? We’ve got fears, too—lots of them—fears that arise when we think we’re all alone and forget that we’re followers of the One who fed the five thousand. We’ve got fears when we are as unspiritual as the disciples and worry that ghosts and goblins are going to get us. We’ve got fears that petrify and prevent us from doing a lot of things—things that God commands us to do, just because we fear them to be impossible. We may even begin with the best of intentions, just like Peter venturing out on the water. But those great intentions soon give way to ordinary old doubt and lack of faith and fear until we find ourselves paralyzed again in immobility, sitting on our hands and biding time—maybe even hoping that all those big challenges Jesus gives us would just go away on their own, but “I’m just sure they won’t! After all, aren’t the powers of nature absolute and immutable?” Finally, Jesus has to describe us in the same sad terms as He did Peter: “You of little faith…”

It’s those fears that sometimes prevent congregations from being all God wants them to be. We’re scared God won’t be able to take care of us if we’re generous with our offerings, even though Jesus promises to take care of us and bless us. We’re scared to spend so much time reading our Meditations and our Bibles, because ‘how will I get done with my many tasks?’ We’re scared to share our faith, because ‘what if someone doesn’t want to hear about Jesus? They might think I’m a religious nut or something, or I might say something wrong.’

Let’s face it, sometimes we’re just as chicken as Peter. We can be just as childishly afraid as the disciples in the boat—and often are. We’d like to trust, like Peter, but ‘Oh, those waves are so big!’ We’d really, genuinely, deep-down, like to go out on a limb for Jesus. We even start out that way sometimes, but, but … glug, glug, glug ….

Jesus Is With You

What could Jesus possibly have to say to such cowardly spiritual wimps as us? Well, we all know that He has a perfect right to say: “Forget it. I’ll take my Good News and forgiveness to someone else. Get lost.” Jesus has every right and every reason to cast us away forever for our sins of faithlessness and doubt.

He could have reacted that way to the twelve cowardly apostles in the boat who were scared of ghosts. But He didn’t. Jesus took pity on them. Instead of reading them the riot act He acted like a friend. And that’s what He was—their Friend—in spite of all their sinful weaknesses.

How did Jesus reassure His disciples in the boat? With His presence and with His Word. Whereas, before, they had been thinking about all their human woes, Jesus got them to stop looking inward, and look to Him instead. They weren’t just focusing on a friend, now, but on their Savior. They saw in Jesus the forgiving Son of God who would take away their fears along with their sins. They didn’t just see a man walking on water. Ordinary men don’t do that sort of thing. No, they saw their Almighty God, in the person of Jesus Christ, walking on that water. They could see that He was fully in control of nature. Nothing was impossible for Jesus! They realized that He knew their situation all along, even when they couldn’t see Him. And now, especially, after Jesus climbed into the boat, it was His abiding presence that calmed them and gave them faith.

He is with us too, even though we don’t see Him. He speaks to us through His Word and tells us the same thing He told His fearful friends in the boat: “Take heart! It is I! Do not be afraid.”  But how quickly we forget these things and fall right back into our old, faithless, fearful way of thinking. We forget that Jesus is alive and with us, every moment of every day. So Jesus goes one step further. He also comes into our own presence at this altar, and actually gives us His own true Body and Blood, so that we truly are not alone, but can touch and feel our Savior right there with us—in us.

Peter’s fears were calmed when he saw Jesus. For a moment he had a real burst of faith-filled confidence. He thought, “Wow, with Jesus here, I’m fine. With Him I can do anything!” And so he asked Jesus for permission to come out to Him on the water. What a great “leap of faith!” And he had every reason to have that kind of trust and dare the “impossible” for God, for whom the word “impossible” doesn’t exist. Jesus was there! He Himself was out on the water. Why not?!

Of course, Peter couldn’t sustain that level of faith for long. The realities of this scary, natural world were just too present—too “here and now,” too visible. The wind blowing through his robe and his hair was just too noticeable. And so he lost track of and sight of and trust in the even greater reality that Jesus was with him.

But Jesus was and is very real—“an ever present help in trouble.” As Peter began to sink, Jesus pulled him up again. Did you catch the significance of that? Even when he was weak in faith, even when He was actively sinning by doubting—even then, Jesus was there to rescue him! Jesus reached out and grabbed him and pulled him up. Jesus doesn’t just run away and leave weak Christians. He doesn’t abandon us when we doubt. He reaches down all the farther to pull us out of the mess we get ourselves into.

Of course, Peter got wet in the process. His ego took a giant step backward. I imagine bold and boisterous Peter looked a little sheepish and a few inches shorter when he climbed dripping and cold back into the boat, with Jesus holding his hand. But you can be sure he was a better man for it. Humility is a virtue in God’s eyes. It’s God who makes everything possible—from our first breath to our eternal salvation. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for trusting in ourselves, does it? And Peter was better for the experience also because he had learned that Jesus’ helping, powerful, rescuing hand was every bit as real as the wind and the water He’d created.

Jesus is there for us too! He’s just as real, just as powerful, just as forgiving and just as ready to reach down His hand and pull us up. If only we give God the chance to be God! If only we can put aside our fears. If only we can stop focusing on the “visible” in our world and realize that the “invisible” we confess is just as real—and a whole lot better! In fact, that’s why God gives us the “visible” in His Sacraments. That’s precisely why He uses earthly elements—water in baptism, and bread and wine in communion. It’s because He has mercy on us who can’t grasp Him without something tangible to touch and taste.

Jesus is there for us! He’s here for us. He’s not going to let us down when we walk forward in faith as Peter did. He’s not going to abandon us if we take some steps of faith for Him and His kingdom! He’s not going to run away if we stumble or fall, either. He’s within arm’s reach when we call out “Lord, save me!” “Take heart! It is I! Do not be afraid” is His ready answer. May we each trust Him with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind—all the days of our lives. Amen.