“Never Play Poker With Jesus”
Once upon a time there were three pastors who went fishing together in a small boat. One of them, realizing that he left his tackle box in their cabin, stepped out of the boat and walked on the water over to the shore. Just then, the second one said he had left his lucky fishing hat in his car and like the first stepped out of the boat and walked on the water over to the shore. The third pastor, after watching this remarkable demonstration with his mouth and eyes wide open thought to himself that his faith was just as strong as his brothers and decided that he too would walk on water.
When he stepped out of the boat he sank right to the bottom of the pond. After his companions drug him out and knowing that his faith was as strong as theirs, tried it twice more—each time sinking to the bottom. The first two looked at each other and one finally said, “We’d better tell him where those rocks are before he drowns himself.”
Matthew 14:22-33
Our Gospel Lesson this morning takes up right where we left off last week. If you were here, or have read my message, Jesus had been given some terrible news concerning the death of His cousin, John the Baptizer, at the hands of Herod. Doing what many of us would do He got into a boat and went across the Sea of Galilee, which is actually a lake, looking for some solitary time.
Seeking solitude was an important priority for Jesus. He made room in his busy schedule to be alone with the Father. Spending time with God in prayer nurtures a vital relationship with him and equips us to meet life’s challenges and struggles. I urge or encourage you to develop a discipline of spending time alone with God. And when you do, don’t try to do all the talking. Take time to keep silent and listen for what God has to say.
Unfortunately, Jesus’ plan doesn’t work out because the crowd, or throng, that saw Him get in the boat traveled by foot to the other side, some even arriving before Him. It’s while they were there that the disciples, with the help of Jesus, fed somewhere around 10,000 folks. Remember what I said last week, Jesus blessed the fish and broke the bread, but it was in the hands of the disciples that it multiplied.
Once the picnic is over and the leftovers taken care of Jesus puts the disciples in a boat and sends them back across the lake. This may be for nothing, but I noticed how the scriptures say, “He (Jesus) withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.” No mention of the disciples. How did they get there? Did they walk with the crowd? Probably doesn’t matter but it’s what I was thinking about this week.
For the return trip we read, “While He dismissed the crowd” Jesus sends the disciples off in His boat. Remember, He’s still seeking some quiet time. Maybe He thought that if the crowds saw His boat heading back across the lake, they would follow the boat and leave Him alone, which looks like what happened.
While Jesus is finally alone, the disciples are encountering a storm on the water. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for a sudden storm to blow up out of nowhere on the Lake of Galilee and remains the same yet today. It is believed that by this point the disciples were about three miles or more from the shore and it’s around 3:00 AM when Jesus came toward them walking on the water.
There’s a great deal of mystery and miracles in this story. Jesus walking on water—Peter walking on water—the quieting of the storm simply by Jesus getting into the boat. But here’s my question—and probably yours as well. Why did Peter do it? Why did Peter step out of the boat and go to Jesus?
I read a ridiculous story about a wealthy Texan who died, and his attorney gathered the entire family for the reading of the will. Relatives came from far and near to see if they were included in the bequests.
The lawyer somberly opened the will and began to read: “To my cousin Ed, I leave my ranch. To my brother Jim, I leave my money market accounts. To my neighbor and good friend, Fred, I leave my stocks. And finally, to my cousin George, who always sat around and never did anything, but wanted to be remembered in my will, I want to say, ‘Hi, George.’”
I’ve known folks like George, haven’t you? Folks who sit around and never do much of anything. I believe that Jesus was endeared to Peter because he was a man of action. There are lots of folks who have good intentions, lots of folks who say they are believers, lots of folks who are going to get started one of these days, but a relatively few people who will step out in faith and act now. Simon Peter was one of those rare few.
Reckless would be a good word for Peter. Only a reckless man would try to walk on water. But I believe that God is calling us to such recklessness. He is calling us to step out in faith to make a difference in our community and our world.
I think it’s important to note that Peter wasn’t putting Jesus to the test, something we are told not to do. Instead, he was the only one in the boat to react in faith. Like it says on the front of your worship bulletin this morning: A faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted. And another saying I’ve used often; you can’t have a testimony without a test. The only way Peter could walk on water was to get out of the boat, and we make fun of him for trying. We can’t simply sit on the sidelines and expect the church to survive—we must get in the game! I saw a quote this week from Dallas Willard that I posted a few years ago, “We don’t consume the merits of Christ or the services of the church. We are participants, not spectators.”
We read that Peter started to sink because he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the strong wind and high waves around him. His faith wavered when he realized how vulnerable he was. We might not walk on water, but we do walk through some tough situations. If we focus on the wind and the waves of difficult circumstances around us without looking to Jesus for help, we too, may find ourselves sinking. To maintain your faith when situations are difficult, focus on Jesus’ power rather than on your shortfalls.
If you have ever played Poker, you know that one of the best used tactics—if you can pull it off—is the bluff. It’s used to make your opponent think you have a better hand than what you do.
Maybe Peter was trying to bluff Jesus—but it didn’t work so well. Peter said, “Lord, if it’s really you tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus could have said lots of things but instead He just says, Yes, come.” So much for the bluff. Peter had gone too far, hadn’t he? He had to get out of the boat just to save face.
Folks, we can’t barter with God—and we never want to play poker with Jesus! But we’ve all tried, haven’t we? “Oh God, if you will just get me out of this, I’ll be more active in church—I’ll give ten percent of what I earn—I’ll be a better person.” But none of that happens. Instead, we say, “Surely God will understand.”
I can picture Peter that night or early morning—one foot in the boat and one foot on the water. That’s what I do when I go swimming. Stick one foot in to get a sense of the temperature.
To walk on the water when the sea is calm would have been remarkable for anyone to do—but to do it in the middle of a storm was, well, just crazy!
Several years ago, there was a story out about a man in California who decided to tie helium balloons to his lawn chair—he wanted to take a ride. After he tied a few balloons to his chair it started to lift off the ground. So, he called his neighbors to hold the chair down. He tied on more balloons, forty—fifty—sixty of them. While the neighbors were still holding the chair—he strapped himself in—and said, “Let go.”
He only expected to float up in the air about ten feet. He had a sharp stick to pop the balloons so that he would gently come down. His friends let go of the chair and it began to soar: 30 feet—40 feet—50 feet…right on above the house and trees and out of sight.
About this time, at the Los Angeles Airport, the air traffic controller received a report from an airplane pilot about passing a man in a lawn chair at 3,000 feet. Luckily, the man eventually came down safely and when he did a reporter stuck a microphone in his face and asked, “Why did you do such a thing?” His answer, “You have to do something.”
If there would have been a reporter on the scene when Peter and Jesus got in the boat and asked Peter why he did it I can imagine Peter saying, “I had to do something.”
Peter missed many chances to keep his mouth shut. But there were times when he just had to say or do something.
Do you know how many inventors failed multiple times before coming up with what they had dreamed about? Thomas Edison failed over 1000 times before coming up with a light bulb that worked. It took Sir James Dyson 5,126 attempts before he could get a properly working vacuum. If you go to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, and I’ve been there, you can see the home where Henry Ford built the first car. The problem was the door to the room where he built it wasn’t big enough to get the car out. You can see where he had to add on to the door to drive it out. Ford said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
Peter was always impulsive—always leaping before he looked. But that’s still better wisdom than the man who looks for so long that he never leaps. God must get awfully frustrated with those of us who are content to just sit and wait when there is a world out there that needs saving!
Stepping out of the boat is what we do when we share our faith with another person. It’s what we do when we show compassion in a time or place where others scorn or scoff. Stepping out of the boat is what we do when we stand up for what is right, even in the face of inconvenience or opposition.
Peter had a sense of adventure. Maybe that’s why Jesus chose him to lead the early church. There are times when you need someone to act—even if—from time to time—they blunder. As it has been said, “When all is said and done, more is said than done.” That is particularly true of the church. Sometimes, you just have to do something. Sometimes, we just have to get out of the boat!
Thanks be to God!
Eastman First Methodist Church 