A PRAYER TO START
God is our rescuer. In times of trouble and in doubt he comes to save. Often we forget what God does, even when receiving his abundant grace on a daily cycle. We let the storms of life become our focus, and so we cry out like those desperate for salvation. There is no condemnation in crying out, but lest our cries be only out of fear and not in faith, let us pray together a part of Psalm 18 three times…
Father, you have caught me! Reached all the way from sky to sea and pulled me out of the ocean of hate, that enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning! The waves and winds crashed upon me as I struggled to stay afloat, but God was there beside me. You stood me up on sturdy sea as if it were a wide-open field. I stood there, saved—surprised to be so loved!
GETTING THOUGHTFUL
The fourteenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel story concludes with a well-known story. Jesus, has responded to the people fascinated by him due to the head-line grabbing death of John the Baptist (14:1-12) not with contempt for their lack of sympathy or outrage at their dismissal of injustice, but with compassion for the state of their hearts—and bodies (14:13-21). These crowds had stopped Jesus from retreating to a “desolate place” (14:13), but having poured out his mercy and provision, Jesus now sets off once again to mourn the loss of the faithful John.
Alone at last atop the mountain with his Father, Jesus has sent his disciples ahead to prepare a way for him since John no longer could. Like many who have followed in their steps, the journey of obedience that lay before them very quickly proved to be less than smooth sailing. It’s okay though, they had been here before, in the storms upon the sea (8:23-27). Surely they’d remember what Jesus can do. But wait! Jesus was not asleep beneath the deck this time around. He was on a mountain high above while they were alone amidst the wind and waves that beat at their faith. Or were they?
Suddenly, in the middle of the threatening sea appeared the one they thought was so far away: Jesus walking on the water. What an unexpected sight! No wonder they confused the approaching flesh-and-blood saving presence for a disembodied apparition that caused them to vocalize the terror of the entire ordeal. How disorienting it must have been to hear the response to their trembling cries from the impending specter in a voice they recognized, kindly speaking to them to take heart for the one who holds the sea and the sky in his hands is here with you, for you. Who could believe salvation would come this way, in this form?
Peter. Sort of.
Peter is every one of us that follows Jesus. Sometimes brave and other times cowardice. At one moment confessing truth and the next speaking for the father of lies. Desiring to be faithful but not always sure what it takes to be so.
Upon hearing Jesus’ voice, he yearns to confirm the salvation so near. After all, one must be certain of their faith and there is no better way to test one’s own faith than through unsolicited obedience. Nevertheless, Peter is self-summoned to step out onto the water. To his surprise, I would be surprised(!), his faith proves steady, or at least his footing does. Walking upon the tempest of fear he makes his way to Jesus, but begins to realize that perhaps he simply should have waited for Jesus to finish the journey to him! Peter’s faith in his faith proves lacking in buoyancy and he begins to sink into that which he thought he had conquered.
Once again from a place of real fear a cry is heard, “Lord, save me.” Immediately, literally, with no time passing, Jesus takes hold of the physically drowning disciples drained of confidence and pulls him back atop the sea. Saved and in the grip that will not release, Peter hears the words that have echoed for generations amongst the attempting faithful, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Back upon the boat, salvation arrived with Peter in hand, the winds ceased and the storm and unexpected encounter that for a moment felt like the end of life itself, as well as faith, was opened up to the sunrise of a clear day and calm waters. What other response could be warranted for such an experience but worship. No longer did these disciples wonder who this Jesus was, they now knew “Truly you are the Son of God”. Salvation here. Salvation with them.
REFLECTION
The famous story of Jesus’ walking upon the water is a narrative that has often repeated in the lives of those who follow him. Not literally of course, but our own journeys of faith are marked by moments in which we need rescuing and experience it ways that lead us to worship. And, like Peter and these first disciples, often times are faith is both challenged and strengthen through the storms.
Use the questions below to help you prayerfully reflect individually and/or discuss as a DNA group
Jesus was not with the disciples in the boat, not physically anyway. So, no matter how much they had seen Jesus do, no matter how familiar this storm was to them (and a rescue too), they still feared what consumed their attention in their perceived isolation. Thus, they were ill-prepared to recognize salvation coming across the choppy waters. What keeps you from recognizing salvation coming for you amidst the storms of life and faith?
Why does Jesus refer to Peter’s faith as “little”? Certainly Peter believed that Jesus could save him, that’s why he cries out when he begins to sink. So, did he have too little faith in Jesus or was his faith in something less (or other) than Jesus?
What little thing are you placing your faith in to allow you to walk upon the chaotic waters for life?
What does Peter “doubt”? If he doubts that his own faith will keep him above the storm, then surely that is a good thing, right? So, Peter must be doubting something else. Could it be that he doubted the voice of Jesus gentle calming, saying “Wait. Don’t be afraid, I am coming for you?”, or that Jesus would sustain his step having responded to Peter’s voluntary request?
Why do you think Peter doubts the voice of Jesus?
Why would he respond to his doubt by testing his own faith?
In what times or ways are you like Peter, doubting the voice of rescue, putting your own faith to the test?
ECHO
In his poem, The Star, Eugene Peterson reminds us that often it is in the darkest moments that we are able to see most clearly. Like the disciples, we recognize Jesus for who he really is when he shows up in the moments that we are most uncertain. May these words echo in your mind, your heart, and your courageous actions this week.
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I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh:
a star shall come forth out of Jacob.
Numbers 24:17
No star is visible except at night,
Until the sun goes down, no accurate north.
Day’s brightness hides what darkness shows to sight,
The hour I go to sleep the bear strides forth.
I open my eyes to the cursed but requisite dark,
The black sink that drains my cistern dry,
And see, not nigh, not now, the heavenly mark
Exploding in the quasar-messaged sky.
Out of the dark, behind my back, a sun
Launched light-years ago, completes its run;
The undeciphered skies of myth and story
Now narrate the cadence runes of glory.
Lost pilots wait for night to plot their flight,
Just so daily pilgrims praise the midnight.