"You ain't walking on no water"

I just came from spending a week away at a lake house in Maryland with my family. It’s been one of our best vacations ever because we did a lot of different things including spending a day at the lake. We rented a boat, got our life vests, fishing rods, float thingy, snacks, sunscreen and off we went. We went all over that lake, every single corner of it. I had never experienced something like it - spending most of the day on the water just having fun with my family. Maybe all Genesis 1:2b should really say is “...and the Spirit of God was having fun over the waters” instead of “...and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

My kids had a blast, my wife had a blast and I had a blast too. You may think this is dumb (and I won’t disagree with you), but one of the things I tried to do while at the lake was to walk on the water. To make a long story short I just couldn’t so I gave up pretty quick. I reached a pretty easy conclusion -Sorry Carlitos! You ain’t walking on no water! At least, I gave it a good shot.  

I just preached on Matthew 14:22-33 this past Sunday. It’s the gospel passage where Jesus walks on water. For me, it simply is one of those puzzling passages in the Bible. I even find it frustrating. Can you imagine how cool it would be to walk on water? No, seriously. I know it’s the stuff of movies and fantasy, but along with flying it’d still be one of coolest things ever if we actually could pull it off. Maybe you’ve dreamt about it. I never have, but a few have told me they dream they can fly free as a bird. My cousin Abby has told me that she stops on the clouds on a whim to take a rest from her long flights.

I’ve never heard however of anyone saying they dreamt they were walking on water although I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a ton of people who do. Yet, about the best we can do is daydream about it because after all is dreamt and done you ain’t walking on no water. That’s precisely what makes this passage maddening for me. Jesus said we’d do "even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father". Yes, I’m incurring in some hermeneutical gymnastics here, but Jesus actually said it and if you think about it he said it about things that are actually more mind-boggling than walking on water. Raising the dead anyone? 

In Matthew 14, before our gravity defying Christ cruises over the waters, he heals not just one or two people. There were probably hundreds of people that passed through his healing hands among the thousands that followed him on that particular occasion. Then he decides not to send people to McDonald’s, but feeds them himself, all 5,000+ of them. I dig that. You hear me! I. Dig. That. I believe with every single fiber of my being in the all-powerfulness and the all resourcefulness of my God. Yes, I believe he can heal the sick. Yes, I believe he can raise the dead. Yes, I believe he can feed the hungry. I even believe he has given that same power to his followers. Yes, that very same power.

So why does the Bible have to tell me about Christ surfing without a surfboard on the Sea of Galilee? What’s in that one for me? It totally doesn’t rock my boat. Let me reassure you that I do not doubt about Christ walking on water here. On the contrary, I believe the veracity of the account. I just wish it wasn’t there. Yes, in the Bible. Of all the things Christ did I truly wish he would have spared us knowledge of this event. At least the walking on the water part of it. John said toward the end of his gospel that Christ did far more things than the ones written in his book. This passage of Matthew 14:22ff is also in John 6. I wonder why he didn’t use one of those other few thousands of physics-breaking miracles he never got to write about instead of this one. Ok, ok. It’s not about me so let me remind myself to take a bit of my own medicine. Sorry Carlitos. You ain’t walking on no water.

But let me break it to you too, my friend. This passage isn’t about Jesus walking on water either. It’s not like he’s playing us and saying “Oops! My bad, amigos. Sorry I didn’t tell you I could walk on water.” No, no. Jesus walking on water is equal to Jesus drinking water. He just does that kind of thing. He’s God. Period. And that’s the real point of the story. He’s God. He heals the sick. He’s God. He doesn’t send people to McDonald’s to go get some crappy happy meal either. Who’d want to go to McD’s when Jesus is serving dinner anyway? He shows himself in the middle of the storm and lets it rage. He’s God. So it doesn’t matter if the storm is raging. He shows himself in the middle of the storm to dispel it. He’s the Prince of Peace. He’s God.

You and I ain’t walking on no water. I just want you not to forget that. You may tell me, “What about Peter then? He did walk on water!” Why, yes he did! I’ll tell you. He took a half-hearted step out of the boat and sank like the rock he was. And that’s about what you and I can do whenever we venture out on a life storm without Christ. We ain’t walking on no water. So much so that when his friends in the boat with him had a chance to ask him about what it had felt like to walk on water I bet you his reply was either “I don’t want to talk about it” or “It doesn’t matter. I sank like a rock. I don’t know what I would’ve done if Christ hadn’t been there for me.”

When it comes to us what matters is our hearing the voice of Christ saying “Come” regardless of the raging storm outside our boat. Regardless of the water seeping through the cracks of our life boat threatening to sink it, what matters is to let Christ in to save us from our life storm. To save us even from ourselves.

I know I ain’t walking on no water. But if it’s Christ telling me to come outside the boat, I can assure you I’m gonna give it my best shot. He’s gonna be there and that’s all that matters. That IS all that matters. So if you go out to the lake or the beach at some point don’t forget to try to walk on water. You’ll laugh at yourself trying or, like me, just get frustrated because I’m not that powerful. Sorry Carlitos. You ain’t walking on no water. Jesus will have to do.

"¡Señor, sálvame!" Mateo 14:30