Get out of the boat!

Scripture: Matthew 14:22-23

Preached 08/10/2014

 

David was a pretty typical 9 year old.  He was spunky, adventurous, and maybe a little too brave and self-confident for his own good.  All of these wonderful yet slightly dangerous characteristics were amplified when he was around his uncle Joe, who was also adventurous and a little too brave for his own good.  And of course, there were Uncle Joe’s kids, full of energy, bravery, and self-confidence of their own.  When you got all of them together, it usually ended up looking something like those old cartoon scenes with the Tasmanian Devil- clouds of swirling and messy chaos ensued.  So, in the hopes of minimizing the impact of this chaos on their house, David’s parents had sent him out into the woods with his uncle and cousins.

While out hiking together, they came to some steep terrain, and found a sort of cave.  David was the first to rush inside.  He saw a hole in the top of the cave up above, and climbed up, figuring that it led directly to the ridge they were all headed to for a meal.  He was almost all the way to the top, about ten feet up and just about ready to stick his head out the top of the hole and see if he really was in the picnic ridge, when his foot slipped, and he began to fall.

You see the parallel already, don’t you?  David and Peter have a whole lot in common.  Peter, not a nine year old, but certainly filled with a sense of adventure, with bravery, and perhaps a little too much confidence for his own good has also embarked on a risk filled adventure.  Peter is one of the first disciples that Jesus calls. He and his brother were invited by Jesus to join him on an adventure, and they unhesitatingly dropped everything to follow Jesus.  And since that time, you could say that Tasmanian devil style clouds of chaos have ensued.  Jesus has cured the sick and raised the dead.  He has taught radically new and different interpretations of the Torah.  He has made enemies, been kicked out of towns, and had invited his disciples to join him fully in this created chaos. 

However, when our scripture reading picks up this morning, Jesus is less like Uncle Joe, creating clouds of chaos, than he is like David’s parents, hoping for a little peace and quiet.  It’s pretty understandable that Jesus would need a rest.  He just gotten done teaching and feeding 5,000 people, which has to be incredibly tiring.  He doesn’t have the energy for the questions and chaos of the disciples, so he sends them out in the boat while he takes some quiet time to pray.   While it is a time of rest and rejuvenation for him, it is not so for the disciples.

As seems to happen a lot of the time when they are together, chaos ensues.  A strong storm comes up, and batters their boat with wind and waves.  They must have had a busy night keeping themselves and their boat safely afloat.  And then, in the early hours of the morning, with the storm still going on, the cloud of chaos grows.  Let’s take a quick break from the story here for a little perspective.  We, as modern readers may misunderstand the emotions of this situation a little bit.  We tend to confuse this story with the one where Jesus stills the storm.  In that one, the disciples are cowering afraid in the boat, thinking they’re about to die.  This is not that story. 

We actually don’t have anything in our text to indicate the disciples were afraid of this particular storm.  Many of them were experienced fishermen before Jesus called them, meaning that they were well used to dealing with these sudden and unexpected storms, that are actually quite common in that area.  But, if we stick to the actual text, we find that the disciples aren’t afraid until we get to the middle of this story- the part where they see a figure moving towards their boat on the water.  I absolutely love this part- a group of grown men freaking out together because they think they see a ghost.  It’s very human and very relatable. Honestly, which one of us can honestly say we’ve never been freaked out by a good ghost story, or strange sounds in our homes in the middle of the night or something we’ve seen out of the corner of our eye.  If we were the disciples, regardless of our actual belief in ghosts, we probably would have been doing the exact same thing. 

And Jesus certainly doesn’t fault the disciples for their fear.  He simply tells them he’s himself and not a ghost, and to take heart and not be afraid.  And Peter, perhaps more than all the others, really does take heart, and is emboldened enough to want this adventure he’s on to go to the next level.  Did you catch the order things happen here?  Peter asks Jesus to ask him to come out of the boat.  He’s just like the adventurous but slightly unsure child, asking their friend to dare them to do something they want to do anyway, but need a little extra push.  And Jesus responds as any good adventurous friend would respond, and tells Peter to come out of the boat and onto the water.

Somehow, over the years, Peter’s journey on the water has become an example of lack of faith, but I strongly disagree.  Peter does amazingly well here.  He’s the one who asks for the invitation to do more.  He’s the one who climbs out of the boat on his own power.  And he actually walks on water.  And he almost makes it all the way to Jesus.  If you remember, when he started to go under, scared by the wind and waves, Jesus doesn’t even have to move.  He just has to reach out his hand to catch him to pull him up.  Rather than being an example of faithlessness, Peter is a miracle of faith-full-ness.

Yes, Jesus does say he has little faith.  Or, if we’re being more true to the original Greek, Jesus calls him Little-Faith, kind of as a nick-name, the kind of teasing friends and family tend to do with each other.  But since when is a little faith a bad thing?  For Peter, a little faith is enough to drop everything and follow Jesus.  It is enough to participate in Jesus’ ministry of feeding, healing, and teaching.  It is enough to want to get out of the safety of the boat, to step into the chaotic waters, and to walk on them almost all the way to Jesus.  Little-Faith certainly goes a long way.

For David, a little faith in his own ability and an openness to adventure got him almost all the way out the top of the cave.  And yes, if you were wondering, his uncle was there to catch him when his little bit of climbing ability wasn’t enough.  And rather than scolding David for climbing up the hole, Uncle Joe simple gave him a hug and told him to make sure someone was there to catch him before he went on his next climb.  Uncle Joe didn’t want to discourage his curiosity, his sense of adventure, his bravery, or his self-confidence.  All these things that led to the slightly dangerous cave adventure were also wonderful.  And Jesus didn’t want to discourage Peter.  He had some faith, bravery, sense of adventure, self-confidence, and most importantly, confidence in Jesus.  Those things, especially the faith in Jesus, can and do lead to some risky situations.  Stepping into the unknown, stepping out of the boat, off of the floor, out of our seat in the pew, and into chaos and adventure- these things come with risk.  But they also come with the possibility of great rewards- our own version of the miraculous water walk.

In this congregation, we have plenty of opportunities to step out of the boat coming up.  Just this week, on Tuesday we have an opportunity to join in fellowship and bracelet making for Crisis Aid.  On Friday, we can join Living Waters for a movie night, either to help out or just to attend.  And on Saturday, we have our first community meal, again with the opportunity to come help serve, or simply come for a meal with each other and our neighbors.  All of these, of course have risk.  You could be like me, and not be the crafty type.  You could know that making bracelets does not come naturally for you, and be afraid of failure, and not come to the bracelet making time because of that.  Or you could step out of the boat, knowing that there will be a supportive group of people there to help you whenever your bracelet starts to head south.

With the movie, you could have to give up your usual Friday night plans.  If you decide, you could be working rather than relaxing.  Or you could be relaxing, but in a different way than usual.  And you may be afraid of what a new worshipping community- Living Waters- means for our congregation.  But you can step out of the boat and go anyway- serving, relaxing, enjoying new company, and remembering that there is certainly more than enough Jesus to go around.

For the meal, you could be afraid that this time and monetary investment on the congregation’s behalf won’t have any measurable return.  You could be nervous about meeting new people and having to strike up new conversations.  It could be like that first day of school when you’re worried about where you’re going to sit in the lunch room and who you’re going to sit with.  But you could step out of the boat and go anyway.  First, we know that as a congregation we are good at this food and fellowship thing.  And if we get one neighbor to attend, eat, and enjoy some conversation, we have certainly succeeded in meeting a need in our neighborhood.  And I promise, you won’t be alone as you eat and converse and perhaps feel a little nervous, but not only will there be supportive others from Calvary, you do in fact have the Holy Spirit upholding you as you participate in the sacred mission of feeding and eating with those around you that Jesus himself modeled.

So here’s my charge for all of us- get out of the boat.  Get out of the comfort, the safety, and the familiarity of what you’ve always done, and try something new- there is no shortage of opportunities this week.  Take your adventure in faith to the next level.  Be bold, be spunky, adventurous, and maybe even a little too brave for your own good.  Remember- Jesus will be there to catch you should you slip, and even a Little-Faith can accomplish miracles.  Amen.