Getting Through the Storm
Matthew 14: 22-33
Then Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people away. 23 After sending the people away, he went up a hill by himself to pray. When evening came, Jesus was there alone; 24 and by this time the boat was far out in the lake, tossed about by the waves, because the wind was blowing against it.
25 Between three and six o'clock in the morning Jesus came to the disciples, walking on the water. 26 When they saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. “It's a ghost!” they said, and screamed with fear. 27 Jesus spoke to them at once. “Courage!” he said. “It is I. Don't be afraid!”
28 Then Peter spoke up. “Lord, if it is really you, order me to come out on the water to you.” 29 “Come!” answered Jesus. So Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water to Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he was afraid and started to sink down in the water. “Save me, Lord!” he cried.
31 At once Jesus reached out and grabbed hold of him and said, “What little faith you have! Why did you doubt?”
32 They both got into the boat, and the wind died down. 33 Then the disciples in the boat worshiped Jesus. “Truly you are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.
This is one of the most well known stories in the Bible, even people who are not familiar with the Bible or Jesus know that Jesus walked on water. It's the sort of story where it's easy to get sidetracked by questions that seem important, but in reality have little to do with the meaning of the story.
Questions like, did Jesus really walk on water? If so, how? And how about when he says “you of little faith,” to Peter, does that mean Jesus is putting down everyone who lacks faith? Isn't that basically all of us at one point or another?
The biggest thing to understand about this story is that it doesn't matter if it happened exactly like this or not. The point of the story is not to figure out how Jesus walked on water, the point of the story is what does the whole sequence of events mean to us today? What does the story teach us about God and our relationship with God?
The first thing to look at is the storm. It isn't just about being caught in an actual storm out on the water, it's also about the storms in our lives, those times when our lives are thrown into total upheaval by illness or loss or unexpected change, those times when everything is going wrong and you feel lost and scared and that life has gotten totally beyond your control.
Sound familiar? The story could have been written for today, couldn't it.
Covid has created a storm for our entire world, we are all in that boat being tossed by waves, wondering if we'll ever get to the shore. And it's not like the rest of life stops just because of Covid. Other storms are still happening in our lives. Storms can be caused by illness, our own or that of loved one, or caused by loss of life or relationship or work, or when our finances bottom out unexpectedly, or our children are in crisis or any other number of events in our lives.
So what does this story tell us about the storms in our lives? The first thing it tells us is that Jesus is there in middle of the storm with us, in fact, he is part of storm. He is in the last place his disciples expect to see him, out in the middle of the storm, walking across the water towards them. It's like that in our lives, when we are going through storms, often we will encounter Jesus in the last place, the last person, we expect to see him. It might be in that annoying friend or family member who for once knows just what to say and do.
My sister Kristi had a friend Maureen who was a super drama queen, always in crisis. It got to the point that when Kristi saw her name on the phone, she usually didn't answer. Then Kristi had to have emergency surgery, and she was sent back home after one day, in pain and scared. Most of her friends panicked. They had no idea how to help her.
Not Maureen. Kristi almost didn't answer when Maureen called, but she was very glad she did. Maureen knew how to handle a crisis. She came over with food and pain medication. She listened while Kristi talked about how scary it had been. Maureen held her hand while she cried and tucked her into bed with her favorite TV show. Kristi felt so grateful.
That's the first lesson from this story, that an important part of getting through the storms of our lives is being open to God's presence in unexpected people and places, not closing ourselves off because of own fears and prejudices. If Kristi hadn't answered that call from Maureen, she never would have had the comfort she was able to offer. It's a cliche, but so true, God truly does work in mysterious ways. So don't ever close your mind, especially during a storm.
Then there's that bit in the story where Jesus says, oh you of little faith, why did you doubt? It's important to note that this is not a put down of Peter or his faith, nor is it a put down of our faith. In fact, it's actually quite encouraging.
Think about it, Peter failed the faith test spectacularly. He sets out to answer Jesus' call, to walk on water, he freaks out, loses his nerve completely and starts to sink into the water. What could be a more dramatic faith failure than that? It makes our moments of doubt look like small potatoes.
But the thing is, despite this massive, dramatic faith failure, Jesus still helps Peter. That is SO important to recognize. It doesn't matter that Peter failed the faith test, Jesus still helps him anyway, and Jesus will always help us no matter how weak and uncertain our faith may feel.
Don't ever let anyone convince you that if you're not healed or a loved one isn't healed or if any prayer isn't answered the way you asked for, that this means your faith wasn't strong enough. This story assures us that even when our faith literally tanks, God still hears us and responds. It may not be the response we were wanting or expecting, but one way or another, God will get us through the storm. We may not come through the storm where or how we wanted, but we will get through.
A quick side note, it all begins with what we talked about last week, Jesus going away to pray by himself. Prayer is so essential. And as I said last week, there are no rules. Peter's desperate, “Lord save me!” is just as valid a prayer as Jesus' quiet contemplation. Peter's prayer is enough to be heard and to have a response.
Something else to keep in mind is Peter's initial question to Jesus. He isn't sure it really is Jesus, so he says “if it really is you Lord, command me to come to you.” He will know it's truly Jesus if he asks him to step out of his comfort zone, to do something crazy, right in the midst of the storm because that's sort of thing Jesus does, he doesn't coddle his followers or spoon feed them lessons. He challenges them.
God has a way of doing that to us, asking us to step outside of our comfort zone, to try something new and scary, right when we least expect it. Oddly enough, sometimes that is the gift of the storm. Life is in such upheaval anyway, it's not as hard to step out of our comfort zone, not as scary to try a new way of relating to God and others, to try new ways of being faithful.
That's a big part of why many people find that it is life's storms that lead to their greatest moments of deepening our faith. We've got nothing left to lose, so we're more willing to take risks.
Over my years in ministry, I have walked with many people through many storms. I can assure you that almost every one of those people had moments where they felt God's presence in surprising people and places, that new life and growth and love came from each death, each loss, each situation of fear and change.
The best part is, it doesn't matter if you get mad at God, if you can't see or feel God in the midst of storm, if you have trouble believing anything – none of that matters because God is there anyway. It was only in the moment where Peter totally lost faith and started to sink, that Jesus was able to reach out and pull him up. That's when Peter stopped trying to do it all himself, and had no choice but to trust.
All of these lessons apply so well to our Covid times, don't they. It's a storm the likes of which none of us has every encountered. In many cases our usual coping strategies aren't working, there's no way to get theboat back under control and get back to things as usual. That means it is a time to be like Peter, time to grow, to take risks, to not only be open to experiencing God's support and touch in new ways and new people, but to actively seek God in new ways.
Our old routines are upended, so let's be proactive in creating new ones that have the potential to bring new directions and meaning to our lives. What might that look like? Well, we're already doing it to some extent with worship, we're worshipping in new ways. I don't know about you, but it's certainly stretching me! That makes me think about our communal faith and how we share it and how we are putting it into action in new ways.
Our usual ways of being church have been disrupted, so slowly but surely we are figuring out new ways of being church, of being people of God in this time and place.
Life is full of storms, some of them we create ourselves, some come out of the blue. Either way, no matter how confused and doubtful and scared we may feel in the midst of the storm, God is there, often in the place we least expect, ready to guide us and help us find our way. Amen