Sunday's Message - Why did the boat cross the lake?

Here's the message I offered during the celebration service in the Presbyterian Church of Hopedale, Hopedale, Ohio on Sunday, August 9.

Matthew 14:22-33

Right away, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and start back across the lake. But he stayed until he had sent the crowds away. Then he went up on a mountain where he could be alone and pray. Later that evening, he was still there.

By this time the boat was a long way from the shore. It was going against the wind and was being tossed around by the waves. A little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water toward his disciples. When they saw him, they thought he was a ghost. They were terrified and started screaming.

At once, Jesus said to them, “Don’t worry! I am Jesus. Don’t be afraid.”

Peter replied, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come on!” Jesus said. Peter then got out of the boat and started walking on the water toward him.

But when Peter saw how strong the wind was, he was afraid and started sinking. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.

Right away, Jesus reached out his hand. He helped Peter up and said, “You surely don’t have much faith. Why do you doubt?”

When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down. The men in the boat worshiped Jesus and said, “You really are the Son of God!”

Why did the boat cross the lake?

When I was a kid, we used to tell riddles. And one of the first ones I remember was this: “Why did the chicken cross the road?” And the answer, “to get to the other side.” Now, that’s it, not exactly a knee slapper. But I’ll tell you, that’s not necessarily the case when you change the answer. For example, suppose you ask me, “why did the chicken cross the road?” Now, if I watched Walker, Texas Ranger, I could say something like, “Man, if you saw Chuck Norris coming, you’d have crossed that road too!” Or, if I were a Star Trek fan, I’d say, “To boldly go where no chicken has gone before.” Or, if I wanted to be a little salty, I might say, “When I was your age, we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Someone told us that the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.” And those are just a few. I’m telling you, the possibilities are endless, and in my humble opinion, they’re all better than “to get to the other side.”

And you know, in a real way, we’re looking at similar question this morning. In other words, as we’re reading this story written by the Evangelist Matthew about Jesus walking on the water, I think it’s natural for us to ask this question, “why did the boat cross the lake?” And I’ll tell you, just like it was with the chicken question, I think there are some different possible answers that, when taken together, can really help us live our faith in the real world.

For example, if we ask the question, “why did the boat cross the lake?”, I think one possible answer is this: “So we can see exactly what kind of world we face.” Now for me, that’s a possibility, and I say that for two reasons. I mean, for one, there’s water all over the place in this passage. And although that might not mean much to us, the image of water was really important to the folks back in Matthew’s day. You see, for them, water represented chaos. And that just made sense. Boats were small and seas were wide and wild and unknown. And sometimes boats went out and didn’t come back. And I’ll tell you, if water represented chaos, the fact that, “by this time the boat was a long way from the shore. It was going against the wind and was being tossed around by the waves” [Matthew 14:24, CEV]; man, that’s really important. You see, according to Matthew, those disciples were in the middle of chaos. That’s one point. And two, they were also alone. I mean, where is Jesus when his disciples were in the boat? Matthew wrote, “Right away, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and start back across the lake. But he stayed until he had sent the crowds away. Then he went up on a mountain where he could be alone and pray. Later that evening, he was still there.” [Matthew 14:22-23, CEV] Jesus was on a mountain, and the disciples were alone in a boat. Of course, that wasn’t totally true, because “...a little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water toward his disciples.” [Matthew 14:25, CEV] But at that moment, the disciples couldn’t see it. From their perspective, not only was their little, bittie boat surrounded by chaos, they were out there alone. That was their situation, that was the kind of world they faced.

And I think that same reality applies to us. My gosh, speaking for myself, there are plenty of times when our world looks pretty chaotic and confused. And that’s only been compounded by the response to the death of George Floyd and a little thing called the cornavirus. And those are the big stories. Man, I think every family here has gone or is going through a little chaos in our own lives, whether it involves health issues or concern about children or a hot water heater going down this past Thursday (that’s a little bit of my own personal chaos.) Let’s get real, this kind of stuff happens to us all. And sometimes, as it relates to God, sometimes it sure seems like we’ve got to deal with the chaos alone. Now, I know a whole bunch of Christians would say having that kind of attitude is wrong, but give me a break, I don’t know why God doesn’t just heal all the racial divisions and wipe out COVID-19. And I don’t know why God doesn’t heal our health problems or our families or our hot water heaters. And I sure don’t know why God doesn’t cut a little slack for real believers like us and sort of put his thumb on the scale of justice in our favor and of course shower us with a little more of that health and wealth and happiness a lot of folks talk about. You see, those are some of things that cross my mind, stuff that I’ve gut a gut feeling those disciples were thinking as they faced all that water alone. You see, in the way he told the story, I think Matthew was showing us the kind of world we face. And that’s the first answer for why the boat crossed the lake.

But I’ll tell you, I think there’s another possible response that’s just as important. You see, why did the boat cross the lake, well, I believe another answer is this: “So we can understand exactly who we are in relationship with God.” And I think we can see that in the reactions of all the disciples and of Peter in particular. For example, think of the twelve; do you remember how they reacted when they saw Jesus on the water? According to Matthew, “When they saw him, they thought he was a ghost. They were terrified and started screaming. At once, Jesus said to them, ‘Don't worry! I am Jesus. Don't be afraid.’” [Matthew 14:26-27, CEV] You see, those guys in the boat doubted. They doubted their senses. They doubted that Jesus had come to them. They doubted and that led to fear. And I wish I could say that would change, you know, later in the story, but it didn’t. I mean, right at the end of the gospel, after the crucifixion and the resurrection, this was what Matthew wrote: “Jesus' eleven disciples went to a mountain in Galilee, where Jesus had told them to meet him. They saw him and worshiped him, but some of them doubted.” [Matthew 28:16-17, CEV] Now that’s what it says according to the Contemporary English Version, but trust me, the word “some” isn’t in the original Greek. Man, those disciples doubted right to the bitter end. That’s one thing the story shows. And two, I think it says a lot about what can happen when a person chooses to separate himself from his fellow disciples. Remember, “Peter replied, ‘Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come on!’ Jesus said. Peter then got out of the boat and started walking on the water toward him. But when Peter saw how strong the wind was, he was afraid and started sinking. ‘Save me, Lord!’ he shouted.” [Matthew 14:28-30, CEV] Now that’s what Matthew wrote, and just think about what it means. For example, what happened when Peter got out of the boat and started walking away from his friends? He started to sink. And why did he start to sink? Because he became distracted by the winds and the water, in other words, by the chaos that surrounded him. I mean, not only did he doubt just like the rest, when he separated himself from them, the stuff happening all around got in the way of his attention, his focus on Christ.

And I’ll tell you, I believe both realities apply to us, and I’m talking about all of us. I mean, I think having a little or even a lot of spiritual doubt is, well, it’s just fact of life. In other words, it’s just something that we need to accept about ourselves. And even though there are plenty of Christians who equate doubt with a lack of faith, that was definitely not the view of Matthew. You see, doubt is only a problem when we deny it. In fact, I think this kind of self-denial leads believers to become righteously arrogant when they’re around others and yet, at the same time, spiritually guilty when they’re by themselves. We just may be doubters by nature, and that’s one thing we can understand about ourselves in this story. Just like we can also understand that we’re most vulnerable to distractions when we decide to separate ourselves from God’s people. And that’s why there’s no such thing as lone wolf Christians. We need one another for support and encouragement and love. But we also need our brothers and sisters to correct us when we’re wrong and give us a kick in the pants when we’re lazy. And that my friends is what the church is suppose to do. In fact, without this community, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the values of the world and to sink into the chaos. You see, that’s just who we are. And that’s the second answer for why the boat crossed the lake.

And finally, I believe there’s another possible answer. “Why did the boat cross the lake?” “So we may know exactly how we can accomplish the work we’ve been called to do.” Another answer, and again, I say that based on the story itself. I mean, right here we’ve got a presentation of power and presence. For example, as it relates to power, Jesus was walking on the water, for crying out loud. And if water represented chaos, by walking on the water, Jesus was asserting his authority, wasn’t he? And who has authority over the water, the chaos? Listen to Job: “God alone stretched out the sky, stepped on the sea,...” [Job 9:8, CEV] And according to the psalmist, “You walked through the water of the mighty sea, but your footprints were never seen.” [Psalm 77:19, CEV] And the prophet Isaiah wrote, “Wake up! Do something, Lord. Be strong and ready. Wake up! Do what you did for our people long ago. Didn’t you chop up Rahab the monster? Didn’t you dry up the deep sea and make a road for your people to follow safely across?” [Isaiah 51:9-10, CEV] You see, when Jesus walked on the water, he was showing divine power and authority. And I’ll tell you, when he saved Peter and then got into the boat, Jesus was showing divine presence and love. Remember, after Peter cried out for help, Matthew wrote, “Right away, Jesus reached out his hand. He helped Peter up and said, ‘You surely don't have much faith. Why do you doubt?’ When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down. The men in the boat worshiped Jesus and said, ‘You really are the Son of God!’” [Matthew 14:31-33, CEV] Did Peter doubt and show a lack of faith? He sure did. And were the disciples sure Jesus was a ghost and because of that, were scared? They sure were. And what did Jesus do? He saved Peter, got into the boat and stilled the storm. You see, in spite of what they did and how they felt, for them, Jesus was still Emmanuel, “God with us.”

And I’ll tell you something, he still is for us, and when we remember that, that’s how we can do the work we’ve been called to do. You see, as we go out into our chaotic world to disciple all nations, we have muscle backing us up. The one we serve had, has and will always have authority over the winds and the waves, over the problems and the pain, over the confusion that may threaten to overwhelm us and the chaos into which we can sink. Our Lord has power. And that power is with us right now. And I’ll tell you, the good news is that Jesus is present with us not because of us, but because of him and his promises. You see, even though the world may seem out of control and we might feel alone and even though there are plenty of times when we doubt and become distracted, these words that Jesus spoke to his disciples also apply to us. “Jesus came to them and said: I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth! Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:18-20, CEV] You see, that's just how we can do the work. And that's the third answer for why the boat crossed the lake.

Of course, like it was with the chicken, the most obvious answer to the question “why did the boat cross the lake?” is “to get to the other side. Dah.” But you know, given that there’s so much going on in this story, let’s not stop with the obvious, and I’ll tell you why. You see, when we look a little deeper, I think this story can help us see that our world can sure seem to be a chaotic and lonely place, even for Christians. And it can help us understand that despite how we like to see ourselves, we often doubt and are easily distracted. And finally, in spite of where we are and who we are, we can sill know that, given God’s power and presence, we can do the work we’ve been given to do. Now that’s what I think we can take from this story. And for me, that’s why the boat crossed the lake.