THE FEAR OF GETTING OUT OF THE BOAT
Romans 10:5-15, Matthew 114:22-33
It seems to me that the disciples, most of whom were fisherman, would have fared better in the storm described in the gospel of Matthew than they did. They had first-hand knowledge of the sea, and that it could bring life or death. They had enough experience with the sea to be fearful of what a storm could bring. Maybe it was this life experience that caused the disciples to be fearful.
Jesus has sent the disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee without him and the disciples ended up enduring high winds and waves and turbulent water for hours. What was supposed to be a short crossing has become a seemingly endless night of terror.
Jesus makes a surprise appearance early in the morning, I am guessing between the hours of three and six a.m. It is a bleak and dark time especially in this circumstance of the storm and the light of dawn seems a long time away.
At this point, the disciples fail to recognize Jesus. I am sure they are storm-tossed and frightened. The disciples at first cry out, "It is a ghost!" Jesus reassures them, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."
It is not hard to realize why the disciples at first are afraid, here comes Jesus with a miraculous walk over the waters. And apparently, Jesus seems unconcerned about the storm that has filled the disciples with fear. The wind still swirls and the waves overwhelm, even as Jesus approaches the boat.
And I think Peter does the oddest thing when he says, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He asks Jesus to command him to come out of the boat. And when Jesus does, Peter goes. Even though he is being obedient to Christ's command, I think it is an impulsive act of obedience when Peter steps over the edge of the boat and out onto the water.
And when Peter steps onto the water, the experience is probably not what he was expecting. The wind was still blowing; the waves still rolling so Peter panics and starts to sink. At this point, Jesus pulls Peter out of the water and they both get back into the boat. Only then does the storm cease.
So, the conclusion I gather from this story is that if you want to be a disciple of Jesus don't expect to live a safety-first, risk-free life.
We are followers of a Christ who unflinchingly strides into the storms of life. Our God is not a god of the status quo. Our God is a God of movement, of change, of motion. Remember, God created the Spirit blowing over the face of the chaotic waters in the first chapter of Genesis. Movement, change and motion have been part of our faith story since the beginning.
If we willingly follow Jesus, we had better anticipate getting wet. Christians are not called to be perfectly coiffed. If we are really living life in the Spirit, we are going to get wind-blown and wet.
I think the reason Peter lost his nerve and fell in the water was because of fear, fear of the violent, churning water and the vicious wind. As a fisherman Peter knew about the destruction and death that water and wind could bring. A storm on the sea could be unpredictable and deadly. Peter stepped out of the boat into the wind and waves. He truly wanted Jesus to command him to step unto the water but when Peter did, his fear overwhelmed him.
As a disciple of Christ, Jesus literally invited Peter to step into the wind and waves. But that invitation to be a disciple also included a life that could become windblown and turbulent. As a disciple of Christ, Peter lived a life that would be full of surprises--some good surprises (like walking on the water) and some bad surprises (like sinking into that water).
So where are you this morning? Walking or Sinking? Are you open to living in a windblown and turbulent life as a follower of Christ?
I think it was consistent with Peter's character that when he saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat that he would want to try to walk out and meet Jesus. He was an enthusiastic but impulsive follower of Christ. Peter often talked without thinking and acted without pondering the consequences.
But with all his impulsiveness and sometimes-misplaced enthusiasm, Jesus loved Peter. We know that through many of the stories in the gospels. Jesus saw beyond Peter's impulsive nature to the leader he could be.
Peter could have stayed in the boat, could have played it safe. But is that what discipleship is all about, playing it safe? The Good Samaritan didn't become good by playing it safe and never doing anything impulsive. He won Jesus' praise by taking the risk of stopping to help a man who had been attacked by robbers. He could have offered up all kinds of rationalizations why it would be more prudent to pass this man by on the other side, but he saw a need and he plunged right in. Isn't that what discipleship is all about?
There really is no place for caution in the Christian life. We really must learn to understand that concept. Most of us are like those other disciples with Peter that night--we're content to hold on to the safety of the boat.
Doubt sometimes can be our enemy and fear our greatest adversary. Wouldn't it be a shame if our only contribution were to hold on to the boat? Has God planted a dream in your heart? Some great thing you could do for God and for our community? Do you have a dream for our church and what we could yet be?
I would like to encourage all of you to read the book, The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. It is really quite a fascinating story of how a young evangelical Christian is living out his call to be a disciple of Christ. While he was a college student at a Christian university, he was challenged to rethink his philosophy of what it means to care for the poor, the hungry and the homeless that lived in the same city with him. He is one of the founding members of The Simple Way, a faith community that is actively trying to live as disciples of Christ in inner city Philadelphia.
I also encourage you to talk with one of your youth who went on the mission trip to Broad Street Ministries this summer. They encountered the world that Shane Claiborne sojourns in; they can speak of this irresistible revolution that we encounter as disciples of Christ.
One of the great fears of the ancient people was that God would fall asleep. Isn't that a strange imagine--God asleep? When the prophets of Baal could not get their gods to rain down fire on the top of Mt. Carmel, Elijah taunted them, "Maybe your God is asleep." Yet in Psalm 121, the writer takes great comfort in the fact that the God of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. The message of the Bible is not one of fear. God told Abraham not to fear, for God would be his shield and buckler. When the Israelites were caught between the Red Sea and Pharaoh's chariots, Moses told them, "Stand still, fear not, and see the salvation of the Lord." When the angel of the Lord came to Mary and said that she would bear a child, the angel also said, "Fear not Mary, for you have found favor with God."
Over and over again the message of the Bible is clear--fear not, fear not. We can see that message, in Philadelphia, in the lives of our youth--just look at the pictures of the mission trip that hang on the wall across from the Lounge. We can see that message in the lives of our church members who travel to Louisiana to build houses and help rebuild lives, to those in our church who travel to Haiti, to those who donate clothing, feed the homeless. Over and over, we know what we can do as followers of Christ, when we do not fear but trust in God to guide us.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who died this week, was the first author to alert the West to the horrible realities he experienced in Stalin's labor camps. Solzhenitsyn said that only once during his long imprisonment in a labor camp in the Soviet Union did he become so discouraged that he thought about suicide. He was outdoors, on a work detail, and he had reached a point where he no longer cared whether he lived or died. When he had a break, he sat down, and a stranger sat beside him, someone he had never seen before and would never see again. For no apparent reason, this stranger took a stick and drew a cross on the ground. Solzhenitsyn sat and stared at that cross for a long while. He later wrote, "Staring at that cross, I realized that therein lies freedom." At that point--in the midst of a storm--he received new courage and the will to live. The fear did not end that day, but Solzhenitsyn found the strength through faith to outlive the fear.
So if you have your fears, you are not alone, in fact you are never alone. We are not powerless in the midst of the storm. Like Peter, we must walk out of the boat to Christ. Peter knew that Christ could sustain him. We should be assured that even in the midst of the storm, when there is nothing but uncertainty God will take care of us.
Faith is a risk taking enterprise. It does not come in a perfect package. We don't know what storms will come our way. What we must remember is that regardless of what happens, God will be with us. In the boat we are safe but we have to be willing to brave the storm and walk on water and do the impossible through our faith. When the storm is raging, when fear and doubt creep in, we should not fear getting out of the boat, for God is with. That is our great salvation and hope. Amen.
August 10 , 2008
Mary Alice Lyman
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