Year A
Matthew 14:22-33
The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn
Faith As The Center
A priest found himself in the line waiting for Saint Peter’s attention at the Pearly Gates. He was behind a guy dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, jeans, and a leather jacket, wearing sunglasses. Finally Saint Peter addressed the man in the outlandish costume, “Who are you, so I might know what to do with you?” “I’m Joe Green, a New York taxi driver.” After a moment consulting his list, Saint Peter broke into a big smile and gave the taxi driver a silken robe and a golden staff along with a hearty welcome. The priest announced, “I’m Harold Shaw, a priest at St. Mary’s for the last 43 years.” Saint Peter consulted his list, provided a thin cotton robe, a wooden staff then indicated the priest should enter. Not too clear about this treatment, the priest asked the reason. “We work with results here,” Saint Peter replied. “When you preached, people slept; when he drove, people prayed.”
This is what we find Jesus doing today once again spending time in prayer after feeding the five thousand in the wilderness and sending his disciples away across the Sea of Galilee in their boat. For Matthew, throughout his gospel, he stresses the clear parallel between the prayer life of Jesus and the mighty things he does. He also doesn’t want us to miss the fact that it is the prayer before the storm that informs a sure-footed, “do not be afraid” presence when the winds pick up. This story today from Matthew, which is also found in the gospels of Mark and John, is full of rich images, too many to fully unpack in a 10 minute sermon, images that help us to understand the power and the love of God, the saving grace of Jesus Christ, our calling to be in mission, and the assurance of Christ’s love and help when we need it most.
What is unique to the gospel of Matthew’s version of these events, not found in Mark and John’s account, is the dialogue with Peter and Peter’s attempt to step out of the boat and walk on water to Jesus in response to our Lord’s command. It is this encounter between Peter and Jesus which may speak the word of God to us today the most. Peter, like several of the other disciples, was a fisherman, and these fishermen knew the Sea of Galilee well. Storms could form very quickly and this is what happened that evening. They are panicked both by the turbulent waters and then by the figure walking toward them on the water in the very early hours of the morning. They cry out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I do not be afraid.”
Peter yells out, “Is it you, my Lord?” “If it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” When Jesus issues the command to “come,” Peter steps out of the boat in faith and faithfulness. But, he then becomes frightened when he takes his eyes off Jesus, and begins to sink. He cries out “Lord, save me!” Jesus takes his hand, lifts him up back into the boat and the wind and the waves are calmed. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans that “Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” “The Lord is generous to all who call on him.” Yet, in order to call on Jesus, we must believe in him. In order to believe, people must hear the good news. In order to hear the good news, someone must proclaim that good news. Paul affirms this when he says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”
What is clear in the text from Matthew is that we are called to step out in faith, to have beautiful feet, even in the midst of troubled waters if we are to be faithful to the call of Christ. The key to faith and fullness in Christ is to follow Peter’s example and head out into the troubled waters of the world to proclaim the love, mercy, and justice of God that we find in Jesus. Yet, stepping out in faith is not a guarantee that we will never face troubled waters or be filled with fear, as we all know, but we can be assured through the many stories in scripture that Jesus will not abandon us when we need him the most. And like Peter we all have those moments of doubt. Jesus did not say to Peter, “Why did you doubt?” to shame him.
Instead, he uses the question to get a frightened Peter to focus on what’s most important. And in the troubled waters of life, faith is important. A faith that includes prayer and keeping Jesus at the center is what Jesus wants Peter to focus on when the storm comes. For central to our faith is to know the closeness of God in Jesus. For the prophet Elijah, in the First Book of Kings, despite his fears and failings, God does not give up on him or abandon him. Elijah finds the closeness of God in the silence that gives him strength to continue to prophesy. Elijah and Peter’s humanity is both encouraging and comforting, assuring us that God is indeed faithful as long as we don’t bow to Baal. Defining Baal in our consumerist culture is pretty easy. Not bowing a knee and has always been a challenge to us.
Without Jesus at the center of our lives everything becomes chaotic. Unless he is Lord of our lives, no craft will take us safely to the other side. If we try to row the boat without him, all hell eventually breaks loose. But once he comes to us across the waters of our fears, the storms are tamed. Being a disciple of Jesus is a challenge and very risky but God calls us to “get out of the boat,” and take the risk. A little faith is all that is needed to transform a story that starts in terror into a story that ends with worship for truly Jesus is the Son of God. My prayer today is “Lord, save us.” Come show us your power, your love, your mercy, and your healing touch on our world, for we love and need you now and always. Amen.