2020 has been a year of fear. Most of us on some level or another fear this
virus that’s turned everything upside down.
Perhaps we fear getting it and even dying from it. Perhaps we fear giving it to others. Perhaps we fear the effects – the dominoes that
have fallen, the damage to our economy, the loss of work and wealth, the
effects on our mental health, the unrest in our nation that may or may not be
related. Maybe you fear the government’s
response to all this and the threats to your freedom. Maybe you fear even to bring any of this up
in polite conversation, as people have been so much set at odds. And maybe you also fear that this will drag
on and on, and we’ll never get back to normal.
Yes, fear has loomed large for many of us lately.
When Holy Scripture speaks of fear, though, it’s almost
never a good thing. Except for the
command to fear God, I can’t think of any other time we are told to fear. Rather, the command to “fear not” is
common. Fear not, say the angels when
they appear. The Psalmist writes, “yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…
for thou art with me…” And of course
Jesus himself tells his disciples to “fear not”. We see it today as a key word (phobos – fear)
in the story of when he walked on the water.
It was late, and it was dark. That alone sets some people in a fearful
mode. The darkness means we can’t see,
or can’t see as well. And so there is
the unknown. Add to that, the wind and
waves were kicking up. The disciples,
experienced fishermen among them, began to grow concerned. They well knew the danger of the sea.
But then they had an even greater freak-out. They saw Jesus. But they thought he was a ghost. Well of course normal people don’t appear
walking out on the water. So another
explanation sprang to mind – a ghost! Even
these disciples of Christ were under the sway of superstitions. We sinners seem to know there’s a world of
spirits and supernatural forces at work – and that some of those spirits are
not our friends. They fearfully jumped
to a conclusion.
Jesus, for his part, calmed their fear. “Take heart!
It is I!” Take courage! Be not afraid! It’s me!
It’s Jesus!
What a sigh of relief and wonder they must have then
shared. What awe and amazement as once
again Jesus does the impossible. This is
Christ – who can heal diseases, cast out demons, turn water into wine and
multiply fish and loaves. This is Jesus,
who now shows his mastery over wind and wave, the very forces of nature.
One of the comforting things about having Jesus as Lord and
Savior is that he is Yahweh Almighty – and that creation itself is under his
command. The little Greek phrase he uses
to say “It is I” is “ego eimi”. That’s
the Greek way of saying Yahweh, which of course in Hebrew means, “I am who I
am”. This isn’t the last time Jesus uses
this phrase which alludes to his true identity as Yahweh.
But if he is Yahweh - of course he can walk on water. Water exists because of him. Everything exists because of him. While God the Father created everything by
his Word – we know that Word is a Living Word, that in the beginning was with
God and was God. That Living Word by
whom all things were made (as we say in the Creed).
God asks Job (in our OT reading) that great series of
rhetorical (and maybe even sarcastic) questions: Were you there when I laid the foundation of
the earth? Do you know how I made
it? Can you explain these deep
mysteries? The point isn’t to make Job
small – but rather to remind him who he is dealing with when he calls upon
Yahweh. This is the Creator of all
things! This is no small or weakling god
of limited power. This is a God in whom
you can trust, and trust fully.
So, too, Jesus. By
walking on the water gives the disciples (and us) a glimpse of that divine
power over nature. He’s the creator,
after all. There is no greater friend to
have. There is no one better in whom to
trust. Of all the things that we may or
might fear, of all the things that can and do make us afraid – he is over them
all. He is Lord of all. And he’s in our corner! Take heart, it’s Jesus! Truly he is the Son of God. Don’t be afraid.
Sure it’s great for him to walk on water, but wouldn’t it be
great if we could, too? You wonder what
exactly was going through Peter’s head (as you Texans like to say, “bless his
heart”) Did he reason that Jesus had
given his disciples the power to cast out demons, and so therefore Jesus could
and should also give Peter this particular power over nature, too? Was he divinely inspired to blurt this out,
like he was when he made his good confession that Jesus is the Christ? Or did he simply not know what to say or do,
and acted on impulse and without thought?
For better or worse, for whatever reason, Peter asks Jesus
to invite him out of the boat, and Jesus obliges! Peter, too, walks on water! Another miracle!
Friends this is not the only time that Jesus would bend the
laws of nature to bring us to himself.
This is not even the greatest miracle in which Jesus invites us to where
he is, over and against all human reason and sense.
He calls us to himself.
He calls us to faith by his Spirit.
He calls us his own in our baptism.
He calls us to the table in his Sacrament. By word and wondrous sacramental sign, he
brings us to where we could never go alone.
To himself.
And even more. One
day he will call us – not out of the boat – but out of the grave. Where he’s already gone. The God who made the universe and everything
in it, is the man who gave himself into death on a cross. The Savior, who bore the sins of the world,
drank death down to the last bitter drop, and three days later came out on the
other side. Standing tall over death
which cannot touch him evermore. Walking
all over death with the same ease he treads the stormy waters – and bringing us
along with him too. His death is our
death. His life is our life.
Peter had no business walking on the water. But he was with Jesus, and so it was ok. You and I have no business dreaming of life
after death. But we are with Jesus, and
so it will be as he says – “he who lives and believes in me will live even
though he dies”.
Now, of course Peter didn’t stay afloat very long. And here is a lesson for us as well. Why did he sink? It wasn’t because Jesus couldn’t keep him
above water. It wasn’t because Jesus ran
out of miracle-juice. It certainly
wasn’t because Jesus forgot about him, or turned his back on him.
He took his eyes off of Jesus. He stopped trusting, and returned to
fear. He thought of the wind and wave
and death creeped in on him again. But
he took his eyes off of Jesus, and so he started to sink. Or as Jesus put it,
“you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
This isn’t a “shame on you, Peter”. It’s not a wagging finger or a calling on the
carpet. It’s a gentle corrective. A kind reminder. Why did you doubt? You don’t have to doubt, when you’re with
me. I’ve got you. Take heart.
It is I.
The same Jesus who called Peter to come for a stroll on the
lake, is the same Jesus who’s there for him when he falls. The one who both empowers and forgives, who
rescues and restores. Why did you
doubt? Why should you ever doubt
him? Rather – take heart. This is Jesus, here!
I suppose some would want a Jesus who never allows the wind
and wave to come at all. Some want a
Jesus never to even bother them, but let them row their way through. Some want a Jesus who never asks us to trust
him. But that’s not the Jesus we
have. Far better to trust that this
Jesus, the real one, knows best.
Dear Peter – faithful one minute, fearing the next. We can sympathize. Peter is the every-man. But there is Jesus – with a strong hand to
reach out and save. And Peter’s savior
is ours. Fear not, dear Christian, but
take heart. Don’t doubt, dear Christian,
but have faith in Jesus Christ. Amen.
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