Sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (original)

Not preached
Scripture text: Matthew 14:22-33

Pastor's Note: This was the original draft of my sermon for 8/13/17, written before the nightmare of hate and violence in Charlottesville, VA on 8/12. I decided, as my conscience compelled me, to rewrite this from scratch to answer the obvious manifestation of evil in our society. I present here, however, the original for the sake of completeness.

On Thursday, while I was driving to the Senior Center to do my bi-weekly volunteer duty, the radio started playing Sheryl Crow’s song “My Favorite Mistake.” I sort of chuckled to myself, thinking “Man, I haven’t heard this song since I was in college.” I did my volunteering and drove home a hour or two later, stopping by CVS on the way to pick up some prescriptions. I walk into the store and what song is playing over the loudspeaker at the CVS? Yep, “My Favorite Mistake.”

Music is a funny thing. It has an amazing power to teleport us through time. And while that old song I heard on Thursday certainly did a little bit to transport me back to my days of youth, there are examples that can do that far more potently. A few notes of either The Sunday’s “This is where the Story Ends” or The Cure’s “Untitled” and I’m smack-dab in the middle of the Drillfield at Virginia Tech. Doesn’t matter what I’m doing or where I am, I’m immediately taken back to a time now 25 years past. Back to one of those perfect moments in life. Back to bliss and enchantment. Back to a time I once thought would never end.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing. It reminds us of those perfect moments in life and how valuable they were. Valuable in part because they did come to an end, which is always something when we’re in that perfect moment that we cannot believe. We think they’ll last forever and yet they never do.

So what does all this have to do with Jesus walking on water? Well, quite a bit actually.

I had two thoughts coming into this sermon today. One, much like the miracle last week, there’s an element of unanswered questions about this miracle. Once again, we have a miraculous event that appears on the surface to be Jesus just showing off. As I pointed out last Sunday, that’s not his nature, so what’s the real reason for this miracle?

The second thought is the recognition that the disciples are in their “perfect moment.” They are on the missionary journey with Jesus. They’ve seen amazing things: the dead raised, the lame walking, the blind seeing, lepers cleansed. They heard teachings that have astounded and intrigued them. They’re on the adventure of a lifetime, having a blast, doing and witnessing incredible things. And, like all of us when we’re in such moments, they believe it will never end. Perhaps that’s why they refuse to listen when Jesus frequently speaks of his coming Passion.

So does Jesus’ miracle have something to do with that delusion of the unending perfect moment? I believe it does.

Jesus, of course, is very aware that this fair time will come to an end. He’s been telling the disciples that for some time now, but they don’t listen. They don’t believe it. (We probably wouldn’t either.) But rather than butt heads with them over it, Jesus does something of an end run around them. It’s not the only time he does this. There are numerous occasions where Jesus does something and in his explanation of that something, he says “What I am doing you do not understand now, but someday you will.” This is one of those times.

He walks on water. More importantly, however, when Peter asks to do the same, Jesus ascents and Peter steps out of the boat.

That’s huge. Here is Peter, an ordinary and often flawed human being, doing the impossible through Jesus. That is precisely what the disciples need to see. (And us as well.)

You see, whether the disciples believe it or not, the fair time, the perfect moment, will come to an end. Jesus does go to cross, he does die, he does rise again, and he does ascend into heaven. And the disciples are left (for the first time) with that question that I have said is central to the Christian story, “What now?”

Well, Jesus tells them before he leaves what they are to do. “Go, spread the Gospel. Go, heal the sick, bind up the brokenhearted. Spread the kingdom of God to every corner of the world.” One can immediately sense the feeling of panic in the disciples upon hearing those instructions. “How can we do that? We’re not Jesus.”

No, they’re not, but Peter did walk on water just like Jesus. Peter did do the impossible through Jesus. And if he can do that, then we can all do the impossible. We can all change the world.

That is why this miracle is important. It’s not really about Jesus walking on the water. It’s about Peter doing it; Jesus demonstrates in a very potent way what the Evangelist John records Jesus saying in his Gospel. “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Imagine that.

And now imagine it not just for those twelve men in that boat that day, but also for all of us. We too can do the impossible, just as they did. We too can spread the kingdom. We too can bind up the brokenhearted, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, change the world.

But, pastor, Peter sank. Yeah, only after he took his eyes off of Jesus. Nothing that Jesus asks of us in our personal callings is going to be easy. As I’ve alluded here in this very sermon, some of what he asks is downright impossible. Keep our eyes on Jesus however and it all becomes very doable.

But we’re human, just like Peter. And yeah, we’re going to sink from time to time. That’s the other piece of this miracle story. When Peter begins to go under, Jesus doesn’t stand there and laugh at his lack of focus and faith. No, he reaches down and plucks Peter out of danger. He steps into the boat and the wind and waves cease. He brings peace into our lives even when we fail him.

That’s grace, my friends.

No, we’re not Jesus. We’re never going to do what he asks of us perfectly and that’s okay. For two thousand years, the Church and Christian people everywhere have been trying to do as Jesus asked. And has history has shown us, they’ve failed quite miserably quite often. So have we and so will we. But Jesus still calls us to do his work in this world. Yeah, we’ll fail, but there will be times when, like Peter, we discover we can do far more than we ever imagined through Christ. When we can do the impossible. When we can change the world, perhaps in small ways, but also perhaps in very big ways. Amen.