Walking on Chaos Water

Jody Winston
August 7, 2005

Sermon
Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
On Saturday, a realtor called me and told me that my house needed to be ready
to be shown in one hour. The first thought that ran through my mind was, “What
needs to be done to make the house presentable in such a short time?” When the
realtor arrived in thirty minutes instead of the promised hour, I quickly explained
to her that I was expecting them at noon and not at 11:30. I also told them to
ignore the stack of stuff on the floor since I was preparing to leave for a picnic.
I think that this concern about making the house ready before guests arrive
is universal. Who has not been anxious about the unforeseen knock on the door
or the surprise phone call, which announces that unplanned guests have arrived?
We think to ourselves, “Have the dishes been put up and the dirty clothes picked
up?” Who does not make excuses about how clean the house is when these sort
of visitors arrive? We tell them, “I would have had the house ready, if I had only
known that you were coming over.”
This need to clean up, this desire to make some semblance of order from a
mess, can be found in other parts of our lives also. Just watch TV, if you do
not believe me. We have over twenty-eight shows on home remodeling ranging
from the classic PBS show “This Old House” to the Learning Channel’s “Trading
Spaces.” We even have two new shows this season on how to make a profit by
purchasing a house, quickly fixing it up, and then selling the house: A&E’s “Flip
This House” and the Discovery Channel’s “Flip That House.” If you are not in-
terested in fixing up houses, other programs show how us how to make something
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3.

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new out of what is lying around. MTV has a program on making custom cars
from common, everyday vehicles. For you motorcycle fans, the Discovery Chan-
nel’s program “American Choppers” will show you how to change an ordinary
bike into a chopper. My favorite TV show is “Junk Yard Wars,” a program where
contestants make something out of junk.
The ancient Israelites noticed this need to create order out of chaos. They
too saw how people put things together in new and different ways. But unlike us
who just make TV programs when we see a common theme, the ancient Israelites
assigned this want for order as one of the God’s images that all humans possess.
They did this because this is what God does in the first creation story found in
Genesis.
It is practically impossible for us to see why the Israelites would think that
God creates order out of chaos when we read today’s English Bible. In our current
translations, we do not know what kind of water that God’s Spirit moved over nor
do we know what kind of water found above and below the earth. In Hebrew, we
are told that this water is dangerous water and in the translation that the author of
Matthew would be most familiar with we are told in the Greek that this is chaos
water.
Throughout the Old Testament, it is God who keeps this dangerous water at
bay.2 This is why the ancients were so terrified about the great flood described in
Genesis. God let out the chaos water from the sky and let this dangerous water
come up from the ground. Even though we no longer believe that the blue of the
sky is water, we know from first hand experience what danger is to be found in
water when too much of it comes down from the sky and causes a flood.
When today’s story was first told in its native language, no one in the audience
would have been concerned about Jesus forcing the disciples to take the boat to
the other side of the lake since a teacher had a right to tell his students what they
needed to do. Nor would the listeners have been troubled at all when they heard
that Jesus was walking on the sea since the God that takes something useful out
of chaos has no problems in controlling the chaos as He sees fit.3
The audience would have sat up and paid close attention to this story when
Peter asked for permission to walk on chaos water because this indicates that we
are in a life-changing situation. When this type of water gets loose, it can destroy
the world or something new might be created. Unexpectedly, Jesus granted Peter
the ability to walk on this dangerous water and while Peter’s vision was focused
2
Genesis 1:1-10; 7:11; Psalms 18:15-18; 69:1-13, 107:23-32; 144:5-8.
3
Job 9:8; 38:16; Psalms 77:19; Isaiah 43:16; 51:9-10; Habakkuk 3:5; Sirach 24:5-6.

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on the Christ, Peter was able to tread on chaos.
When we are surrounded by chaos, our first instinct is to “fight or flight.” If
we try to attack the chaos, we will get nowhere. The disciples tried to overcome
the waves with their own power from evening until morning. No matter how hard
they tried, they could not fight the tempest on their own. When we try to flee
from a confusing situation, it is difficult for us to find a safe harbor. Look at how
much energy the disciples expended trying to leave the storm. The wind never
gave them a chance.
Another instinctive behavior is being “paralyzed by fear.” We hope that by
standing still, life’s storms will soon blow past. It is as if we think, “Just a little
while longer and we will be into the eye of the hurricane.” We forget that the
hurricane’s winds will soon be back and they once again will be attacking us from
the opposite direction. Chaos will kill us while we wait for the storm to subside.
Jesus gives us a better alternative than relying on our instincts. Call upon Him.
No matter what kind of storm we are facing, no matter how high the waves are,
and no matter the time of day, He has promised to be here with us. He will come
to us if we stop keeping Him on the horizon. Even if we call out to Jesus in fear,
the Holy Spirit will take these prayers to God. As with the disciples in the boat,
Jesus will offer us a word of encouragement. We do not have to fear since He is
in control of the situation.
When we take our eyes off Jesus and begin to sink beneath the waves, God
does not let us drown because of our doubt. Instead, He quickly comes to us with
His hand outstretched. He grabs hold of us. Only when we are safely in His arms
does He ask us why we let our thoughts of the winds, the waves, and the water
rule our hearts. Hand in hand, we walk on chaos back to the boat. When in the
boat and out of harm’s way He calms the storms that surround us on all sides.
Jesus does not even ask us to worship Him. Our praise and thanksgiving is
given to God, not because we have to but instead we fall down at the Lord’s feet
in response to God’s actions in our lives.
At the beginning of time, God controlled chaos and moved a portion of the
water above us and some of it below us. In this act of creation, God gave us the
archetype for bringing order out of disorder. Every one of us has also been given
this ability by God since we are created in God’s image. Because of God’s gift to
us, we all have the capability to rearrange what we find around us into something
new. Our creation will not be faultless since we are not perfect and our handiwork
will not last forever because we are not God.
In today’s Gospel, we have heard how the Son of God handles chaos. He walks
on it. How do we handle the confusion that is all around us? How do we deal with

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all big problems that face every one of us at some time in our lives? Do we try to
fight them all by ourselves? Do we try to run away from them? Do we freeze up
and do nothing at all? Or do we follow the model set by Peter who called out to
Jesus and dared to walk in the middle of the storm on the water?
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”

References