“Roger Bannister was a track star at Oxford University and he was so good his coach thought that he would be able to break the 4:00 mile, but Roger didn’t think so. He didn’t think he had that ability, but his coach kept talking him up and reassuring him and encouraging him and after a while Roger began to believe that ‘yeah, well maybe I can. Maybe I can break the 4:00 mile.’ Well the day of the great race came and the first thing Roger did after he got up was look out the window to see what kind of weather they had. It was cold and it was rainy, a terrible day for a run and so Roger called his parents who were going to come down and watch him run and tried to wave them off. He said, ‘It’s going to be a terrible day and I don’t think I’m going to be able to run very well. His parents came anyway, but we have the runners all lined up ready to go and then the starter’s pistol cracked and off they went and 3:59 later Roger Bannister crossed the finish line and he became the first man in history to break the 4:00 mile. Well John Landy was a runner in Australia and he was the second person in history to break that 4:00 mile and so the two were really set up to run against each other and so a few months later in Canada the race was set and after the starter’s pistol blasted they went off and the whole race John Landy was ahead and then the final straight away he turned around to see where Roger Bannister was, how far he was behind him. That was his mistake. That gave Roger the opportunity to shoot past John and win the race.
Well, I think there’s a couple of lessons here in these little stories and our Gospel today. First of all, Peter is asked to do the impossible by Jesus, to walk on the water. Now Peter doesn’t think he can do it, but since Jesus calls him he’s convinced that Jesus will make sure that he can walk on the water and Peter does just like the coach of Roger Bannister convinced him that he could break the 4:00 mile and he did. Now the second thing is that Peter, when he was the story swirling around his feet he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the storm and he began to be fearful and he began to sink. Same way with John Landy. He took his eyes off the prize, off the finish line and that gave Roger the opportunity he needed to win the race and I think that these stories have a lot to do with each one of us in our lives as Christians. You know, Jesus asks us to do what is almost the impossible to live as his disciples in this 21st century. It’s a century marked with great stress, with violence, with great hatreds. It’s a century where secularacy dominates where greed has primacy in people’s lives and where fame becomes a real motivator in peoples living. It’s almost an impossible thing to live as a disciple of Jesus in these days in our lives, but Jesus calls us to be his disciple and that means that he will be with us and help us through and we can live as his disciple no matter what the obstacles are no matter what the challenges may be in our lives Jesus is with us if we wish to be his disciple and we can do it. Now, like Peter we can take our eyes off of Jesus and begin to see the storm that is encircling us and our world and be more impressed with that than anything and we can grow fearful. We can grow frightened and we will begin to sink just like Peter began to sink. Remember Jesus’ words somewhere in the scripture. He says, ‘Fear is useless. Fear is useless. What is needed is trust.’ That’s what Jesus wants of you and me to trust in Him no matter what we have to face in life no matter what difficulties are ahead of us to trust that Jesus is with us with his power, with his love and concern and that he will get us through and you know, trust is not an emotion. It’s not a feeling that we have. It’s a decision that we make. We decide to believe in Jesus and to keep our eyes fixed on him. So, Peter begins to sink, however there’s one thing that saves him. He calls out to Jesus, ‘Lord save me!’ And Jesus extends his hand to Peter and pulls him out of the stormy sea of life. The same can be true to you and me. When we are sinking in this world, sinking to it’s stresses, sinking to its challenges, reach out to Jesus and cry out, ‘Lord save me!’ And he will be there with you. He will extend his hand to you and pull you out of the swirling raging waters around you and so I think our overall lesson in the Gospel today- keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and you will be safe.
I have a little prayer I’d like to share with you. I entitled this prayer, ‘With Eyes Fixed On Jesus.’
Help us keep our eyes on you
fixed unflinchingly
Jesus Lord you are the Lord
Strength for our fragility
Source of our stability
When life’s conflicts overwhelm
When we feel the pain
Help us then to understand
With us you remain
In sunshine or in rain
In time of doubt and weakness Lord
When tempted to pursue
What is evil, sinful, wrong
Show us what to do
Keep our eyes fixed on you
When I divert my gaze from you
And seek some lesser goal
Risking all for worthless things
Writing for a fall
Give me wisdom, self-control
Give me courage to speak out
When injustice threatens to
Hurt and harm your purpose Lord
Show me what to do
Keep my eyes fixed on you”