Between three and six o'clock in the morning Jesus came to the disciples, walking on the water. Matthew 14:25 (GNT)
Sometimes, when I think about the things that Jesus did, a
lot of times, it only says once, maybe, in the Bible, that He did it. But I
think, then, you probably extrapolate that, that might not have been the first,
or the last, time that He walked on water, just the only time it was written
down about it.
And, in this particular case, He had just come from the
feeding of the 5,000, and there was all this leftover, even though such meager
resources they had to start with. But, He multiplied all that, and made it
more than what it was, and made it more effective than it would have been,
otherwise. And so, there was so much leftover that everybody was surprised. And
the crowd, when they found out that Jesus and the disciples were going over to
the other side of the lake, they began there, and walked around to the other
side.
Jesus Walked on the Water
Between three and six o'clock in the morning Jesus came to the disciples, walking on the water. Vs 25 (GNT)
In the meanwhile, the disciples headed over on a boat, and encountered some rough waters and stormy weather. And Jesus went up into the mountain to pray. And then, after being up there all evening, in the mountain, then He came down, and He decided to take that shortcut across. And He walked across the lake. And, of course, when the disciples saw Him coming up to them, they were all shook up. They were all scared, because this was not something they were used to. They thought, maybe, He was a ghost, or something.
So, when I'm thinking about this event of walking on the
water as being, itself, unusual, and not very often happening, and not
necessarily really required of us. But then, when I think about it through this
lens of justice, then that makes me think that it stands in for a whole lot of
things. All these various issues that are a flurry around us in the news, and
in our personal lives, in our community, that any one of them can be,
sometimes, like walking on water, can't they, to be able to address them. And
they're very difficult, and it would take a miracle. It would take resources
beyond us, and capabilities beyond those that we have, and it would be scary to
try. And so, really, that walking on water, in a sense, can represent any one
of these issues and challenges that we face, or that we stand up for, or that
we stand against. Any of these things that are going on in our lives, and in
the life of the world around us, is walking on the water.
Have Courage
Jesus spoke to them at once. “Courage!” he said. “It is I. Don't be afraid!” Vs 27 (GNT)
And so, everybody was scared. And we're scared sometimes
too, in the facing the situations that we're in, when we don't know what to do,
or how to handle them, or what's coming at us next, or when the other shoe's
going to drop. It seems like, we're like a centipede, sometimes, where it's not
just the other shoe, but it's one of the many other shoes, dropping all around.
And so, Jesus spoke to them. And, in the Good News
Translation, it says, "Jesus spoke to them at once. 'Courage,' He said.
'It is I. Don't be afraid.'"
It reminds me of our grandson, when he was little. We were
at Lourdes Hospital. Kyler went up to the little fish tank they have
there, in the visitor's area at Lourdes. And, when he got close, the fish kind
of scattered away, and he said, "Don't be afraid, little fishes. It's just
me." And, I think that's what Jesus was saying to His disciples, just,
"Don't be afraid, it's just me. It's all right. Don't be afraid."
But I like how it's brought out in this translation, too.
The words, "Have courage." That idea of not just being scared, don't
just not be scared, but also, be encouraged, have courage, take courage,
because it is Christ, and Christ is doing this work. He's the one that has
called us, and invited us to be a part of the work. He's the one that empowers
us with his gifts, the spiritual gifts. He's the one that gives us our sense of
vision, and our purpose, and our understanding, and our hope. And He's the one
that gives us the reward, along the way, for our faithfulness.
Join Christ in What He is Already Doing
He said, “Come ahead.” Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. Vs 29 (MSG)
And so, we leave the success in Christ's hands, and we do the part that He invites us to, as He did with Peter. Peter said, "Well, if it's really you, call me Peter. Tell me to come, and I'll come walk to you on the water." And so He said, and this is how He said it in The Message, "He said, 'Come ahead.' Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus."
And I love that image of, not just climbing out, or be
tentative. Jumping out, and going. And a lot of times, that's how we do, we get
going. We're excited, because Christ has given us something that He would like
us to do, and the opportunity has opened for us, something that is happening,
or some movement in an interesting direction. And God is inviting us. And so,
we jump out of the boat, and head out. But, then, after we get going, then we
do like Peter did, and realize, "Hey, there's some things going on around
that make this, maybe, a little more challenging than what I was thinking that
it might be." That we might, you know... The proverbial waves and wind
start in on us.
And we see, and feel, the challenges of the moment, along
with the opportunities. And so, we begin to sink in that, and we don't know
what to do. But, it's exciting to know that Christ is inviting us, even if we
don't know what to do, even with our fears, and our lack of resources and
understanding, and everything else that goes with it. He's inviting us to join
Him in what He's already doing. Christ was already walking on the water, with
or without Peter, with or without the other disciples. Storm or no storm, Jesus
was walking on the water. Jesus was already there.
And, if we look at these justice issues, again, through
this passage, then we see that Jesus is already there in those issues, in the
storms of our lives, in the deep sea, or the, however we want to... imagery
that we associate with that. He's already here with our congregation, as we
strive to turn corners, and make new, different opportunities in ways of
ministry. He's already here in our community with the struggles and challenges
that our community continues to wrestle with, and the rest of the world. He's
there in our relationships, He's there in our workplaces, He's present in all
of these difficulties and challenges of society.
And so, He's inviting us, not to just go, and Him stay
back here, and us go out there and see what happens, but He's inviting us to
come join Him in what He's already doing. To heal, and to help, and to make
lives better for people. And to say, and to address all of these situations to
reconcile, and to, you know. What's He doing? Bringing love to the world, Amen.
He's already out there doing that, and invites us to join Him.
So we jump out of the boat. We start to run. We see
ourselves sinking. Then, we're sinking for His cause. We're sinking because
we're following where He has invited us. And so, we cry out to Him, with Peter,
"Lord, save me." And He does.
Jesus Saves
When he noticed the strong wind, he was afraid and started to sink down in the water. “Save me, Lord!” he cried. Vs 30 (GNT)
I like how it's said in this Good News testament. It said, "When he noticed the strong wind, he was afraid, and started sinking in the water. 'Save me, Lord,' he cried." And so, then that kind of shows the dependency that we have on Christ, when nobody else can help, Christ can. And when we're sinking in any kind of a situation, or we're struggling with any kind of a situation, then we can always turn to Christ, and pray that simple prayer. "Lord, help me." That's my prayer I make more than any other others. I say, "Lord, help me," and He does.
And so, that's a rock in the middle of the sea. I've got
this picture that my grandmother gave me, a long time ago. One she had gotten
decades before I was born, when they had some, I think, Dutch cleanser, she
told me, that had a contest. And, if you sent in something, so many wrappers,
or something, then you would get this picture. And, it's a picture of two
women, and they were in this stormy sea, churning all around. And there was
this big stone cross that was emerging in front of the sea, and they were
clinging to it. And the title of the picture is Rock of Ages. And, I think that's
a good image for us, in the storms of life swirling about us, is that Jesus is
our Rock of Ages, and we can cling to Him. We can call on Him, and He will help
us. He will save us.
Don’t Doubt
Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?” Vs 31 (MSG)
And then, finally, in verse 31 in The Message, it says,
"Jesus didn't hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. And then He
said, 'Fainthearted? What got into you?'" So, we're encouraged not to
doubt Christ, not to doubt His love, and His saving power. And, when Christ
says "fainthearted," or "O ye of little faith," it's not to
condemn us, or to discourage us, but to encourage us to put another layer of
something on our faith. Put another layer of confidence in Him, put another
memory together to remind us how that Jesus saves, how He cares for us. How He
hears us, how He's ready to reach out, grab our arm and pull us up, and help us
to the next step, when turbulent times come.
So, here we are, we're, in a way, we could say, we're all
walking on the water, to some degree. We're all walking through challenges, and
we're all willing to join Jesus in the work that He's doing. We're all ready.
We know that there are going to be challenges, that there're going to be
storms, but we're working, and we're praying. And we're hoping that we will be
faithful, even in the midst of the storm, because we trust Him. And so, we
accept His invitation to come. "Come ahead. Join me." Amen.
Amen. In the name of Jesus.
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