Get Out of the Boat and Mind the Gap

I’ve heard it said that some people only turn to God when there is a crisis; in normal time, they don’t give a lot of thought to God. I don’t quite experience it that way. I find it quite easy to be aware of God from day to day: I notice God’s presence in nature, in daily blessings, and especially in the people God brings into my life, and I talk to Jesus throughout the day, giving thanks, asking for help, noticing what the Spirit is doing. I find the painful days more challenging, not really because I doubt God’s presence, but because it requires a higher level of trust that God always has my best interest in mind.

Any of you that are British or have visited London, England will know that when a train pulls into the tube station (the London underground), a disembodied voice announces, “mind the gap”.  In today’s Gospel, we witness a gap between Peter’s act of faith as he immediately gets out of the boat, and his trust that Jesus will save him. In between, the storm seizes hold of Peter, and he is afraid. This is when he begins to sink. And so, it is with us. In between our acts of faith and our trust that Jesus really is present, there is the gap!  It is in the gap that fear can kick in, imagination takes over, and we panic.

This event follows the feeding of the five thousand in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus, after ministering to all those people, finally manages to get away by himself. First, he dismisses the crowds and makes the disciples go off in a boat, and then he climbs a mountain to pray.

As evening draws in, the boat is being tossed by a storm and taking quite a battering. The Gospel tells us that the wind was against them. Jesus stays on the mountain and seems to be in no hurry to go and help them.  Early in the morning he comes walking towards them on the sea.

This is where it gets interesting: he must appear differently to the disciples because they think he is a ghost, and they are afraid.  Jesus immediately reassures them with the words we often hear him speak in scripture: “It is I, don't be afraid.”

Peter: bold, impetuous Peter, immediately says, “if it’s really you Lord – command me to come to you” and Jesus says “come”. Peter gets out of the boat and begins to walk towards Jesus but then he becomes aware of the strong wind again, panics, and starts to sink.  He calls out to Jesus “Lord save me” and Jesus reaches out and catches him and says ”you of little faith. Why did you doubt?”

When they got in the boat, the wind stopped and those in the boat said, “Truly you are the son of God”.

This was not the first time they had been in a boat in a storm.  In Matthew 8, Jesus is with his disciples in a boat when a storm brews up, and Jesus is asleep in the stern. The disciples wake him up, and he calms the storm, asking them why they are afraid.... Where is their faith. They are amazed and ask, “who is this, when even the wind and sea obey him?” In today’s story, Jesus is not in the boat with them, and they don’t just wonder who he is, they recognize him as the son of God. We see how Jesus is teaching them, leading them, forming them.  What does this mean for us?  What does this story say about how Jesus is teaching, leading, and forming us? Helping us to trust him, knowing that when we take those leaps of faith, he will catch us.

I believe that there is a longing deep inside each of us to step out in faith and walk towards Jesus. We often hear this described as taking a leap of faith. These leaps of faith are not always big or dramatic. They are most often smaller choices that we make to trust that Jesus will take our hand if we trust him in this moment. We do have to get out of the boat though and take that step towards Jesus. We all know moments of turbulence in our lives, in times of loss, in the challenges of parenting, in times of conflict. When people and places that we hold dear change and leave us feeling shaken; when we face health issues.

Notably, only Peter got out of the boat, the other disciples were not ready or able to do that yet. There are many lessons we could learn from today’s Gospel, but the most central one is that Jesus invites us to come to him and we can trust him, but we have to get out of the boat and “mind the gap”. Jesus will take it from there if we can do that.

The words of Jesus in this passage reassure us: “Take heart, it is I, “Do not be afraid”, “Come”, “Why did you doubt?”

Calm me oh Lord as you calmed the storm

Still me oh Lord, keep me from harm.

Let all the tumult within me cease

Enfold me Lord in your peace.

Amen (Northumbria Community prayer)