1 Kgs 19:9a,11-13a / Rom 9:1-5 / Mt 14:22-33
Three men were pacing nervously in the fathers’ waiting room of the maternity ward. Eventually, a nurse came to the door and said to the first man, “Congratulations, you’re the father of healthy twins.”
He was shocked but pleased and said, “What an incredible coincidence! I play for the Minnesota Twins.”
A little while later, the nurse came back, this time with news for the second man. “Congratulations, you’re the father of healthy triplets.” He was stunned, but managed to say, “What a remarkable coincidence! I work for the 3M Company.”
With that, the third man jumped to his feet and dashed to the nearest exit. “Sir,” called the nurse, “what’s the matter?”
“I’ll tell you what’s the matter,” he said. “I work for 7-Up!”
The wise man knows when to run, and also when to step out of the boat.
Sunday’s gospel story is so much a part of our culture that even non-Christians say things like, “He thinks he walks on water.” And because the story is so familiar, we assume we know the moral: don’t be like Peter. Don’t be impulsive or take yourself too seriously.
Well that’s not the moral of the story at all. So, here’s the story again: Jesus appears in the midst of a storm, walking on water. The apostles think he’s a ghost and they’re scared. But Peter gets the point: this is God here and he’s showing us that anything is possible. That realization stuns and excites Peter, and allows him to see beyond the limits of his little boat and his normal expectations. So he says to Jesus, “If you tell me to, I’ll come to you on the water.”
Hear what Jesus says in return. He doesn’t say, “That’s ridiculous, people aren’t supposed to walk on water.” He says, “Come!” And with that Peter steps out of the boat and walks on the water, toward Jesus. Does Jesus reprimand him for being impulsive? On the contrary, Jesus is delighted at his willingness to step out boldly.
But then Peter falters. He gets distracted by the wind and the waves and forgets that Jesus is still there with him. “I can’t walk on water,” he says to himself and sinks like a rock. At the very last moment Peter looks up into Jesus’ face and cries out, “Save me.” And Jesus does just that. He reaches out and draws Peter to himself.
Not one of us is a finished work. That’s no sin. But we all face the temptation to get comfortable with the unfinished parts of ourselves, to settle for being permanently half done, to sit tight in our leaky little boats, getting seasick, but hanging on as if this were the best we could hope for.
If you doubt that, look around you at the men who hate their jobs, the wives and children who endure physical abuse, the married couples who might as well live on separate planets, the friends who look more like enemies, the people who fester with old grudges, or slowly rot with old ideas. You say to yourself, “Lots of those folks were in the same spot last year, five years ago. Why do they settle for so little? Can’t they see how much better life could be if they’d just act?” When you’ve got that question clear in your head, take a good look in the mirror. We’re all doing the same thing on at least some level: sitting tight in leaky boats.
So here’s the moral of the story: sitting tight in a leaky boat won’t work. It’s not going anywhere. It won’t carry us to wholeness or joy. Eventually, it will sink. Stepping out of the boat into the stormy unknown is frightening and dangerous, no doubt. But it leads somewhere, because it’s not running away like the 7-Up man in the story. It’s running toward something, toward wholeness, toward God. And it’s not running alone. Stepping out of the patterns of living that are not life giving is what God wants for us. And God never asks the impossible. So look into Jesus’ eyes as Peter did. Don’t get distracted by the waves and the wind. Listen to Jesus call you by name, “Come, my friend.” And step out of that boat now.
