"god Believes In Us"

“God Believes in You”

(many ideas for this sermon were gleaned from Marty Soloman)

Matthew 14:22-33

Growing up, my family had a cat named Snowball and a dog named Frisky.

Snowball, a self-assured Siamese had been with us for approximately a year before Frisky came along, and as is often the case, the Siamese cat was the leader of our household’s little animal kingdom.

Are you familiar with those cat scratching posts, the old kind that were covered with carpet?

We had one of those for Snowball.

It was located at the bottom of the stairs.

And Snowball used to run down the hallway, take a flying leap into the air and land with her claws on that scratching post.

It was really quite amazing.

Well, Frisky would watch Snowball do this and since he, being just a puppy, must have thought of himself as a bit of a student or disciple, shall we say, of Snowball.

So, he decided to follow in her footsteps or paw steps.

Frisky, this little black poodle and cocker spaniel mix of a dog ran down that hallway, lept from the top of the stairs, and landed with a crash on top of the scratching post.

I’m pretty sure he never tried that again.

(pause)

Most of us have probably know this story of Peter walking on the water quite well.

It’s an amazing story that fascinates us to no end.

Our Western minds are blown away as we think about a man following Jesus out onto the waves of the Sea of Galilee, performing such a miraculous feet to imitate his rabbi.

It’s almost too much for us to imagine, but then Peter meets all of our worldly expectations and gives in to the failure that we were wishing he would overcome as OUR representative.

He wavers, he fails and he sinks.

I’ve seen the look in too many people’s eyes as they read this story.

It’s this look of hopeful disbelief followed by a “that’s what I thought would happen” expression on their face.

Even if they’ve read this story a thousand times I will sometimes see this expression or hear this tone.

We then listen as Jesus appears to scold Peter’s faith while we all put ourselves into Peter’s shoes and bear his scolding and we nod.

But I think there is so much more taking place in this story.

The first-century concept of discipleship was such that the most successful thing you could do in the Jewish culture—the thing they valued the most—was the study of the Scriptures.

And one of the most privileged things one could become was a disciple.

If you thought you had what it takes as a student of the Jewish Scriptures you would apply for discipleship under a rabbi.

One of the greatest honors a person could receive would be for a rabbi to accept them to be his disciple.

If a rabbi chose you as a disciple he was, in essence, saying to you “I believe you have what it takes to become just like me.”

It was a great honor.

So, the path of a disciple was the path of memorizing the rabbi’s teachings, taking on the rabbi’s set of interpretations, and most importantly becoming just like the rabbi.

This meant that you spent all day, every day trying to mimic the thoughts, actions, and teachings of your teacher.

Some Jewish scholars say they have seen a rabbi enter a restroom and in the rabbi’s wake are ten or twelve young disciples.

If your rabbi does something, you do it.

And you know that you can do it because if you could not have done it then the rabbi would have never called you.

The rabbi’s call is his affirmation of your ability and your potential.

(pause)

So, Peter finds himself in a boat at night with the other disciples, and “shortly before dawn,” they see Jesus Who happens to be walking on the water.

If Jesus is walking on the water, what does Peter want to do?

He wants to be just like his rabbi.

“Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” Jesus calls.

And Peter does.

He walks on the water.

It’s an incredible story.

Peter is a true disciple.

And then, Peter sinks.

But why does Peter sink?

The answer for many of us is that Peter loses faith.

He sees the wind and the waves and he loses faith.

That is true, but who does he lose faith in?

Jesus?

Jesus isn’t sinking.

Jesus is doing just fine.

Does Peter lose faith in Jesus’ ability to help him walk on water or does Peter lose faith in himself?

Jesus rescues Peter, pulls him into the boat, and then asks, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”