A troubling storm has engulfed the disciples. On a rickety fisherman’s boat in the early morning hours, a violent storm with terrible winds has surrounded them. The NRSV says their boat was battered, King James says it was tossed, the NIV says it was buffeted; whatever term you prefer, the boat is getting beaten up.

Actually, the original Greek goes further. The word used in the Matthean text is actually basinizo, meaning to torture. It conveys a sense of human suffering because it is used in some ancient Greek texts to express the application of torture to someone. So it is the middle of the night, the disciples are surrounded by a darkness we modern day light polluted people can’t understand, they are likely on a small boat, and a violent storm has surrounded and engulfed them. We can only imagine the fear pulsing through these disciple’s veins as the storm engulfs their lives.

We might not be able to fully grasp the fear of this storm in 1st Century Palestine, but there are plenty of storms that engulf our lives today. Personal storms engulf us – the ending of a marriage or relationship, depression or suicidal thoughts, the trouble of a child. Societal storms surround us – police taking the lives of unarmed people of color on a seemingly weekly basis, the prison-industrial complex, economic inequality and exploitation, unfair education discrepancies. There are many storms both personal and societal that can engulf and surround our lived realities.

And these storms can be chains. Chains that create an overwhelming fear in us and in our communities. Chains that have the power to incapacitate us and our communities. Chains that carry a debilitating distress to our personal and communal bodies.

It is in the midst of this violent and fear inducing middle-of-the-night storm that the image of Jesus, walking on top of the water, over the violent waves, appears to the disciples.

Think about that for a moment…this vision is so incomprehensible that the disciples think this image of Jesus is a ghost.

Peter sees this image of Jesus in the midst of the storm and reaches out to him. Since intonation is unable to be conveyed by the written word, we can’t know how Peter says what he says, I just know that according to Matthew (and only Matthew!!!) Peter says, “Lord if it is you, command me to come unto the water.”

I don’t know if this is a sarcastic Peter, an angry Peter, a doubtful Peter or a fearful Peter, but whatever it is, it is an undoubtedly bold Peter.

This is Peter asking to do something only reserved for the divine. In antiquity, walking on water was a sign of being divine and it was a practice solely reserved for God. So in the midst of this storm, in the midst of his fear, we find Peter asking or challenging Jesus to do something that no human should ever be able to do. It defies science, it defies reason, it defies even sanity – he asks the incomprehensible. It’s bold!

And this boldness is met with generosity. The hands of Jesus open and he welcomes Peter’s boldness, welcomes Peter’s initiative, welcomes Peter’s challenge and simply says, “Come.”

How is this not a lesson to us struggling with our storms? It appears that Jesus wants his followers, wants us, to be bold.

It makes sense because Jesus was a bold man. Jesus didn’t provide a wheelchair for the paralytic man brought to him, he said “Rise and Walk.” He didn’t tell the Rich Man to show his faith by attending church more often, he said sell all of your possessions. He didn’t cower to the people plotting his lynching, he called them out over and over and over again. Amidst all of the storms that surrounded and engulfed him, Jesus was bold and he wants his followers to be bold too.

But boldness takes on all kinds of forms!

Sometimes we are called to turn tables but many times we are called to show our boldness in other ways. On October 2, 2006 a man walked into an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania and shot ten young girls between the ages of 6 and 13 before turning the gun on himself. But, amidst all this tragedy, it was the incomprehensible boldness of the community’s response to this shooting that sent shockwaves throughout the world.

Families of the killed girls responded in love, rather than hate. One father was quoted as saying, “He (the shooter) had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he’s standing before a just God.” This led this Amish community to extend forgiveness to the family of the shooter, which included one man holding the shooters father in his arms while the man wept for almost an hour. It led members of the Amish community to attend the shooters funeral. Finally, it led this Amish community to setting up a charitable fund for the family of the shooter.

This Amish community was bold.

You see boldness isn’t arrogance, boldness isn’t bravado, boldness is what Dr. King called “creative maladjustment.” It’s having the courage to say and do the unbelievable, the counter-cultural, because we are strengthened in the fact that we are following in the path of, and trying to live like, Jesus.

 It’s saying, I believe we can end Poverty.
 It’s saying, I believe we can undo the school-to-prison pipeline.
 It’s saying, I believe we can take all this hatred in the world and transform it with love.

We have to be honest with ourselves, though. Living this way, confronting our storms with boldness, is difficult and often doubt can creep in along the way. It happened to Peter after he stepped out of the boat. As Peter is miraculously and boldly walking on the water towards Jesus, he begins to notice the storm again. He notices the boisterous winds and he loses sight of Jesus. Fear overtakes him, doubt enters his soul, and he begins to sink, drowning in the midst of this storm.

Being a Jesus follower requires a faith that Jesus is there for us. And here, Jesus reaches out his hand to Peter and lifts him up, all Peter had to do was take it.

Sometimes storms will envelop us, sometimes storms will overwhelm us and start to drown us, but have the confidence to know that Jesus is there with an out-stretched arm – just take his hand.

By taking Jesus’ hand, we are joining up with someone who’s been in this situation before – this is one of the ugly beauties of the cross. A violent storm surrounded Jesus. The creative maladjustment of Jesus’ loving ministry was more than some people could take and the chains of the powerful elite chased him, bound him, and crucified him.

During this process, Jesus wasn’t stoic. He was scared, he was fearful, he was getting engulfed in the storm around him – a stoic acceptance of his fate wouldn’t lead him to sweating blood in the garden and asking God to take this cup away from him. But the fact that Jesus was staying in prayer shows us that Jesus kept the lines of communication open with God and, in fact, took God’s hands that were reaching out to him from the Psalms by declaring on the cross, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.”

In my mind, I see God like a proud mother taking Jesus into her arms, saying you loved well my son, you embodied my teachings with beauty and care. And then mother God giving life to Jesus once more – overwhelming the storm of the cross, honoring the boldness of Jesus and breaking the chains of the powerful.

But this time Jesus was sent to walk hand in hand with us. We can stand in solidarity with Jesus because he has been in troubled times himself. We can give ourselves over to him because he’s been there.

Peter took Jesus’ hand and Jesus rescued Peter.

There are many storms that surround us right now. There are many chains binding our communities. Peter shows us if we take a bold step, Jesus will welcome us with open arms and lead us to still waters.