Green Light Faith

Matthew 14:22-33, Genesis 1:26-27, 2 Peter 1:4

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Is the Christian faith primarily a red light faith or a green light faith? Here’s what I mean. Is the Christian faith primarily about telling you what not to do, or inviting you into doing and living and experiencing something more? The more I dig into God’s Word, the more I see it is completely a green light faith. I mean, don’t get me wrong. There are things that Scripture tells us not to do. There are definitely things that the world very much endorses today that scripture would say, no, don’t do that. But the reason why it gives us a red light to some things is really to give us a green light to so much more.

Recently, I was studying the account of when Jesus’ disciples are out on a boat at night and Jesus walks out to them on the water, and we’re told that there’s the wind and the waves, and they’re walking out there. (Matthew 14:22-33) And Jesus disciples, when they see him, they freak out. They say it’s a ghost. And Jesus says, it is. I’d take courage, you know, do not be afraid. And then Peter, Peter says, one of the craziest things I have ever heard in my life. I just do not know what prompted him to say this, but he says, if it’s you, Lord, tell me to come out on the water. Like what? How do you go from everybody in the boat thinking it’s a ghost to the next thing, okay, tell me to come out on the water. If I was the other disciples, I’d be like, what? Are you crazy, Peter? But that wasn’t Jesus’s response. Jesus says come.

And so then Peter gets out and he actually walks on water. There comes a point where he does doubt and he does sink. But then Jesus is right there. And while we do see that, he did start to doubt and sink. We need to not skip over the fact that he actually walked on water like Jesus. In the original language, the word is it’s a compound word, which means it kind of amplifies things. It says he walked around on the water. He went on a water walk. Like Jesus. I’ve known for a long time that Peter walked on the water, but it wasn’t until recently that it dawned on me that it was Peter’s idea. It wasn’t like Jesus was like, hey, Peter, here’s a challenge. I want to see you walk in the water. Peter came up with it. It just seems wild and just audacious and just so bold.

And yet when I think about the story of Scripture, I realize maybe it’s not so crazy after all. If you go back to Genesis, we are told that God created humanity to be in his image and his likeness. (Genesis 1:26-27) Not that we physically look like God, but that we were able to live in a way that looked like God, live in a way that showcased his goodness and his greatness, his love, his character. So we’re here to do things and live in a way that looks like God. And so then when I think about Peter looking out at Jesus and saying, okay, you can do that, I want to do it too. Well, maybe it’s not so crazy after all. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that all of us should try to walk on water like Jesus, but there is something to the fact that God created us to live in a way and do things that look like Jesus. To live in a way that looks like God.

Now, unfortunately, sin broke all that, and we don’t naturally live in a way that looks like God. And I wonder today if that reality has sometimes prompted us to not look at Jesus as boldly as Peter did. Do we say, Jesus, I want to live like you and I want to look like you? Or do we just stay in the boat? Sometimes realizing that we are sinful people and that we are going to sin again, we can actually kind of use it as a cop out. We can say, well, I’m going to sin again anyways, so we don’t even try to look more like Jesus. We just expect, well, I’m going to fail anyway. But I had this professor in seminary who had this great line. He said, don’t deny the miracle. The Spirit of God lives inside of you. Jesus did die for you. You are a new creation. You’ve been washed clean in the waters of baptism. If you are someone who’s been confirmed and you take the Lord’s Supper, you are connected to Christ himself. And so it makes sense to say, Jesus where you are. I want to be there too. I want to live like you. Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come. And what we see with Peter is Jesus loves to say come.

Then when we step out of the boat, are we going to start going down into the water like Peter? Yes, we will, but every single time we do Jesus is there to pull us back up out of the water. He died for you. He rose again. You’re forgiven. You are right with God. And invited by God now to look at Jesus and say, Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come. It talks in chapter one of second Peter, about how we get to be participants in the divine nature. (2 Peter 1:4) What? In 1 Corinthians 15 talks about how when we work hard, it’s actually God who’s working in and through us. We get to be part of what God is doing. We are being renewed in the image and likeness of God. God is working in us. So let’s step out of the boat. Let’s look and see. Jesus, I want to live like you. I want to love others like you. I want to live by faith like you. I know I’m not going to do it perfect, but every time I sink, you will pull me up. So, Lord, if it’s to you. And if you want me to come, say come. Let’s be willing to step where our Savior is today. Let’s see what happens.