Anybody grow up going to Sunday School (or an equivalent)? There’s a joke about a child who goes to Sunday School and the leader asks, “what is grey with a long fluffy tail, runs up trees and eats nuts?” The children think for a bit then one pipes up with, “I know it sounds like a squirrel, but the answer is always Jesus.”
Ok, not the funniest joke I’ve every told, but it’s a good lesson for children to learn in church, because that is what church is supposed to be about. And it’s something that sometimes older people in church could do with being reminded of, including me.
When the unexpected happens, when doubts and fears threaten to overwhelm, it’s easy to panic or despair or try to fix things ourselves. Stress and anxiety can strike and lead to anger or sleepless nights. The harder thing to do is to remember that the answer is Jesus and we can trust Jesus within that storm.
Guess what? Got a bible story to back me up! It comes shortly after Jesus and his disciples have fed over 5000 people with not a lot of food. Jesus sends his disciples ahead of him by boat across the Sea of Galilee while he goes to find some quiet time to pray. He prays through the night.
Meanwhile, the boat was making slow progress across the lake, but the wind was against it (it must have been a strong wind!) Something appeared above the water. No, not something, someone. They were walking on the water. The disciples immediate reaction was one of fear. “It’s a ghost!” one cried.
But Jesus called out, “Do not be afraid, it is I.”
And Peter, impulsive Peter, says, “Lord, if it is you, call for me to come to you on the water”
So Jesus says, “Come.”
And Peter, faithful Peter, Peter the rock, Peter who speaks first and thinks later, Peter who is the first to recognise Jesus as Messiah, walks out to Jesus on the water and together they get into the boat…
Except that’s not quite what happened. Because Peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus, then got distracted by the wind and began to sink. He took his eyes off of Jesus and instead focused on his fears and the worries of the world around him. He began to sink. He called out, “Lord, save me!” and immediately Jesus reaches out and saves him.
“Oh, you of little faith,” Jesus said, “why did you doubt?” Then he helped Peter get back into the boat.
I retell this story here as an encouragement, because Peter has journeyed closely with Jesus. He has just witnessed him feed a huge number of people, literally the previous day. He asked Jesus to call him out of the boat, confident that Jesus wouldn’t tell him to do so unless it was safe.
And yet Peter still allows his doubts and fears to overwhelm and distract him from Jesus. But the grace of Jesus is that he ‘immediately’ reaches out. Even better, his question to Peter seems to be for Peter’s ears only. Jesus doesn’t embarrass Peter in the boat in front of the other disciples. I can imagine the disciples months later sitting round a fire telling stories and this episode coming up and Peter laughing and saying “… and then he said ‘why did you doubt?'” But not at that moment. Because at that moment Peter is probably shocked and scared. And Jesus is a man of compassion.
And I share this now because in my life a couple of events have taken me by surprise in the last week. I didn’t see them coming. And I needed to be reminded that people aren’t the answer. The church isn’t the answer. They are good and can be helpful and supportive, but they aren’t the answer. The answer, the one I can rely on always, is Jesus. Because when Peter started to sink, he called out and Jesus immediately reached out. Because in my past, when I have had low points, when things have seemed tough and confusing, Jesus has reached out to me too. Because if Peter can see and experience miracles and still doubt, then I can cut myself some slack. Because if, in the middle of the storm, Jesus can gently nudge Peter back to faith, then it’s never too late for me to turn my gaze back to Jesus.
And maybe some of you need to hear that too. Even the most committed follower of Jesus is allowed to have an occasional blip. If you can keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, you’ll find walking in the storm less stressful. But if you have a blip, Jesus is still the answer. Call out and he will reach out to you.
I can’t promise you there won’t storms in life, because the bible doesn’t promise that. I can’t promise you that that everything will be comfortable if you choose to follow Jesus (in fact, the bible promises the complete opposite while living in a broken world…) But the bible does promise that God will never leave you to walk through it alone.
So keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, and if you find yourself distracted by the wind and doubting, call out to Jesus; he promises to be there.
And he always has been for me.
Photo by Jasper Garratt on Unsplash
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