Once upon a time, a conservative Protestant church in a sleepy fishing village had to find a new minister. Over the protests of Jimmy, a senior elder, a woman was appointed as the new pastor.
After the Reverend Gayle had been there a few weeks, Tom, a member of the congregation, invited to take her out fishing. Jimmy reluctantly allowed them to use his boat for the day’s outing, but insisted that he lead the expedition.
The trio got into the boat and motored out on to the lake. When they got ready to fish, they realised that all their tackle had been left on the dock. Tom concluded that they would just have to go back and get it. Reverend Gayle said that wouldn’t be necessary, and she got out of the boat and started walking across the water toward the dock.
Jimmy, who refused to be impressed by Gayle’s miraculous abilities, observed, “See I told you we should never have appointed that woman. She can’t even swim!”
Our Gospel reading follows on straight after last week’s gospel reading where Jesus fed the 5000, and it tells us much about Jesus and about the disciples. Like the feeding of the 5000, which echoed God’s feeding of the Israelites through the desert of the Exodus journey, so this account has several Old Testament parallels. There are several occasions where water provides no obstacles to a journey – the most famous being where Moses parted the Red Sea to enable the Israelites to cross on dry ground, and likewise, Joshua parted the Jordan River to allow the Israelites to enter the promised land. And in the account where Elijah is taken up into heaven, both he and his successor Elisha part the waters of the Jordan to enable crossing. In this sense, Jesus’ walking on the water demonstrated even more divine power and presence, as he did not even need to part the seas, but could just walk over the top of them.
There is a further political aspect to this revelation of divine power. In the second book of Maccabees, the governor Antiochus is described as being so arrogant that “he could sail on the land and walk on the sea”, and the notorious Roman emperor Caligula, is reported to have a 50 km bridge built over the Bay of Naples to enable him to cross on foot, as befitting a god, rather than having to wallow in a boat for the journey. Jesus then, is presented in Matthew’s gospel as a legitimate ruler, unlike Antiochus or Caligula, as his rule is marked by compassion, as we heard when Jesus fed the 5000, and indeed is demonstrated by his response to the struggling Peter and the calming of the storm in today’s Gospel. Jesus’ messiahship is characterised by divine power over the forces of nature but also compassion for the needs of the people he serves.
The reading also tells us about the disciples, who begin the reading battered by the wind and waves. Their circumstances are so difficult that they do not recognise Jesus (though, perhaps reasonably, they would not be expecting to see him walking across the stormy sea), mistaking him for a ghost, and they cry out in terror. Despite the fierceness of the storm (or perhaps because of it) Matthew describes no fear in the disciples until they see Jesus approaching them.
Even after Jesus reassures them and tells them not to be afraid, Peter remains unconvinced. He asks Jesus for a test, and steps out of the boat – in the midst of his doubts, he is prepared to act. He does not wait for certainty, or for the storm to be stilled, he is prepared to step out in faith. In this, Peter is the model disciple – not perfect, not certain, but prepared to enter the storm in spite of his doubt and fear. And though he stumbles in his fear of his circumstances, Jesus reaches out to him and brings him, and the others to safety. In the process of stepping out from the safety of the boat, however haltingly and tentatively, Peter is given the opportunity to recognise Jesus as Lord and is rescued by him, and perhaps Jesus teases Peter (rather than rebukes him) about his faith – after all faith only has to be the size of a mustard seed to move mountains, as Jesus states elsewhere. It is only after Peter has stepped out of the boat and is rescued by Jesus that the storm abates. In the process, the littleness of Peter’s faith, and that of the community of the disciples (who did not dare leave the safety of the boat) is strengthened and transformed, and they worship Jesus as their Messiah, recognising his divine power over the forces that assail them.
If we were to imagine ourselves in this account, where would we find ourselves? Perhaps our circumstances are battering at us, making it difficult to make any progress toward the safety of land, so caught up in our struggle that we fail to recognise the divine presence approaching us, or even seeing it as a thing of terror and fear. Or perhaps we are like the disciples in the boat, afraid to step out of the relative safety of our surroundings to an environment that is stormy and fearful, or perhaps we are like Peter, taking small, faltering steps in response to the call of Jesus. Wherever we find ourselves, we are offered reassurance – “take heart, it is I, do not be afraid” and presence of rescue when the smallness of our faith causes us to sink. For the strength of God’s love for us is greater than anything that might assail us, and even if Jesus teases us about our faith, he will still be there for us, despite our doubts, despite our fears. So perhaps we might be able to take that little step, even if we can’t swim!