Delivered by Amy Higgins on August 13, 2023

Scripture: Matthew 14:22-33

After the storm we experienced this week, I don’t need to open with an anecdote about storms. We had rain and strong winds, which for some, slammed into their homes. At best, yards were covered in leaves or a few shingles blew off roofs. For others, limbs, or worse, entire trees, came down and in some instances took utility lines down with them. Many of us have worked to clean up and make repairs after the storm this week. And as difficult as the clean up was, at least we came through the storm able to do so.

Jesus made the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead. And he sent them out knowing that most likely there would be a storm. This passage even says, “Later that night…the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.” Now, we know Jesus went up the mountain after he sent the disciples away. What we don’t know is if his reason was just to be alone or if he had other reasons. Three of the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, and John, give accounts of this story. All three tell of the storm beginning during the night with Jesus not appearing to the disciples until just before dawn. And only Mark states that Jesus saw the disciples straining to control the boat during the night and yet, still did not appear to them until morning. As usual, we take different things from the varying accounts. Maybe he waited on purpose or maybe he just knew the disciples would be okay until he got there. But, he does get there and everything that happens once he does, is what matters.

We can look at the accounts of this story both personally and as a church. We can see the boat of disciples as the church being sent out without the physical presence of Jesus. And at the time in which Matthew wrote his gospel, around 85CE or roughly 55 years after the Crucifixion, there would be a lot for the church to draw from this story. In Matthew’s time the church was adrift in a sea of persecution, confusion, and antagonism. That all this takes place on water is significant. In Jewish tradition, water means life, death, and rebirth. So, one could reasonably take from this story that when the lifegiving waters are troubled, we are reborn. Some may say the storm, even the sea, is the absence of God. But, we know from Genesis, from Creation, that God works in the chaos. 

We can be sure the disciples were afraid out on the lake in that storm. But then Jesus appears and they become afraid for another reason. In Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts, the disciples do not recognize Jesus and believe they are seeing a ghost. How often do we fear something before we realize it’s Jesus? He is still with us even when we don’t think he is. And even when we do recognize Jesus, as the disciples do in John’s account, seeing him can still be scary. The disciples of John’s account see Jesus walking on the water and it scares them. What Jesus can do can be scary for us. But even when we think all we have is just a vision, a dream, it is a vision of hope.

But even still, we need proof. Like Peter, we tell Jesus to call us to him, whether it is to prove to Jesus we are ready to face the storm or to ask him to erase our doubts and calm our fears. Peter steps out of the boat to conquer his fears, maybe even prove his faith, but then he focuses on the storm and takes his eyes off Jesus. If we focus too much on the storm, fear will overcome us. This isn’t to say we cannot doubt. Doubt can be healthy. But we cannot let it stop us when Jesus asks us to get out of the boat and step out into the storm. And when the storm becomes too much, Jesus gets in the boat and rides it out with us, calming the storm.

When we are lost and afraid, adrift and sinking in the chaos, Jesus shows up in unexpected ways. When Jesus walks on the stormy waters of our lives, he steps into our doubts and fears, the hurts we carry, even those we cause. Jesus cannot prevent the storms but, with him, when we step out in faith we can find our way back into the boat. Jesus is in the boat with us, but he will also call us out of the boat and into the storm. Like Peter, we are called and empowered, each of us and as the church, to quell the chaos. And whether we are in or we are out, standing on faith or losing our step, he will always pull us up and give us another chance.