Immediately
Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other
side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on
a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but
the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves
because the wind was against it.
During
the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When
the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,”
they said, and cried out in fear.
But
Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord,
if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
"Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat,
walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was
afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus
reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did
you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
Then those who were in the boat worshiped
him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” When they had crossed over, they
landed at Gennesaret. (Mark 14:22-34)
How
often have you heard (or said) something like, "Yeah, Peter, where was
your faith?" When we're in our armchair, it's easy to coach the team. John
Ortberg wrote a good book called, If
You Want To Walk On Water, You Have To Get Out Of The Boat. He points out
that at least 11 others didn't have the faith to try.
My own question is probably worse. I
want to know where Peter's mind was. They disciples were in the middle of the
sea in a storm. Someone saw something. Someone identified that something as a
ghost. The ghost said, "Take courage! it is I. Don't be afraid."
Peter had the sense to at least say, "Lord, if it's You..." So, are
ghosts generally considered trustworthy? Is it likely that a ghost has Peter's
best interests at heart? If it has lied about who it was, is it likely to then
say, "Oh, no, wait, Peter. I was just kidding. Stay in the boat?"
Peter
had the faith to trust that if it was Jesus, he could walk on the water. He got
out of the boat. Perhaps the first two or three steps were easy. Perhaps not.
He may have had to climb a wave, or slide down the other side of the wave. I
suspect that somewhere along the line, a wave rolled over his path, soaking up
to the knees and drawing his attention back to the insanity of what he was
doing. When his faith failed, he called to Jesus for help. That's a lesson we
all need to learn.
I tend to believe I would be like
the other 11 disciples. I am afraid to get out of the boat because I don't know
it's Jesus out there walking. It could be a ghost pretending to be Jesus. It
could be the ghost of my own ego. I suspect I'm more like Thomas. I want proof
it's Jesus, a written guarantee and an engraved invitation. With every step, I
want my path to light up and, oh, once I
put my foot on that water, the winds and the waves...they're supposed to be
gone. Is that too much to ask?
Apparently,
it is. That is not the way God has worked in my life. His leading by the Holy
Ghost seems to always require that I climb out of my safe boat without any of
that, trusting that if I'm wrong - if the ghost isn't so holy - that God will
not only be able to rescue me, but willing to when I've been so foolish as to
trust Him when He wasn't "him."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
On The Calendar:
Paul Revere's Ride
San Francisco Earthquake (1906)
Birthday of
Clarence Darrow
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