"TAKE COURAGE"
Peter must have been a natural leader. Throughout Scripture he always seems to be the one who spoke first, who acted first, who stuck his neck out first, who stood up for the Truth first. Whether he was right or wrong, you could be sure that Peter would say or do those things that supported what he believed, even if no one else would dare to follow. And it is no different with this story that our sermon is based on today. In fact, this story is one of my favorite accounts about this fascinating disciple. Because it highlights Peter’s boldness as well as his fear. It demonstrates God’s power as well as his love. And it shows me how sinfully afraid I really am in this life when I have every reason to be bold. It is the story of Jesus walking on water - and Peter walking on water with him.
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
I never would have even thought about doing what Peter boldly did! It wouldn’t have even crossed my mind to ask Jesus to give me the ability to walk on water with him in the middle of a life-threatening storm! I would have simply been in awe of what Jesus was doing right in front of me and I probably would have been hoping that he would get to our boat as quickly as possible so that he could save us from these violent winds and these pounding waves as he had already done once before. And the rest of the other disciples seemed to be thinking the same thing. Except for Peter. In the very early morning hours of that day - between three and six a.m., on a boat they had boarded the night before, dealing with a fickle and dangerous lake, and riding against an unrelenting storm they had been battling for hours on end, Peter calls across the water and asks his Lord if he could come out on the water with him! What a bold request! And don’t think of it as some sort of arrogant testing of the Lord: “If you really are Jesus then prove it!” No, this was simply a courageous and confident act of trust in the words Jesus had spoken to all of them just moments before: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” It is one thing to agree with Jesus’ words here and know that a person should take courage simply because of who God is. But it is another, far higher, and much more difficult thing to put that into practice. “Take courage! It is I.” Peter really did take courage from those words. He believed what the Lord was doing and what he could do. And so he boldly asked that the Lord would grant his incredible request to walk on water with him. “Come.” Jesus simply said. And that was all that Peter needed to hear. That one-word promise prompted Peter to step off of the deck of that boat and place his feet on a lake that was far from calm. That one-word promise moved Peter to walk toward his Lord and away from the help of his fellow disciples. That one-word promise motivated Peter to disregard the impossibility of his actions and rely completely and fully on the power and love of his God.
At least for a moment. At least for a few miraculous moments Peter was actually walking on water! The Lord had said “yes” to Peter’s seemingly outrageous prayer and he was giving him an ability that no human being could possibly muster on his own! But then Peter took his eyes off the Savior. He saw the wind, he saw the waves, he saw his boat behind him and a deep, dark lake below. And it was too much for him to take. The dangers and the possibilities, the laws of nature and his own experiences overwhelmed him to the point that he no longer could fully trust in Jesus’ wonderful words of comfort: “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” The Lord’s reassuring words didn’t seem possible with the wind whipping through his robe. They didn’t seem plausible with the waves rising far above his head. It didn’t even seem sensible (now that he thought about it!) for him to have stepped away from a boat that couldn’t even handle this furious storm with a crew full of experienced fishermen. And so he sank. Without a firm grasp on that promise of his Lord, he sank into the water he had just been standing on top of. His courage was gone. His boldness was replaced with fear. And doubt in what the Lord could do blinded everything he seemed so sure about just minutes before.
How similar Peter’s situation is to our own lives. The events themselves, of course, are nothing like our lives! Jesus walking on water, Peter coming out to him in the same way, the storm, the disciples, the rescue… We have neither experienced nor seen anything like what happened that morning on the Sea of Galilee. But don’t let the storyline distract you from what happened out there on the water: Peter let the worries and the unpleasant possibilities of this world override God’s clear promises. Instead of taking courage because the Lord was with him, he fell in fear because of what might happen to him.
Doesn’t that describe what happens in our lives every day? The Lord says to us: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” But when our financial plans are no longer viable plans at all - when we can’t even think of a plan that will fix the situation we are in - then we are afraid! We don’t have courage. We forget that the Lord is the Lord and he is with us. We doubt his promise because the harsh winds of worry capture our full attention. And instead of standing on top of the water, we begin to sink.
The Lord says to us: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” But when we suddenly find a loved one close to death or we are on the verge of death ourselves, then we are deathly afraid, so to speak. We don’t have courage because we don’t know what to do. We forget that the Lord is the Lord and he is with us because nothing seems to be going right. We doubt his promise because the threatening waves of the unknown are looming over our heads. And instead of standing on top of the water, we begin to sink.
The Lord says to us: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” But when a tragedy hits close to home and you were in no way prepared for it and you can’t even get your thoughts straight, then you do give way to fear. You don’t have courage because nothing will ever be the same again. You forget that the Lord is the Lord and he is with you because it seems as if nobody is with you at the moment. And you doubt his clear promise because the suffocating storm of emptiness is all that you can hear and see and feel. The Lord’s words, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” are sometimes just words to us and not the truth. Sometimes they are agreeable when things are going well, but not so realistic when things are going bad. And we sink. We stand on top of the water one moment and fall underneath it in the next because our trust is outweighed by worry and our boldness is pushed aside by our fear. And we find ourselves too often in the same position Peter was in middle of the Sea of Galilee: frantically splashing around in the water, trying to keep our head above the surface, and desperately crying out, “Lord, save me!”
When Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!” did Jesus hesitate? Did Jesus let Peter struggle for a while in the surging waters to teach him a lesson? Did Jesus wait until Peter was fully repentant and came back to trust in his promises again? No. Jesus didn’t hesitate for a second. “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.” Jesus did not wait to save Peter; he was looking to save Peter. Because that is what Jesus does. That who he is. He is the Savior! He likes to save; he wants to save; he lives to save. And although he chastised Peter by saying, “You of little faith, why did you doubt,” the Lord did not let him go. Jesus did not let Peter sink back down. Instead he took Peter - on top of the water - back to the boat and they both climbed in. And the moment they got back into the boat, the storm that had been so brutal for so long, completely stopped. The wind and the waves and the dangers of the sea were no match for the Lord’s power. What Peter had feared so much was nothing compared to his Lord’s love.
Has any wind or wave or danger in your life outmatched the Lord’s love for you? It may seem like it in the heat of the moment sometimes, but in reality, the Lord’s love for you and his power to protect you have always prevailed in every situation. Think about the way your life has gone. Has any financial crisis ever been beyond the Lord’s ability to care for you? Has any catastrophe or tragedy ever been too much for the Lord to deal with in the exactly the way he wanted? Has any death, no matter how close or how sudden or how painful it may have been, taken away from the Lord’s love for you in the slightest degree? Unsolvable problems, unexplainable troubles, and unimaginable losses are all under the control of the Lord’s power and love. The ultimate unsolvable problem of sin was solved by the Lord’s love when he came to this earth as a true human being. The ultimate unexplainable trouble of eternal punishment was sorted out by Jesus’ power when he took that punishment for us. That ultimate unimaginable loss of God himself dying on the cross was rectified by his power and love when he rose from the dead three days later. Nothing stops the Lord’s love! Nothing prohibits his power! Nothing comes in the way of his Fatherly passion for his dear children! And that cross on Calvary is undeniable proof that his love and power reign. He can and he will take everything and turn it into good for you, because you are that important to him. Peter learned that after a quick dunk into the lake and a mouthful of water. We learn that during some of the most difficult and trying times in our lives as well. Because, truthfully, those are the only times we seem to listen.
And so God’s promise and his words of reassurance still stand no matter what the situation: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” There is no reason you should lack courage in this life. Because the Lord is with you. It is God himself by your side: your Savior filled with love and your Creator filled with power. How could you possibly be afraid! Take courage! Stand on top of the water! Trust in God’s promises found in his Word and don’t let anything convince you that he will not carry them out.
That is what Peter believed and that is the very reason why he was so bold throughout his life. He knew what God had promised and he was filled with courage because of his Father’s power and love. Peter stumbled along the way, of course. He sinned more than his fair share. But that did not dampen his boldness in the least. In fact, it made him bolder! Because every time he sinned, every time he faltered, every time he sank, the Lord reached out his hand and picked him up. Again. Every time. Without fail. The Lord’s love and the Lord’s power forgave him the grossest of his sins, calmed the deepest of his fears, and put to rest the worst of his worries. And the Lord does the exact same thing for you.
And so take courage. Be bold as you live this life as a child of your heavenly Father. He is always with you. He is always for you. What could possibly happen to you if the Lord himself is by your side?
Amen.
“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” - Jude 24-25
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