Peter is the seed that fell on rocky soil. He gets inspired easily, and energetically charges forward in faith. He sees Jesus walking on the stormy waters, and charges, full of faith, out on top of the stormy sea in order to join him.
But, if you remember the seed that fell on rocky soil, it grows quickly and enthusiastically, but quickly withers in the sun and cannot continue to grow because its roots do not run deep. Like a flower with shallow roots withering from being trapped between sun and rock, Peter’s enthusiasm on the waters withers as soon as he sees the size of the wind driven waves and as soon as he comes to grips with the impossibility of what he is doing. Fear overcomes and Peter sinks. Peter fails.
Such failure can be crippling.
Growing up, my family was a musical family. We sang in church together many times. These experiences of getting up and singing together in front of all those people gave me confidence in my singing abilities. That was a good thing.
Then, there was “the concert.”
It was ninth grade, and I was one of three tenors in the ninth grade choir. By far, I had the strongest singing background, so I led the tenor section through its parts.
The pinnacle of my tenor passion came at the end of the last song of our school concert. The tenors capped the song off with a run up the musical scale to a blaring, and brilliant highlight note to finish the song. It was a superb musical movement…my congratulations to the writer of the music, but he would not have been happy with our rendition.
You see, I, full of passion, charged straight up that hill of musical notes and led the tenors in a full breathed belting out of that last defining note. I was exuberant. When the silence fell, I waited to hear the gasps that sometimes ring of from the audience when they have experienced excellence. Instead, the silence was broken by muted giggles.
I listened to the recording that night after the concert and immediately understood. I was definitely high on passion that night; but my last note did not match the height of my passion. Instead of putting a cherry on top of a masterful piece of music, I placed a large glop of yellow, tone-deaf ear wax on top of an expertly designed cake. I sang that last note flat…very, very flat. Had I been one step lower, it would have been a nice harmony.
That night, I walked upon the sea and immediately sank.
Fear of singing crept into my musical life. In the years following, my Dad was angry that I stopped singing the hymns loudly in church. I refused to sing any solo lines with my family. I would only permit myself to sing quietly in the middle of a large choir. I learned the guitar so that I could create music with something other than my voice. Like Peter, I got very, very good at sinking.
But, I told you that this gospel story is not about Peter, nor is it about me. Nor is this gospel story about sinking. Rather, this story is about Jesus.
If you recall from last week, Jesus was at a low point in life himself. He was rejected by those he loved in his own hometown, and he was dealing with the grief and fear brought about by the murder of his friend John the Baptist.
Jesus tried to get away from the chaos of life and pray, but thousands of people sought him out for healing, and he eventually fed these multitudes of people with five loaves of bread and two fish.
Finally, at the beginning of today’s story, Jesus is able to send the disciples and the crowds away, and get some much needed rest and peace. After he spends some soul restoring time with God the Father, Jesus gets up and walks miles across the stormy sea to the disciples.
Here is the difference between Jesus and me…other than being able to walk on water that is. That one is obvious. When Jesus sinks low, he spends time with God the Father, finds restoration, and gets up again to walk across the chaos of the sea. When I sink low, I just sink, much like Peter.
Failure can be debilitating. Though this story is not about Peter, and I assure you that it is not, I still identify with this guy who exuberantly tries and sinks incredibly fast when he fails.
But, this is the story about Jesus who gets up from an impossibly low point in life and walks across the chaotic seas. This is the story about Jesus who can look at the suffering of thousands and thousands of people and take five loaves of bread and two fish and lift them all from their hunger. This is the story about Jesus who is crucified on a cross in a bloody death, buried in a grave, and on the third day rises again. This is the story about Jesus who forgives the sins of the world…who forgives your sins and lifts you up to try again.
This story is about Jesus who will freely let you try, who will say, “Come” even if you have no clue what you are doing or how you will do it. And, this is the story of the one who will pick you up again…who will raise you up again…when you fail, fall, and get trapped in fear.
You do not know the next move in life?
You do not know if you should take the new job?
You do not know if you should take on the role of raising kids a second time in life?
You do not know if you should try that new thing, that new skill, that new endeavor about which you have no experience?
You do not know if you should forgive that person, again?
You do not know whether or not the kids should go to school in the fall?
You do not know if you should take that step out of the boat?
You fear that you will not succeed?
Well, I have something to proclaim to you: You have a God who says to you, “Come.”
Come, take the step.
Come, walk through the waves.
Maybe, fear will overtake you.
Maybe the waves will crash down and you will fail.
Do not fear, Jesus is right there to reach under the surface of the waters and raise you up once again.
Jesus will bring you back to the boat. After-all, the boat is the place of restoration. The boat is the place where the faithful disciples gather together. The boat is the place where you will be encouraged to try once again.
The boat is where I was encouraged to try singing once again. It was the church, Christ’s own body, who led me to take a step out of the boat once again and sing a new song.
Do I still sing off key sometimes? Of course. Does it destroy my passion? No. I know that Jesus is there to lift me again when I fall.
That is the message of the cross and the open tomb. That is the message of death and resurrection through Jesus Christ. That is the message for you. It is a message that says, yes the cross casts a cloud of fear, but the bright light of the open grave always shines a way to new life (whether here or in eternity).
Death is not what this story is about.
Fear is not what this story is about.
The stormy waters are not what this story is about.
This story is about the hand of Christ that catches you and lifts you up when you sink. This story is about the one who saves.
Come, step out of the boat into the stormy sea. Christ is already there; waiting with ready hands.
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