Faith that flounders is still faith

Over February we’re talking about faith, hope and love during our church services. How important are these three words to us in our modern world? Let’s concentrate on faith for a moment. What does faith mean to us, what does it bring to us?

I love the scripture passage where Peter gets out of the boat on a storm tossed sea, he gets out onto the water in faith until the wind gets louder and causes the storm to worsen:

‘Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side…the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.’

A storm-tossed sea

But read the passage again – there are twelve disciples in that boat, so why is it that Peter is the only one getting out? Where is the faith of the eleven remaining seated? After all they’re following the same man (Jesus), they have seen the miracles, listened to the teaching yet not one of them got out of their seat!

And yes Peter did have a wobble - don’t we all? But he still acted out of faith in the man we all follow still today!! What lesson was Jesus trying to tell us here? You could say several messages, but maybe, just maybe it is that to follow him takes a huge leap of faith, and yes we all flounder at times. And to move out of our comfort zone, even though filled with apprehension, takes courage. And perhaps Peter understood a little bit more than the others who Jesus actually was? It’s a really good passage to research and delve into for better understanding, because getting out of the boat is not the end of the story.

We will be thinking soon about Lent and Easter, where faith plays a big part.  We have not seen Jesus face to face yet we believe he died an horrific death but then overcame all that and was resurrected on the third day. Our faith is that strong we don’t even question that this happened. We have the same joy that the disciples had when they physically saw him over 2000 years ago when he appeared in the upper room. Our faith takes us back there every Easter season and we believe – that is faith.

I would recommend over the coming few weeks reading the scripture passages that cover Peter and his floundering faith, because he did flounder – again. When asked when Jesus was taken whether he followed the Nazarene, he said “no”. He said “no”through fear after seeing what was happing to Jesus. His faith perhaps at that very moment was not strong enough. But he rectified that when his life became one of service to Jesus until his own death on a cross, albeit upside down.

Thankfully we are not asked to go to the cross to prove our faith, but there are so many ways we can show it this Lent, instead of giving up, say chocolate (as if!!) try reading a bible passage each day and really think about it; perhaps one single act of kindness each day – the list could be endless.

Take Lent to your heart and make it yours.

The passage above can be found in Matthew 14:22-33. The parallel story of Jesus rebuking the sea can be found in Matthew 8:23-27 – compare the two stories and see what you come up with, they’re basically the same but oh so different. In one, Jesus is with them - in the other he isn’t, at least not at first.