Writing about this gospel lesson, Dietrich Bonhoeffer challenges: “Peter had to leave the ship and risk his life on the sea…to learn both his own weakness and the almighty power of his Lord. If Peter had not taken the risk, he would never have learnt the meaning of faith. Before he can believe, the utterly impossible… situation on the waves of the sea must be displayed. The road to faith passes through obedience to the call of Jesus. Unless a definite step is demanded, the call vanishes into thin air, and if [we] imagine that [we] can follow Jesus without taking this step, [we] are deluding [ourselves].”1
Bonhoeffer then proclaims, “only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.” 2 For Bonhoeffer, faith and obedience are unified and intimately interconnected… Without living in Christ and granting him our whole selves, we will never truly obey and we will not grow as Christians. A healthy faith inspires obedience and that obedience, in turn, strengthens our faith. Peter had to take the step off the boat, that leap of faith, to learn obedience and so do we. Faith is hard; obeying is hard. But we should remember that we are, indeed, sinners. If we wait to be perfect before we follow, we will never even put our big toe over the side of the boat. Please never ever say you just don’t have faith or you don’t have enough faith and that’s why you can’t act. Bonhoeffer charges us, “If you believe, take the first step, it leads to Jesus Christ. If you don’t believe, take the first step all the same, for you are bidden to take it. No one wants to know about your faith or unbelief, your orders are to perform the act of obedience on the spot. Then you will find yourself in the situation where faith becomes possible and where faith exists in the true sense of the word.”3
[1] Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, and Irmgard Booth. 1959. The Cost of Discipleship. . Translated by Reginald H. Fuller. Rev. [i.e. 2d] and unabridged ed., containing material not previously translated. New York: Macmillan, p. 63.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid, p. 67.