A God Who Calls – A People Who Respond

Proper 14A; Matthew 14:22-33; St. Paul’s Smithfield, NC 8/13/2017

Jim Melnyk: “A God Who Calls – A People Who Respond”

It’s quite easy to miss what I believe to be the central theme of today’s gospel lesson if one is not careful.  It’s easy to get so caught up in the physics of it all – in the whole walking on water thing – on whether or not it could ever really happen – that we miss the point.  It’s so easy to get caught up in poor, old, miserable, Peter and his failure to stay above the waves that we miss what else God may be trying to tell us in today’s story.

Peter is, perhaps, the all too human face of the struggle to see the kingdom of heaven around us, as well as an all too recognizable example of how most humans live out their discipleship in Christ.  Peter epitomizes the tension in which we human beings live – the tension between the “already here” and the “not yet, but still arriving” kingdom of heaven.  Peter lives out, in living color, our ability to move from faithful follower of Christ to lost and hopeless souls floundering in the waves – and everywhere in between.

When we come across icons or other Christian art depicting today’s gospel lesson they almost always show us Peter sinking beneath the waves – with Peter reaching out in distress toward Jesus, and Jesus reaching out to hold poor Peter up.  We forget completely the first word from Jesus, “Come!”  We don’t give much thought to the part of the story which reads, “So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water to Jesus.”  I can’t recall ever hearing about, or seeing anyone else accomplish that incredible feat.

First of all, let’s forget the debate about the physics.  The story isn’t about Peter walking on water – either successfully or not. Today’s gospel passage is an enacted parable – words and actions tied together to tell us a deeper truth than what’s going on in the scene set before us.  Today’s gospel passage is a story about a God who calls – and about being a people who respond to that call.  It’s a story about a God whose call is genuine, and dependent solely upon God’s choosing to call.  It’s a story about a people who respond to that call out of faith – no matter how great or how tiny that faith may be.  It’s a story about a call that depends not so much on the faith of the one hearing, but upon the trustworthiness of the One who calls.

Perhaps one reason we focus so much on Peter’s doubt is because it’s more familiar to us.  It’s hard to focus on God’s call because let’s face it, not too many of us feel comfortable believing that God is calling us to anything – let alone a life of faith that walks on water.

Nico ter Linden, a pastor in the Dutch Reform Church, is the author of In the Lord’s Boarding House.  In it he writes about call. “’Father and Mother Stolk,” he begins, ‘by what name do you wish your child to be called, now and in the life eternal?’

‘Anna Elizabeth,’ her parents respond during the baptismal service.  Ter Linden continues his story, I always find that a wonderful moment, but of course you never know if anyone else experiences it that way.

‘Why do people get names?’ I ask the children in church, who always crowd as far forward as they can at baptisms.  ‘Well,’ says one little girl, ‘then they can call you.’

I ask who ‘they’ are.  ‘Your mom and dad,’ says one child.  ‘Your friend,’ says another.  ‘God, says [another little girl.]’

You always have to be careful with answers like that, says ter Linden.  They can come straight from the heart, but also from a kind of God-talk triggered…by opportunism.  Once I had a child in church who always cried out ‘The Holy Ghost!’ before I [even] had a chance to ask to ask anything.

           

‘God,” says the girl.  I see that she means it, and the kid next to her thinks it’s a good answer, but another child doesn’t.  A God who calls?  That one child can hardly imagine that.”

Ter Linden goes on to say that adults often have the same trouble with a God who calls.  He writes about people who come up to him and ask, “Chaplain, do you have a call?”  It took a while for ter Linden to realize that his questioners were really asking about themselves.  It’s as if they are asking, “Do you have experience with a God who calls?  If so, please tell us about that, because we’ve never heard God calling.  How does that work?” (Nico ter Linden, In the Lord’s Boarding House: Stories of Caring for Others)

Peter and the other disciples, on the other hand, are lucky.  They hear the call of God mediated through the lips of their friend and teacher, Jesus, who they are coming to know as the Son of God.  Even so, it is seldom easy for any of them to whole-heartedly respond to that call and follow Jesus without any doubt or concern.  God’s call never comes falling out of heaven just like that – fully formed and absolute in our understanding – and the disciples are challenged with the need to understand and trust Jesus.

Ter Linden writes that God’s call “is always mediated, transmitted, through a people, a book, an event.  [In most, perhaps in all of our experiences,] there is no voice from above; there’s a voice from within, the experience of a burning desire for a particular task, and the power to perform it.”

Peter feels that kind of call deep within himself.  It’s what enables him to follow Jesus from the very beginning.  It’s what allows him to step out of the boat – both physically and figuratively – and walk to and with Jesus.  And because we can see throughout the gospel narrative that Peter, like so many of us, struggles with his call, in the end it’s his sense of call is actually what enables him to cry out to Jesus when his faith begins to falter.  Peter hears Jesus and he follows – even when he struggles with his faith – which is often.

The truth is that God does call – God does call each of us every day. As Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s grandmother used to say, “If you’re breathing, God is calling you.”  And when God calls, we may be filled with a burning desire to follow – but God never – let me emphasize this – God never calls us to become torch or club wielding mobs, hurling racial, ethnic, and religious epithets against fellow human beings.  Neither are Christians called to express hate and violence in response to such actions.  The gospel message we are called to share is about loving God with all our being – it’s about loving our neighbor – black or white, rich or poor, Christian, Jew or Muslim, gay or straight, Democrat or Republican – the gospel message – God’s call to us – is about loving our neighbor, and treating one another with dignity and respect – it’s about treating one another as people created in the image and likeness of our God – it’s a gospel of peace.

However, God’s call doesn’t circumvent our humanity – God’s call doesn’t short-circuit our brains or our emotions, or take away our freedom to respond or not respond.  And in our busyness or in our anxiety, we may miss hearing the call, or find ourselves turning away.  We, like Peter, are only human – and because of that we may never be one hundred percent sure of something as intangible as the call of God.  We wrestle with our doubts, and then we feel guilty when we’re not sure.

Peter’s struggle to trust Jesus – and our struggle to trust Jesus – doesn’t negate the reality of Jesus saying to Peter – of Jesus saying to us, “Come!”  When Peter sees the waves and grows afraid Jesus does not withdraw and let Peter sink below the surface like a rock. 

Jesus emphasizes the faithfulness of his call by reaching out to Peter once Peter goes as far as he can with his limited faith.  And Jesus will keep us from ultimately sinking beneath the waves as well.

In the end, the story is about a God who chooses to call us, and about how we respond to that call – no matter how little or how great our sense of faith may be. 

God calls each of us as God’s own children to the gospel of God’s love and grace – to a gospel that honors the dignity of every human being.

Like Peter, at times we doubt.  There’s no denying that – nor should there be any shame in admitting it.  We may at times even wonder if God is real.  Peter never seemed to be one hundred percent sure of that, either. But even in our doubt, God calls us.  Jesus stands by with arms outstretched and says to each of us, “Come!”  “What?” we reply.  “Me?  Me, walk on water?”  “No,” says Jesus, “that was Peter’s deal.  Just come, walk with me.  Hear my call and follow me the best you can.  That will be enough.”