Life Lessons 2—Walking on Choppy Water: Gen. 37: 13-14, 19-28; Matt. 14: 22-33
A. A. Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh, once wrote a shot dialogue between Pooh and Piglet. It says this:
“Today was a difficult day,” said Pooh. There was a pause. “Do you want to talk about it?” asked Piglet. “No,” said Pooh after a bit, “No, I don’t think I do.” “That’s okay,” said Piglet, and he came and sat beside his friend. “What are you doing?” asked Pooh. “Nothing really,” said Piglet. “Only, I know what difficult days are like. I quite often don’t feel like talking about my difficult days either. But goodness,” continued Piglet,” Difficult days are so much easier when you know you’ve got someone there for you. And I’ll always be her for you, Pooh.” And as Pooh sat there, working through in his head his difficult day, while the solid, reliable Piglet sat next to him quietly, swinging his legs…he thought his best friend had never been more right.
In today’s readings, we encounter two difficult days in the lives of Biblical characters. One suffered a horrendous crime at the hands of his brothers. The other found himself walking on choppy water. Today we’re going to look at some bad news and some good news from each of these scriptures. We’ll look first at the bad news, then the good news that Joseph experienced. Then we will look at the bad news and good news contained in the Gospel lesson. And as we do, I want you to keep in mind those words Piglet said, and instead of a cartoon, image that it is Jesus who says those words to us.
First, we encounter some bad news in the life of Joseph. This poor child, and make no mistake, he was a child of about 17, was sold into slavery by his brothers. This was actually the good news because at first they had plotted to kill him out of their jealousy and bitterness. They were mad about his fancy coat, his favor with their father, his connection to God, and while they could have celebrated their brother’s good fortune, they chose instead to be overcome with hatred and murderous anger and destroy him.
My friends, sometimes people in this life will seek to tear you apart because they see your success, your peace, or simply because they cannot stand the depth of wisdom and faith you may have. And sometimes those people will be the very ones closest to you. I read today in the news that Prince William and Harry in England have become so angry with one another they would need professional help to reconcile. It’s gossipy and horrible to dwell on such things, but it happens all the time in almost any relationship. People can sometimes be intentionally destructive, and usually, when they are, it comes from a place of pain or trauma in their own life.
But there is good news. No amount of anger, rivalry, or bad intentions from other people will overcome God’s goodness. Joseph endured suffering. I cannot imagine the level of his betrayal, pain, and misery as he was forced into servitude in a foreign land, imprisoned, and completely isolated. Yet God had plans for success and good. God had plans for deliverance and restoration. And in every dark day, God was right with Joseph—in the pit, in the slavery, in the prison, and especially in his restoration to power and prominence.
God is with us the same way, and God calls us to be the Piglets who come and sit with the Poohs in this world. And I mean the Winnie the Poohs, not the other kind of “Poohs” in this world. The other day, I messaged a friend and noted they had been quiet, and that I was worried. He responded, “Yeah, I need a break from people to deal with some things in life.” When people say this, we have a choice. We can chastise for them being silent, needing to just get over it, remind them we have feelings too, or we can sit down and ask, “How can I best support you.”
God was with Joseph when life and other people left him broken and suffering. God was with Joseph when all of life here on earth seemed to be crushing him, when he was alone, and when he felt most miserable. And God calls us to be near to the broken, the brokenhearted, and the vulnerable as well. The bad news is life and humanity might seek to break you, but you are never alone or abandoned when God is with you.
The Gospel also gives us bad then good news. The bad news is that life will be stormy and at times, doubt-filled. In our lesson, the disciples are out on the water being tossed by the storm and wind. In the midst of this, Jesus comes toward them walking on the water. Now, let’s correct a notion here. Jesus is not walking on some calm, glassy pool. This is a heavy storm about to sink the disciples’ boat. That is why it is so miraculous to see Jesus walking towards them. Even the boat and multiple grown men can’t handle the storm, but here is Jesus, effortlessly coming towards them. It’s a bit of a representation of life, isn’t it? We feel like the storm is about to knock us down, but Jesus walks on the water towards us.
I’m reminded of when I took the State Bar to be an attorney. It’s a two-day, grueling mess of an exam. And then in a grand sense of cruelty you take it in July and wait till October to find out if you passed. So, if you fail, you usually fail and get fired in the same couple of hours. I remember that October day waiting to find out. I decided to calm my nerves with a pumpkin spice latte and pumpkin muffin because…well...pumpkin, and it’s the best. I remember being so nervous, and the barista at the coffee shop shrugged and said, “Hey, if Jesus walked on water, you’ll be fine on this.” In my irritation, I thought, I’m not even on a boat, what does that mean? But there’s truth there. It’s good news! We are strengthened and sustained in our storm by the One who walked on water in the midst of that particular storm in Matthew, and indeed, every storm.
Peter sees this and asks to join Jesus. Filled with faith, he jumps out of the boat filled with faith and excitement. The good news is that, with Jesus, even the disciples could climb out of the boat and walk on water. We, too, can walk on choppy water and stormy seas when we keep our eyes on the Christ, the savior and saving grace in life. Like Peter, we sink when we fall into the trap of small faith, or as Jesus says, “Oh you of little faith!”
If the bad news is the stormy seas of life, then the good news is that we follow the same Jesus who calmed the wind and wave. We follow the same Jesus who healed the lepers, sick, and suffering. We follow the same Jesus who brought the dead to life. We follow the same Jesus who didn’t pull the thief off the cross, but who promised him a place in paradise. The man still died next to Jesus. But instead of death and criminal, the last words of his life were hope everlasting. Don’t let faith be too little to trust the One who walked on water, and who is with us in every storm of life.
In all of life, there is good news and bad news. A friend of mine told a story of an 18 year old daughter who went home with great fear and dread. She told her parents that she had good news and bad news. The bad news, she said, was that she was pregnant. The father was a twice divorced biker who was 28 with another kids. He was waiting for his court date on a felony, and she was planning on marrying him before he went to prison. Her parents were sitting there with shock and terror, gasping for any breath left in their lungs. The good news, she said, was that none of that was true, but she got detention for talking during class and needed them to sign off on the note home.
Don’t let the bad news win out in life. We are going to experience tough days where, like Winnie the Pooh, we sit down in silence because it was a difficult day. But right there with us are the Piglets who sit beside us and say, “It’s okay. I understand.” But also, right there with us in the difficult days is the same Jesus who walked on water. And that’s your good news.
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