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• August 10, 2008  Pentecost 13
  Matthew 14:22-31
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Called Out of Fear

Some years ago I was with a group of teenagers and we were looking at this story from Matthew’s gospel.   I noticed that one of the teenagers had an incredulous look on his face while we were reading the story.  When I asked him what he was thinking, he did not evade my question but rather he spoke from his heart; spoke from his mind; spoke the untarnished truth.    He said, “You don’t’ really expect me to believe that Jesus and Peter both walked on water?”  I don’t know if it was a question or a statement or both, but I got the message.  I thanked him for his honesty, and his feedback actually created the opportunity for a great discussion.

This is one of those stories with which most everyone is familiar whether you name yourself as a Christian or not - Jesus walking on water.  I haven’t seen any scientific surveys, but I have to wonder how many people, in their heart of hearts, really believe that Jesus walked on the water, let alone Peter.  I took a survey of my youth group that evening, and I asked how many of them believed the story to be literally true.  I asked them to be totally honest – no judgments would be made.  We voted by secret ballot so no one would feel any peer pressure one way or another.   I was intensely curious at what the results would be.  Only one out of the ten youth believed the story was literally true.

The teenager’s question actually raises and opens up a whole series of important questions, one of them being, “Does having faith mean that I must believe in things that offend my modern sensibilities and go against rational thinking?”  For me, the answer to that question is “No, having faith does not mean one must believe in things that offend modern sensibilities and go against rational thinking.”  If the answer is "yes" then we effectively eliminate millions of people from the ranks of believers!

I believe the pertinent question for this story is, “What was it that the early followers of Jesus, in the immediate decades after his crucifixion, experienced in him and in the fellowship that formed around him, that would have caused this story to be cultivated?”   What was it that they personally experienced in the living Jesus that was so profound and so transforming that it could only be described in powerful the metaphorical language of a story like this?

That is really the issue for us too.  The issue for us to dwell on is not, “Did Jesus (and Peter) really walk on the water?”  That’s a dead end question!  This issue is, “What does this story tell us about the experience of Jesus those first followers had in the middle decades of the first century that changed and transformed their lives?”

This is clearly a story about the power of fear and how fear can rule, and how Jesus calls us out of our fear; calls us beyond our fear; desires to break the stranglehold that fear can exert upon us.

Many years ago I was caught in a sudden severe squall on Lake Superior in a small craft with a group of youth.  It was the most terrifying experience of my life.  In a matter of minutes the placid lake turned into a seething cauldron.  We paddled our little craft, a large canoe that seated 12 people, until our arms felt like they were going to fall off.  We barely made it to a safe beachhead when the storm hit with all its ferocity.   Had we been but a few minutes later we would have likely capsized or been dashed against rocky shoals, and who knows what might have become of us?  What I remember most about that experience was being swallowed up in fear and terror.  At that moment fear ruled. 

That's, sort of, the backdrop of this story from Matthew.  The gospel story reaches a crescendo when the rash and impetuous Peter decides that if Jesus could do it (walk on water), so could he, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  So Jesus simply said, “Come.”  Peter clambered out of the boat and after a few steps, Peter, whose name literally means “rock” or “stone”, sank like a stone!   But notice the detail in the description, for hidden in the detail lies the power and meaning of this story for those early believers and for us as well.   “But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord save me!”

Metaphorically, at this point, the story connects with you and me and our life experience.  That verse has repeated itself in my life countless times.  We too know all about the power of fear – we know it intimately – each of us can tell our stories.  Fear is a powerful force.  We can and do allow fear to rule us, and we frequently use fear to arrive at conclusions about things and people that are often irrational and a total distortion of the truth.  Fear exerts incredible power over us in so many ways. 

In my own life:  Fear has distorted my decision-making and my attitudes by blinding me to facts and  truth and reinforced my prejudices;   Fear has prevented me from overcoming insecurities, from trusting in others, and from being willing to become vulnerable and take risks in order to grow;   Fear has hindered my willingness to let go of old ways of thinking;   Fear has caused me to ignore the imperatives of love more times than I can remember;   Fear has made me hesitant to venture beyond boundaries of safety I draw around my life, making me a prisoner in my own solitude;   Fear has stifled my motivation to pursue goals and objectives;  

I have decided (made a resolution) that during the balance of this year’s election campaign, if I am watching the television, and a political advertisement  comes across my screen that in any way employs fear in the message, I will turn it off.  I don’t care who it is for, I will turn it off!   I will not be manipulated and baited by fear. I simply will not!

In his book, The Courage to Love, William Sloan Coffin, Jr. said, "Fear distorts truth and people, not merely by exaggerating the problems of the world… but by underestimating our ability to deal with them… while love seeks truth, fear seeks safety and control."

When we look at the history of Christianity we see an appalling and dreadful landscape littered with the victims of those who have named Jesus as Lord.  Because of fear Christians have distorted people with guilt, bigotry, intolerance and anger.  We see that Christians practiced slavery, defended segregation, approved lynching, abused children, diminished women, hated homosexuals, began and waged wars in Jesus name, tortured and executed unrepentant heathens, persecuted Jews, excommunicated doubters, used violence to achieve conversion – all seemingly without care or conscience.  Fear is all-powerful, consuming and wretchedly distorting and dehumanizing.

Matthew’s story declares that for a few brief baby steps  Peter lived without fear!  The winds were blowing, the waves were thrashing, but for a brief moment in time the stranglehold of fear didn’t control his life.  Of course we know that sometime later, at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter sold his soul to fear again when feeling threatened he denied he ever knew Jesus – his Lord – his teacher – his mentor – his friend.  Fear is all-powerful, consuming and wretchedly distorting and dehumanizing.

In 1 John, chapter 4 we read these words, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love cast out all fear…” 

Love eventually won a great victory in Peter’s life against fear; love finally did cast out the demon of fear in Peter’s life, as Peter became a primary leader in the early church and a courageous advocate for Jesus, with legend having it he was finally martyred for his faith – some say crucified upside down in Rome.  

For me “walking on water” is a powerful metaphor for living one’s life not controlled and manipulated by fear at every turn.  Fear always stifles and suppresses love – even and especially the love of God in Jesus.  And if love is suppressed then we are too; our humanity is diminished; not fulfilling our potential as human beings; not becoming all that God calls us to be and do in this world for the sake of the kingdom of God. 

“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  And Jesus said, “Come.”

It is an invitation out of fear!  It's a call, a beckoning out of fear to a fuller humanity.  It comes from the One who didn’t let fear detract him even from the cross – and he still lives – and he still invites – and he still calls – and he is still beckoning you and me to himself.  Will we heed his call?  Will we, with Jesus in our sights, hearing his voice, clamber out of the boat of fear and follow him on the way of love and justice for this world?