Walking on Water

 When my wife and I were on vacation, we were in a city park in Bellingham, WA, and found a smart phone. We were able to break into it and call the "Mom". She said they lived 45 minutes away (my wife and I didn't have a car), but her daughter was with friends at the waterfall. We went over and there were people jumping about thirty plus feet off a cliff right beside the waterfall. After hearing a description, we located her. She was at the edge of the cliff trying to summon the courage to jump. After about 5 minutes of watching her, I got her attention and showed her we had her phone, with in 15 seconds she leapt off the cliff, plunged into the water, swam over to us and got her phone, Where once she was unsure and anxious, she now had a reason to jump and plunged in, no longer focused on the height of the jump, but on the phone that was hers. 

How many of us have had trouble taking the leap? Maybe for some of us it was getting married, having kids, going to college, or starting a new job? As Christians, it could have been helping someone in need, sharing our faith, or becoming a leader in this church. 

If you remember last week's gospel story of the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus tries to leave the crowd to find some rest, the crowd follows him, and the disciples follow the crowd. Once everyone is fed both spiritually and physically, Jesus sends the crowds home. Still searching for that time with God, he also commands the disciples to get into the boat and sends them away as well. As parents, you know what this is like, finally getting the kids fed, ready for bed, and getting them to go to sleep, and having that quiet to yourself, just for a short while. We don't know what Jesus was saying or how Jesus was praying, but we know that he needed this and this time was precious to him. Finally, after Jesus restored his soul, got back to himself and in sync with God, he goes after the disciples. I have seen some people try to explain how Jesus was walking on water, either to prove or disprove this story, but that is what the gospel writer is trying to tell us. 

For the disciples have been struggling, while Jesus was praying. I can imagine the disciples were praying as well, battling the wind and the waves pushing away from where they want to go. The sea of Galilee is about 6 miles across and about 12 miles long, so depending on where they are going, it's maybe about 8 miles of traveling if they aren't going straight across. The gospel tells that Jesus sees them a considerable ways out and just before dawn starts to walk towards them. This means they were out there on the lake the whole night, sundown to sunrise, doing what they could to get across that lake. They were tired, worn down, and more than just a little frustrated. I can't imagine they were scared, because some of them were fisherman and lived on boats. The gospel story says nothing about them taking on water or being in any danger. It was just a long hard night.

So they were exhausted and a little punchy coming up on day break. So seeing Jesus walking towards them, they were terrified, this got them. There are no Bible stories about something like this happening before, those there were many stories floating around about sea monsters and gods (Greek and Roman mythology were common back then). A ghost, it must be a ghost. Jesus then calls out to them, "Take courage, it is I. Don't be afraid!" "Don't be afraid" is used many times throughout the Bible, I have seen some inspirational writings that claim it is repeated a total of 365 times in the Bible, once for each day of the year. Not sure if that is true, but, I as said, it is used many times. Peter, the one who always looks before he leaps, replies, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." And Jesus replies, "Come!"

As the young lady in the beginning of the story who is trying to find courage, once there is a focus, she takes the leap, Peter does the same and starts walking on water to Jesus. He forgets for a moment, the winds and the waves, but then he begins to notice them once again. This fills him with fear and he starts to sink. "Save me!" Peter cries out and Jesus is there, pulling him out of the water and brings him into the boat and the wind and waves immediately die down. "Truly you are the Son of God!" cry out the disciples. 

What besides our smart phones, family, and jobs is God truly asking us to take a leap? Where in our lives is God asking to have a little faith and get out of the boat? Maybe for most of us, it is getting out of mindset that we have been traveling in most of our lives. Maybe our boat is a nation that has used and exploited people of color and still does today. We have been told not to rock the boat because it has worked up until now, even though the winds of justice and the waves of shalom have been beating against us because we insist on traveling this way, rather than risking by getting out and leaving this behind. Racism has long divided this nation, communities and families. Jesus comes to us today and proclaims, "Don't be afraid!" If we just trust God, in whose image we all are created, and Jesus our brown skinned, black curly hair Middle Eastern brother, then maybe the winds and waves will calm down and we can reach the other side. 

We are in tumultuous times right now with the pandemic, the crashing economy, and a divided nation. Maybe God is calling us to step out of day to day struggle and walk towards Jesus. The Jesus who proclaims that he has come to bless the poor, proclaim release to the captives, and let the oppressed go free. The Jesus who feeds and heals and comes to us in our moment of crisis. The Jesus who proclaims that God has come to save the world, not just some. The Jesus calls out that blessed are the poor, the meek, those who hunger for justice, the peacemakers, the pure in heart, and those who proclaim, "Black lives matter!" (the persecuted for the sake of the gospel)

Let us leap, be not afraid, and heal our nation.