Friday, May 16, 2008

Nooma 008 - Dust (Jesus Walks on the Water - Peter Sinks)

About 2 weeks ago, a pastor at the church my wife and I go to gave me a DVD of a guy named Rob Bell. He does a series called Nooma and this particular DVD was titled “Dust”. Since I am in a phase where I want to learn as much as possible about religion, I thanked him and took it home. I let it sit untouched on the counter for about 10 days. Not wanting to hold onto it too long, I watched it the night before I knew I would see him again. I was impressed. Rob Bell does a really good job of speaking in terms anyone can understand and I appreciate that since the Bible is relatively new for me.

Part of his sermon, if you call it that, spoke of the story of Jesus walking on water (Matthew 14:22-32). We have all heard the story but after telling the story he said something that got me thinking. When Jesus approached the boat, he called to Peter to come to him. Upon hearing this, Peter stepped, without hesitation, out of the boat, onto the water. He made it a few steps but then began to sink because of fear. When he cried out for help, Jesus pulled him from the water and said “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Rob explained that Peter did not lose faith in Jesus, after all it was not Jesus that was sinking, he actually lost faith in himself.

I thought about that for a while and then asked myself; did I lose faith in Jesus/God, in religion, or in myself? That is not an easy question to answer.

Upon further reflection, I think the answer is “all of the above”.

1 comment:

  1. I think that Ron Bell is right. Peter lost faith in himself, not in Jesus. And I think that this is exactly what Jesus wanted to have happen.

    Peter was always very headstrong and impetuous. He was the leader of the pack you might say.

    I don't believe it was Jesus' idea for Peter to walk on the water, but rather Peter's. I think that Jesus saw a perfect opportunity to teach Peter a lesson in humility.

    Sometimes we think that we can do anything and whatever we touch turns to gold, but in reality God wants us to live in dependence on Him and not in our own strength.

    When Peter began to sink I'm sure that he would have been happier to have stayed in the boat with the others. But he saw the opportunity to be a star and took it.

    Jesus ever merciful rescued Peter and restored him. I'm sure that Peter struggled with his self will all his life, but all he had to do was look back on this episode to gain a proper perspective of his abilities.

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