When I first took a look at the texts for this (now past) Sunday's worship, the story of Jesus walking on water and Peter sinking below only to be saved by Jesus' quick grasp, I was carried back to a memory from the other side of the world. In March 2008, I journeyed with my home congregation, St. Paul's Lutheran in Washington, D.C., to Zambia where we lived and served at an AIDS orphanage. One of the things we did was to run a vacation Bible school for the kids, and my job was to teach Bible stories along with a snack. It just so happened that I was teaching this same story about Jesus saving Peter on the water.
Our American-made curriculum called for snacks themed to the story, and so we made little cups of blue jello with two "Sour Patch Kids" candies (which looked like people, kind of) stuck in the jello. Of course, one of the candies we placed into the jello before it hardened (Peter) and one rested comfortably on the surface (Jesus). By the time we were serving this to Zambian children, we realized this was probably the first time they had eaten either jello or Sour Patch Kids. But, we got to share a little bit of American Lutheranism - jello salad - to the other side of the world. I don't know if those children will ever remember that. I hope they do. But let us remember, even if through something as silly as jello and candy, that Jesus is the One who strides above waves, and we the ones who reach out for his saving hand.
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