Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

Matthew 14:22-33
THERE WAS A MONK WHO TOLD HIS BROTHERS THAT HE WAS GOING UP ON A MOUNTAIN TO MEDITATE. SEVERAL WEEKS LATER TWO OF HIS FELLOW MONKS SAW HIM CROSSING THE RIVER – HE WAS WALKING ON WATER. “WELL”, SAID ONE TO THE OTHER, “I SEE THAT BROTHER MICHAEL IS JUST AS STINGY AS EVER – WON'T EVEN PAY TWENTY FIVE CENTS TO TAKE THE FERRY!”
WHEN I THINK BACK TO ONE OF MY EARLIEST MEMORIES, IT IS A FRAGMENT; I DON'T KNOW WHAT CAME BEFORE OR AFTER; BUT IT IS ALWAYS ASSOCIATED WITH GREAT EMOTION. I WAS ABOUT FOUR, I THINK, AND MY MOTHER AND FATHER AND MY SISTER WERE SPENDING OUR VACATION IN A CABIN ON THE EDGE OF A MOUNTAIN LAKE IN MONTANA. WE WERE ALL OUT ON THE LAKE IN A ROW BOAT. ALL OF A SUDDEN THE SKY DARKENED AND THE WIND BEGAN TO BLOW AND THE BOAT STARTED TO ROCK. MY DAD BEGAN ROWING FRANTICALLY TO THE SHORE, AND MY MOTHER CLUTCHED MY LITTLE SISTER TO PROTECT HER FROM THE RAIN. NOW AND THEN A LITTLE WAVE WOULD SLOP OVER THE EDGE OF THE BOAT AND SPLASH ME. WE GOT BACK TO THE SHORE AND RAN FOR THE CABIN. WE WATCHED THE STORM PLAY OUT ON THE LAKE, AND EVEN THEN I KNEW THAT WE HAD HAD A 'NEAR MISS'.
TO THE JEWS, THE SEA, WHETHER THE SEA OF GALILEE OR THE MEDITERRANEAN, HAD A CERTAIN FEARSOME QUALITY TO IT. THEIR COLLECTIVE MEMORY WAS FILLED WITH WARNINGS: GOD STARTED CREATION BY SEPARATING THE LAND FROM THE SEA; THE LAND WAS WHERE THE DRAMA OF SALVATION WOULD PLAY OUT; THE SEA WAS THE ENEMY OF THE LAND. THE SEA HAD DROWNED THE EGYPTIANS AND SAVED THE ISRAELITES, TO BE TRUE; BUT AGAIN, A REMINDER OF ITS TREACHEROUSNESS. ONE OF THEIR PSALMS REFERS TO THE LEVIATHAN, A MONSTER WHO LURKS IN THE SEA; AND JONAH HAD HIS ADVENTURE WITH THE OCEAN AND THE WHALE.
THE APOSTLES WERE A BIT UNUSUAL, SINCE SOME OF THEM MADE THEIR LIVING OFF THE SEA; BUT FISHERMEN STAYED WITHIN SIGHT OF SHORE, BECAUSE THAT WAS WHERE THE MOST FISH WERE ANYWAY, AND IT WAS A LOT SAFER. IT WAS ALMOST UNHEARD OF FOR EVEN FISHERMEN TO CROSS THE SEA. THAT IS WHY MATTHEW EMPHASIZES THAT JESUS MADE THEM GET IN THE BOAT AND SET OUT ACROSS THE SEA, BECAUSE THE APOSTLES WOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT ON THEIR OWN, YOU CAN BE SURE.
THE FACT IS THAT WHEN THE STORM CAME UP, IN ADDITION TO THE FEAR THAT ANYONE WOULD HAVE, THERE WAS A SPIRITUAL DREAD AS WELL; THEY HAD NO BUSINESS, AS JEWS, OUT ON THE STORMY SEA. THEY WERE THERE AGAINST THEIR OWN WILL, FACING CHAOS, COMPLETELY HELPLESS.
IT IS INTO THIS HOPELESS SITUATION THAT JESUS COMES, WALKING ON THE WATER. THE SEAS BEGAN TO CALM. IN A WAY, THE MIRACLE IS NOT THAT JESUS WALKS ON WATER SO MUCH AS THAT JESUS IS PRESENT IN A LITERALLY GOD-FORSAKEN SITUATION. THIS STORY MEANT EXACTLY THAT TO THE EARLY CHURCH, WHERE THE IDEA OF THE CHURCH BEING A BOAT TO RESCUE CHRISTIANS FROM A HOSTILE WORLD WAS A MAJOR THEME.
BUT THEN WE HAVE THE PECULIAR EPISODE WITHIN THE EPISODE; PETER ASKS JESUS TO CALL HIM AND BOLDLY STEPS OUT ONTO THE WATER, ONLY TO SINK WHEN HE REALIZES WHAT IS GOING ON. AND AS PETER IS BEING HAULED OUT OF THE WATER, HE IS CHASTISED FOR HIS LACK OF FAITH, WHEN IN REALITY, HE IS THE ONLY ONE OF THE APOSTLES WHO HAD SUFFICIENT FAITH TO STEP OUT ON THE WATER. WHAT IS GING ON HERE?
THERE ARE TWELVE APOSTLES IN THE BOAT. THEY DID NOT RECOGNIZE JESUS, THEY THOUGHT HE WAS A GHOST. ONCE THEY REALIZE THAT IT IS JESUS, ONLY PETER IS BRAVE ENOUGH, FOOLISH ENOUGH, TO GET OUT OF THE BOAT AND TRUST JESUS. HIS FAITH IS NOT ENOUGH, HE FAILS AT WHAT HE ATTEMPTS. BUT HE STILL HAS ENOUGH FAITH TO CALL UPON THE LORD; AS HE SINKS UNDER THE WATER, HE TURNS TO THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE HIM. IN MY MIND I SEE JESUS REACHING FOR PETER'S ARM WHICH IS THE ONLY PART OF HIM STILL ABOVE THE WATER; AND JESUS PULLS HIM UP, TO STAND ON THE WATER ONCE AGAIN, SUCCESSFULLY, AS LONG AS HE HOLDS ON TO JESUS, AND THEY BOTH CLIMB INTO THE BOAT.
WHAT DID PETER LEARN THAT DAY? HE LEARNED THAT HIS FAITH WAS WEAK, THAT'S FOR SURE. BUT HE ALSO LEARNED THAT WHEN YOU STEP OUT IN FAITH, JESUS WILL BE THERE TO HELP, TO SAVE, TO MAKE RIGHT. HE LEARNED THAT AS JESUS WORKS WITH YOU, HE TEACHES YOU, CHANGES YOU, DIRECTS YOU, AND SHAPES YOU TO GO ON TO GREATER WORKS, AS PETER DID. AND I SUSPECT THAT AS JESUS AND PETER STEPPED BACK INTO THE BOAT, THE BOAT THAT REPRESENTS THE CHURCH, THE BOAT THAT CONTAINED A LOT OF PEW-SITTERS WHO WERE NOT WILLING TO STEP OUT AND ANSWER THE CALL OF JESUS, HE MUST HAVE FELT JUST A LITTLE SATISFACTION EVEN AS HE WAS STILL SMARTING FROM BEING TOLD THAT HIS FAITH WAS NOT ENOUGH. IT WOULD BE SOMEDAY, HE THOUGHT TO HIMSELF. SOMEDAY HIS FAITH WOULD BE STRONG ENOUGH, TO WALK ON WATER, TO HEAL THE SICK, TO RAISE THE DEAD, TO DIE FOR HIS LORD, IF IT CAME TO THAT. AND YOU AND I KNOW THAT HIS FAITH DID BECOME STRONG ENOUGH.
PETER'S STORY IS TOLD OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS; OVER AND OVER AGAIN, A SAINT STEPS OUT TO FIX SOMETHING THAT NEEDS FIXING, TO CHALLENGE POWER, TO TRY TO HEAL A CITY DYING OF THE PLAGUE; AND WE SEE THEM FALTER AND FAIL AND SOMETIMES DIE, BUT IF THEY SURVIVE, THEY GO ON, MAYBE TO TAKE ON THE SAME PROJECT, MAYBE TO TAKE ON A DIFFERENT ONE, BUT ALWAYS GROWING, ALWAYS DEEPENING THEIR FAITH, ALWAYS BEING FORMED BY JESUS. AND IT IS A FRIGHTENING, SCARY WAY TO LIVE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, A MARVELOUS AND TOTALLY SATISFYING ADVENTURE. OF COURSE IT IS A LOT SAFER TO STAY IN THE BOAT AND WATCH.