In the Chaos [Proper 14A - Matthew 14:22-33]

 The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson

Matthew 14:22-33

 

In the Chaos

 

Jesus is probably not the most intriguing character in today’s Gospel story.  Peter, I think, is far more interesting.  Sure, Jesus successfully traverses the surface of a large and angry lake.  But, at this point in Matthew’s Gospel, at this point in your church-going life, are you really surprised that Jesus can accomplish the impossible?  Jesus has already healed the sick, cured the maimed; in the previous Gospel story, Jesus fed 5,000 men – plus women and children – with what amounted to a single Lunchable.  His birth was announced by angels and marked by the temporary appearance of a star.  Those of us familiar with the end of the Gospel know that this same Jesus will eventually rise from the dead, walk through walls to meet his disciples, and bodily ascend into Heaven.  Walking on the water is impressive, but it is far from the most impressive Jesus miracle, might not even make the top ten.

 

But Peter: his track record is not quite as glowing; walking on water would top his resume, would overshadow some of the more egregious gaffes.  That is probably one of the reasons we like Peter: he is a very flawed character; he makes us feel better about ourselves.  We remember him as the guy who denies Jesus during Holy Week, who clumsily offers to put up tents on the Mount of Transfiguration, who argues with the Apostle Paul.  He is the only disciple whom Jesus personally calls Satan.  He also does some great things; his sermon on Pentecost morning was a huge success.  But mostly in the Gospels, he messes up.  And still Jesus loves him; Jesus treasures him; Jesus entrusts him with the Church – the body that will carry on Jesus’ work in the world.  Peter gives us hope.

 

Today, Peter, like he often does in the Gospels, sinks in the story.  But at least he is interesting.  The other disciples stay on the boat.  Peter goes big; he dares to do the impossible, which turns out to be impossible for him.  He was well aware of the risks.  While Peter did live long before Sir Isaac Newton, I feel confident that he, a fisherman, understood what happens to those who step out of their boat in the middle of a lake.  They sink.  Gravity always wins. 

 

And that is what we often make this story about, right?  Gravity.  As modern readers of these old biblical stories, we tend define miracles as those things which defy the laws of the natural world, doing those things that scientific research tells us are impossible.  From this perspective, we might be impressed that Jesus is able to defy gravity; he’s like a superhero.  And Peter really isn’t that different then from every child who jumped off of a garage with a sheet around their neck in the hopes they might secretly be from Krypton.  Gravity wins in those cases too.  Just ask my dad and his broken front tooth.  Who among us hasn’t, at one time or another, stepped a foot out onto the calm blue surface of a swimming pool and tried to muster enough faith to walk in the wake of St. Peter?     

 

But this story is not about gravity or about the human quest to bypass that particular force of nature.  In fact, ancient readers did not think about gravity at all when reading this story.  They lived some 1600 years before the dawn of the Newtonian age.  To ancient readers this story was about chaos.  They thought about chaos as Jesus walked across the water because in the Bible, primarily in their Scriptures, the Hebrew Scriptures, water symbolized the most chaotic forces of creation.  God tamed those chaotic waters so that life could emerge in the beginning.  God unleashed those waters to wipe the slate clean in the Noah story.  Ancient readers were not impressed by Jesus’ ability to beat the pull of gravity; they were amazed that Jesus, like the very Creator of the Universe, like the God of the Exodus passage, was able to trample and command the cosmic forces of chaos.  Jesus was not just walking on the water of some lake; Jesus was stomping on the threat of death; Jesus was calming the cause of anxiety; Jesus had the forces of destruction and annihilation under his feet.

 

The disciples do not fall on their faces because Jesus can hover.  They worshiped at his feet because he had the power to calm their deepest, primal fears.  They could see God standing on those waves.  This was not a parlor trick; this was a Theophany. 

 

Biblical commentators are split as to whether or not Peter should have even left the boat.  Some say he was trying to be like Jesus, that he was trying to walk where Jesus walked.  And they praise him for his blind commitment to his Lord, for his willingness to risk his life to be with Jesus.  Others say he sunk because he left the community of the faithful, represented in this story by the gathering of the disciples in their ship, a not so veiled picture of the early Church who cherished these Gospel stories.  They argue that he should have stayed in the boat, that he should have trusted that Jesus would come to them.  They argue that only when they are all in the boat together with Jesus does the storm end.

 

Should Peter have left the boat to stand in the sea?  It is an interesting question about an interesting character.  And, to be honest, I don’t really know. 

 

I do know that when the ship was being battered, when the chaos had almost consumed the boat, when trouble was all around, they saw Jesus walking across the water.  When hope was lost, Jesus found them in the middle of their stormy sea.  That is the miracle of this story – not that Jesus can defy gravity; what good does that do us?  The miracle is that even in the midst of the storms, in the midst of the angry sea, in the midst of life’s chaos and trouble, Jesus is with us.