Wednesday, March 16, 2022: Lent Three – The Peter Principle

Peter, suddenly bold, said, “Master, if it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.” (Matthew 14:28, The Message Bible)

                 Have you ever had that sinking feeling deep down in your soul?

                Peter did.

                We can only speculate why, in the first place, Peter wanted to get out of the boat and walk on water like Jesus. The Message’s “suddenly bold” describes Peter in a nutshell – impetuous, audacious, impulsive, arrogant, ambitious, proud but always a step away from failure and disappointment. Perhaps, he wanted to show-up his fellow disciples cowering in the storm-driven boat. Maybe, he wanted to prove himself to Jesus. Maybe, he was thinking that if Jesus can do it, so can he. Perhaps, he believed he had all the faith that he needed to trust in Jesus or, maybe, it was a test of Jesus’ power, “if it is you…”

Whatever, Peter stepped onto the water, came toward Jesus, “but when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink.” (Matthew 14:30, The Message.)

Oops! Not as easy as it looks.

At least he tried. But Jesus was apparently not impressed by the effort and accused Peter of having little faith. “Faint-heart, what got into you?” (v.31)

I need to make a confession at this point. I have often puzzled over the whole “if you have the faith of a mustard seed you can move mountains” thinking. It has always bothered me when so called well-meaning Christians will say to someone in the midst of a crisis, “If you only had more faith” then this or that wouldn’t have happed. Or if you only had more faith then your prayers would have been answered. If you only had more faith then a loved one might have been cured. “If you only had more faith” is a heavy burden to lay on a person’s shoulders.

How do you measure faith, anyway? Is it quantitative or qualitative? Is there a faith thermometer that can take the temperature of one’s faith?  Is there is measuring cup that portions out the exact right amount of faith needed in one’s recipe for discipleship?

In anyone’s hands but Jesus’, the statement that you or I might not have enough faith comes out as judgmental, belittling, demeaning and accusatory. It is never up to us to judge someone else’s faith.

Yet, we all can identify with Peter in this critical moment when doubts creep in, when we are wondering how we got ourselves into this predicament, wondering why we are failing,  and, yes, wondering why our faith is not sufficient.

    We get that sinking feeling.

    “God, God, save me!
    I’m in over my head,
    Quicksand under me, swamp water over me;
    I’m going down for the third time.
    I’m hoarse from calling for help,
    Bleary-eyed from searching the sky for God.” (Psalm 69: 1 -3, The Message)

                But the Good News is that Jesus did not abandon Peter as he was beginning to flail in the deep waters. As soon as he saw Peter floundering, he quickly reached out his hand and pulled Peter back into the boat. Jesus reaches out to any of us who needs a helping hand to get through the storms and upsets, the losses and failures, the disappointments and setbacks. He would like us to learn from our mistakes, but that comes after he pulls us up and out of harm’s way.

                Perhaps, the best act of faith in this story was Peter simply reaching out for the hand of Jesus.

                Often, the most honest words we can say when we have that sinking feeling are found elsewhere in the Gospels: “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24, New Living Translation)

Jesus, please throw me a life-line!

Dale