So, this story from Matthew is familiar. So familiar that it’s almost trite. Walking on water is so well-ingrained in our language that people who think they’re all that think they “walk on water.” Other people (or dogs, like Cotton) ARE all that, and the rest of us say they “walk on water.” This story stands alone, outside of the gospel context. And that’s fine.
But there’s more to the story in the story itself. The beginning is sort of nonchalant: Jesus goes off to pray. Then when he’s finished he decides to catch up to his disciples to see how they managed during that storm last night. And just walks out to the boat. On the water. Like you do.
The disciples commence to wig out, thinking it’s a ghost, but Peter, thinking more clearly than he usually does, sees Jesus for who he is. And reaches out. And leaves the safety of the boat. And walks on water. It doesn’t last for long, but long enough for him to remember it. Long enough for this episode to become an idiom, a saying.
But there’s one piece of the story that goes unmentioned when it comes to good ole Peter. Why this time? Why now? This is more dangerous than we would think. People at that time were not swimmers. Even with sailors all around the Mediterranean, it was rare that they went swimming or were even strong dog-paddlers. Falling into water over your head was almost certain death. It wasn’t as if Peter was thinking, “Well, if this doesn’t work, I’ll just swim back to the boat. If this didn’t work, the result would be catastrophic.
So what was it about this one time that reached into Peter’s soul and called him out to a place way over his head, out of his depth?
In 1989, protest led by students and workers erupted in Beijing, China. The government responded with both discussions and violence, trying to get these trouble-makers, these vandals, to go back to their lives. But too much water had flowed under that particular bridge. The protests began when a pro-reform Communist leader died, and the people used this as an opportunity to gather in Tiananmen Square to protest a number of things that they saw as wrong with, well, with life in general. And China was facing a perfect storm of a government becoming more and more removed from it’s people
These student-led protesters spoke out against a political elite that was taking from the workers and giving everything to themselves and their friends in the new, upcoming business class. They were angry about the continued inflation and corruption, a lack of opportunity for graduates in a new economy. They were upset that medical care for the poor was being cut, that food for children was being cut, that housing subsidies were being cut. They were finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. And they were seeing their political participation being restricted – certain ethnic groups were being stripped of their right to vote, other ethnic groups were being rounded up and put in labor camps. Newly discovered freedom of speech was being rapidly eroded.
So, there they sat in Tiananmen Square, until the government sent in the troops to take swift and violent action, there and at the sites of similar protests. Thousands across the city and country died. This movement was being crushed and the light was going out. And we all know what happened next. We all saw it on out tv’s.
One man, just a guy with two shopping bags stepped out in front of a line of tanks entering the square. They rolled up to him and tried to veer around him, but he moved along with them, always blocking their way. One man against the might of an empire, standing alone, knowing the danger. And the tanks stopped. For a while at least.
One man, just a guy with two shopping bags.
We don’t know who he was. The world knows him as “Tank Guy.” But his name is lost. What happened to him is unknown. I think it’s safe to say that he died, most likely at government hands. But he will be remembered forever.
Just like Peter.
We don’t know why Peter did what he did on that particular day. He didn’t react like this when he saw previous miracles. And later on, he would cower again. But on this particular day, Peter did something extraordinary for such an ordinary man. He saw Jesus and he reached out…and he walked on water. He cast aside his fear of drowning, he forgot about the raging storm, he stopped listening to his friends, shouting, “Don’t do it, Peter! You aren’t Jesus! Don’t blame me if you drown!”
I think that’s where we are today. We watch, just like those 1989 protestors, as humans in our country are treated inhumanely. As the elderly wait every day to see if this is the day the next is taken away. To see if our friends and neighbors become second class citizens because of what they believe, who they worship, who they love. And we watch. And every so often we see someone stand up to injustice, to oppression, to human beings treating other human beings as animals.
Every so often someone stands up. Nowadays it might be some guy wielding a Subway sandwich. Or someone in a giant, inflatable frog suit dancing in front of armed masked men. Or women standing up in a hearing, asking for justice for crimes committed long ago by people in power today.
But something is going to happen in each of our lives. Maybe not on the national level, but maybe it will be. Maybe it won’t be about untrained, over-zealous ICE agents, terrorizing neighborhoods, but maybe it will be if it’s our neighborhood. Maybe it won’t be a letter in the mail telling you that medicine you’ve been taking for years is now going to cost so much you can’t afford it, but maybe it will be. Maybe none of that will happen to you, but maybe it will happen to someone you know and love. And maybe it won’t happen to someone you know and love, but maybe it will happen to someone like you. And maybe it won’t happen to someone like you, but maybe it will happen to someone else, period.
And maybe, like Peter, you will see Jesus standing there. Standing there, asking you to step out into the rough sea with him. Asking you to forget about drowning, if just for a while, and take his hand. Asking you to see him in those scary places when nobody else will stand up.
And maybe, if something in this world causes you to get out of the safety of the boat, maybe if you stand there, on the water, holding Jesus’ hand, maybe this time, the other in the boat? Maybe this time, they will get up with you, seeing what you are doing, seeing the risk you are taking. And maybe this time, they will get out of the boat, too. Take the risk along with you, holding on to Jesus and to each other. And maybe together, we can show the world that we CAN do the impossible. We CAN walk on water.