Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
Amen. Today's Gospel is Jesus' miracle of walking on water. St. Peter also
walks with Jesus, impossibly, if only for a moment.
Dear Christian friends,
In today's Gospel, Jesus speaks a strong, miracle-producing Word
to St. Peter. This powerful Word makes Peter able to do something that the
man never could have done on his own: "[Jesus] said, 'Come.' So Peter got
out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus." With one Word-a
single miraculous command-Jesus totally alters the way things usually work
for us humans. With a single Word, "Come," Jesus defies nature itself,
making this man able to do something that people by nature are not able to
do.
But this is a very small, one-time miracle in today's Gospel. It
is especially small when you compare it to the much greater miracles Jesus
performs for you and for me and for every Christian on a day-by-day,
moment-by-moment schedule. Only once did Jesus command His dear Peter to do
this impossible thing of walking on water. Yet the same Jesus repeatedly
commands you and me, day in and day out, to do much greater things than mere
walking on water. The much greater things that Jesus speaks to us-commands
that are far more impossible to carry out than walking on water-include such
Words as "forgive" (Matthew 6:14-15); "stop fearing" (Matthew 28:10); "take
heart" (Matthew 14:27); "give away your possessions" (Matthew 19:21); and on
the Last Day, "You: Out of the tomb! Now!" (John 11:43)
Jesus said to Peter, "Come." On the basis of this one-Word sermon,
Peter reasoned to himself in a very good and Christian way. The
thought-process that allowed Peter to swing his leg up over the gunnels and
step out of the boat essentially ran along these lines: Jesus is telling me
to get out of this boat and walk to Him on the water. Because Jesus tells me
to do this, it does not really matter to me that it is impossible to walk on
water. If Jesus commands it, He will make it happen according to His Word.
Out of the boat I go! As far as walking on the water is concerned, I will
leave that to the One who commands me to do it!
Peter's reasoning in today's Gospel is very similar to the way
Abraham was likewise required to think. In one breath, God promised that
Abraham would have many descendents through his son Isaac. Then, in the next
breath, God commanded Abraham to put Isaac to death by sacrificing the boy
on Mount Nebo. This command from God forced Abraham to reason to himself,
God is telling me to sacrifice my son, the very son through whom I am to
receive many descendents. Because God's command is so clearly telling me to
do this, it does not really matter that it would be impossible for my dead
child to give me grandchildren. If God commands it, then He will make all
things work out according to His Word and promise. As far as my future
descendants through Isaac are concerned, I will have to leave that to the
One who commands me to make this sacrifice! (Hebrews 11:17-19)
As it is with Abraham, so it was with Mary, who was told she would
miraculously conceive and bear the Christ (Luke 1:26-38). As it was with
Mary, so it was with Job, who rightly insisted,
I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God
(John 19:25-26)
As it was with Job, so it was with Mary and Martha outside Lazarus' tomb; as
it was with Mary and Martha, so it was with Samson; as with Samson, so with
Joshua and Moses and Noah and Deborah and Joseph and Daniel and Rahab and
Ruth and Abigail and Simeon and Anna. As it was with all these, so it so it
was with Peter. As it was with Peter, so it is with you, for you "have
received a faith of equal value" to the faith Peter also received from God
(2 Peter 1:1). The same sort of thinking that Peter used in today's Gospel
is exactly the sort of thinking God would like to see in you and in me and
in all Christians. When your Lord Jesus commands you to do something
impossible, such as to stop fearing, or to give generously, or to forgive
your neighbor from your heart, He does not need you to tell Him that you
cannot do it. Jesus already knows that you cannot do it. (Indeed, that is
why He commands it.)
Jesus said to Peter, "Come." What did Peter do? Peter reasoned to
himself: Jesus is telling me to get out of this boat and walk to Him on the
water. Because Jesus tells me to do this, it does not really matter to me
that it is impossible to walk on water. Jesus commands it. He will make it
happen has He has said it would. Out of the boat I go! As far as walking on
the water is concerned, I will leave that to the One who commands me to do
it!
You must reason to yourself in the same way. It would be high
praise to God our Father and to His son Jesus Christ for you to think in
this manner: Jesus is telling me to forgive my neighbor; Jesus is telling me
to stop fearing for my future or for my family's well-being when I am gone;
Jesus is telling me to trust Him; Jesus will one day order me up from the
grave. Because Jesus tells me to do these things-because He orders and
commands these things from me-it does not really matter to me that such
things are totally impossible for me. If Jesus commands it, He will make it
happen as He said it would. As far as forgiving or trusting or living
contentedly is concerned, I will leave that to the One who commands me to do
it! Just as Jesus has total power overcome and subdue nature in today's
Gospel, so also is He more than powerful to overcome and subdue my own
sinful nature, so that even the wild, untamable horse of my sinful flesh can
be brought into submission to God.
So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But
when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out,
"Lord, save me!"
I can hardly think of a greater gift or a more powerful blessing
for you in today's Gospel than the fact that Peter saw the wind and began to
sink. If Peter had not begun to sink when he say the wind and became afraid,
he would have undoubtedly begun to think that he was Superman! Jesus
lovingly prevents Peter from thinking Peter was performing the miracle.
Jesus lets Peter's feet get a little wet so that there will be no doubt at
all in Peter's mind that "the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us"
(2 Corinthians 4:7). Stated another way, Jesus allowed Peter to sink a
little bit so that Peter would not become bloated, egotistical and
unbearable: "Look at me! I have greater abilities than all others! I'm
walking on water! Isn't this a wonderful power that I have?"
I very well that you struggle to forgive sincerely those who have sin
against you or against those whom you love. I know that you struggle with
forgiving others because I also struggle with forgiving others. It is a good
and gracious gift from God Himself that we struggle in this way! If
forgiveness were easy, we would quickly begin to think that we ourselves
have the personal power to do it!
Again, you are not alone in struggling with various fears. Jesus allows you
your fears, just as He allowed Peter to become afraid and begin sinking when
Peter saw the wind. Were it not for your persistent struggle with fear, you
would actually think that you have nothing of which to be afraid-and you
would never run to Jesus.
So, too, with your giving-and your unwillingness to do more of it. So, too,
with your depression or loneliness. So, too, with your patience and
forbearance. So, too, with your own personal resurrection from the dead. All
of these things are impossible for you and for me. These things are even
more impossible than a man's walking on water. Were any of these things to
arise from our own powers, how quickly we would lose our need for Jesus!
But look what Jesus does for Peter when His dear disciple falters: "Jesus
immediately reached out His hand and took hold of [Peter], saying to him, 'O
you of little faith, why did you doubt?'" Peter suffers a rebuke, to be
sure; but he also lives. The very same is God's promise to you and to me. We
shall without doubt fail to carry out even the simplest of our Lord's
commands, even when we know full well who commands it. Such failures bring a
well-deserved rebuke, to be sure. But look at that: Peter gets saved, if by
the scruff of the neck. So to with you: Jesus forgives you all your sins.
This forgiveness is nothing other than your Lord's own loving hand, reaching
out to you and taking hold of you and preserving your life.
The peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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