"Tight lines" is a blessing fishermen offer each other, a wish for lines taut with the weight of good fish. May God grant that the lines written here be taut with His blessings.
Thursday, 07 August 2008 | |||
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Cold Feet | |||
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When a groom (or bride) doesn't show up for the wedding, we
say he (or she) got "cold feet." It's an expression about last
moment fears that keep one from taking some major step in life, etc. We
often read
Matthew 14:22-33, Peter's stroll on the water with Jesus, as a kind
of "cold feet" case. The fact that Peter's feet might have been
literally cold in the stormy waters may have something to do with
it. For some reason, we've often made this text into a story about being willing to take initial risks with the Lord. Hence the title of John Ortberg's book, If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat." As much as I generally like Ortberg's stuff, the fact is that Peter was more than ready for the first big plunge. He even asked in verse 28 to be invited to step out and walk with Jesus. This text is not really about willingness to take initial steps of faith. It's about persevering once those first steps are taken. Peter got his "cold feet" a little ways out. He felt the wind and storm around him and began to lose his faith in Jesus. Yet Jesus was there to reach out a hand and rescue him. This is a story about being able to trust Jesus Christ all the way through to the end, even when the storms rage. If we go back to the marriage analogy, it's about not giving up on a relationship when the first quarrels come after a wedding. To use Jesus' own analogies, it's about not letting one's spiritual growth be choked out by the weeds of this world; it's about not looking back once you've set your hand to the plow. So in this Sunday's text, we see "cold feet" as something that can come to us anywhere along the Christian path. We want to stay faithful and trusting for the whole distance. Fortunately, the text also shows us that Jesus will be there for us, even if we do get cold feet. jjj | |||
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I am the pastor of Valley Covenant Church in Eugene, Oregon. I love to flyfish and hike along the beautiful rivers in our area. I welcome your comments as I share sermon work in progress and occasional other thoughts.
Thank you for visiting this blog. I invite you also to visit my web page.
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Beth Steve, What do you say to those who are in marriages where being faithful and perservering in Christ is impossible, given the behavior of their spouse? I thank God that's not our problem! <g> But it is a real challenge for some. Love, B (08/08/08)
Steve Dear Beth -- I'm glad you made it plain that your'e not talking about us! Ultimately, every analogy for eternal, spiritual realities breaks down. Faithfulness to a marriage in part depends on the mutual faithfulness of two fallible human beings. In a case where one partner has broken the marriage by unfaithfulness (of whatever sort), the other spouse does not become unfaithful by leaving a marriage that no longer really exists. However, we never have such an excuse for ending our relationship with the Lord because He is always perfectly faithful to us. (08/09/08)