Rev. Joan Pell Sierra Pines United Methodist Church Sermon: 8/13/2017 Series: living outside the box Scripture: Matthew 14:22-33 <Matthew 14:22-33> In Over Our Heads 22 Immediately he [Jesus] made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, It is a ghost! And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid. 28 Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. 29 He said, Come. So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me! 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, You of little faith, why did you doubt? 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, Truly you are the Son of God. This story, whether you take it literally or metaphorically, serves up food for thought, about the nature of faith and what it means to walk faithfully in fearful circumstances. What should we make of Peter's request to walk on the sea, and then his fearful response? Some people think Peter should not have opened his mouth. They accuse him of putting Jesus to the test, of demanding Jesus prove who he is, instead of keeping quiet, reverent and safe in the boat. Peter, this reasoning continues, had no chance against the wind and the waves. Faith means staying in the boat, trusting Jesus to keep you secure there. Others disagree. They say the story implicitly commends Peter's desire to -1-
walk where his "Lord" walks, even though he doesn't manage to stroll all the way to shore alongside Jesus. 1 I love this scripture. It s a rich passage. A great gift from God. A box ready to be unpacked. It has meant a lot in my life at times when I have taken faith risks. I love Peter and can identify with him. He makes blunders & never quite gets it right, and yet he tries his best. In this story Peter is impetuous. He reacts without thinking, speaking from his heart. He spots Jesus and asks, Hey can I join you Jesus? Jesus says: sure come on. Peter starts out with success & then oops, as he starts to analyze and gets scared. Before he knows it, he is sinking and is in over his head, and Jesus rescues him, and laughs (or chides) at his incompetence / faith. Jesus plonks him back in the boat, and gets in there with him and the others. It is only after that experience that the disciples recognize Jesus as the Son of God. Many times over the years I have felt like Peter. I really identified with him when first answered call to ordained ministry. I thought I was sailing in the boat going that way. Do you want me to get out and do this scary thing Lord? Shall I come to you? He nodded. Deep breath. Ok, here I go! Then came the ministry inquiry process, counseling, mentoring, seminary, endless reading, papers to write, school exams, doctrinal questioning, annual interviews, it wasn t long before I felt I was totally sinking. Is this a passage speaking to us about needing more faith? Is the solution to just keep our eyes upon Jesus? Is the gospel writer Matthew saying if only we read more scripture, pray more, worship more, fast more, participate in more Bible Study, forgive more, serve more, then we ll be ok? That s one understanding perhaps. And it is a good reminder for us to do so. But I have come to understand this passage in other ways too. So I thought that this sermon would be an easy one to write on this familiar passage, like looking inside a neatly packed gift box. But as I wrote this sermon, this scripture, didn t want to stay in a box. It kept popping open, kind of like a child s toy jack-in-thebox. We like to put Jesus in a nice tidy box. This is who Jesus is. This is what you should believe. This is what you must do. We like to put faith in a box. And it works for a while. Until we encounter an event that doesn t fit. And the box bursts open. Then we are left floundering. 1 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-l-skinner/on-scripture-matthew-14-faith-within-chaos_b_916355.html -2-
If you listened to the scripture closely you may have picked up that Jesus told the disciples to get into the boat and go to the other side of the lake. Those that remained in the boat were obediently doing what they were told to do. So we think being a disciple of Jesus, a person of faith means following the rules. Staying in the boat / within the box/boundaries that we know and not getting out. Jesus will meet us on the shore. This is what Jesus is like. This is what faith means. We can understand that. Jesus in a box. But Jesus didn t follow the rules! He didn t stay in the box. He didn t meet them on the lake shore at the far side of the lake. He appeared walking on the water where they certainly didn t expect to see him and so they didn t recognize him. We place God in places that are comfortable for us. But Jesus just keeps showing up where we don t expect him to. He breaks the rules. You are not supposed to be able to walk on water (or fly through the air!) He breaks down the natural boundaries. He changes things. He doesn t fit in this box that we have constructed for him. He shows us how to live outside of the box. But perhaps it is ok that as disciples we stay in this box with its orderly boundaries? Should Peter have even got out of the boat? It appeared to be Peter s idea. Should he have just followed Jesus original instructions to sail to the other side of the lake? But when Peter asked, Jesus did say Come. To say that he shouldn t have got out makes Jesus summons seem needlessly cruel and fails to account for why Peter s initial walk on the water is a success. Was Peter wrong? Am I wrong when I hear a call to do something risky with my faith? Am I supposed to stay in the box following Jesus initial directions? How about us as a church? After I finished this sermon, the events at Charlottesville unfolded. Was I being called to adapt/rewrite this sermon? I finally decided to leave it as it was, and stay in the boat; but I will be getting out of the boat next week, and with more contemplation I will preach into it. It is certainly true that Jesus didn t chastise the disciples who stayed in the boat. He didn t call them unfaithful. Yet there was Peter, touched by his faith, by the spirit. He saw what Jesus was doing and felt a yearning, a wanting to participate. Can I come to you, he says. Yes do, says Jesus. Peter wanted to be there with Jesus. It certainly wasn t an easy option to choose. The sea was rough. He could sink. It was scary, risky and challenging. Walking to Jesus was not going to alleviate Peter s fears. He wanted to share Jesus unbounded place, to put himself beyond the forces and expectations that determine our normal existence. Peter went into a situation where threats look different, a place where Jesus is defying and reordering the assumed boundaries. A place outside of the box. -3-
So what about us? We can stay in our boxes like the rest of the disciples. Or when we see Jesus in the distance breaking down our assumptions we can understand that part of faith is to go to those boundary stretching places. To places where it is scary and risky, where we don t understand logically how we can possibly succeed. And yes, we re human, so we ll probably end up sinking like Peter. We ll end up in over our heads. And then Jesus will pick us back us back up, put us back in the boat, climb in with us and sail onward. And when he does our box will be just a bit bigger. We ll have encountered Jesus in a new way and pushed out the boundaries of our understanding. When Peter got back in the boat he wasn t the same person and nor were those who had witnessed what had happened. Peter and the other disciples came to the realization that Jesus was the Son of God. Every experience changes us. Peter got wet - head to toe, soaked. He had a tale to tell, an experience to ponder, and came to an understanding of Jesus that was bigger than before. Peter s box had just got bigger. Peter s experience shows us that we can expect to waver sometimes that being faithful includes having doubts. Our hearts will be touched, driving us to move the boundaries and as we attempt to do so we ll be in over our heads. When Jesus plucks us back out he ll set us back on course / in the boat. In a box that s a little bit bigger than before. How do you think Peter felt when he was back in the boat? Stupid? A failure? Did he beat himself up for having doubts? Was he angry with himself? But you see, the part of Peter that was doubtful, the part of Peter that was unsure, that part that he probably couldn t stand about himself - that part didn t cause Jesus to hesitate even one minute before saving him. Jesus reached right out, immediately, (says the text) and pulled Peter up. Do you know why? Because the part of Peter that fell short was just as acceptable to God as the part that was bold enough and had enough faith to get out of the boat. Think about those parts of yourself that fall short- and name them to yourself. Because what I want you to know today, is that the part of you that haunts you and reminds you of the slips ups... of the failures... That part of you is just as acceptable to God as the part that always does the right thing and has faith enough to get out of the boat! 2 So there will probably be moments in our lives when like Peter we step out of the boat throwing ourselves into the disorderly world, expecting an encounter with Jesus. And it is in the nature of faith to waver as we : lead a Bible Study for the first time, visit someone in ICU, with cancer, on hospice, reach out to a homeless person, sign up for a mission trip, worship in some different ways, tithe for the 2 http://www.theologicalstew.com/getting-past-that-sinking-feeling.html -4-
first time, share our faith with a co-worker / hairdresser / person next to us on the plane, participate in a demonstration, stand up against racism, sexism, and the other isms. But when you do waver, remember Jesus is there stretching his hand out to grab ours and to deposit us back in the boat. As you find yourself back in the boat celebrate that it looks a little different now. Share your story so that those in the boat experience it too. Our God is so big and cannot be constrained by us. So you see this sermon won t stay boxed up and tied with a ribbon. It s messy and together we might just have to risk being in over our heads. We might just discover God in some new places where delineations and predictable endings don t apply as before, because sometimes the incredibly turbulent stormy places are the places where God is breaking through and inviting us to live outside of the box. Come! says Jesus. Thanks be to God. Amen. Let us pray. O God, We confess that we want to limit you and go by our small knowledge of you. Open our minds and hearts so that we can experience all that you want us to see and hear. Give us the courage to walk on the water with you to some new and boundary-changing places. When we waver, pick us up, and bring us to safety. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. -5-