Matthew 14:22-33--August 10, 2014 STEPPING OUT AND TAKING THE RISK Did you notice that there are two levels to this morning s reading from Matthew's Gospel? The first level is seeing Jesus as the stiller of the storm; the one who brings peace to those who are traumatized by the powerful gusts and waves of life and human existence. The second level is seeing Jesus as the one who calls to his followers to those who are willing to step out of the safety of the boat Come to me, and who supports and upholds them when they do. I want to focus on the second level this morning. I want us to think about the whole episode of Peter and his trip out on the water. Whatever you personally believe about this story; whether you take it literally or not, there s one thing we can all accept. And that is, Peter represents those Christians and those churches that are willing to respond to Christ s call and risk something for their faith. Peter is a symbol, a powerful and wonderful example, of how Jesus followers tend to follow him: with a blend of boldness, foolishness, determination, fear, doubt, and sometimes, a sinking feeling that they re going under for the third and final time. But then, ultimately, as Matthew makes clear, Jesus becomes for those risk-takers the amazing and trustworthy giver of power who allows his followers to stay afloat and accomplish miraculous things for the Realm of God. Peter is an example for us, as a church and as individual Christians, of someone who was willing to risk it all even his very life! on the word of his Lord. Think about what that example teaches us about life and about faith; about following Jesus and practicing Christian discipleship. Maybe you don t want to think about it! I mean, it s a pretty radical idea that most followers of Jesus don t consider. Christianity isn t intended to be a safe, comfortable and steady way of life; rather, it s intended to take chances and spend our life and our love in an almost reckless manner. We tend to be contented Christians. The hardest and most challenging thing we may do as disciples of Jesus is get up early on a beautiful Sunday morning like this and go to church, rather than doing something we consider to be more enjoyable. But this morning s story of Peter stepping out of the safety of his boat and onto the dangerous waters of the Sea of Galilee gives us a different
perspective about our faith. And that perspective is that sometimes, following Jesus involves taking chances and putting something significant on the line for our beliefs. This risky way of Christian living is to infect every area of our life from our church-going to our stewardship of the planet earth; from the way we treat family, friends, strangers and our enemies to how we use our money; from the politics we espouse to what TV programs we watch and books we read; from how we forgive others who have wronged us to the time and effort we put into our prayer life and spiritual growth. According to the story in this morning s Gospel reading, playing it safe isn t what Jesus calls us to do. Timidity and shyness aren t what Christian discipleship is about. The story of Peter walking on the water toward Jesus illustrates how, when Christians respond to the call of Christ, they can triumph over the forces of chaos and turmoil; when followers of Jesus take a chance and risk a positive response to Jesus word, Christ s power lifts them up and allows them to weather the storms of life and accomplish something awesome. Here s something to consider. Peter didn t have to get out of the boat. He didn t need to take a risk and venture out onto the stormy waters. He could have simply stayed where he was and sheltered himself in the safety of his fishing vessel, knowing that everything would be okay now because Jesus was coming to him and the other disciples. And I doubt Jesus would have said a word about it. But, for whatever reason, the impetuous, compulsive, a-bit-off-center Peter didn t do that! Instead, he took a chance. He asked the Lord to invite him to come over. That s pretty wild, isn t it? Peter asked Jesus to meet him in the middle and I mean literally in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. There were no life preservers in sight, except the one who beckoned him to step out onto the water. Talk about courage! Or perhaps should I say, talk about insanity! Talk about craziness. Talk about, What the heck is Peter doing?! Peter was brave enough and trusting enough and even foolish enough you ve surely heard the saying, being a fool for Christ to step out into the unknown, into dangerous waters, into a risky situation at the invitation of Jesus an invitation Peter encouraged. Most Christians suffer from a lack of boldness and courage. They tend to play things safe and take the easiest way out, doing things the way they ve always done them simply because they don t like the unknown. They almost never step out of the boat. After all, why risk something new and bold when the old and familiar has gotten us by for so long? 2
So, let s just stay put and keep the status quo. And as for that voice calling to us is it really Christ? calling us to step out of the safety of our boat and do something new and potentially risky, well, maybe it s a case of mistaken identity. Besides, I can t really hear what he s saying over the noise of the crashing waves. Oh well. I ll just ignore him and wait until he climbs into the boat with me. It s a lot safer that way. So, here are some rhetorical questions for us to consider, as individual Christians and as a church body. What have we been afraid to do for Christ because it seemed too risky? What have we postponed or put off doing for Jesus that had great potential, but also had a possible down side that caused us to shy away? Who have we avoided seeing, visiting or calling up on the phone, who may have needed a reassuring word and a sign of God s love in their life, but we didn t make an effort to do so because we were uncomfortable and didn t know what to say to them? What places have we refused to go to for Christ because we feared what might happen there? What worthy goals for the Lord have we put on the back burner or dropped altogether because we felt inadequate? What dreams has God implanted in us that we have let wither and die on the vine because we feared failure? Sometimes, my friends, for the sake of Christ and for the sake of the health and well-being of our souls, we need to get out of the safety of the boat. We need to say to Jesus, Lord, if it s your will, call me over to you. Now, I m not saying that we all have to go out and take a wild chance on the first thing that comes along like go to Las Vegas and bet the church s annual budget on the roulette wheel, double or nothing. But I am saying, if you have a worthy, clearly God-inspired dream in your heart that doesn t seem to go away; or if you re in a place in life where wholeness and satisfaction are elusive and God seems to be calling you to take a chance and do something radically different; if you see a way to help someone else or support a worthy charity but haven t taken a step to do that yet; or if you simply feel that the Lord is calling you to change something in your life that seems unchangeable take the risk! Ask Christ to invite you to step out of the boat and walk toward him, trusting that he is waiting to take your hand and keep you afloat during your effort. Now, I must offer a word of caution to those who are feeling fired up right now and ready to step out of their relatively safe boats and onto the risky waters. Remember that, in this morning s story, Peter did walk on the 3
water. The power of Christ did hold him up, and he did quite well out there on Sea of Galilee until he forgot about that power he d called upon. Peter succeeded in walking over to Jesus, up to the point where he took his attention off of Christ and focused instead on the danger he was in; up until he looked at the strong wind and the waves swirling around him and became afraid. That s when Peter began to sink. It just goes to show that when we do take a risk and step out, at Christ s bidding, to accomplish something new and challenging, or simply to fulfill what we believe is our calling, we need to stay focused on our goal, and on the Lord who is calling us toward that goal, and trust that the Lord will see us through to his desired end, even when the waters are getting a little choppy. I read a story once about a Navy pilot who had finished a mission and was flying his helicopter back to an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. This is what he wrote: I was flying the helicopter back to the ship when a blinding fog rolled in. I had zero visibility. Flying at a low altitude, I knew that a single mistake would plunge me and my crew into the ocean, to certain death. To make matters worse, I was experiencing a complete loss of balance which is common for pilots flying by instruments only. This loss of balance, called vertigo, was so bad that, in spite of my instrument readings, I was convinced that I was lying on my side. For fifteen harrowing minutes I flew the helicopter by instruments alone, while constantly fighting the urge to turn it according to my feeling. When we finally broke safely through the fog, I was deeply thankful that I had been trained to rely upon my instruments rather than on my feelings. That s what people who live by faith do. They remember that feelings can be misleading, but God s Word is consistent, reliable and trustworthy. That s easy to forget. Peter forgot it, in the middle of walking on the water. Which was very bad timing, to be sure! But, thankfully, Jesus was there to reach out and save him. And after he did, Jesus asked him, Why did you doubt? I was right here with you all the time. When we dare to take a risk for Christ; when we dare to do what s difficult for us but right in God s eyes; when we decide to go the extra mile in service to our neighbors in need, for our church s health and well-being, or for the furthering of God s realm on earth, the Lord will be near us to help us in the midst of choppy waters. That s the Lord s promise. Why should we doubt it? But if we begin to, all we need to do is remain focused on Jesus Christ, on Christ s will, on Jesus hand reaching out to take ours, because that s where our help will 4
come from. So I guess the question now becomes, what are we waiting for? When we hear Jesus beckoning us to step out of the boat, take a risk, and come to him, how will we respond? Only time will tell what our response to Jesus will be. And, depending on what that response is, our Lord will either say to us, You of little faith. Why did you doubt? or, Well done, good and faithful servant. Amen. 5