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Last week, Pastor David began our series looking at the life and faith of Simon Peter. If Jesus is the star of the gospels, Peter is the costar. His name appears over 200 times while the rest of the disciples combined are only mentioned about 50 times. It’s clear that God wants us to focus on Peter’s life and faith and the reason is that Peter was a faithful and yet flawed follower of Jesus. He was passionate about his relationship with Jesus and yet he failed and faltered often. His story is our story. We want to be faithful and passionate in following Jesus and yet we are also deeply flawed and we often fail to be who we want to be as followers of Jesus. There is a lot we can learn from Peter’s story.
Last week, David shared that Peter was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee and that he worked with his brother Andrew and maybe in partnership with James and John. From the beginning, it seems like Peter had already emerged as a leader among these 4 men. Maybe he was the oldest or most experienced. Maybe he was the most vocal and outgoing or maybe he was the most assertive and hard working. What we do know is that as a fisherman, he knew a lot about fishing and the conditions around the Sea of Galilee.
The Sea of Galilee is also known as Lake Gennesaret, and it is the largest freshwater lake in Israel and it is the lowest freshwater lake in the world. Its headwaters are in the northern mountains of Israel and at the southern end of the sea the water flows into the Jordan River which makes its way south to the Dead Sea. It is about 13 miles long, 8 miles across, and its greatest depth is 141 feet.
Because of the high mountains that surround the lake, storms are common, and they can come up quickly. Storms would most often come in from the west and push boats away from the fishing villages on the eastern shores into the deepest part of the lake. It is in these waters that people believed there was a portal to the underworld. This is where ghosts and sea monsters would emerge to terrorize those who happened to be caught in these regions.
It took a lot of courage to fish in these waters because the boats were not that big. Peter’s fishing boat was most likely 26 ft long and 7 ½ feet wide. We can provide such clear measurements because a fishing boat was found along the lake shore where Peter would have fished, that dates from 50 BC to 50 AD, the time of Jesus. It is housed in a museum along the sea of Galilee, and it gives us great insight into what the boats of the fishermen would have been like. Who knows, maybe this was one of Peter’s boats. They aren’t that big and being in a boat like this during a storm would not be fun. This is why fishermen had to be so courageous.
One of the most famous stories of Peter takes place on the Sea of Galilee in one of those sudden storms. To set the stage for the story, Jesus had just heard the news that John the Baptist had been beheaded by Herod and He tried to go off with His disciples for some time away. They got into a boat and were making their way to a solitary place, but the people could watch the boat from shore and they followed along on foot. When Jesus and the disciples went ashore, there was a great crowd already gathered and Jesus, filled with compassion, spent some time healing the sick.
As evening approached, the disciples wanted Jesus to send the crowds away so they could get dinner, but Jesus said, no, you feed them. Between them, they only had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, but Jesus prayed over that food and fed 5,000 people. It actually says He fed 5,000 men as well as women and children so the number of people who ate may have been closer to 10,000.
While we don’t know why Jesus immediately made His disciples get in their boat and head back across the sea, it could have been because He could see, or knew, that a storm was coming and He wanted the disciples to get home safely and then He would follow later or the next day. This is where we pick up the story.
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:22-33
Jesus sent the disciples back to Gennesaret as He went to dismiss the crowds. Map It was about a 7 ¼ mile journey along the water that would have taken an hour if they had the wind and 2 hours if they had to row. Jesus can see that a storm has come up and blown the disciples and their boat off course. Map The boat was drifting in this area, where the lake was the deepest. This was also the area where people believed there was a portal to the underworld.
While it was still dark, Jesus would have been able to see what was happening from the hills so He walked out on the water to help the disciples who were fighting the wind and waves.
When the disciples see Jesus, they can only assume the figure approaching them is one of the ghosts that come up from the underworld, but Jesus called out to them and said, take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.
Jesus walked out on the water to join His disciples in the storm. The first, and maybe most important takeaway from this story is: Jesus still walks on water to join us in the storm.
There are all kinds of storms we face in life. There is the storm of depression, sickness, job loss, financial loss, accidents, divorce, and even death. There are storms of division and social unrest. There are storms of confusion and fear as we look at our world and storms of uncertainty and hopelessness as we look to the future. In all the storms of life, and in every storm we face, Jesus still walks on the water to join us IN the storm.
It’s important to note that Jesus walked to the disciples in the storm, He didn’t still the storm first. And the storm didn’t immediately stop when Jesus arrived. Jesus joined them and stood by them IN the storm. Jesus doesn’t always calm the wind and waves or still the storm in our lives, but He does join us and stand with us in them. While we long for Jesus to remove the effects of the storm, we long for the wind to be silenced and the waves to be stilled, there are times when all we can do is endure the storm knowing that Jesus is by our side. Sometimes just knowing we aren’t alone in the storm is enough to give us strength and courage.
While His presence with the disciples didn’t immediately calm the storm, it did give them strength and courage. In fact, it gave Peter enough courage to ask Jesus to allow him to walk on the water with Him. This took tremendous courage for Peter. It was still dark, they were in the middle of a storm and they were over the abyss where all kinds of evil lurked and yet Peter had enough courage to ask Jesus to help him get out of the boat. Jesus said, come, and Peter got out of the boat
Here is the second takeaway from this story of Peter. If we want to fully walk with Jesus, we have to get out of the boat.
The boat is a place of safety and comfort. It’s a place of minimal risk and maximum security. It’s a place we stay when fear takes over - but if we can allow faith to take over, we will get out of the boat and experience the thrill of walking on the water with Jesus.
11 men stayed in the boat that night because of their fear. Even when they saw Peter get out of the boat and start walking on the water, they didn’t try to join him. 11 men allowed fear to take hold of their heart and lives and they never walked with Jesus in new ways. Now this kind of fear is not always a bad thing. In many ways we are wired for fear in order to make smart decisions and stay safe. Just this week I heard a story about a woman in Yellowstone who was gored by a buffalo because she got too close. Buffalo look big and slow, but they are not, they are fast and territorial and don’t like to feel threatened. Fear is not always bad, but we also have to learn how to move beyond our fear in order to be faithful and walk with Jesus.
God knows that fear is real and that it has the power to hold us back which is why God says over and over again, Fear Not. There are over 365 statements in the Bible that tell us to fear not. That is one for every day of the year. God knows that every day we need to hear a message of courage and strength. Are you personally wired for safety or risk? Which do you gravitate toward? As Christians we can’t give in to fear, we need to learn how to take risks with Jesus.
During the covid shut downs, when there were many things we couldn’t do, the Red Cross asked if we would consider holding more blood drives. We jumped at the chance to serve our community and said yes and we have been holding quarterly blood drives ever since. During the past few years I have watched several people overcome their fear and donate blood. Michelle was one of them.
Michelle made a commitment one year to not allow fear to hold her back but to be more fearless so she signed up to donate blood. It was so encouraging to watch someone overcome their fear and do something difficult in order to serve and help others. I’ve watched several others do the same thing and some have overcome their fear and given more than once. They are an inspiration.
There are several people here at Faith who have decided to overcome fear and step out of the boat to walk with Jesus in a storm, they are those who are leading and helping with Fresh Expressions. They have heard a call from God to step into the uncertainty of our society and people’s lives to find new ways to share the love and grace of God with them. It takes courage to try something new and be willing to engage in faithful conversations with people, but they have gotten out of the boat and are walking with Jesus. We celebrate their faith and courage and they are an inspiration. We need to follow their example, overcome our own fear, and step out of the boat and walk on water with Jesus.
Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on the water. All went well for a few minutes but then he noticed the wind and the waves. Peter lost his focus and stopped looking at Jesus and started looking at the storm. And that’s when he started to sink. In panic, he cried out, Lord, save me, and Jesus did. It says Jesus immediately reached out his hand and saved him. Jesus not only walks on the water to be with us in the storm, He also reaches out His hand to rescue us when we start sinking.
Takeaway #3, Jesus still reaches out His hand to save us.
The strength and power of Jesus reaches out to us when we are empty, weak, tired and sinking to pull us up and help us stand. Jesus isn’t just with us in the storm, He helps us through the storm.
Thomas Dorsey was an author and composer of blues and gospel music in the 1920’s and 30’s (not to be confused with the Big Band Leader Tommy Dorsey). Thomas and his wife lived in Chicago and were expecting their first child when Thomas left to attend a conference in St. Louis. On the second day of the conference, Thomas got a telegram saying, your wife has just died. Come home. When he got home, he buried his wife and their child in the same casket.
Thomas was overcome with grief when one day he sat down at the piano and he said, “words like drops of water from a crevice in the rock from above seemed to drop in line with his music. Precious Lord, take my hand. Lead me on, let me stand. I’m tired. I’m weak. I’m worn. Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light. Take my hand, Precious Lord, lead me home.”
God walked with Thomas through that storm and led him to a place of peace and light. He remarried, had a family, and shared a song with the world that has encouraged countless numbers of people. God does take us by the hand and save us. He takes us by the hand and leads us out of the storm and into the light. Today He is here to take your hand and rescue you. He is here to lead you home.
This brings us to the end of the story. When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the storm stopped. The wind ceased and it says that the disciples worshiped Jesus. They said, truly you are the son of God. When they worshiped Jesus as the Son of God, they didn’t understand fully that Jesus was God in the flesh. The idea that Jesus was fully-God and fully-human took the church 300 years to work out. What the disciples did know was that they had just seen Jesus do something that only God could do. Only God had power over the wind and the waves. Only God could calm a storm and walk on water so they were worshiping God.
The disciples also heard Jesus say that He was God when He told them, Take courage. It is I. Don’t be afraid. The phrase it is I is actually the words, I Am, which is the name God gave himself when He appeared to Moses. Jesus had just used that name to refer to Himself, and then He did something that only God could do.
While the disciples didn’t fully understand who Jesus was, they knew He was the son of God so they worshiped Him. They knew Jesus cared about them enough to walk on the water to join them in a storm and that He was willing to reach out His hand and rescue them. They worshiped Jesus because He was willing to be with them and to save them. That’s who Jesus was then and that is who Jesus is today.
Jesus is the Son of God who comes to us in our storm, who reaches out His hand to save us no matter what we are going through. Jesus is the one who invites us to leave the security of our boats so we can join Him in the adventure of walking on the water. He is the One who has the power to calm the wind and the waves in our lives and lead us into the lives of meaning, purpose and joy. Like Peter, we might sink at times, we might lose sight of Jesus and fear the storm, but Jesus will still be there with His arm stretched out to lift us up and to lead us home.
Next Steps
Walking with Jesus in the Storm
Read Matthew 14:22-33
What storms are you experiencing in life?
Jesus walks on water to join us in the storm.
● How and where do you experience Jesus with you in the storm?
● How does God provide you with comfort and encouragement?
● Read a “fear not” passage each day this week.
○ Psalm 27:1-5 Joshua 1:9
○ Isaiah 41:10 Isaiah 43:1-3
○ Matthew 6:25-34 John 14:1-4, 25-27
○ 2 Timothy 1:6-7
We have to get out of the boat.
● What fear holds you back in life?
● What step of faith do you need to take to faithfully walk with Jesus today?
● How is Jesus calling you to get out of the boat and walk with Him on the water?
● Pray for and support those who are exploring or starting a Fresh Expression (See Pastor David for more information).
Jesus reaches out His hand to save us
● What causes you to take your eyes off Jesus?
● What are the wind and waves that you are struggling with today?
● Ask Jesus to rescue you, lift you up and save you.
● Read Psalm 17:1-19.
Take time this week to worship Jesus. Thank Him that He still comes to us in the storm, calls us to deeper faith, and forgives and saves us when we fail.
