A reading of the holy gospel according to Matthew. After the crowds had eaten their fill, this is after the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes on the east side of the Lake Of Galilee. So after the crowds, and there were thousands of them as you will recall, had eaten their fill, Jesus insisted that his disciples get into a boat and proceed him to the other side, to the western shore up in the northern part. When Jesus had sent them away, he went up into the mountain by himself to pray, remaining there alone as evening drew on. Now meanwhile, the boat, already several 100 yards from shore, was being tossed about in the waves raised by strong headwinds coming from the north.
At about three in the morning, he came walking toward them on the lake. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they were terrified. It is a ghost, they said. And in their fear, they began to cry out. Jesus hastened to reassure them.
Get hold of yourselves, he said. I don't know what the Greek for that is, but it's very good. He says, get hold of yourselves. It is I. Do not be afraid.
Well, you know who spoke up, Peter himself, and said, Lord, is it really you? Tell me to come to you across the water. Of course, he's saying, if it's you, tell me to walk on water, then I'll leave you. Good old Peter's right in there, you know, pitching along. And Jesus says to him, come.
So Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water moving toward Jesus. But when he perceived how strong the wind was, becoming frightened, he began to sink and cried out, Lord, save me. Now he's pretty sure who it is. And Jesus at once stretched out his hand and caught Peter. How little faith, he said, you have.
Why did you falter? Once they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat showed Jesus reverence declaring undoubtedly, you are the son of God. Well after the crossing, they reached the shore at Genesareth. And when the men of that place recognized him, they spread the word throughout the region.
People brought to Jesus all the afflicted with a plea that he let them do no more than touch the tassel of his cloak. As many as touched it were fully restored to health. And this is the gospel of the lord. In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, amen. This is a most human story, and there are all kinds of human asides in it.
What is the main thrust of this story? Well, I don't know what it is. There's so many angles you can look at it from. But here again, this is something we should and especially these days, in our times, I mean today, the prominence of Peter. Now notice, where do you find that they called a meeting of the committee of disciples and elected him by a completely democratic process to be the head and the spokesman for the gang.
Where do you find it? It's not there. He just assumes it. Whenever someone speaks either in the name of the group or sort of spontaneous in response to some kind of an incident, who speaks up? Well, it's Peter.
You see, it's full of sort of an arrogance or something or other, but the fact is they're the facts, it's plural. How it's Peter who is the prominent person continuously. Yet what are his credentials? Why his credentials are almost worse than the jury of ours whom we looked at yesterday or the Saint John Vionnet. He had nothing going for him from a human point of view, and yet he's taking over almost not almost, every time he takes over.
And even and and you see, some for some reason, his leader I don't know why they didn't call it leadership, but his being the the outstanding one, even after the resurrection, you see, We see how that his preeminence was recognized when they're running to the tomb and John stops to let Peter go in first. Now I've mentioned this, but Graham Greene, who's nobody's fool, and his Catholicism, well, still claims to be a Catholic. He claims that that's the strongest argument for the divinity of Christ and the authenticity of Peter's position. I mean this incident at the tomb where John stops and lets Peter go in. I don't follow it, but that I'm really saying what Graham Greene said in the not too in the not distant past in an interview that somebody had with him.
And so this this concept of Peter as being the leader is undeniable. Now whether he was a good leader or a poor leader or how he got there, that's something else, but the facts are he was there. Now, the second point that I think is interesting here, and it's so human, anybody who's anybody who has taken his bicycle and tried to keep the bicycle on the crack of the road or pavement or something, they know how this works. That when you don't try too hard, you can stay on the crack. But as soon as you start worrying about whether you can make it or not, you wobble off.
I remember, oh, this is years ago, but I've never forgotten it, that I spent a lot of time writing a letter to a man who was having trouble without well, was a real first rate, God fearing, and devout practicing alcoholic. And so he had done an about face and I wrote him what I thought was an excellent letter. He'd been separated from his family for a long time and by a concatenation of circumstances, why we brought them together. Well, anyway, I wrote him a letter and told him how what a wonderful thing it was that he's turned around now and thanks to God and all that. Had all of this to live for, that it was he hadn't lost it, it was there for him.
And, you know, I went on in this very eloquent way, and it was a wonderful letter. He wrote it back and he panned it. He said, you simply don't know what you're talking about. I mean, he didn't say it. He said it more decently, but that was the sum substance.
I was just plain ignorant, which was the God honest truth. I had forgotten the business about riding the bicycle or walking on the cracks. Because as he said, you're telling me to walk a plank over a bottomless pit, and you're telling me what all is going to happen if I fall off. He said, that's gonna make me fall off. In other words, you go to the nearest bar.
And he's right. Peter was secure as long as he had faith or whatever, whatever it was. We're not told what it was. He just jumps out of the boat and starts walking on the water. That's not normal, you know.
Although there's some jokes about golf courses and the water, which I won't tell. But anyway, the thing is, we're not told how this we're not taught the psychology psychology of of this this thing thing isn't isn't given given to to us. Us. But Peter says, alright. Because this is what he's saying.
Saying, if you're Christ, tell me to come off the water for you. I don't know what he expected. But anyway, he jumps out of the boat and goes. Well, that's something that shows that he had a certain amount of confidence. But then when he finds himself walking on the water, now notice this, when he finds the fact of walking on the water, and you would say therefore being reassured that it is indeed Christ, then he starts worrying about it.
See the contradiction here. When he's not sure that it's Christ, he jumps out of the boat and starts walking on the water, which ought to be proof enough that it is Christ. But now that he's actually walking on the blooming water, now he's saying, is this possible? What am I doing? And he starts to sink.
In other words, when he has most reason to believe, he doesn't. He fades. He faints. Well, this is this is this is the way we operate. There are times when we have to take Christ absolutely, simply, nakedly, at his own word, come to me.
He doesn't tell us how we're going to get there. It looks like it's impossible that we're going to get there. It looks like that no way can I do what it seems to me I should do as my calling, my vocation? See, does not get hung up on words. And you say, this is impossible.
Of course, it's impossible for me. It was impossible for old Peter to walk on that water. But Christ said, come. Now there's the calling. See, vocation.
This is not a far fetched idea, you know. We've got so, twisted in our concept of this word vocation expecting some clouds to open and the bright lights and the bells to ring and some kind of a declaration from on high calling us to be a special do something for God and all that, when probably what we ought to be doing is mowing the lawn or washing the dishes. It's that commonplace, that commonplace, God's calling, or it can be. We're not always asked to walk on water. I just read just I wanted to remember it, but of course, since I tried to remember it, I forgot it.
A word about Chesterton and the heroism of the household for the husband and the wife. Heroism of the household as the great adventure. That's what he calls it. But, of course, he phrases it in a way that I can't you either get Chesterton right or you get it all wrong. So the the point I'd like to make is this matter of trust in Jesus Christ.
You see how contradictory Peter's conduct is. When he's not sure, he acts with surety. And then when he has every reason to trust God, he faints. He wobbles. Recently, I met a person who said they they were they're they're tennis players, and I wish them luck in a tournament.
And they said, don't wish me luck. I cannot stand success. That's the first time in my life I've I've heard that, and that was that threw me. But there you see so I've seen more lives ruined by success than I have by what we call failures and tragedies. I I'm speaking absolutely only from my own experience which is limited, but that's the simple God's truth.
Success is a dangerous thing in many ways. So when Peter starts his successful journey to Christ walking on the water, what happens? He flops. Not because of Christ, because his lack of faith. He can't believe it's happening.
We cannot believe that God first loved us. You know, we really can't. It's as Lewis the Chives Staples Lewis Keith, it's hard for us to realize that God honestly loves us. We have to keep this in mind always. Even when apparently he asks us to do the impossible as it sometimes happens.
Because that impossible need not be something enormously big, it may be something right on our doorstep. But when he asked you to do it, let us be like Peter in leaving the boat, but not like Peter in walking on the water. If we can leave the boat with the confidence in Christ, let us have the confidence to walk with Christ even though it be on water. Name of the father, the son, the holy spirit. Amen.