Matthew 14: Walking on Water

INTRODUCTION

We live in a rapidly changing age, and we all in some way or an other face the
challenges that come from that.

Did you know that the world's population has doubled in the past 50 years? And over
the same period of time, according to research at the London Zoological Society, the
earth has lost half its wildlife.

Catastrophic change to the environment as societies continues to consume more

resources destroying natural habitat in the process. in New Zealand the health of our
waterways has become of great concern, but globally the effects of deforestation, and
the oil industry have accelerated over the past 40 years.

During this same period of time, our social values have changed, away from family
and more toward individual self-expression (which has its good side and its bad side,
bad side when self-expression becomes an excuse for self indulgence).

There have been huge changes to the way people work with more change guaranteed
by the introduction of Computers with Artificial Intelligence

When I was in Australia recently the media was making much of the census results
that showed a widespread collapse in church affiliation.

It's understandable that we might feel concerned or even overwhelmed at times.

Perhaps you find yourself thinking occasionally that it would be wonderful to have a
little less change so that we can actually focus on one problem at a time!

BIBLE BACKGROUND
Today's episode in the Gospel according to Matthew shows the disciples of Jesus in
jeopardy as they travel across the stormy sea of Galilee in their small boat.

This is in fact the second story of the disciples sailing through a storm on the sea of
Galilee. The first story, found in the 8th chapter, takes place while Jesus is asleep in
the boat, and just as the disciples think they're about to die, Jesus wakes up and calms
the storm.

When applied to our lives, the first story offers us a sense of assurance that Jesus can
bring calm into our existence as well. The first story encourages us to trust God for
the peace that only God can give.

This second story, in spite of its obvious similarities, offers us quite a different picture
of Jesus and the disciples, and therefore quite a different picture of how we are to
relate to God in the midst of our circumstances.

The common element in each of these stories, apart from Jesus and the disciples, is
the sea.
In many places in the Bible water represents a chaotic force in the world. We could go
so far as to identify water in the Bible as a force of uncreation, because it's there in
the beginning of Genesis as part of the chaotic void from which God brings order and
creation.

God unleashed this force of uncreation as the great flood in the story of Noah.

God's sovereignty is demonstrated through the authority to establish boundaries for

the sea, and in that way bringing order to creation.

God also saves people from the water floods, most famously in Exodus where the
Israelite slaves walk through the sea unscathed while Pharaoh's pursuing army are
drowned in the waters.

For us therefore, the "waters" could come to represent any situation or circumstance
in which we feel threatened or "out of our depth".

We come across this more metaphorical use of water particularly in the psalms, such
as the cry for help in Psalm 69:15 "Do not let the flood sweep over me, or the deep
swallow me up."

That Psalm concludes with the psalmist being rescued and along with the whole
creation, including the sky, the earth and the sea recognizing God and breaking into
praise.
Notice that this is also how the episode in Matthew's Gospel concludes. After the first
storm story the disciples ask the important but unresolved question, "Who is this?"

Now they recognize that Jesus is the one who has authority over the water deeps, and
their response, like the psalmist is to worship.

PETER ASKS

This would be a convenient conclusion for us; that when faced by the storms of life
we are to trust Jesus and to worship.

But there are a number of other elements in this story that should at least provoke
our thought and shape our outlook.

The first thing we might notice is that Jesus sends the disciples into the storm in the
first place. Having just finished feeding a crowd of more than 5000 people Jesus we
are told (v.22), "Immediately...made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to
the other side, while he dismissed the crowds."

We might prefer that the church has a place of safety in the world, or even that
Christians should enjoy special privileges and influence in society. But in this story,
12 disciples in a fishing boat (representing the embryonic church) head out onto the
unpredictable, changing force of the sea at Jesus' command.
Stanley Hauerwas writes this, "Often the church finds herself far from the shore and
threatened by strong winds and waves...If the church is faithful she will always be far
from the shore." (141)

The second element to this story that we can't easily miss, is the description of Peter
leaving the boat in the midst of the storm to walk with Jesus on the waters.

Often we focus on the fact that Jesus reprimands Peter for not having enough faith,
but that shouldn't cause us to overlook the thing that Peter got right.

Peter understood that Jesus doesn't only have the authority to calm the waves, he has
the authority to command us to come to him. Peter realised that Jesus had such
authority when Jesus first called him to follow him. 'And he said to them, Follow me,
and I will make you fish for people. 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed
him.' (Mt 4:1920) Now, at the height of the storm, Peter asks Jesus to command him
to leave the boat, to leave his last refuge of safety.

Peter realises that he has no power to go to Jesus unless that power comes from Jesus
himself.

PEACE IN THE STORM

We live in complex and challenging times...and we can easily be left feeling

overwhelmed or uncertain.

As Christians we are called to live in the midst of such times, and we can do so once
we realize that the power to do so comes from Jesus himself.

I remember as a child learning to ride a bicycle. The major lesson was to stop looking
at the peddles or the at the wheels, and to focus on the point in the distance I was
riding towards. The same lesson applied when I learned to walk across the top rail of
the cattle yards at home.

That was the exact lesson that Peter learned. Once he had obeyed Jesus to head out on
the lake, and once he had asked for the grace to walk out on the water, he need to
keep his focus on Jesus rather than his feet or the waves around him.

Prayer is after all learning to live by looking in the right direction.

Recent story of the church in Canada that has stopped worshiping God and witnessing
to Jesus. We are not called to take up such comfortable positions in relation to our
culture.

When the church worships Jesus it will find itself far from the shoreline of popular
culture. Our continued worship is an essential element to how we bear witness to
Jesus, who we recognise is the Son of God.

Some of us will also be commanded to leave our places of refuge and safety to walk
with him in the midst of the world's storms, because that is where he is.