Matthew 14:22-33
Jesus Walks on the Water
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
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This sermon was originally preach at Redeemer Episcopal Church to a certain people in a certain context in a certain time. We believe in a God who transcends time and space, so I hope that the Holy Spirit might speak to you as well. You can read the sermon below, listen to it here, or watch the whole worship service here.
Let us pray.
God in Christ, give us the courage to step out in faith, leaving behind the comforts of security and peace, and following you into the turbulent waves of the unknown. Amen.
I have an image of this passage in my office here at Redeemer. It is a big beautiful blue sea wit Jesus, in white, walking across it. There is no boat, no Peter, no storm even. Curious about other images of the story, I googled paintings of this passage. They are all fairly similar. Unlike my painting, they have Jesus, walking toward a boat and Peter is halfway under water, reaching out to Jesus with panic in his eyes.
Perhaps you can see one of those paintings in your head right now. Maybe it’s the exact image you had when you heard this passage this morning.
Peter, halfway under water, reaching out to Jesus, panicked and about to drown.
I get it. It makes sense. It’s mostly what I think of too. After all, Peter is not exactly the model disciple all the time.
He’s the one who denied Jesus, after all.
He also seems to be easily distracted and maybe even a little doubtful in this story.
That is mostly what I focus on in this story— Peter got out of that boat just to look around, get distracted, and doubt God’s power in Christ Jesus. Then Jesus chastises him and hauls him out of the water. Silly doubting Peter.
But as I read the story over and over again this past week, I couldn’t help but notice something different.
Peter had the courage to get out of the boat while everyone else stayed.
Peter saw Jesus out walking on the sea and he wanted so much to be like Jesus that he risked his life to step out of that boat and be on the raging sea beside him.
Peter was willing to risk his life to be like Jesus.
This is kind of a theme of Peter’s as he does ministry alongside Jesus. He was also the one who misguidedly cut off the soldier’s ear when they came to arrest Jesus in the garden.
This continues in his life after Jesus’ death and resurrection, with his ministry and multiple arrests and even gets fussed at by Paul eventually. Peter is no stranger to stepping out into trouble for Jesus.
Peter sees Jesus walking on the water, in the middle of a storm, and everyone thinks he is a ghost. But when Peter hears his words of assurance, he can’t help but call out to Jesus and move closer to him. He steps out of the boat into the crashing waves and walks toward Jesus.
Unlike everyone else, he has the courage to get out of the boat, out of the safety and security, having faith that Jesus will lead him.
And of course, then next part of the story is that he gets distracted and begins to sink into the water— the part of the story that everyone loves to depict in paintings.
But no one else even takes the chance. Peter is the only one who has enough faith to step out of the boat, even when he doesn’t know what is going to happen next.
This is the kind of risk-taking and stepping out that Jesus invites us into in the waters of baptism. This is the kind of faith that is required of us. When Christ bids us follow him, it is not an invitation into a comfortable, easy, care-free life. He invites us into the troubled waters with him, into the chaos of life and death. Jesus calls us out of the comfort of our life before him and into the storm.
Because now that we know Jesus, now that we understand what his ministry is about and what it means to truly love one another and deeply care for one another, we know that it isn’t a delightful walk in the park. It’s a precarious walk on the sea.
Instead of buying into the security of this world, with selfishness, greed, property, and wealth— Jesus invites us into something different, something much more risky. He invites us into the Kingdom, that promises true reconciliation, love, vulnerability and peace. And that’s scary. If you have ever loved anyone enough to follow them anywhere, you know that that is scary. Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart. For most of the disciples, it meant following him to their own deaths.
But the good news is that when the waves get too overwhelming around Peter and he gets distracted, he is not left to drown. Jesus is out in the middle of the storm with him. And Christ reaches out his hand and brings him to safety. God did not leave Peter alone. And then he takes Peter’s faith and builds the whole church from it. That tiny bit of faith that called him out of the boat was what God used to bring about the ministry of the church today. Because we worship a God who takes the tiniest things, the mustard seed and the yeast, and creates abundance. God takes our tiny faith and creates the kingdom.
God has not left us alone. Despite our distance from one another, and this time when we have had to repeatedly step out of the comfort of our normal, comfortable boat— God has not left us. And when we become distracted and discouraged by the storm and waves raging around us— whatever the storm may be— Jesus is present to lift us out of the water and bring us to safety. So step out of that boat, beloved. Take a risk and follow Christ into that storm of love and vulnerability and faith. Because he is with you. Amen.
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