Recent Sermons

Worship

Recent Sermons

Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Sunday, August 10, 2008

In the name of the Holy Trinity: the God who Creates us, Redeems us, and Gives us Life. Amen.

Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." Jesus said, "Come."

Have you ever noticed that sometimes, during these days of late summer, you get the feeling that whoever compiled the lectionary ran out of interesting Bible passages, and so thinking that no one really comes to church in August anyway, they chose a few bits and scraps to hold us over until September, when the more interesting texts can resume, along with the faster-paced activities of autumn. And so we get dull, perplexing passages that remind parish clergy that this when they should be taking their holidays, leaving such texts to assistants or supply. That is often, if not usually the case. But in fact, not today. Today, we find ourselves with a rare abundance of riches. I guess we have the new lectionary to thank for that!

In our Old Testament text we have the beginnings of the story of Joseph and his fetching coat with the long sleeves, and of course his brothers’ extreme jealousy of him. This makes for great drama, as Andrew Lloyd Webber discovered, making it into a smash Broadway musical. Whenever I hear this story, as the oldest brother in my family, I am convinced that many stories in the Bible were composed by malcontent younger children unhappy with their lot in life–and so they create heros like Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph–all younger sons, if you will recall, who get the better of their elder siblings. It seems a funny coincidence to me, and in fact, I think it probably is intentional. But I’ll preach about that another day.... Moving on to our gospel, we find the well-known, yet perplexing story of Peter’s attempt to walk on water. It is a story rich with visual imagery and, I think, quite challenging to any of us who, like Peter, struggle with our faith, perhaps wishing it were greater than it is much of the time. Given our baptisms today, I would like us to look together at this tale of Peter and its interesting questions of faith and doubt.

There is something about this story of Peter’s faith that has always intrigued me, even back when I was a young boy. I remember having an illustrated children’s Bible and looking at a picture of this event–dark clouds in the sky, their clothes blowing in the wind, Peter reaching out to Jesus as he appeared to sink deeper into the lake. Is this really possible, I wondered? Could any ordinary man, like Peter, actually walk on water, even for a few moments? Perhaps like some of you, I have always been a bit skeptical of things that seem too fantastic. As a kid, I figured that it probably was no big deal for Jesus, being the Son of God and all, but for Peter, too? Wow. And so I recall asking my father about this. My dad was a Minnesota Lutheran. He was brought up in a fairly fundamentalist Finnish Lutheran sect, but by the time I came along was more at home in mainstream Lutheranism. And if I recall correctly, he told me that if we have enough faith, in particular faith in Jesus, anything is possible, even walking on water. I was amazed at the possibility, if maybe still a bit skeptical. How much faith would be necessary for that? Could I have that much faith, I wondered? Could anyone?

Well, according to today’s gospel, Peter did have that much faith, at least for a time. Of course none of us were there, so we don’t quite know what happened, whether it was as the gospel described, or some other way. But, let’s assume for a few moments that it was more or less as described. Here is how I picture it: The disciples were scared of the storm–they were scared a lot, weren’t they? And coming to them across the waves is a figure that looks something like Jesus. They must have wondered if their eyes were deceiving them. After all, how could he appear in the middle of a lake? And yet, there he was. Of course, Jesus was always doing things like that. Appearing where he didn’t belong. Breaking rules–both man made, and it would seem, the rules of nature as well. And then, still not sure if it was him, the image spoke to them. Come to me, Jesus said. Come to me. Without thinking about it too much, Peter stepped out of the boat toward Jesus. At first he had his eyes fixed on the misty image of Jesus. He felt Jesus’ love and compassion and trust in him. This feeling was profound. He felt safe and secure. Like a magnet, he was simply being pulled toward Jesus, drawn in by his love. Peter felt that he could do whatever Jesus asked of him. And so, he simply walked toward Jesus, not paying much attention to where he was. He was literally buoyed on the water by his trust.

But then, for whatever reason, Peter’s faith started to falter. He wasn’t sure. He remembered where he was and what he was doing, and his sense of the impossible began to creep into his mind. It would seem that even though he wanted to have the kind of faith that would keep his feet merely touching the surface of the water, and he did at times, it wasn’t something that he could sustain. Perhaps some voice crept into his head, whispering, “You do know that can’t really do this, don’t you Peter. People can’t walk on water. They’d sink. You’ll sink. And this Jesus guy, who is he really anyway? What do you know about him? It’s just a ghost. It’s trying to trick you. You shouldn’t trust it. The world doesn’t work this way.” And, as he heard the voice, he took his eyes off Jesus and looked down at his feet. He saw the water, and it began to rise, first over his toes, then the tops of his feet, and finally up to ankles. He realized he was sinking. Of course Jesus came to his rescue, as he always does, but not without some rather strong words: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Why didn’t you trust me? Why didn’t you trust yourself?

As we know, this is something that Peter struggled with throughout his journey with Jesus. He was never quite as secure in his faith as he could have been. He was among the first disciples, willing to leave everything to follow Jesus. He was the rock, upon whose faith Jesus sought to build the church, and yet, he objected when Jesus told him just what this life of faith meant, he sought to contain and dim the brilliant light of the transfiguration, he fell asleep in the garden as Jesus awaited arrest, he denied Jesus after the crucifixion, and he was skeptical of the resurrection when told of it by the women. Given all that, Peter is sort of an unlikely choice to be the leader among the apostles. He often doesn’t quite seem to grasp what’s going on around him, he doesn’t believe as fully as he could and maybe as he should. He doesn’t quite seem to understand that although his faith in Jesus will lead him to uncertain places, vulnerable, dangerous places even-like walking on water–his faith in this same Jesus will also sustain him when he is at his most desperate. He forgets that his faith, that Jesus the Christ, will be his strength when he feels weak, that it will keep him afloat when he feels like he is starting to sink, whether in the waters of that lake, or in the waters of life.

It is into this same faith, this same life in Jesus the Christ, this same hope and trust in God, that we baptize Nicholas and Charles today. They are likely too young to have much of a sense for what is happening today--when they are presented, when promises are made on their behalf, and when the water is poured on their heads. And yet, we believe, with the waters of baptism we are literally watering the seeds of faith that God planted in them from the very start. We are helping to bring that faith to life and giving them the nourishment that they will need from this day forward into their lives, so that ultimately, when they find themselves in situations like Peter’s in this morning’s gospel, they will have the strength to shut their ears to the voices of doubt and insecurity that fill their heads; they will have the fortitude to look ahead toward the arms of Christ beckoning to them on the rocky seas of life, and ultimately continue on their walk–confident, hopeful, buoyed by the love of God and the love of this Christian community that has promised to sustain them. Like Peter, like us all, it will ultimately be up to them to sustain their faith, to tend and nurture it as they grow, but for now, for today, we have the responsibility and indeed the opportunity to get them going on their journey armed with faith, with hope, and above all, with love. If we take it seriously, we realize what an awesome thing it is that we do today, and every time we as the church hold out our arms in love and embrace yet another member of the Body of Christ.

You know, when Jesus began his ministry and found Peter and his brother Andrew fishing and called them to follow, they couldn’t have known what this life of discipleship would be like. They couldn’t have known the things they would see, the way their eyes would be opened, or the challenges they would face. They also could have known the love that would be offered to them and ignited in their hearts. Certainly Peter could never have guessed that one day he would have so much faith, if even for a few fleeting moments, that he would be able to walk on water. Nicholas and Charles do not know all that awaits them, either. Nor, really, do any of us who take on the life of baptism and seek to be Jesus’ disciples. But we can know this: whatever challenges we may face, whatever struggles or fears we may have, whatever the voices of doubt that ring in our ears, the hand of Christ will always be there for us–reaching out to us, drawing us closer to himself, and lifting us up, so that we will not sink into the stormy waters of life, but rather able to on our journey towards our ultimate goal–union with God in the life of Christ.

Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." Jesus said, "Come."

May we have the courage, trust, and faith join Peter and take those steps, today and every day.

To God be the Glory: Creator, Redeemer, and Giver of Life. Amen.