Get Out of the Boat

The following meditation is written by 

Rev. Catherine Renken, Kirkwood Presbyterian Church, Kennesaw, Georgia

“Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him, saying, ‘You man of weak faith!  

Why did you begin to have doubts?’"

Matthew 14:31 (Common English Bible)

Picture this: The winds are howling, and the waves are crashing over the boat, tossing it to and fro. The disciples are drenched, exhausted, and scared. They have been fighting to keep their vessel upright all night. They are trained fishermen, so storms at sea are nothing new. But this storm is a monster. Then one of the men looks up and sees a figure walking toward them on top of the raging waters. Their fear rises to a whole new level. The ghost tells them not to be afraid, but those words do little to calm their nerves. Peter wants to verify the ghost is Jesus, so he proposes that the ghost empower him to walk on water also. The ghost agrees, and Peter steps out of the boat and begins to take steps on the waves. I imagine him wide-eyed and laughing with excitement. Then, the absurdity of what he is doing seems to hit him. Noticing the storm again, his fear returns. Peter begins to sink, and he cries out for help. Jesus reaches out, grabs Peter’s hand, and helps him back into the boat saying, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

What do you think Jesus meant? Most people have read this as a criticism of Peter’s faith. They hear chastisement in Jesus’ voice for Peter’s doubt in God. Imagining the scene like this, we can see Peter flinching in shame as Jesus shakes his head in disapproval. Is this how you picture God talking to you? Calling out your weaknesses and failures? Disappointed in you for not being good enough?

Look again at what Jesus said to Peter. Jesus didn’t ask, “Why did you jump out of the boat?” or “What made you think you could walk on water?” Jesus said, “Whatever made you think you couldn’t?” Jesus wasn’t criticizing Peter’s fear and lack of faith. He wasn’t shaming Peter’s overzealous plan to participate in the miracle of walking on water. He wasn’t mad or disappointed in Peter for losing faith and sinking. He was reminding Peter that nothing is impossible with God. With the Lord by our side, we can do anything. He was encouraging him to continue to take chances on God.

The world around us will always be stormy. The waves will always loom. The winds will always try to blow us down. There will always be things to fear and worry about. We can choose to be like the 11 disciples who played it safe, kept their mouths shut, and stayed in the boat. Or, we can follow Peter and bravely take a leap of faith. We can’t walk on water unless we get out of the boat. 

One day, we’ll be before Jesus, and he’s not going to shame us by asking “What made you think you could walk on water?” He’s going to take our hand and ask why we ever doubted we could.

Joy,