This week at Christ the King, we welcomed our neighbors from Grand Avenue United Methodist Church in Port Washington to join us for worship while their parking lot is being repaved.
This week’s sermon focuses on the miracle of Jesus walking on water, as told in Matthew 14:22-33, as well as our call to proclaim good news in Romans 10:5-15. Portions of this sermon (like my similar sermon on August 12, 2017) were inspired by ELCA Presiding Bishop Eaton’s message at the 2017 Rostered Minister’s Gathering.
Here’s the sermon audio in podcast form, as well as the livestream from Christ the King.
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Grace to you and peace from the One who was, who is, and who is to come, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
This morning’s Scripture came from the lectionary, so I didn’t pick these readings for today, but there’s one verse in particular that I think is most appropriate for this service.
Listen again to Romans 10:12-13. “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”
This is hardly a big, community ecumenical service, but when I read those verses and realized we’d have people from two congregations here worshiping together, I had to point it out. Lutherans and Methodists serve the same Lord who is Lord of all.
I think we missed an opportunity last summer when our parking lot here at Christ the King was redone. We should have gone down the street and worshipped at Grand Avenue. Anyway, thank you again for being here this morning.
After saying, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved,” pointing out God’s salvation is for everyone, Paul continues with an obvious question: How do people know to call on the name of the Lord?
Verse 14: “How are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?” That’s where you and I come in. Every flavor of Christ-follower is called to share the good news.
So, what is the good news? What message are we to proclaim?
With that question in mind, let’s turn to today’s gospel reading, Jesus walking on water. I know some Grand Avenue folks, you heard this story already last Sunday—you must be a week ahead in the lectionary. Even if you didn’t hear it last week, this is a pretty well-known story, but see if anything new sticks out today.
Today’s Gospel picks up immediately (literally – it starts off with the word immediately) after the previous story of Jesus feeding that huge crowd of over 5,000 people with 5 loaves and two fish.
Now that everyone’s finished eating, Jesus sends the disciples across the lake in the boat while he dismisses the crowds. Then after everyone’s left, Jesus finally gets some alone time to pray, the rest time he’d been looking for earlier when the crowd had shown up.
When Jesus finishes praying, he goes out to join the disciples in their boat, miraculously walking across the water to get there.
Now, as the Methodists heard in their sermon last week, the usual takeaway from this story, the usual sermon point is Peter’s willingness to get out of the boat and take the step of faith to walk out to Jesus on the water.
There’s a great book title – I haven’t read the book, but I’d like to – the title is If You Want to Walk in Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat. Isn’t that a great title?
And Peter is a great example of faith. Sometimes, we do need to get out of the boat. Sometimes we need to get out of our safe spaces, go beyond our walls.
A boat is a cool image to use, because a boat is this suspension over the deep, over the water, over who knows what’s down there. In the Bible, water is often an image of danger and chaos. It’s the home of the sea monsters, a place of fear. It’s mysterious.
It’s the void at creation to which God’s Spirit gives order, but we know that because of sin, the order God designed is broken and threatening. Above all that, we trust this fragile thing will keep us afloat, this piece of fiberglass (or wood for the disciples) will hold us safely above the danger.
Sometimes, God’s call for us to proclaim good news includes a calling to take a step of faith out into the dangerous waters, and when we take that step, as long as we keep our focus on Jesus, as long as we don’t look away in fear like Peter did, then we’ll be ok. There’s a powerful lesson there for us about keeping our focus on Jesus, where it needs to be.
And of course, there’s my favorite part of this way of looking at the story: Jesus is there to catch us. When Peter gets afraid and overwhelmed and begins to sink, Jesus lets him flail for a minute so he’ll learn his lesson, right?
No, Jesus immediately reaches out and catches him. That’s a beautiful reminder for when you feel like you’re sinking. Jesus is there to grab hold of you. Listen to that voice of truth promising to catch you, letting you know you need not fear.
But the problem with reading the story this way, focusing on Peter and his bold step of faith, is it really focuses on human agency. It becomes a story about us, about whether we are strong enough to walk on water and focus on Jesus all the time.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t always step out of the boat. I can’t do that all the time. I suspect that’s true for you as well.
We can try and try, but we’re not going to be able to walk on the water. This story sets an impossible standard for us to meet.
So what is the point? Well, look again at the story. The disciples are in the boat on the sea at night, and it’s dark and it’s windy and stormy with waves battering the boat, and suddenly, they see Jesus walking towards them, and not surprisingly, they’re terrified. People don’t generally walk on water. I’d be scared too!
Where I get stuck in this story is when Peter asks what he thinks might be a ghost, “Hey, if that’s you, Jesus, ask me to come out there to you on the water.” And the person on the water says, “Ok, come on out.”
That’s not proof! I’m sorry, but the “ghost” doing exactly what you tell it to do is not a good enough reason to step out of a perfectly good boat!
But they’re in the boat, and Peter is willing to step out. And notice this is Peter’s idea. I imagine him saying, “Lord, if it’s you, command me to come out there.”
And Jesus replies, “Well, ok, if that’s what you want to do. Not sure you know what you’re doing, but if you want to come out here, go ahead, I’m here.”
Peter comes out, does all right, and then he tries to walk on his own, and of course, he sinks.
Jesus says, “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?” We often read that like it’s a condemnation. Shame on you for not believing well enough. Shame on you for sinking. Shame on you for not doing enough.
But what if it’s more like a kid on the side of the swimming pool saying, “Catch me, catch me, I’m gonna jump in the pool, catch me!” And whoever’s going to catch them says, “Come in, I got you.” Imagine Jesus asking Peter, “What are you so worried about? I told you I’ve got you. I’ve got you. Why did you doubt?”
The goal is not for us to have magical powers to walk on water. The goal isn’t even for us to have this super faith so we never look away from Jesus.
The point isn’t about us at all. When we try to take things into our own hands, when we think it’s up to us instead of Jesus, that’s when we get into trouble.
The point of this story is not for you to test God by trying to do things you were never created to do like walking on water, but to trust God, the only one strong enough to save us.
The point is to trust that in the storms of life, we don’t need to rely on ourselves alone; we can rely on Jesus. Magical powers to walk on water might be nice, but wouldn’t you rather have Jesus in the boat with you?
The good news in this story is not just that Peter stepped out, or even that Jesus grabbed Peter when he was sinking. The point is that we see in this story God doing exactly what God always does: coming to us, toward the disciples in their boat.
Did you catch what happened to the storm? It doesn’t stop when Peter steps out towards Jesus, or even when Jesus catches him. The wind and the waves stop when Jesus climbs into the boat with his disciples.
God’s movement is always towards us. It’s the same in baptism – God comes to us in the water. Our faith comes after, in response to God. The promise that matters is God’s promise to us.
Even when we fall short and turn away, God’s love never fails. God always comes to us, even if it means walking across the water through a storm.
Take it another step: The whole story of Jesus is God coming to us. In the Christmas story, Jesus took on our limited, mortal flesh, became incarnate as a person like us, experiencing all of life, all the way to death, the worst this world can offer. Jesus comes to be in the same boat as us.
And because Jesus is in our boat, we have the freedom to jump into the pool, into the messiness of the world. We have the freedom to trust God, rather than trying to save ourselves.
Knowing we are saved by God, we have the freedom to step out in faith, to work for God’s kingdom, to travel life’s seas, to proclaim the good news.
We’re in this boat together, we’re here as faith communities in a rough, sometimes fearful world, but we are never in this alone. That, siblings in Christ, is the good news we have to share. No matter what happens, Jesus is in the boat with us and will bring us safely home.
Our call, our mission is to invite others to come into the boat where Jesus is. Salvation is at hand. Jesus has come to be with us. Thanks be to God. Amen!