Safe in the Storm
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Our Gospel passage today takes place after the feeding of the 5000. The disciples just finished picking up all of those baskets of leftover food, and after he feeds them, Jesus sends the crowds away. This is of course what the disciples wanted to do before he fed them, but Jesus thought it was worth it to keep them a bit longer if he could give them bread from heaven in the wilderness. And after he sends the crowds away, he sends the disciples away too. And after he gets alone, Jesus prays. Jesus did an absolute miracle. And immediately afterwards, he makes time to pray, to take counsel with his Father, perhaps to fight to stay humble, or to make plans for what happens next, or simply to share the moment with his Father. He is certainly serving as an example to his followers. After God works through us to accomplish something for his kingdom, we should be like Jesus and pray. We should pray without ceasing, but especially when we see God move in our lives or in the lives around us, because this is how God knits us into his will for us and the world.
When Jesus finally finishes praying, the disciples are far off in their boat. And after praying for a long time, Jesus intends to meet up with his disciples again.
But the boat is a long way from the land. And the disciples are in a storm, the waves had beaten the boat and the wind was against them.
And then, in the fourth watch of the night–this is between 3 AM and 6 AM–Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. In the ancient world, the sea was synonymous with chaos. They had been doing battle with chaos all night, and in that chaos, Jesus comes walking to them on the chaos. Like the Holy Spirit in the creation of the world, Jesus hovers over the waters, not subsumed by chaos, but immune from chaos, trampling on it (in the words of Job).
To the men battling a sea of chaos all night, Jesus looks like more chaos. “It’s a ghost!” they say. But breaking the spell of chaos, Jesus suddenly speaks to them and says, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
No chaos is too chaotic for Jesus to invade it. No chaos is too impenetrable for Jesus to conquer. He steps on chaos and breaks its reign of terror. And he does it with words of comfort. Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid.
He can do this, because Jesus is the Lord. When Jesus says “It is I,” in Greek, it’s the same words we see elsewhere, where Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” And this points back to Yahweh revealing his name to Moses. There, God instructs Moses to tell his people that “I AM sent you.”
Peter obeys Jesus. He takes heart. There is no other explanation for what he says next: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Those are the words of a man who has taken heart. After fighting chaos all night, Peter knows and believes it is better to be with Jesus with no boat than to face the chaos with only a boat and other mere mortals. Peter is willing to face a greater chaos with Jesus rather than cling to a safety that is no safety at all.
And to Peter, to a man weary and heavy laden, Jesus says, “Come.” So, in the midst of his chaos, Peter ditched the comfort of a boat for the one who could do the impossible. Not only could Jesus feed 5000 people with a few pieces of food, he was clearly the conqueror of Peter’s chaos. And so Peter gets out of the boat and he walks on the water as Jesus did and he makes his way toward Jesus. When he sees the strong wind, he becomes afraid, and as his faith falls, so does he. He begins to sink and he cries out, “Lord, save me.” Peter not only saw Jesus for who he is, Peter knows how needy he is. “Immediately,” is the word that’s used. This is language of God breaking through into the reality of our world. Immediately, Jesus reaches out his hand and takes hold of him.
After Peter takes heart, enough to climb out of a boat in heavy wind, and walk out on the water to Jesus, he lets the chaos get the best of him. He gets distracted and takes his eyes off Jesus.
And we can certainly relate to Peter’s mistake here, to his momentary lack of faith. Distractions call to us from unexpected angles, from wind and waves, health issues, modern conveniences and inconveniences, drama of all kinds. Peter walks on water and then he takes his eyes off of Jesus and this is a powerful picture of not only how God can work in our lives when we look to Jesus, but also what’s at stake when we lose sight of him. In the chaos, we have to have a singular focus on the one who tells us, "It is I. Do not be afraid.”
When Peter takes his eyes off of the-Lord-over-the-chaos, the one holding him up above it, he begins to sink. And Jesus says “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” This reveals something about what it means to have great faith. It is consistent. To have great faith is to relentlessly keep your eyes fixed on the object of your faith, in good times and in bad. As the world, time, and space, change around him, Jesus, the object of our faith remains constant. From a hot afternoon in the desert, to a stormy night on the sea, to the Cross, to the resurrection, to his throne in glory, the setting changes, but we keep our eyes fixed on him. Don’t take your eyes off of him as the wind picks up. As the stability of the economy, of our health, of the way society relates to each other, of work, school, and politics all change rapidly before our eyes, he doesn’t change. He remains Lord and his face cuts through the chaos for you to look to him and be saved.
When they get into the boat, the wind ceases. The forces of chaos knew they had been conquered. And the disciples show that they are beginning to understand Jesus in a new light. The one who fed the 5000 not only did the things God does by feeding his people in the wilderness, he does the things God did at the foundation of the world, hovering over waters, and bringing order to chaos. Jesus’ actions point to those events. And those events point to Jesus’ actions. When Jesus feeds people and walks on water, encouraging his disciples not to lose heart, he does those things for them to see him and his love for them better—not just to reveal who he is, but to reveal who he is TO THEM. And in doing so, he reveals who he is to us, so that we can know what it is to be well fed in the wilderness and safe in the storm.
So keep looking to Jesus, whatever may happen, in good times and bad times. Know him, trust him, and be saved. And as the disciples did, respond in worship to the only one who has shown himself worthy to receive it: namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.