Matthew 14 is a portrait of a day of ministry with Jesus. All day long, fueled by compassion, Jesus offered healthcare and when the sun began to fade, other needs arose. The disciples came to Jesus concerned that the crowd had nothing to eat, “This is an isolated place and it’s getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus flipped the marketplace script, “There’s no need to send them away. You give them something to eat.”  Andrew replied “A youth here has five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that for a crowd like this?” (John 6)  The child’s generosity and Jesus’ blessing was enough. The scarcity  mindset was broken and 5,000 folks had plenty to eat. In fact, the disciples took up an offering collecting 12 baskets for a feeding ministry like not Father Strobel’s work among us.  

Have you ever cleaned up after hosting a lovely Thanksgiving dinner: putting up the extra card table, carrying out the trash, overloading the dishwasher and hand washing the roasting pans? There is a kind of beautifully tiredness in knowing you fed people and nurtured “community”(pl).

The day takes an odd shift, when Matthew tells us  that “Right then”, even before the benediction, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat. Why not linger in the joy of the miraculous day?  Instead of celebrating 5000 victories with his co-workers, Jesus goes up into the mountains to pray by himself.  Jesus’ heart was weary.  Matthew 14 begins telling us how Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, was arrested, bound, imprisoned and finally murdered in custody by King Herod. John died for political preaching.  Hearing of John’s murder, Jesus sought to retreat from the crowd, but the always needy crowd found Jesus. Filled with compassion, Jesus delayed self-care and cared for the crowd, offering healthcare all day and dinner that evening. Jesus then went up on the mountain to be in prayer alone, but then the next problem arose.

The sea of Galilee is really a lake,  but winds off the Mediterranean blow through the mountain passes and stir up waters producing dangerous whitecaps. The boats that Peter James and John operated were maybe 4 feet wide and 19 feet long with open decking well-suited for casting nets and hauling fish, but not designed for stormy seas.  Maybe as lightning lit up the sky, Jesus atop the mountain could see his friends tossed about in their small boat battling the waves.  

 Some preachers talk about faith as if Christian living means never ending up in troubled waters. They peddle God’s blessings promising health, wealth and smooth sailing.  But the Bible tells us Jesus put the disciples into the boat and sent them out into the storm. John the Baptist preached with a fire that angered the systems of power as did Jesus, John died in Jail and Jesus was crucified for troubling the waters. Should not the cross end all prosperity preaching? Perhaps Christ-like living always will produce some troubled waters: good trouble is trouble nonetheless.  

Jesus, fully God and fully human, could have saved his friends, who were straining at the oars,  in so many ways.  Jesus could have stepped out onto the water and with each step the sea could at his touch leaving clear skies around Jesus,  but storms apart from Christ. That is not how the parable goes.  No Christ walks through the storm, the wind, the waves, the lightning to be present with those beloved followers. Being with us, Emmanuel, is the arc of the Incarnation from cradle to the cross. Jesus comes alongside us in the midst of life’s worst storms. 

The disciples are screaming in fear when they see some ghost-like figure walking on the water. I would scream. Jesus calls out “Be encouraged! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.”  The disciples are flummoxed by the whole scene, but Peter speaks up, proposing a kind of foolish test, “Lord, if it’s you, order me to come to you on the water.”  Jesus said, “Come.”  Peter steps out of the boat and moves into the storm where Jesus is standing.  

Have you ever wondered why Peter is the leader of the disciples? Why does Jesus leave Peter in charge? Peter does not seem to be the brightest or most eloquent.  However, hearing Christ’s promise “Be encouraged! It’s me. Don’t be afraid”, Peter is ready to move to where Jesus is- even if Jesus is out on troubled waters.  Most of us stay inside the sinking boat- stuck to our fears.  When Jesus asks “who do you say I am?” Peter risks answering. At the Last Supper, when Jesus tells them that they will all run away, Peter declares, “No, Lord, if they all abandon you, I will never abandon you!” Peter will sink, Peter will deny, Peter will run away and weep bitter tears. We love to focus on leaders who fail, we make mockumentaries.  However, after sinking, denying and running away, Peter will lead the movement to include all people in the church against considerable backlash.  (Acts 10-15). And Peter after bold leading will blow it again according to the Apostle Paul! (Galatians 2) 

Friends, maybe faith is not a steady progression into perfection, but more a series of stepping out, sinking, restoration, stepping out, sinking, forgiveness, stepping out…  Maybe faith is a kind of continual loop of forgiveness, grace and mercy. Maybe Jesus wants followers willing  to step out into the storms- instead of clinging to the safer sinking spaces.  Maybe that is why Jesus will say “I tell you that you are Peter (or rock solid) And I’ll build my church on this rock and the gates of hell won’t be able to stand against it.” (Matthew 16)  Maybe Jesus is calling out to us today: I tell you that you are Peter (or rock solid) And I’ll build my church with folks like you and the gates of evil, injustice and oppression won’t be able to stand against it.  Get out of the boat, go to where Jesus is standing.  Yes, you are going to sink. So what? Peter can swim, even if he forgot he could in the moment. (John 21).  But how beautiful to be pulled up by Jesus as the sea calmed and the storm passed? What a story Peter has to tell: soaked to the core- but for a few moments Peter walked on the water.   Boundless grace is deeply liberating- empowering us to try and fail maybe 70×77 times.

So often we spend so much energy worrying, clinging to our stuck-ness. We fear the storm. The wind howls and we miss Christ’s gentle promise: “be encouraged, I am with you, do not be afraid.”  What if we step out, speak up, come out?  What if we forgive, give, and love more fully? What if we risked humanizing our enemies with compassion?  What if we give up keeping up with our neighbor’s manicured lawns or pickleball game?  What if we follow that deep spiritual tug in our hearts?  

Accepting a Youth Pastor’s challenge, I read the Bible for 45 minutes every day  from eighth grade well into college. By my sophomore year, I could not make the Bible fit together. My tradition doubled down on doubt saying, if you rejected one verse you would “lose your faith”. But with my questions, reasoning, and conversations Jesus seemed to be whispering, “step out into the troubled waters”.  I stepped out of that theological box and yes, sometimes I sunk, I flailed, I made mistakes and treaded water, but Grace pulled me up and I found faith, grace, and Jesus as so much richer, deeper, wider, freer and stronger than I ever had imagined before I stepped away from my stuckness. I could tell that same kind of story about forgiveness, generosity or speaking up! What if we risk stepping out onto the sea? What if we risk sinking?  Hear the Good News, “be encouraged, Christ is with us, do not be afraid”!

We will sink- but the storm will pass and Jesus will pull us back up, restoring our souls. Grace will abound. And sinking may not be the worst thing that can happen to us, maybe clinging to the stuck spaces that lack the life-giving presence of Christ is worse.  Let us not be afraid to step out of those stuck spaces and move towards Christ who loves us, even when the waters seem troubled! Amen