Jonah 2:1-9
Psalm 29
Romans 9:1-5
Matthew 14:22-33

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.  And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So 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, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

St. Peter was speaking to the National Press Club luncheon, which was broadcast on National Public Radio stations around the country.

But what the moderator and the producer of the radio show didn’t count on was that St. Peter is essentially a man of few words, so his talk was over way too soon. That would be welcome at most luncheons with speakers, but not at one which would be broadcast nationwide. They had an hour to fill, and it was too early for the moderator to thank the speaker and present him with the "National Press Club coffee mug and certificate suitable for framing." The moderator looked to the producer for help, but the producer was only "pulling taffy;" the universal sign for "lengthen it." They were both worried, knowing that in the editing room they could shorten a long speech, but no magic could lengthen a short one.

They were saved by the question and answer session. Who would have guessed that St. Peter, who was so short and direct in his prepared comments, would be so reflective when asked about a story?

The moderator read one of the questions the gathered reporters had submitted: "What were you thinking when you saw Jesus walking across the water?" A glance at the producer indicated that he was still pulling taffy, which only made the moderator feel helpless and more than a little annoyed.

"I was scared," Peter said. "It was the wee hours of the morning. The Sea of Galilee can be really nasty, and we were in a bad storm. We were experienced fisherman, and we knew that this storm could kill us. We’d been rowing with all we had for hours, and our muscles were burning, but we weren’t making much headway. There were lots of looks of concern in that boat.

"Then, to top it all off, we saw a ghost. We were sure it was the ghost of death come to get us, and we were terrified. I was on one of the oars, and I remember noticing that suddenly I was rowing really fast, not even feeling the burning in my muscles. I was afraid I’d be making the boat go in circles, but I saw that the guy on the other side was rowing just as fast. Then, over the rain and the howling wind, we heard him: ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’

"Well, it sounded like him, but I wasn’t sure. The wind was howling so loud we had to yell to each other, and the rain was coming down in sheets, so it was hard to see. I thought it might be a trick, so I said, "If it’s really you, command me to come out on the water." So he did, and I trusted him; I mean, he was doing it, walking on the water, so I trusted him, and I got out of the boat and started toward him. I was looking at him so intensely, just fixed on him with all my being.

"But, then I got peripheral vision, and I got scared. I started noticing the wind and the waves and all, and I started to sink. I was really afraid; I knew I was going to die, and I cried out for help. And he said, I remember he said it with a note of disappointment in his voice, he said, ‘You believer of little faith, why do you doubt?’"

Peter looked over the heads of the gathered National Press Club, over the plates with a little chicken and rice left on them, over the water glasses, and, with a distant tone, talking to himself, he said, "And then he saved me. He pulled me out of the drink, and we got in the boat together. He saved me, saved my life. It wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last."

Then, as if coming to, Peter looked at their faces and said, "So, that’s how I felt."

The moderator glanced at the clock and reached for another question. But before he could ask it, Peter said, "Can I say a little more about that?"

The moderator jumped on it. "Yes, of course," he said quickly, then realized that he had betrayed his anxiety.

"Well," said Peter, "everybody focuses on me in that story. You know, about how I was the one who got out of the boat, and got scared, and asked for help, and got saved, and all that. I don’t mind it. I’m really glad it helps people, and I think there’s a lot to learn from viewing it that way, a lot to learn about trusting Jesus in our storms, and taking the risk to get out of the boat, and staying focused on Jesus, and trusting that he’ll save you even if you start to sink."

Then, as an aside, he said, "Did you know that when he said, ‘Oh you of little faith, why do you doubt?’ the word he used for ‘you of little faith’ is only used to refer to believers. He knew he was talking to a believer, but one who was scared and sinking.

"Anyway," he continued, "I think there’s a lot to learn from focusing on me in that story and what modern Christians have in common with me that night. After all these years, I’m used to that approach, although it still embarrasses me a little. But I’ve had a long, long time to think about that story, and I find that it helps me to look at it from another perspective as well. It helps me to look at Jesus in that story. Because, okay, maybe it’s true that lots of people feel an affinity with me and all, but I want to tell you, I’m not the same man I was that night. I spent a lot of time worrying about me in those days, but something happened that made me, spiritually, grow up a lot. And that was the Resurrection of Jesus and his ascension into heaven. You see, his Spirit is always with us in that storm, but physically, he’s left us. And we have been given a huge, profound challenge: we are to be his body. We are now that Body of Christ. So I find it instructive to look again at that story and see what we might learn about being the Body of Christ."

Peter glanced at the moderator to see if he was taking too long. He assumed the moderator was a religious man, because he looked like someone whose prayer was being answered.

"First of all," Peter said, "we should notice that Jesus was having a very long, hard day; things were pretty stormy for him, too. He had just been told that his cousin, John the Baptizer, had been murdered by Herod. So he was grieving, and he also knew that he was in danger. He tried to take a boat to a deserted place where he could be by himself, but the crowd followed him, and he was mobbed. Then he spent all day healing them, and then evening came and they had only had five loaves and two fish to feed thousands. He blessed and broke the loaves, and there was a miraculous feeding.

"Now, when you get to where Matthew tells about walking on water, it begins by saying, ‘Immediately, he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the crowds.’ I can tell you that Matthew got it right. Jesus was exhausted and grief stricken, and desperate for some time alone. And he finally got it, and maybe even a little sleep, but not much, because there he was out on the lake in the wee hours pulling me out of the drink.

"That was a very hard day for him from the beginning, and he was called on again and again, and he responded every time. He didn’t get to pick and choose the time to be Christ.

"And something else: he didn’t have to come out there; he went out there to be with us in that storm. Then, when he got there, he gave us words of comfort: "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid." And then, he challenged me to be faithful. "Get out of that boat," he said. He didn’t just tell me he understood how frightening storms can be; he said the harder thing to say: get out of that boat.

"And when I was sinking, he reached out. Even though I had disappointed him, he reached out and saved me. But he didn’t say, "Oh, that’s okay; it was your first time on water; you’ll do better next time.’ He challenged me again. "You believer of little faith, why do you doubt?"

And then he got in the boat with us. That’s a really profound thing, to know that he chooses to be in the boat we’re in. And, funny thing, once we knew he was in the boat, all the power was gone from the storm.

"So from looking at it from Jesus’ perspective," Peter said, "I’ve learned a lot about how we are challenged to be the Body of Christ. We don’t get to pick our time and place; we may be called on when we’re in the middle of our own storm. And we have to be willing to go into other people’s storms and be with them there. And we should offer words of comfort, but not cheap ones. We’re not there to just hold their hand; we need to challenge them to be faithful. Not as a cheap comment from the box seats, but as one who is in the storm with them. Then, if they fail, we need to reach out, even if we’re really disappointed. And we shouldn’t say, ‘It’s okay to fail;’ we should keep challenging them to greater faith and remind them that we’re all in the same boat. Somehow, miraculously, that sure seems to take the power out of a lot of storms."

"The Church, of course, is the most obvious place to put these things into practice," Peter continued. "We are the Body of Christ, and it is a constant challenge to live like it, especially in storms. We do it when we pray for people, when we reach out, when we challenge one another to be faithful, when we get into people’s storms, and their boats.

"But you know somewhere else I see the Body of Christ?" He didn’t wait for an answer. "At Alcoholics Anonymous. I went to an AA meeting once and saw Jesus there. He was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses. When I saw who it was, I started to say, ‘Jesus!,’ but he stopped me. ‘Shhhhh!’ he said. ‘I don’t want to be recognized. I’m here incognito.’ ‘But these people don’t even use your name,’ I said, ‘they just call you a "Higher Power." Why are you here?’

"‘Oh, I’m here lots. It’s not what name they call me,’ he said, ‘it’s what the name means. And believe me, I’ve been called a lot worse that "Higher Power." And the truth is I love to sit in on these meetings, to be in this boat with them, because they’ve got the meaning of the name right.

"‘You see,’ he said, ‘these folks really know what storms are all about. And,’ he said with a twinkle in his eye that shone even through the dark glasses, ‘they’re pulling each other out of the drink all the time.’

"So," Peter said, looking at the National Press Club, "I think we all have a lot to learn about being the Body of Christ from that walking on water story."

The moderator, glancing at the clock, said with relief, "It is my pleasure to present you with this National Press Club coffee mug and this certificate suitable for framing."

Peter sat down with his mug and certificate. He could tell that the moderator, distracted by his worries about time, had not really heard a thing Peter had said. He wondered whether the many years of telling the story made any difference. Peter looked out at the faces. Did anyone really hear?

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