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August 13, 2023: A Step that Leads Directly to Jesus
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Is it more unusual for Jesus to command Peter to come to him on the water, or for the Lord to say to Peter and the rest of the world, “Come to me in the water?" When’s the last time any of us tried to walk on water? Has it even been a thought of ours? When you look out at the vast expanse of the ocean, do you really believe that you can walk the distance on water from, say, York Beach in Maine to, say, County Mayo in Ireland? You may have to make a left turn along the way as you walk on the waters of the Atlantic, head north by 30 degrees at the 2700-mile mark until you arrive at Clare Island where you can cross the finish line and place your foot on the green sod across the pond.
Jesus commands Peter, who made the initial request that he, Peter, wanted to come to Jesus on the water, a distance of a few short feet. Maybe ten yards at most. Whoever put such a thought into the head of St. Peter? It had to be his own thinking, his own idea, minus that of the Holy Spirit. It’s best to avoid such sorts of thinking and ideas in our lives. We always, always, want the Holy Spirit to be the guiding force and leader in our thoughts, words, and actions. But even with Peter leaving the Holy Spirit behind, apparently, on this thought, Jesus takes this unusual idea of Peter and goes with it: Jesus said to Peter, “Come.” We can picture the brain of St. Peter at this point possibly thinking, “Why did I just ask Jesus to bid me to come to him on the water? And not swim to him the ten yards in the water? Even with this storm raging, I can swim a short ten yards in the water. It would have been much easier if I kept this plan on the human level rather than thinking I can do what Jesus is doing out here…walking on water.”
However, we must give Peter credit where credit is due. Even though he likely thought to himself that he wished he had never asked Jesus to come to the Lord on the water, Peter kept his word after Jesus commanded him to come to him without swimming to him in the midst of a raging storm on the Sea of Galilee. Peter fulfilled to the Lord his very human request because, well, we know through natural reason that we cannot walk on water. If we try to, we will sink mighty fast. But Peter trusts in the Lord’s words to bid him to come, on the water. Not in the water, but on the water. Jesus bids Peter to do the impossible for human beings, but not impossible for God. Sounds like Jesus wanted Peter, and the rest of them to follow, to be like God, not in ways of replacing God, like so many egomaniacs try to do in our secular-mad world. But rather, be like God, doing what would be impossible for us on our own, but with God’s assistance and helping hand, not impossible at all.
So, Peter takes the first step out of the boat. That’s a big first step, folks, trusting he will not sink into the deep waters of the Sea of Galilee. I’ve been on that sea in a boat, and trust me, you don’t want to go overboard. And any tourist to the Holy Land who tours the Sea of Galilee in one of the tourist boats that brings you around the lake, if they ever tried what Peter did, we know their first step outside the boat would lead to their fast spill to the bottom. Hopefully no one has ever tried to imitate Peter from this section of Matthew’s Gospel. But Peter takes the first step at the behest of Jesus and, amazingly, he stands without sinking. Obviously, Peter at this point has entered the world of Divinity. If he remained in the world of humanity and tried this stunt on his own, his brother Andrew would have been calling his parents telling them to prepare for Peter’s Jewish funeral. “Peter is down with the fishes,” he would have told his parents. “He went down like he was wearing cement boots.”
Instead, St. Peter’s first step kept him in line with the sacred Divinity of Christ his Lord. Which begs the questions for all of us, “How often, if at all, do we take a first step that leads to our downfall? A first step that leads to sin? A first step that takes us down quicker than we can say ‘jack rabbit’?” That ever-dangerous first step seems to be too often lurking and tugging at our hearts. A step that separates us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus our Lord. It’s best known as temptation, which we all deal with. The devil would not be very happy – which he never is, because he does not know what true happiness consists of – if he did not tempt us at least twice a day. Or even more. Unyielding would be the word that fits Satan’s attempts to remove us from our love for God. But lest we forget too easily, God’s grace abounds much more where sin is found. In other words, the first bad step can be avoided through the virtue of trust, that God will lead us to a better result.
The other first step, which Peter actually does take in this Gospel, is a step that keeps him above water. A step that leads directly to Jesus. A good first step that trusts in the Lord at all times. Or, in Peter’s case on the Sea of Galilee, for a moment in time. St. Peter’s first step is a Divine step. I pray we all take Divine steps in our lives, where we speak and do the seemingly impossible. Be it caring for a sick family member, or sharing our goods with the poor and lonely, or visiting the elderly as they are enclosed within the walls of their homes and nursing homes. These are good, very good, first steps for a Christian. They are first steps that build up God’s kingdom now. Right now. In the moment first steps. Like the first steps of a child walking for the first time, taking three feet worth of steps, as a recent grandmother friend of mine recently told me. First steps that bring joy to the hearts of adults. This was Peter’s first step toward Jesus. We need these in our lives, folks. We find them easily in works of mercy, in prayer, in reception of the Holy Eucharist, in loving obedience to our Catholic faith. All very good first steps that place us on a path to heaven, the ultimate goal.
Peter’s first step, however, is not his last step by any means. He still has almost nine yards to make it to Jesus. His trust in the Lord as an eternal rock is strong. Jesus is not a rock that causes us to sink. That role belongs to the Pitchfork Guy. We pay no attention to him in moments when Christ is bidding us to come on the water. Peter does so, thus far. But then the storm raging on the Sea of Galilee picks up her fury a notch or two. We’re all familiar with these storms. They’re cultural storms; storms of illness; financial storms; storms that attack our personal freedom given to us by God; storms that seek to place fear in our hearts, making us doubt that God in all his power is really not the One calling us. Or, that his power is not total over this world’s broken nature, a nature we’re called to glue back together through faith, hope, and love. As the storm strengthens, Peter’s attention is drawn away from the Lord who is a short nine yards away. A strong gust, heavier rain, water over his head…whatever it takes to deflect our attention from Jesus as our center. Peter falls for the trick. He turns his head sideways, taking his eyes off Christ his center. His humanity takes over and doesn’t return as he begins to sink. This is what happens to us good people when we get distracted from the Lord calling us to him. Which, by the way, he does every moment of every day. Our lives begin to sink into the muck of this world, and we become too worldly. Taking our eyes off the Lord has a price to pay. A price that will always lead us to our need for Confession.
St. Peter’s second, third, fourth and fifth steps, if he made it that far, became Jesus-less steps. I suspect he started sinking on step 3 or 4, not making it to five, thus not halfway to Christ. He lost his trust that Jesus can make us Divine, just like him, in matters of great significance in our lives. Matters that call for our “Divinity.” That Godly spark within us. All because he got distracted. A distraction that caused him to lose focus on his trust that Jesus could lead him to the impossible; to walk on the water. When and if a priest loses his trust that Jesus is our support to allow us to walk on water in any part of our ministry, well, it’s time to retire or go work at Wal-Mart. The same goes for all of God’s people. If you lose your trust that God will use you to make great things happen for yourself and others, revealing the best of who you are, then you will begin to spiritually sink in the water. The number one sin today that causes this, from my perspective, is the sin of Adam and Eve; pride through disobedience. May all of us pray for the protection of our precious pearl, our Christian faith, staying focused on Christ the Lord in a world trying to place a rupture in our relationship with our Savior.
Peter began to sink after he became frightened. How sad. The first Pope began to sink due to his overly human reaction to the storm raging over the Sea of Galilee. Peter tossed aside the Divine power Jesus gave him, a power that allowed him to do the impossible; walk on the water. The responsibility was his. He could not blame someone else for his sinking in the water. When it happens to us, we own it. We’re not politicians who look to blame someone else when things go sour. We’re Christians who “man up,” looking back again to Jesus, even crying out for his help, as Peter does. What a beautiful, wise decision Peter made in that moment of crisis when he cried out for Jesus to save him. Well, Jesus did, and he saved Peter and the entire human race in more ways than one, if you know what I mean.
The moment Peter’s hand reached the hand of the Lord after one yard of walking on the water, and nine yards of uncertainty, was a moment of the purest grace. Salvation on the water was assured through Jesus not taking his eyes off Peter. He does the same for us. He watches us closely. Not to condemn us, but to save us from ourselves. May we heed the call of Jesus to come to him on the water, where he beckons us to trust in him at all times, ensuring that we have success in doing the impossible for God and neighbor.