Seaside With Jesus: Water Walking -- Matthew 14:22-33

I love watching storms.  You can ask Anita.  She has had to fuss at me through quite a few.  I’ve shared with some of y’all, but for the rest of you to know how much I love storms, during our first hurricane, Fran, at 2 am I was standing with the backdoor of the parsonage open, with the wind blowing pine needles, leaves, and branches straight toward us, just watching the storm.    I hung out under the carport during parts of both Floyd and Isabell, as I do for almost any lightning storm that I can.  Even though I fell asleep right before Arthur made land fall while we were at Atlantic Beach (after Fran, Floyd, and Isabell—Arthur seemed like a mere summer storm to me), the next morning I went and spent an hour walking on the beach in the back end of the winds.  When we got our first DVD player, one first movies we bought was Twister and and our first Blu-Ray player was soon followed by The Day After Tomorrow. I have sat on the front porch here watching many storms since moving to the Island. Like I said, I love watching storms…
I’m not too sure that any of the Twelve did though.  Jesus had spent the day teaching and healing—then when dinner time came around, he took five loaves of bread and two fish, and catered the largest church supper I’ve ever heard of, feeding five thousand men, plus all of the women and children that were gathered there on that hillside—He began dismissing the crowds.  While He was sending folks off, Jesus told the Disciples to get in the boat and head on over to the other side of Sea of Galilee, that He would meet up with them later.  (Now, I’m figuring that by this time they knew not to question Jesus, because my first response would have been, “if we take the boat, how are you going to get anywhere?”)  Anyway, after Jesus sent everyone off, Disciples and crowd as well, Jesus went off to pray.
So, as we read, the Scriptures shift from Jesus, alone on the mountain praying, to the Disciples in the boat, probably midway across Galilee’s waters, when a sudden windstorm popped up and began rocking the boat with wave after wave.  We talked on a Wednesday night about a month ago how The Weather Channel or the National Weather Service Marine Forecast probably wouldn’t have done any good when it comes to the Sea of Galilee.  It is known for it’s sudden, unexpected windstorms, funneling through the mountains and ripping up the waters.  So here are the Twelve, sailing across this waters in the middle of the night when this storm erupts.
The Disciples were most likely watching this storm as it fiercely rocked their boat.  We know from other accounts in Mark and John, that the storms at sea frightened the Twelve, despite the fact that four of the Twelve were fishermen.  So as they held on to the sides of the boat and whatever else they could grip to keep from being washed overboard, someone saw something through all the rain and lightning.  It was a figure walking across the water in the middle of the storm…heading straight from them.  Someone cried out, “It is a ghost!”  Then everyone started screaming…we don’t know what they were screaming.  For all we know, the screams could have ranged from anything from “Lord help us!” to “Get out of here you spirit!”
Then the “ghost” spoke, “Don’t be worried…it is no ghost…it is me…Jesus.”  Hearing this Peter, always quick to speak, said, “If that’s really you Jesus, command me to walk to you on the water.”
Jesus looked at him and simply said, “Come.”
Imagine Peter, eyes locked on Jesus, shift from his normally impulsive self to a very cautious man.  I picture him gripping the sides of the boat tightly, never taking his eyes off of Jesus, slowly sliding one leg across the side of the boat until it touched the water, and then the other, probably just as slow; then, still supporting his body weight with all his arm strength, he cautiously lets go of the sides of the boat until he finds himself standing on the water.
Peter, out of the boat, began walking across the water toward Jesus.  Then, evidently a strong gust of wind blew through, and Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the storm.  Immediately he began sinking.  Peter took his eyes off Jesus, looked at the storm, and started sinking.  One more time, Peter stopped looking at Jesus, looked at the storm, and suddenly found himself sinking.
That’s how it works when we take our eyes off of Jesus, we sink.
What storms are we walking through?
Maybe it is a storm of illness or chronic pain…maybe we’re trying to walk through it, maybe we are walking alongside a family member going through the storm.  Focused on this sickness or pain, we find ourselves sinking deeper and deeper, into depression and hopelessness.
Maybe it the storm of family conflict…maybe family members fighting, maybe we ourselves are involved in the conflict.  Focused on the conflict, we can find ourselves sinking deeper and deeper, into anger, frustration, sadness, and alienation from the ones we love.
Maybe it is stormy at work, or trouble finding work…difficulty getting along with coworkers, conflicts with supervisors, business is in decline, or seemingly unending unemployment…Focused on these storms, we can find ourselves sinking deeper and deeper into hopelessness, bitterness, and depression.
Maybe it is a stormy battle with an addiction…if we are focused on how hard it is to overcome those cravings…if we keep staring at those things that seem to be calling us to give in…we will find ourselves sinking deeper and deeper into the addiction and further and further away from family and friends and everything we care about.
Maybe it is the storm of fear…we encounter those storms everywhere we turn…and if we focus on those fears…whether it is simply the fear of height or the fear of water or as complex as the fear of taking the risk of a relationship or the risk of trying something new or the fear of what might happen…we will find ourselves sinking deeper and deeper into fear…for that storm feeds on itself…
I have been there…I have found myself staring at quite a number of these storms…conflict with family, conflict with co-workers…I’ve dealt with the storms that includes strikes of lightning, attacks coming unexpectedly and striking close to home…and focusing on those storms I have found myself sinking…into depression…into fear…into bitterness…
My brothers and sisters, when we start sinking there is the potential of drowning.  There is the potential of letting the storm waters grab hold of us and drag us down.  And if we keep staring at the storm, that will happen…we will drown into the darkness of either constant bitterness toward everyone we encounter or complete self-loathing…it may even draw us down into the depths of the dark waters of self-injury or suicide.
Yet it doesn’t have to.  When we realize that we are sinking, when we realize that the storm is overtaking us, we have to stop focusing on the storm and refocus on Jesus, like Peter crying out “Lord, save me!” When I stopped focusing on those storms with their lightning strikes, and instead started focusing on the Lifeguard of Lifeguards, I  found myself rising out of the depths of that bitterness, frustration, and sadness and back above the stormy water…refocused on Jesus I found myself able to walk threw and on top of those stormy seas…for focused on Jesus, I realized I was not alone, that I could pass through the waters and they would not overtake me.
My sisters and brothers, if our focus is upon Jesus and not the storms, we will find ourselves able to walk through any storm that rages around us…no matter how loudly the thunder rolls…no matter how hard the wind blows…no matter how wet the rain is drenching us…no matter how high the waves raise over us…we will be able to walk through the storm on top of the water…and we will not drown.
And the most wonderful thing about Jesus, my friends, is that if we are in the midst of the storm, and we have taken our eyes off of Jesus, and we find ourselves sinking and drowning, we have only to call out like Peter, “Lord, save me!” and we will find him taking us by the hand and lifting us up and stilling the storm.  He will bring into our lives that peace which is beyond any peace that this world can provide…as He gives us the assurance that there is no storm that can blow away His love for us and His ability to save us…
Praise be to God.
My brothers and sisters, I did not know this when I was first led to plan this message for this Sunday, but God knew…as I told folks Wednesday night, I don’t believe in co-incidences, I believe in God-incidences.  There are people right now in Texas and Louisiana that have been overtaken by a literal storm…a storm that has taken lives, a storm in which many have literally drowned…but it is a storm that is still raging for many…a storm that have left many without homes, without clothes, without food, without jobs, without family members…a storm that is still seeking to pull them under despite the fact that the clouds have moved on…They need to be able to see Jesus coming to them across the waters of this storm, pulling them back above the waters. Throughout this month…through a special offering for the United Methodist Commission On Relief, we can offer the presence of Jesus, assuring the folks of Texas and Louisiana that they are not alone, and that Jesus can lift them and sustain them across these waters, we have the opportunity now and for a long time to come…to be that vision of Jesus…to be, as the Church, the living body of Christ in their midst, grabbing hold of them and lifting them from the wAters seeking to pull them under, just as Jesus continues to do for us.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.