August 11, 2002 - The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost

Matthew 14:22-33

The Reverend Vernon L. Suter

There are many ways this miracle of Jesus walking on the water can be interpreted, but no matter where we take the story, one very clear and significant point stands out. It's glaringly obvious that in the hour of the disciples need, Jesus came to them. When the wind was contrary and life was a struggle, Jesus was there to save them.

In our lives, the wind is often as contrary as it was in the lives of the disciples in Jesus' time. At times it even seems like it's worse. Often we feel like we're really up against it, and life is one big desperate struggle. We struggle with ourselves, with our circumstances, with our temptations, with our sorrows, with our decisions, and it goes on and on. What we forget is that at such times we need not struggle alone. Jesus comes to us across the storms of our lives, just as he did with the disciples. He comes to us with his hands stretched out to save us. With a calm clear voice he bids us to take heart and have no fear.

The problem, as I see it, is that we don't stay focused on this fact, the fact that Jesus is always with us; to help us, strengthen us, and support us in every situation. I think that's probably because we don't realize that he's always as close as our next door neighbor, our close friends, or the person working next to us. I preach time and time again about how God works through people, but being the humans that we are, we tend to prefer handling things on our own. In so doing, we inevitably act on the emotional moment without counting the cost. The real truth is that we are a lot like Peter.

Peter was characteristically impulsive. He always leaped before he looked. Peter was mixed in motive. He genuinely thought he could handle everything by himself. Peter wanted so much to be just like Jesus, a desire that sent him out impulsively taking everything into his own hands. Now please don't get me wrong. Peter deeply loved Jesus, but, like most of us, he was torn between the pride of being able to take care of himself and the humility it takes to really trust Jesus, - - or anyone besides himself, for that matter.

There were times when Peter kept his pride and impulsiveness out of the way, at least at first. He got a good start on things, but along the way when the going got rough he got scared, just as he did when he was attempting to walk on water. He started out faithfully trusting Jesus. But what happened? Why did his faith fail? When his venture began he had his eyes focused squarely on Jesus. His faith failed because, as he continued, he began to look at the storm rather than at Jesus. - - In the days of the old sailing vessels, when a new deck-hand climbed the narrow rope ladder to the crow's nest, the old deck-hands would holler up to him, "Look up! Look up! Keep looking up!" It was very important for him to keep his eyes on where he was going and pay no attention to anything going on around him, especially that which was below him. If he looked down, he would begin to concentrate on the danger of falling and become afraid, possibly causing him to get dizzy and actually fall.

When Peter looked away from Jesus, he started thinking about the storm and became overcome with terror. Of course, when he reached the point of total preoccupation with the storm, he became completely out of control and the storm took charge. The storm became the master of his fate. But, - - when Peter thought he was a goner, he pleaded with Jesus to save him. He turned his concentration back from the storm to Jesus. - - Another behavior to which I can relate.

I can't count the times that I started an endeavor with Christ as my strength. I kept Jesus in the picture long enough to get rolling. Soon, however, I would become impatient and prideful and take back the controls. Inevitably, a struggle ensued and I, trying to stay in charge, found myself in the middle of a head on collision with failure. Of course, if I wised up soon enough, I returned to my faith, let go of the struggle of trying to do it all by myself, turned the whole thing over to God; - - and would you believe what happened next? - - You got it! The waters became calm again, my direction became clear, and whatever I was struggling with got worked out.

Situations such as Peter's, my own experiences, and others I've heard about that are similar to mine, give me pause. I wonder if any of us ever truly feel a need to call out to Jesus until we feel the pain of failure, - - or are at least threatened with failure, or encounter a crisis of some kind. I think failure, our own powerlessness or helplessness, is the real catalyst in our getting closer to God. Peter's words in today's Gospel, when he became frightened and began to sink were, "Lord, save me!" Peter suddenly became aware that there wasn't one thing he could do at this point to save himself. I'll go so far as to say that it isn't until we, as with Peter, are absolutely convinced

that we can't manage something ourselves, that we break down and say, "Lord, save me!" Although we fight tooth and nail to do it on our own, the bottom line is that when Jesus gets into our boat, and only when Jesus get's into our boat, does the wind sink. - - The wind sinks when Jesus is with us, not the boat. The great truth is that, wherever Jesus Christ is, the wildest storm becomes calm.

There's a very old book titled Consider Him, written by a lady by the name of Olive Wyon. In her book she quotes a story from the letters of St. Francis of Sales. As the story goes, St. Francis had often noticed a farm servant going across a farmyard to draw water at the well. He also noticed that, before she lifted the brimming water pail, the girl always put a piece of wood into it. One day he went out to the girl and asked her, "Why do you do that?" She looked surprised and answered, as if it were a matter of course, "Why? - - to keep the water from spilling . . . to keep it steady!" - - - -

What a story! What a thought to apply to our lives! Consider this: If every time we encounter a storm or some kind of stress in our lives, we simply place the wooden cross of Jesus in our hearts and minds, his presence, and the love which flows from that Cross, will bring to us the peace, serenity and calm for which we are struggling. The Cross of Jesus will, indeed, keep us afloat during the stormiest of times.

Amen.