Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Year A
1 Kings 19:9, 11-13;
Psalm 85; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-33
Peter got out of the
boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.
Matthew 14:29
Peter gets a bad rap.
We all know him as the man who didn’t trust Jesus while out in the
storm. We view this story as an example
of one of Peter’s many failures and we take comfort that we are in good
company. Fine! But let’s remember that Peter was the only
one to get out of the boat. The rest of
the disciples huddled in fear and watched.
Only Peter had enough audacity to actually give it a try. Rather than see this story as an example of
failure, I think we ought to see it as an example of success.
Let’s take a look at the story. Jesus has just performed the miracle of
feeding the 5,000 with a few loaves and fish.
Afterward, he tells the disciples to go on ahead of Him and He spends
some time in prayer. While they’re out
on the sea a storm comes up and Jesus goes to them… walking on the water. He has to walk because they took the only
available boat. The disciples think they
are seeing a ghost and I’m certain they all thought it was an omen that they
were going to die. But Jesus encourages
them. “Take courage, it is I; do not be
afraid.”
Let’s stop for a moment.
When the disciples were in an impossible situation with the crowds Jesus
came through by feeding them. Jesus is
the one who told them to go across the sea.
He is still teaching them the same lesson. He wants them to believe even in the midst of
impossible, or perilous, circumstances.
But they still don’t get it.
Rather than trust in the word of Jesus they are afraid for their lives. Who of us can blame them? After all, how many times do the same kinds
of things happen to us?
So the disciples are in the midst of the storm on the sea
and they see Jesus. Now here’s where it
gets completely bizarre. Peter says, “Lord,
if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” What kind of logic is that? What if it’s a mirage? Peter is staking his life on the fact that
this really is the Lord. Then Jesus
takes him up on the offer. “Come.” And Peter gets out of the boat in the midst of
the raging storm and begins to walk on the water.
Now let’s pause for a moment again, because it’s at this
point that we often want to play Monday morning quarterback. We know how the story continues. Peter walks for a few moments and then
realizes, “Hey, wait, I’m in a storm on the sea.” And just like an old road runner cartoon, he
begins to sink when the realization sinks in.
We want to criticize Peter for this.
But how many of us have walked on water?
Zip! None of us have done
this. In fact, aside from Jesus, Peter
is the only other person recorded to have walked on water. Not bad!
True, Jesus saves Peter and brings him back to the boat and
asks, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Then He calms the storm and the disciples
finally begin to understand. “Truly, you
are the Son of God.” Is Jesus angry with
Peter? Or the others? Have they
sinned? Perhaps. But I don’t see Jesus’ rebuke as one of
anger. It’s more like a challenge.
Think about how a coach needs to motivate his players. He might say something like, “Is that all you
got?” He intends his words to challenge
his players to rise to the occasion. I
have a suspicion the same dynamic is working here. Jesus is not remotely finished with Peter, or
any of the others. Their greatest
moments are ahead of them. But these are
times when they are tried and trained so they can become the men we know them
to be later.
There would come a time when Peter would say to a lame
beggar, “Rise up and walk.” He would
look at a dead woman and call her back to life.
Even his shadow passing over those who are sick would heal them. Peter wouldn’t have become that man without
this experience that we consider today.
You know what I see in Peter? Audacious faith! Peter dared to believe. You see, Jesus knew He could work with that. Peter was rebuked for having “little faith”,
but that’s better than having no faith.
Little faith means there’s something to work with. No faith means there’s nothing to work
with. Go back and look at the many times
in the Gospels when Jesus would say something like, “According to your faith be
it done to you,” or the occasions when He couldn’t
do any mighty works because of their unbelief.
God has committed Himself to work on the line of faith. I don’t understand that, but it doesn’t
matter. That’s what He’s done. He could do it all by Himself but He’s chosen
to work through us and He’s chosen to do that according to our faith. All He needs is someone audacious enough to
dare to believe… like Peter.
Right now the prophets of doom hold sway. Disease, the economy, natural disasters, or
the political climate are all held forth as imminent threats to our lives. Where are the people of audacious faith who
will say in essence, “Lord if You’re in the middle of this storm, command me to
come to You.” God awaits such people and
He will not be delinquent with His answers.
Here’s the good news.
What if you fail? What if you
mess up? Then you’re in good
company. Because that’s what Peter
did. We can’t be afraid to fail! Better to do our best and fail while trying
than to fail by never trying. I’ll be honest,
when I read this story in the Gospel I’m with the disciples in the boat. There’s nothing in me that remotely wants to
try to take a walk in the storm. I would
be sitting in the boat watching Peter thinking, “What a fool”. But then it would become obvious that I was
the fool. Foolish is the one who has the
power of Almighty God at his disposal and chooses rather to cower in fear.
What storms assail you?
What ferocity surrounds you at this very moment? The Lord is calling you out of the boat. The key for you to remember is not whether or
not you think you can walk on water, it’s to think about Who is calling you to
do it. We can learn from Peter’s
mistake. He stopped looking at Jesus. With our eyes firmly fixed on Him, we too can
walk on water in the midst of the storm.
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