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THE ESSENTIAL 100 BIBLE READINGS: THE MIRACLES OF JESUS
Matthew 14:22-33
A sermon preached at First Presbyterian Church by Carter Lester on
January 27, 2013
Introduction:Do you everwonder about miracles – whether they still happen today like they did in Biblical times? What really happened when Jesus fed the 5000 or walked on water? Maybe Jesus was walking on a hidden sandbar, and not on water, some have suggested. Do you wonder why there are not more miracles, or how God decides when to let a miracle happen and when not?
When it comes to miracles, I think there are a few things that I have found helpful to keep in mind. First, as the theologian Karl Barth pointed out, miracles are essentially an interpretation of an event rather than the event itself. What that means is what most of us have found to be true in our own lives. What a person of faith can only describe in terms of being a miracle, someone without faith will find some other way, some other logic to explain it. There were skeptics in Jesus’ day who discounted his power and there are, of course, such skeptics today. What we see and understand is often based on what we believe.
Second, all “miracles” pale before the “grand miracle.” When you think about it, the feeding of the 5000 or the raising of Lazarus from the tomb only made a temporary difference in the lives of those affected. The 5000 were fed one meal, but they would grow hungry again. Lazarus was given a longer life, but he would still die. What is far more significant is what C.S. Lewis called the “grand miracle:” that the Son of God lived among us, that he died to save us from our sins, and that he was raised so that the doors of heaven would be opened for us. That is what really matters when it comes to Jesus and miracles.
And finally, when it comes to the miracles, Jesus is never very impressed with the spectacular, even when he is the one doing it. He always has another point to make. There is always something to be learned from these stories that deals only indirectly with what we might call the miracle. What do I mean? Let us look at today’s passage.
Read Matthew 14:22-33 and prayer
The first thing to notice when it comes to walking on water is that Jesus does not do it to show off. As one commentator on this text writes, “The emphasis here is not on Jesus’ ability to perform an amazing deed, his capacity to do a dazzling circus stunt that shows off his supernatural powers.” Instead, the emphasis is on who Jesus is and what he is like.[1] The storm tossed seas represent chaos and all the powers that threaten the disciples and us. When Jesus walks on the sea, we see that Jesus is Lord of the sea, or as Veggie Tales once famously put it in a children’s song, we see that he is “bigger than the boogie man.”
The disciples in the boat are in trouble. Despite the presence of fishermen in their boat their poor boat is being battered by the waves and they are still far from shore, Matthew tells us. Jesus comes to their rescue, just like a Good Shepherd comes looking for lost sheep.
The second thing to notice when it comes to walking on the water is that Jesus is not the only one to do it. Peter, if only for a moment, does it too: “Lord, it is you, command me to come to you on the water,” Peter calls out to Jesus. And Jesus responds with one word: “Come.” “So Peter got out of the boat,” Matthew tells us, “started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.”
“Peter got out of the boat.” For some of us, those may be the hardest words in this passage, even harder than walking on the water. After all, there is a storm going on all around them. Peter and the disciples were scared in the boat. Now Peter is getting out of the boat?!
As someone has said, “you can’t walk on water unless you get out of the boat.” And getting out of the boat is hard for us. We are creatures of habit. We would rather stay where we are, live with the status quo, and avoid change. Kerry and I have a counselor friend and former teacher who defines sin as “our desire to remain miserably comfortable.” We find change so hard that sometimes we will stick with the status quo even when we are miserable. We hold on to the sides of the boat with both hands – our knuckles turning white as our grip tightens.
But look again at Matthew 14. If we are going to be a Christian, if we are going to follow Jesus, both as a congregation and as families and individuals, then we need to be willing to get out of the boat. Move out of our comfort zones. Follow Jesus into the unknown. Take a risk and get our feet wet. Not because Jesus wants us to be reckless, but because he wants us to do and experience something that can only happen if we do get out of the boat.
“You cannot expect to walk on water if you don’t get out of the boat.” How is Jesus calling you, how is Jesus calling me, to leave the boat. What does that look like?
For some it may mean taking up Jesus’ invitation to go on a mission trip or volunteer at Barth Elementary school or the Cluster or in a hospital room. For others it may mean reaching out to someone we do not know, or reaching out to someone we know all to well and are estranged from. For some it may mean taking time to start reading the Bible and praying regularly. For some it may mean going to a counselor so that we can finally break destructive habits and find new patterns for doing things, either individually or as a couple.
Jesus does not want us to have any illusions. There are great storms out there. It is not easy to get out of the boat and start walking on water. But we can do it – as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus. Did you notice what happened to Peter? At first he is fine, Matthew tells us. “But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!’”
When we try something new, when we upset the status quo and venture forth from our comfort zones, we will be fine if we keep our eyes on Jesus. But if we don’t , then there will be problems. A congregation senses a call to start a new ministry serving the community. At first, there is great enthusiasm. But then, someone raises questions about the cost. And then someone raises questions about the difficulty of doing what needs to be done. And so it happens that plans are set aside for another day, a sunnier day, even though the needs are there now. That congregation looks at the storm and becomes frightened and starts to sink in the waves.
One of us answers God’s call to try to heal a broken relationship. We reach out, but then find no warm and fuzzy response. The other person is still rude or skeptical about us or still angry with us. We don’t get the results we expect right away and so we give up. We look at the storm and become frightened and start to sink in the waves.
Or our self-improvement plans go nowhere. We start to read the Bible and pray, but then things get in the way. We are sick and need our rest. Work gets hectic, our days too busy. And we decide it is no use and give up. We look at the storm and become frightened and start to sink in the waves.
Friends, what Matthew is telling us is that we cannot walk on water unless we get out of the boat. And we cannot walk on water unless we keep our eyes focused on Jesus. We keep our eyes on Jesus and not on the storms and waves around us. We focus on what he is calling us to do and not on how hard it may seem to do. We keep our eyes on what Jesus wants to be done and not how poor the results initially are. We focus on his grace and power – and not on our weaknesses and repeated failures.
When we look at Jesus – we will see this: that he thinks we can do it. As Rob Bell points out: “As we read the stories of Jesus’ life with his…disciples, what do we find frustrates him to no end? When his disciples lose faith in themselves. He even says to them at one point, ‘You did not choose me but I chose you.’…Notice how many places in the accounts of Jesus’ life he gets frustrated with his disciples. Because they are incapable? No, because of how capable they are. He sees what they could be and could do, and when they fall short, it provokes him to no end. It isn’t their failure that is the problem; it’s their greatness. They don’t realize what they are capable of.”[2]
It is so true. When Peter asks Jesus whether he should get out of the boat and try walking on the water, Jesus says to him: “Come.” And when Peter cries out in panic, “Save me!,” Jesus immediately grabs Peter. As he lifts the sputtering Peter up out of the waves, Jesus says to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Jesus isprovoked with Peter. But that does not mean that he has given up on Peter. In fact, Jesus will tell Peter in chapter 16 that he is to be a rock for the church. And at the end of the gospel, Jesus will tell not only Peter but the rest of the disciples who have not even bothered to get out of the boat that they are the ones that he is entrusting to “go and make disciples of all nations.” Jesus’ words convey frustration and chastisement, to be sure, but they also convey his love and encouragement.
“You of little faith, why doyou doubt?” Like Peter and those disciples, all of us are a mixture of faith and doubt. Some days the faith is stronger and we are on top of the water and some days the doubts are stronger and we are floundering or even on the verge of drowning. Indeed, it is those doubts that keep us clinging to the gunwales of the boat and staying out of the water
But Jesus does not only want us to hear the call to get out of the boat. He also wants us to hear these words, the words he walks across the water to share with the disciples: “Take heart.” “Do not be afraid.” “I am here.”
You see when Jesus looks at the disciples then, when he looks at us disciples now, he sees disciples capable of being like him, disciples capable of walking on water. Or as Rob Bell put it: “I have been told that I need to believe in Jesus. Which is a good thing. But what I am learning is that Jesus believes in me.”[3]
[1] Thomas G. Long, Matthew (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), 166.
[2] Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 134.
[3]Bell, 134.