Dearly loved by God in Christ,
Only once in my life was I afraid to be out on the water. We were on a salmon fishing charter leaving Gray’s Harbor, WA headed out into the Pacific. Matthew’s description fits our situation. The waves were buffeting the boat because the wind was against it.
Peter and the disciples with him, some of them fishermen like Peter, experienced a storm as they crossed the Sea of Galilee. It might not have been very different from the storm Jesus’ calmed with his powerful word on another occasion. In the midst of this storm, Jesus approached them and did something else miraculous. Jesus walked on the water and invited Peter to do the same.
Through these miracles, Jesus’ Presence Gives Us Courage in Any Storm. Jesus is within our sight. We are within Jesus’ reach.
St. John adds that the wind was strong and the waters grew rough. St. Mark tells us they were in the middle of the lake. The shore was approximately the distance from church to 465. It was between three and 6 o’clock in the morning. Jesus was not with them as he stayed behind in conversation with his Father after feeding the 5,000 plus.Now, as Jesus approached their boat through the darkness and mist, the disciples saw him but did not recognize Jesus.At first, the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost or apparition. This was no apparition. It was their Savior.
Immediately, the Word of God came from his lips, “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” Literally, Stop being afraid. Jesus always did miracles to show that he is true God. What better way to give courage to his disciples? You can show concern and tell others do not be afraid. When we see and hear the power to do something about it, that sight and sound give the courage that dispels fear. Jesus’ presence and the Word of God gave them courage in the storm.
They gave Peter the impetus to make a bold request, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus invited Peter to do the impossible, “Come.” This is not unlike the LORD telling Abraham to leave his homeland and go to the land the LORD would give him. Abraham set out in faith. Peter stepped out in faith from the boat into the sea fully expecting to be all right. So long as Peter kept his eyes focused on Jesus, all was well. Like Abraham, none of the surrounding circumstances overwhelmed him; not the howling winds, not the rolling high waves.
Is the object of our faith any different from Peter’s? We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the all-powerful God. Are our expectations any different as we step out in faith? We fully expect to be all right. We expect God will enable us to do the impossible if he calls us to do it. Jesus’ presence in his Word calms our fears.
The main point of St Matthew’s account is not that Jesus will take care of us in the storms of life. While that is true, the main point is the miracle of Jesus walking on the water and enabling Peter to do the same. We do not focus on our faith but on Jesus whom we see and come to in faith. Jesus is within our sight in the Word of God. No matter what storms blow up and threaten to sink us, there out of the darkness and mist appears out Savior, once dead under the punishment for our sins, now alive for our justification.
Jesus’ presence gives us courage in any storm also because we are within Jesus’ reach. Peter began to sink when he shifted his eyes from Jesus to his attendant circumstances. In fear, he cried out, “Lord, save me.” In a minute, sinking was going to become drowning.
Peter was within Jesus’ reach. Sometimes our Lord does not answer our cry for help right away with the exact thing we ask for. Often times Jesus does do that and did so in this case. Notice Jesus did not rebuke Peter for his lack of faith. Jesus did not scold Peter or ask him to consider his faith, and how he might have stronger faith. “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.”
Peter did not reach up and grab Jesus’ hand. Jesus reached down and grabbed Peter perhaps by the sopping collar of his shirt. In the storms of life, God does not pull me up because I reach up to him. He saves me by reaching down to me in his love. This is true especially for my faith, that I believe at all.
God the Holy Spirit reached out to me, called by the good news that Jesus saved me, and pulled me up out of unbelief and death. Christ reaches out to me daily in the Word and sacrament to keep me from going from sinking to drowning under the waves of fear, doubt, worry, despair, and unbelief. We are within Jesus’ reach. His hands reach down to us from Calvary, up to us from the empty tomb. They reach over us in his Ascension and rule over all things for the sake of the church.
When my sins and guilty conscience condemn me, when temptation assails me, when pain and loss pierce my body and soul, the Word of God rings in my ears, “Take courage! It is I. Stop being afraid.” The exhortation do not be afraid occurs more than 300 times in the Bible. God loves to repeat himself so I do not lost heart as Jesus calls out, “Come.”
The apostle John wrote, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” This is Jesus’ hand reaching down to catch us. This reach calms our fears and quiets our storms. The disciples did not miss the point. “And when (Jesus and Peter) climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.”
May we also worship and confess Jesus, the Son of God. After all, we are in the same boat. Amen. <SDG>
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