Walking on Water

​Dear God, open our hearts and our ears that we might  hear your voice and walk in your ways. Amen 

Please be seated. 

When I was preparing this sermon the thing that grabbed  me the most (and still does) is the very first sentence. 

“Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on  ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.”  Jesus made the disciples. Made. As you know I was a  fire investigator in my prior life and the hardest thing I had  to do was prove intent. Jesus doesn’t make the  investigator of this text work very hard because it is right  there. Made. Jesus intended that the disciples get in the  boat and head out across the lake. There are times when  I am reading scripture that I have to wonder if Jesus was  not a big practical joker. I mean, I have a vision of Jesus  sending his troops out across the lake and saying to the  fella next to him, “Hold my cup of wine and watch this.”  There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus knows a storm is coming up and that he is going to walk out on the water  well before the disciples set foot in the boat. If you are a  boater you know you can tell when a storm is coming  quite some time before it gets to you because you need  to know what will likely happen when you are away from  shore. So I have a vision of Jesus chuckling to himself as  he heads off to the mountain to pray. And like most  practical jokes this one goes wrong because Peter wants  so much to be like the teacher. 

I think the question comes to mind, what was Jesus  setting out to accomplish walking across the water in the  storm. I don’t think it was to prove one more time that he was the Son of Man. I think at this point his disciples  were pretty convinced that they were in the presence of  God’s favored one. He has already performed several  miracles including curing a man’s withered hand and  feeding the 5,000. Some theologians think this was his  opportunity to prove mastery over nature. I think it might  be something different. Again I think he knew the storm  was coming and that he was going to walk across the  lake but I don’t know that he knew Peter would ask to  walk with him. We humans are an unpredictable lot ever  since we were granted free will at our creation. Of course  walking on water helps us, in our day and age, to accept  the divinity of Jesus and it does serve that purpose. For me, it serves another purpose and for that I want to focus  on Peter. 

I think a word or two about sailing is needed here. I have  a small, fourteen foot, sloop rigged sailboat that I sailed  for a number of years when my kids were pretty small. I  have also sailed on a lake at the beginning of a storm but  with enough sense to not sail in the storm. The wind  blows hard and unpredictably in a storm and the water,  even on a lake, forms into waves. It is important to keep  the boat going forward in these conditions so it enters  waves bow first.

 It is vital to keep the boat moving forward. Not doing so  means the boat drifts sideways into waves and capsizes.  All of that means rearranging the sails quickly and often,  and with twelve men in the boat everyone on the boat  needs to be alert for ropes and sails and equipment and  bodies flying around the craft. So you have to work  insanely hard to continue moving forward or take your  chances by dropping the sail. Neither is a happy choice I  can tell you from experience and that is why I latched  onto the words that “Jesus made” his disciples get in the  boat and crossover. 

So there they are, chaos in the boat and chaos in the  environment. Eyes wide in fear and adrenaline pumping  through their veins and a figure comes walking across the  water. If you are one of the people on that boat you have  got to believe your life is about to come to an end.  Whatever that figure is it can’t be good. And Jesus says  “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Yeah, Right!! And  Peter’s response is to say “Lord, if it is you, command me  to come to you on the water.” I am not sure if this is a  statement made in shear panic or if he really realized what  he was saying. It’s a reaction to the situation and not one  well thought out. As our former Presiding Bishop Michael  Curry says when he talks about this gospel; Jesus says “Ya’ll Come”. And Peter does. Peter doesn’t get too far  into his stroll when the realities of his situation finally  dawn on him and he really panics and starts to sink. Now  some might focus on Jesus chiding Peter for his lack of  faith but I think Jesus is just trying to get Peter to rescue  himself. When that fails Jesus offers a hand and Peter  gets his act back together. I don’t think Jesus picked  Peter up and carried him to the boat but I do think he held  his hand until they entered the boat.  

Some of you may have heard this next story so please  bear with me. When I first had a full on face to face  awakening to the devastation of addiction during an event in Worcester I foolishly asked God how he could allow  these people to suffer like this and why wasn’t he sending  help to them. And I heard God say “I am sending you.”  You might think, that does it now we know he is crazy.  Well maybe I am but I stand by the fact that I heard that  call to action. My major in college was history and  political science. Nothing to do with social services or  interacting with those on the margins. I was just as afraid  of those people as some of you are. I put on my big boy  pants and walked into Rev. Heather’s office and asked her  to help me lay out a course to answer the call I heard. I  got some training from folks in Worcester and Waltham  who were working with folks on the margins and got ready to do my thing at Second Helpings, our meal here  at Sts. James and Andrew on Monday evenings. Like  Peter I had taken a step out of the questionable security  of the boat and was entering the chaos of the reality of  being with real people. The first attempt found me  standing in the kitchen afraid to even talk to anyone. The  second attempt found me getting as far as the serving  line. I was doubting that I had the skills or the mind set or  even the courage to take the next step. But you know the  Spirit shows up at our time of need and gives us the  inspiration to answer that call. On the third evening I sat  down at a table full of folks except for one seat and after asking permission to sit, my work with Emmaus  Companions was off and running. 

I don’t think any of us enters into any kind of ministry  without some kind of misgiving that threatens to stop us  in our tracks. I also think God calls all of us at some point  in our lives. It may not be something big like starting a  ministry, it might be as simple as joining vestry or the  choir or Emmaus Companions. The idea dawns on us  and it sort of sounds doable then doubt sets in. The  challenge then is to ask for the strength and I believe it  will be given to you. With all the nonsense there is in the  world, in our country, in our state, there are a lot of things we can be called to try. You get a choice. You can sit in  front of the television and wring your hands or holler at  the news or get depressed and do nothing or you can  stand up and make one small corner of your surroundings  just a little better than it was before you stood up. You do  have the power. You can be an instrument of change.  That is why Jesus came into the world, to offer people a  vision of change that they can effect. He even told you  this is how you do it. The next time you have what you  think is a crazy idea about how to bring love into the  world ask yourself is it a call from God and don’t be  afraid, it is God and God will be there if you start to sink. Amen

---