1,2,3,…All Eyes On Me
Several years ago, I found myself 40 feet up, hanging upside down with my knees caught over the wire that ran between two trees. I was participating in a group building exercise, and I had gotten frustrated with the group. We were being timed, and we were running out of time. People in the group were debating how to proceed, and I just went ahead. And I didn’t think about what I was doing or stop for people to catch up with me – except to make sure I had someone on balet – until I got halfway across, and I looked down. And suddenly my knees became jello, I had stopped letting the group on the ground catch up to keep the rope taut and give me support, and suddenly, I found myself falling upside down…until the wire caught me just behind the knees.
My situation was fabricated. The story that we had to get a vial to a helicopter drop 40 feet up in a tree was imaginary. But, when I looked down and fell, it was real.
And so I can relate a little bit to Peter. Jesus sent the disciples to go ahead of him in the boat. A storm had blown up, and they had been fighting to maintain control of the boat all night long. Then, through the wind and fog they saw a figure coming toward them. They screamed with terror, thinking it was a ghost.
“Ego emi,” said the figure – It is I am. The same words that God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, literally translated “I am the one who is ‘I am.’”
Peter replies, “If it’s really you, command me to come to you on the water.”
Some scholars say that this is another time when Jesus is not recognized as Lord…the disciples just don’t understand who he is. Peter may be testing Jesus. If it is you, command me to come to you on the water. But, rather than impetuous and foolheartily risk-taking, this scene makes Peter seem stronger in his faith to me rather than weaker.
The sea symbolically represents all that is chaotic and evil, and it is the darkest part of night. And here they barely make out a figure coming toward them who has power over all that is chaotic and evil, enough that whatever it is, the figure can walk on all that is unknown and dangerous and chaotic like walking on solid ground.
Peter seems brave to me. If you are “I am,” command me to come to you. In the Old Testament, only God could walk on water. In the 77th Psalm, the hymn talks about God controlling the seas and walking on them. It says, “The water saw you, God; the water saw you and writhed in anguish, agitated to its depths. The clouds poured water, the skies thundered, and your arrows flashed here and there. The sound of your thunder was in the whirlwind, the lightning flashes lit up the world, the earth trembled and shook. Your way went through the sea, your path through the turbulent waters; but your footsteps could not be traced.”
So, Peter says, “If you are a divine, the one who is ‘I am,’ if you are God, command me to come to you.
And Jesus says, “Come.”
Two really important lessons for us in this scene:
Before the storm comes, Jesus is alone, praying. Jesus is communing with the Father. He is refueling, recharging. His cousin, John, has been killed because of Jesus’ ministry. The disciples went and buried him. Then, Jesus had tried to get away, and the crowd figured out where he would come ashore and met him there. So, he healed and taught, and then performed the miracle of feeding the 5,000. And finally the crowd has dispersed and he is getting some solitude…and a storm blows up. And he won’t leave the disciples alone in the storm.
The first important lesson for us is that there will be storms in our lives. In the early church, a boat represented the church. In the storm all of them worked together to ride it out.
And the second important lesson for us is that every time a storm blows up in our lives, Jesus won’t leave us alone.
One of my favorite interview questions for candidates for jobs that work with children in church is “If you could teach a child only one Bible story, what would it be, and why?” And several years ago one candidate chose this story. Because no matter what you face, even the challenge of walking through a storm on water, you can do it if you keep your eyes on Jesus. And, as soon as you notice the storm, you take your eyes off Jesus, and you begin to sink.
And then, a couple of weeks ago, while I was thinking about this story and my sermon, and planning to tell you this story, I happened to have chapel with the elementary kids here in the Sanctuary. And I had heard their teachers saying “1,2,3…eyes on me.” And they all got quiet…and so, when I got ready for them to quiet down I said, “1,2,3…” thinking they would finish it…but they didn’t. It was like they didn’t know how.
And it hit me – we all would keep our eyes on Jesus and not lose focus – and be able to walk on water – if we knew how. And it might seem simple – it might even seem vaguely familiar or like something we ought to know – but we’re just not sure. How do we keep our eyes on Jesus?
First, we have to be brave enough to step out of the boat. The boat is where we feel secure, but apart from God. What are you tempted to put your trust in, besides God, when it gets stormy? A relationship or a habit or a job that’s not healthy, but it is safe, and it is known…God isn’t in it, and you wish you could step out on faith and change, but you shrink back from fully and courageously trusting God.
Water-walking requires stepping out of the boat. Eileen Guder wrote a book on spirituality in 1974 that was titled, “God, But I’m Bored.” And I thought that was a really strange title for a book on spirituality, until I found it on amazon and saw the cover and that the cover said “The key to a richer, more fascinating life. Never again will you say, “God, But I’m Bored.”
In that book, she encourages the reader to step out on faith. She writes,
“You can live on bland food so as to avoid an ulcer; drink no tea or coffee or other stimulants, in the name of health; go to bed early and stay away from night life; avoid all controversial subjects so as never to give offense; mind your own business and avoid involvement in other people’s problems; spend money only on necessities and save all you can. You can still break your neck in the bathtub, and it will serve you right.”
Peter could have stayed in the boat. We can stay in the boat. But, he never would have known the wonder of walking on water….
After we step out of the boat, we have to keep our eyes on Jesus. “Psychologists tell us that people develop rituals for whatever things are important to them. They say that when a family or a marriage is ritual-poor, it often means the relationship is in trouble.”
Rituals call us to focus. A batter draws a line with his foot, kisses the end of the bat, touches it to his hat, and steps into the batter’s box. The basketball player steps to the free throw line squats, spins the ball, dribbles twice, lifts the ball, and releases. Rituals prepare us for what is to come.
So, to keep our eyes on Jesus, we need to develop rituals that keep our minds focused on Christ. I have found that my rituals have to change over time, or they turn from ritual to routine. So, for a time I had yellow dot stickers that reminded me that God is with me. I had one on my steering wheel, one on my wallet, one on my computer monitor, one on my cell phone,…but then it went from being ritual to being routine. I got busy, the yellow dot didn’t catch my attention, and I needed a new ritual.
Maybe for you, a rock would remind you that God is your rock and a firm foundation. Perhaps stones that you mark with a Sharpie with a cross and keep where you see them throughout the day.
Some people carry a cross or an angel in their pocket.
A picture of a cross or a word from Scripture that you can see while you are going to sleep.
We all need reminders to refocus us on Jesus. And those reminders need to be ritual and not routine.
But the story doesn’t end there. Because, the rituals can keep you focused on Jesus in calm times. And they can call your attention back to him when the winds blow. But, in the mist of the stormy ups and downs of life, the demons of disappointment and loss, the cruelty of injustice and evil, the callousness of chance and tragedy, we might lose our focus. We might feel week, broken and vulnerable, facing very real dangers, ever-present pain, and the divine power of God, revealed in Jesus, is there for us to draw on.
We learn from Peter that we have to step out of the boat, and we have to keep our eyes on Jesus, and we learn that when we start to sink, we cry out, – not elegantly, not with words of a formal, memorized prayer, we cry out from our hearts, “Lord, save me.” And as Jesus stretches out his hand to rescue Peter, we are reminded of God’s action as recorded in Psalm 18:
‘God reached down from on high and took me; he drew me out of mighty waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity; but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.’ (Psalm 18:16-19)
(Walking on Water, Michael Rusk)
I made it back on that wire – with the help of my friends on the ground – once I was willing to trust. It wasn’t easy, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to get both feet back underneath me. But, they encouraged me and supported me, and pulled me, and I got back on my feet. And I made it across to the tree, delivered the vial, and returned back across the wire and down the tree.
It seems significant to me that Peter first had to sink before he could fully trust Jesus, and that once he fully relied on Jesus, they went back to the boat to be with the rest of the disciples. Because in the midst of life’s storms, there are times we have to step out on faith and focus on Jesus, and the storms do get so rough and we feel ourselves sinking, and it is only when we give up control and cry out “Lord, save me” that Jesus reaches out and pulls us up. And then with Jesus we return to the safety of the boat and our fellow disciples and the storm calms.
In early Christianity, a boat symbolized the church. And I think it is important as the church to picture the scene from the other disciples’ perspective. They saw the ghost on the water too. They heard Peter call out and saw him step out. You know they were all standing watching at the side of the boat, ready to help them back on. That is the church. We stand, holding our breath, praying, as our fellow disciples meet Jesus and go through storms that force them to cry out to him. And we stand ready to help them back in the boat, to rock with them through the rest of the storm until the calm comes.