We had our first in-person service since the beginning of the pandemic. Twenty people were in attendance. We ran into computer difficulties so we were not able to have the wonderful singing of our choir. Our music director was with us and we were able to enjoy his playing. We are thankful that we can worship the Lord. The service and message can be watched by clicking on the following link, but the transmission broke up a lot so I have attached also the printed message:
Matthew 14:22-33
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Each of us have had special and challenging moments in our lives; events we may have called “moments of truth”; they are for each of us, always, times in our lives when we have to make extremely important decisions. These moments come to us in all kinds of situations and, truth be told, such moments occur throughout our lives: For example, when a child, no longer wearing his or her swim-float-things, is faced for the first time with jumping into the deep end of the pool, faced with trusting that all the swim training will come through. And, when, in the senior year of high school a youth sends his or her letter of acceptance to the college of acceptance, trusting in his learning and his abilities to succeed at this new level. And, when anybody, maybe you are confronted with a challenge to your faith and you need to decide whether you will trust or not trust the Lord to give you strength, to give you the wisdom and guidance you need as you face struggles and dangers. Actually, this kind of moment can take place many times throughout a Christian’s life.
Peter, not alone, but with all of the Disciples, faced such a challenge, when Jesus called the twelve to follow him and to fish for men, and the twelve made the decision to step away from their lives and jobs and follow Jesus and to trust in Jesus; they all made that same choice. Now, in today’s Gospel the Disciples were faced with, yet another, faith challenge; and like before they needed to make an important decision. First off, they would need to believe that what they were seeing walking out on the waves was indeed Jesus. But, for all they knew they were looking at a spirit; some of them, being experienced fishermen, knew that it was not possible for Jesus to be out there walking on the water and so they thought it must be a spirit; no one could walk on water and especially not on such rough water. But they also knew that Jesus was different; could it be possible for Jesus, who could heal people and feed people in miraculous ways do what no one else could possibly do? Their challenge, trust in Jesus or don’t trust in Jesus? The voice that came from the being walking on the water, told them not to be afraid; Jesus had said those very words to them again and again. It could be a demon trying to lead them astray. Peter, as he was known to do, didn’t wait for proof; Peter felt in his heart that it was the Lord. If there was to be a test of faith, Peter would be the one to take the chance; Peter would put his trust in Jesus. He asked Jesus for permission to walk out to him and Jesus beckoned him to come. And Peter stepped out upon the waves; waves that had stalled the progress of their small boat, keeping it from reaching the shore; Peter put his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And his feet stood as firmly on the water as they did on the deck of the boat and on the beach. Peter’s faith was as no other’s; he chose to trust in the Lord, at least in those first few moments; and he walked out to Jesus. But then Peter stopped looking at Jesus; he stopped seeing the situation through the eyes of faith; he let doubt and fear obstruct his vision; he turned and looked around him and now he could only see the power of the waves and the wind and he began to sink below the waves. He called out to Jesus to save him and Jesus reached out his hand and lifted him into the boat; Jesus chided him for faltering in his faith, but all was quickly forgiven. Peter had not been wrong to put his trust in Jesus.
In college, I remember sitting at my kitchen table looking at my seminary application; it sat there for weeks waiting for my signature; I wondered whether I could trust the Lord and sign and mail the application; it felt to me like I was stepping out of a boat onto rough seas; yes I felt Jesus’ call, but would I be up to it; would I sink like Peter; would Jesus pick me up out of the depths; I’m not the best student; I’m a bit of an introvert; would Jesus help me past all of my weaknesses? I’m here! I graduated from seminary! I became a pastor! But it was not always easy; there were times when I felt like I was drowning in my studies, drowning in church financial struggles, drowning in people’s suffering; it seemed to me that the hand of the Lord, again and again reached out to me lifting me up and I survived great difficulties and experienced great joy.
What are the stories that brought you here today or that guided you to commit to be a part of the church of Jesus Christ? Each of you here had to decide whether you could come to this service and be safe; all of you, at one time or another, had to decide whether you could commit to the ministry of Jesus in your lives. So, what are your stories? Someday I would like to hear them; they are the inspirational moments of your lives that speak well to others and that can help others to make their own decisions to accept Jesus’ call and commit to the ministry of Jesus Christ.
Your trust in the Lord can encourage others to likewise trust the Lord. But, I don’t want to turn this moment into an evangelism message, though it would be appropriate to do so; I want us to concentrate on that moment of truth, and I want us to look at how the Disciples responded to their moment.
Only Peter stepped off the side of the boat; the others were not up to the challenge. And, as it turned out, neither was Peter, when faced with the power of nature he sank into the waters. The moment of truth comes and goes and we do not always step forward onto the sea of ever rising waves, and even when we do, we often fail, and that is not a criticism of you or me; it is just a fact. What is of more importance, is Jesus’ response. Jesus initially confronted Peter on his failure to remain faithful, but he offered no condemnation of the other 11 who cowered in the boat and he offered no condemnation of Peter, whose lack of faith, dropped him under the waves. Jesus simply reached out to Peter and lifted him to safety and everything went along as usual with the 12. Jesus knew that their time would come, when all but one of them (who would betray him) would shine like the sun for the Lord. Jesus knows that each time we are faced with our moment of truth we too can shine like the sun for him; all we need to do is stand by our faith and trust in the Lord to help and guide us.