The scene put before us in today’s Holy Gospel is one of the most indelible images from the life of our Lord and his disciples and it is an icon for us of the spiritual life and our relationship with God.

Our Lord had sent the disciples ahead of Him in a boat while He took time to be alone with God, His Father. While the disciples were in the midst of the sea, a storm began to rage and they were tossed about and began to fear for their lives. In the midst of this, imagine the fear and awe that grips the disciples as they see our Lord walking toward them upon the waters – and the relief and joy they experience as He tells them the reassuring words: ‘Be of good cheer! It is I, do not be afraid’. And then we have the incredible image of Apostle Peter stepping out of the boat onto the waters to walk toward our Lord – initially stepping forth in enthusiasm and great faith, and then beginning to fear and waver as the waters toss all around him. He begins to sink and calls out to the Lord to save him and immediately our Lord is there to stretch forth His hand and lead him back into the boat. Today’s Gospel reading concludes with the disciples all safely in the boat with our Lord - the seas have been calmed and they prostrate themselves before Him proclaiming ‘Truly, Thou art the Son of God!’

There is so much to learn from this Gospel passage: we have the image of the disciples together in the boat upon the stormy seas, which many holy fathers take to be an image of the Church, our safe haven and ark in this world – keeping us afloat among the storms of sin and worldliness. We are also amazed to see the miraculous power and authority of our Lord Jesus Christ and His great care and compassion for his disciples as He walks upon the waters and calms the stormy seas. But let’s focus for a moment this morning on the Apostle Peter and his stepping out upon the waters to go to his beloved Lord. 

When our Lord summoned Apostle Peter to come to Him, Apostle Peter, in his zeal and love for Christ, immediately stepped out of the boat and began walking upon the water toward His Lord and God. Apostle Peter demonstrates in this moment a self-forgetting, Christ-focused faith in God. As long as he kept his eyes on Christ he walked upon the water as if it were dry land. But what happened?... We read that, “when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out ‘Lord save me!’ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O ye of little faith, why did you doubt?’” The moment Apostle Peter took his eyes off of Christ and began to concern himself with himself, with his fears and doubts, this is when he began to sink. Thanks be to God, our Lord was close at hand and when Peter cried out, ‘Lord save me!’ Jesus stretched out His hand and brought him safely back into the boat. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ… this Gospel image of the Apostle Peter and Christ upon the waters must be a consistent reminder and lesson for each one of us. It is a vivid portrait of the uplifting and sustaining power of God-focused faith and the perilous dangers of our self-centered, anxious preoccupations that eclipse our focus on God. 

This distinction of the target of our focus, between having our heart, our mind, and our affections turned toward the love of God and our neighbor vs. having our heart, our mind, and our affections preoccupied with our selfish concerns is absolutely foundational… it is the key to our spiritual life and our spiritual health.

 There is a pious tale told by St Paisios of Mt Athos… Once there was a simple man who kept asking God to reveal to him what Paradise and Hell are like. One night, while he was asleep, he heard a voice telling him, ‘Come, I will show you Hell.’ He then found himself in a room where many people were sitting around a table, in the middle of which was a big pot of food. Yet, all of them were hungry and unsatisfied because they could not eat. Each held a very long spoon, with which they could take food out of the pot, but because of the length of the spoon they could not turn it to reach their mouths. Some complained, others cried out, such was the wailing of that place. Then he heard the same voice telling him, ‘Come, I will now show you Paradise.’ He found himself in another room where people were sitting around a table, just like the previous room… Again, there was the pot of food and the long spoons. All of the people there, however, were well fed and happy because each person would take food from the pot with his spoon and generously feed the person next to him… and thus all were able to feast.

What was it that drew the Apostle Peter out of the boat and allowed him to do the impossible, to walk upon the waters? It was his self-forgetting love for, and faith in, and focus on God that allowed him to participate in the grace of God that kept him afloat upon the waters. This is an astonishing thing!... As Apostle Peter focused on Christ and was animated by love for Him, he was participating in and living within the grace of God. That communion of love is what drew him in to the life of Christ and kept him afloat upon the waters.

When the focus and attention of our heart and mind and soul are on Christ and on Christ in our neighbor, and when we step forward in all that we do in love and faith, we are entering into communion with God and participating in the life of Christ. That life is grace-filled and healing to our soul.

When we take our eyes off of Christ, when we become overwhelmed by the stormy waters of the worries and temptations of this life, we begin to sink.

The Christian life is a struggle between this self-centered pull of sin and the Christ-centered pull of Grace. We all may find ourselves sinking from time to time… but what is our response? Do we madly flail about trying to stay afloat by our own insufficient powers? Do we give up and start to go under? Or do we, like the Apostle Peter, reach out our hands and cry out ‘Lord save me!’?

God grant us the wisdom to lay aside pride, fear, and anxiety which lead us down into the depths of the waters of despair and instead grant us the courage of faith, hope, and love which lead us up into the arms of Christ our Lord.