Why does Peter sink?
When Peter steps out of the boat, initially all is good. As he moves toward Jesus, walking on the water with the waves and the wind all around him, all is fine. So, why does Peter sink? Or maybe I could ask: why, when you have been making it through the struggles of life, do you suddenly sink?
It was an easy enough summer bible camp exercise. It was called a "trust walk," and as we campers moved toward the remote area of the "trust walk" just before midnight, our flashlights revealed a rope tied to a tree.
“This is the trust walk,” our camp counselor announced. “It is simple. All you have to do is grab onto the rope and walk forward into the darkness, blindfolded.” Because, as an eleven year old, simply walking into the darkness of the deep woods was not enough…we needed blindfolds.
“Where does it go?” we asked nervously.
“You will find out. Just trust that it goes to the right spot,” our counselor assured.
And, so we did. We trusted as we fashioned the blindfolds around our eyes and one by one took steps out into the darkness, following the rope with our hand.
All is well the first hundred feet or so. You can still hear the giggling of the other campers waiting their turn at that point. But, soon, as you follow the rope, feeling yourself slip further and further into the deep woods, a familiar feeling starts to creep in.
It is the same feeling that creeps in when you have started a time sensitive task confidently, with your reputation on the line, but run into something worse than a simple snag.
It is the same feeling that creeps in when you stand up for what you believe, but others surround you with torches and shouts of hatred.
It is the same feeling that creeps in when the world that used to seem secure and safe suddenly becomes chaotic and on the brink of war.
It is the feeling that creeps in and makes you imagine the worst; that a bear is about to devour you as you follow the line. Or perhaps, the long lost camper of bible camp lore, with his crooked leg and flaking flesh, will find you, blindfolded, vulnerable, and alone, and murder you.
As one of my fellow campers followed the rope, about 200 feet in he started to scream. We heard one of the counselors bolt through the weeds nervously to come to the rescue. As we listened carefully, we were relieved to hear that all was fine; the camper had simply been overcome by fear.
“Simply” is too gentle of a word when it comes to fear though. Fear can completely derail us from whatever we are doing and derail us from the values that we hold, causing us to run away or ball up on the ground in self-protection.
Fear is the great paralyzer.
It can take a confident Peter, who is amazingly walking across his turbulent waters just fine, and cause him to doubt and sink.
“Help me!” the camper screamed.
“Lord, save me!” Peter cried out.
“We just can’t do this…it is too much!” we cry out in the face of our own uncertain and fear-filled futures.
Now, I fully understand, that fear can be a good thing. If a bear had crept upon the camper, fear for his life might have saved his life. Fear allows us to retreat into safety. Fear can keep us alive. Those humans of the past who had no fear as the saber-toothed tiger approached them while they were weaponless never had the chance to have children. We are the children of all those who were easily motivated by fear who ran for their lives, fought back, or played dead.
But, here is the thing about fear. Fear of someone can easily turn into anger.
Nazis and bigots who fear that Jews and blacks are disrupting and endangering their own livelihoods have developed an anger toward those groups of people.
Jesus tells us outright not to harbor or continue in anger, because a well tended anger can develop into a full blown hatred. And, the destruction that hatred can cause has no bounds.
Hatred can lead one to think that it is right and even righteous to plow a car into a group of peaceful protesters.
Hatred can lead to the annihilation of a whole group of people for nothing more than the color of their skin, the configuration of their genes, or the makeup of their culture.
Fear is inherently selfish. It thinks only of the self. It only seeks to protect the self. Fear disrupts the movements of love for other people in the kingdom of God.
So, how does Jesus respond when his people sink into fear?
“Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, 'Lord, save me!' Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him.”
Immediately, Jesus reached out to save Peter from the mess that his fear had caused. After-all, the answer to fear is not more fear or the anger and hatred that can follow, rather the answer to fear is love. Jesus looks upon Peter with love and pulls him free so that he can once again be the disciple he was meant to be.
“Have no fear.” “Love your enemies.” “Pray for those who persecute you.” “Love your neighbor as yourself.” These are all invitations from Jesus to live out of love rather than fear.
1 John 4:18 states: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”
In Jesus there is no fear. In Jesus we find only love. In Jesus we see someone who took to the cross, not with a sense of fear, but with a sense of love. And, that love saved the whole world. When the world is sinking, Jesus responds with love. That is the way of the kingdom of God.
One of the most striking images for me from the weekend of hate down in Charlottesville is one that was sent to me by a pastor friend. It shows a pastor, in full liturgical garb, reaching out in kindness to an armed militiaman. It is an image of stepping from the boat into the lake of fear. It is an image of trust in a Lord who does not allow us to sink. It is an image of love in the face of fear and hatred. It is an image of loving your enemy. It is an image of love in the kingdom of God. It is an image that reveals the heart of Jesus, our Lord and Savior who reaches out a hand in love so that we might be saved from our fear.
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