Faith that walks on water
FAITH THAT WALKS ON WATER – LIVING THE LIFE GOD HAS FOR YOU
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said. Then Peter… walked on the water and came toward Jesus.’
Matthew 14:28,29 NIV
In the Gospel for today, we find the disciples alone in a boat, on a lake, in a storm – they have been battling this storm all night and now it is early in the morning when they see Jesus walking towards them on the water. At first they are afraid, and think it must be a ghost. But when their Lord reassures them that it is He, Peter asked the Lord to command him to come out on the water. Christ said “Come.”, and Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water towards Jesus.
There is a lot we can learn about the nature of faith from this passage. Peter illustrates a quality of faith and trust in God, which I believe all of us desire to follow in our own Christian walk – To trust God to step out more fully into His will and purpose for our life – He will see us through the storms of life. Our Lord never leaves us guessing in the dark, but has, in His Holy Word, given us all the light we need for our walk of faith this side of eternity.
In John Ortberg’s book “If you want to walk on water you’ve got to get out of the boat”. He writes, that “Peter may have been the first one out of the boat, but Jesus’ invitation to walk on water is for you and me as well.” …”So what is your boat? According to Ortberg, Your boat is whatever represents safety and security to you apart from God himself. Your boat is whatever you are tempted to put your trust in, especially when life gets a little stormy.”
I believe that a closer look at today’s gospel will open to us a better understanding of the nature of biblical faith, the kind of faith that walks on water.
This morning I would like to address five attributes of faith that I believe Peter’s willingness to follow Jesus Christ, - can teach us.
1. Faith Asks in Prayer
Why did the Lord call Peter out of the boat, and not the other disciples? There were eleven other disciples in that boat. I don’t know about each of you, but I can relate to the other disciples more than Peter. It is not that I won’t get out of the boat, but I would have a lot of questions before I acted. Why was Peter the only one invited by Christ to step out of the boat? Simply, because Peter asked. Scripture gives no other reason for the Lord’s call to ‘come’ other than Peter asked. In his asking, Peter demonstrated a quality of faith that Jesus repeatedly exhorted us to: (Matt 7:7) "Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.; The words ask, seek, and knock are in the present tense. A person is to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. He is to persist in prayer. (Phil.4:6) “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
The Lord called Peter because Peter asked. The other disciples didn’t ask, and hence were not invited by Christ to step out. Don’t be afraid to ask. Our Lord is not offended by our asking, and will respond to our prayers. He may not always respond with the answer we had hoped for, but He will respond. The faith that walks on water is the faith that prays, and keeps on praying.
2. Faith Seeks God’s Will
What did Peter ask for? He asked for Christ’s Word: “if it’s you…tell me...” He sought the Lord’s will first, before getting out of the boat. Biblical faith always seeks the Lord first, to do His will. The goal of faith is, and must always be, obedience to the will of our Lord. Faith is not a tool to achieve our own agenda. Peter wasn’t making demands or claiming his ‘right’ to walk on water. He didn’t ‘speak words of faith’. He was humbly seeking the will of his Master. The faith that walks on water looks to Christ for His will, not our own.
3. Faith Waits On the Lord
After Peter sought His will in asking the Lord for permission he didn’t immediately jump out of the boat. Peter didn’t presume upon the Lord’s answer, but waited for it. This brings us to the next point: The faith that walks on water is faith that waits on God until He answers. This passage of scripture is a popular one, especially for those who love the vivid metaphor, it provides for believing in God for the great things he can do. We love to hear about the action, the excitement of taking leaps of faith and ‘walking on water’. It’s highly visible and empowering. It suits our busy, externalized culture and modern temperament. But the waiting aspect of faith taught in this passage of scripture is often overlooked. This is a really hard one for me. There is a lot of ‘faith’ teaching around these days telling people to step out on promises and take risks. To many, Peter’s waiting would have looked like unbelief, and no doubt if they had been on that boat they would have been encouraging him to ‘have more faith’ and jump. But Peter didn’t jump into the water until after he had waited on the Lord and heard from Him, and this is precisely where many of us go wrong in our faith. We ‘jump out of the boat’ without sufficiently waiting on the Lord, and we end up in troubled waters.
Faith waits on the Lord, and takes the whole of God’s word into consideration. It requires that we heed the entire counsel of God in His written word and not simply pick the parts we like. Faith isn’t about insisting that God honor some ‘step’ of faith we’ve decided to take. It is about looking to Christ and seeking His will, and humbly waiting on Him that He may guide us. The faith that walks on water is the faith that waits on the Lord.
4. Faith Trusts and Obeys
When Christ said ‘Come’, Peter put his trust in God and climbed out of the boat. He didn’t let his fear of the high winds and choppy water stop him. He obeyed Christ’s call, and into the water he went. Faith is always expressed by obedience to Christ, and unbelief by disobedience. Peter put his confidence in Christ’s Word, and didn’t look at his own inability to walk on water. God’s grace is sufficient for us. He isn’t expecting us to do anything on our own: “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” He will amply supply us with all the grace and strength we need to do His will: “My grace is sufficient for you.” When Jesus said “come”, Peter put all his trust in God and went. His confidence was based solely on Christ’s word, not in his own strength. Just as Peter possessed no natural ability to walk on water, so we are often called by God into areas we have no natural ability for. Obedience to the calling of God’s will often take us into realms we have no natural strength for. God promises us every provision we need to keep His word and to be holy and please Him in every way. He knows how weak we are. Our confidence needs to be solely on His word, and if we earnestly seek Him with all of our hearts and call out to Him faithfully. He will hear us and give “grace to help us in our time of need.” But His grace is promised only to those who do His will. Many Christians burn out because they are trying to do things God never asked them to. God never promised to strengthen us for things He hasn’t asked us to do.
John Ortberg writes “Walking on water means discovering and embracing the unique calling of God on your life.”
When Moses lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the desert towards the promised land, they had no visible means of support other then God. In the desert there was no water, no food, no prospects for gainful employment, yet every day God miraculously gave them water to drink and bread to eat. When Peter was still in the boat, there was no visible way for him to walk on the water. Christ didn’t show Peter a hardened path in the water first, or give him a detailed explanation of how it was going to work out. Only after Peter stepped out and walked towards Jesus did he see how God would make the way as He firmed up the water under his feet. Faith obeys God by getting out of the boat when commanded to do so, and then trusts God to make the way as we go. Just as Peter walked on water, God will enable us to do whatever He asks us to do. The faith that walks on water trusts in the Lord and obeys Him.
5. Faith is Enthusiastic
When Christ gave the word to come, Peter didn’t procrastinate. He didn’t stop to reconsider or ask Christ to supply some more details. He didn’t need to be pushed overboard by the other disciples. He didn’t need any further reassurance. In he went. He was obedient. He sought the Lord’s will first, and waited on the Lord for His answer, but when it was all said and done, Peter had a great desire to go. He was eager, and didn’t need to be invited twice. His eagerness is also shown by the initiative he took in asking Jesus to walk out. The faith that walks on water is enthusiastic faith, eager to do what is good.
Now, we all know what happens next in the story. Peter started out well enough, but as he went on his way toward Jesus he saw the winds and the waves, and began to sink. As he was sinking, Peter cried out to the Lord, and Jesus extended His hand to Peter and pulled him up. I don’t think there is a single believer who hasn’t from time to time stepped out in faith, only to find themselves sinking. Even the most sincere believers can step out in faith upon a course they genuinely believed was God’s will, only to find they’ve made an error. It is not the error of direction we need to fear so much as the error of heart. If our hearts are right with God and we sincerely desire to do His will, we can always trust the extended hands of our loving Savior to hold us up.
6. Christ is the Goal
The goal of the gospel IS Christ, and to bring us to Him. Peter’s request was to “come to you on the water.” When he got out of the boat, he “came toward Jesus.” Peter’s desire and request was to go to Christ, not to walk on water. Walking on water is not about miracles; it is about drawing closer to Christ in our personal lives.
The gospel of Christ invites us to come and die to self, our will, our dreams, our ambitions, our agendas and become servants of the cross. Unless we hate our life, pick up our cross and die to self we cannot be His disciples. It is no longer our path in life we follow, but His. The goal of Christian faith is always Christ, to know Him and obey Him. If that is not our overriding desire in all things, then our motivation is wrong, and if our motivation is wrong then nothing we do can be right with God. In our asking, our goal must always be to do His will and not our own. “Not my will, but yours be done.” The faith that walks on water has the person of Christ and His will as it’s supreme goal in all things.
Summary
So what are we to do? - Like Peter, we are to Stay in the boat until God tells you to get out. Remember, faith asks permission, so seek God’s will, not your own, and then wait on Him for the answer. Then put your trust in God and then get out of the boat when He tells you to, but only as He leads. Biblical faith is obedient to God. Faith trusts God for His provision and grace to see us through; to firm up the water under our feet as we go. Faith doesn’t insist on a roadmap first or to have it all spelled out before hand. Faith doesn’t need to know how God is going to do it, only that He has said He would.
Walking on water begins with discipleship and communion with Christ. Peter asked, but he didn’t ask for just anything. He didn’t ask for a miracle or power to walk on water. He asked to come out to Him. Christ was his goal, not to walk on water. The faith that walks on water isn’t seeking miracles, or individual power, but desires Christ above all, to be with Him and to do His will. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Put Christ first in your life and make it your goal to please Him in all things. Make time for Him each day. Let me leave you this morning with this thought -
Sometimes the Lord calms the storm. Sometimes he lets the storm rage and calms his child.
Amen.