Highlighted Text: Matthew 14:22-33

Summary of the text:

0.33 miles per hour. That’s about how fast the disciples were going as they tried to haul their boat across the water with the wind against them. The disciples had probably gone about three miles into the lake, and they had been rowing against the wind for around nine hours [ESV]. Do the math. For reference, that’s 9 times slower than most people’s walking speed. That’s slow!

And the disciples weren’t just amicably sitting in the boat while it floated about. They were going against the wind, so that means a lot of rowing. Have you ever used a rowing machine? They’re not easy. Now imagine doing that for 9 hours straight. I think my arms would fall off.

I started flying small Cessna planes when I was in high school, and I vividly remember one flight between McGregor, TX and Austin. We had an incredibly strong tail wind down to Austin, so we got there in record time. On the way back, however, we were flying into a momentum-stopping headwind. It took more than three times as long to fly back to McGregor. The wind was so strong, the instructor showed me how to literally fly backwards. I am not exaggerating!

Do you know what you have to do when the headwind is so strong you can literally fly backwards? Do you know what you have to do when the flight home is taking three times as long as the flight out? Do you know what you have to do when the engine is turning but it feels like you’re going nowhere? You keep flying toward your destination. All you can do is remain faithful to your original flight plan.

Jesus sent his disciples against an incredible headwind and let them struggle against the oars for nine fruitless hours. They were scared, they were exhausted, and I’m sure they were also frustrated. But they kept rowing in the direction Jesus told them to go. In this text, faithfulness is demonstrated by doing what Jesus told you to do…even if it feels like you’re struggling and going nowhere.

It’s interesting to note that this wasn’t the first time the disciples had been in a predicament on the waters. In Matthew 8, Jesus was with them to calm the storm. This time, he was back on the land praying on his own. The ancient Christian preacher and commentator Chrysostom picked up on this theme:

The disciples are tossed on the waves again. They are in a storm, fully as bad as the previous one. Gently and by degrees he excites and urges the disciples on toward greater responsiveness, even to the point of bearing all things nobly. Whereas in the previous storm they had him with them in the ship, now they were alone by themselves…Now he is leading them into a greater degree of challenge…This was all for their training, that they might not look for some easy hope of preservation from any earthly source…He cast them directly into a situation in which they would have a greater longing for him and a continual remembrance of him. [ACC]

There have been many times in my life and in my ministry where I wondered why Jesus didn’t bring success to my efforts. There have been many times where I asked myself if I was headed in the wrong direction, because I had nothing to show for my labor. This text shows us that quick success is not always what Jesus is looking for. Enduring faithfulness can be more important to Jesus than earthly results.

Speaking of faithfulness, let’s talk about Peter in this text. I have heard some chastise Peter for being afraid and sinking in verse 30. There’s a bit of truth to that critique. But however many seconds he lasted while walking around on top of the water is more than the zero seconds I have walked on water. Maybe we should cut Peter a little slack.

On the other hand, I have also heard people lionize Peter’s boldness in stepping out of the boat. There’s a bit of truth to that hype. But I think it’s missing the point if we say we should just be bold about everything. Peter couldn’t walk on water. He didn’t have some mystical power that achieved this feat. If he tried that on any other day and in any other circumstance in his life, he would have sunk immediately. He was only able to walk on water because Jesus told him to do it. So if we are going to take a lesson in boldness from Peter in this text, we should make sure we’re following Jesus’ voice instead of just being bold about everything we want to do.

Combining these two observations, I would say that this text defines faithful boldness as joining Jesus in a seemingly impossible situation. We have to be joining Jesus on the water, not assuming we can walk on water whenever we want.

I also think the “seemingly impossible” part of that definition is a theme worth exploring. As I reflect back on a couple of decades of ministry, the amazing moments did not come from my typical, carefully-crafted plans that stayed within our core competencies. The amazing moments in my life and in the ministries I have been involved with tend to come from the times when we followed Jesus beyond the realm of guaranteed success.

So if you reflect on the dreams you have for your church or for your ministry, are they simply attainable or do they require the presence of Jesus to have any chance of success? No one would have written this story down if Jesus told Peter to step in a very manageable puddle. Jesus didn’t send the disciples to a safe and easy path. He sent them right into danger where they would need Him to proceed.

The ancient Christian bishop Augustine also picks up on another interesting theme in this text. He saw a parallel between the boat and the church [ACC]. The wind was against the disciples, just as the wind is often against the church. The boat was rocked and buffeted and wobbly like the church is sometimes, but it stayed afloat. And regardless of its flaws, the boat (like the church) was the vessel that carried the disciples where Jesus told them to go.

If you have preached on this text numerous times and you’re looking for a new angle, think about the boat as a metaphor for the church today.

The reputation of the church has certainly faced headwinds over the last couple of decades and last few years. If you’ve been hearing about the rise of the “nones” in the American religious landscape, if you’ve been hearing about how people are “spiritual but not religious,” if you’ve been hearing that people “like Jesus but not the church,” maybe it’s time for a moment of hopefulness about this creaky little boat of ours.

The boat was not one of the main characters, it was not the source of the action, but it was essential nonetheless. The boat was buffeted, but it did not sink. The boat felt like it was standing still, but in reality it had progressed over two miles through the teeth of the storm. The boat was a shelter for some, and it was the launching point of a miracle for Peter. That’s what our boat, the church, has to offer today as well.

The early Christian bishop Chromatius wrote, “The church will be buffeted by the wind until Jesus comes again and steps into the boat of the church, silencing the wind” [ACC]. His word of warning is that the church should expect to have a tough road ahead. But his word of hope is the recognition that the church will still be there when Jesus comes back to step into the boat again.

Preaching Themes

• • Faithfulness is demonstrated by doing what Jesus told you to do…even if it feels like you’re struggling and going nowhere

  • This text defines faithful boldness as joining Jesus in a seemingly impossible situation

  • Regardless of its flaws, the boat (like the church) was the vessel that carried the disciples where Jesus told them to go

References

[ESV] ESV Study Bible

[ACC] Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture

Cody Sandahl has been the Pastor/Head of Staff at the First Presbyterian Church of Littleton, Colorado since 2015. Prior to that he was the Executive Pastor and Associate Pastor for Discipleship at the First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He is passionate about equipping the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:12).

Cody came to pastoral ministry after a lifetime of programming computers and building robots, and he is the founder of the nonprofit Code4Kids. You can still find him down in his basement tinkering with computers, making things on his 3D printers, and shooting laser beams into things.

Cody is married to Becca, and they have two playful boys and one spunky dog who collaborate to ensure life is never boring.