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Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost – August 9, 2026
Matthew 14:22-33
Dear friends, grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
As some of you know, I served as an intern pastor in several congregations in North Dakota. In those old prairie churches, it is common to have altar paintings – depictions of biblical scenes positioned right above the altar. The most common ones are of Jesus the Good Shepherd or the Resurrected Christ. Sometimes you see Jesus on the cross, with the two criminals on either side.
But one of the congregations I served in that parish has a painting of the scene we hear about today. It shows Peter sinking down into the waters of the Sea of Galilee, with Jesus standing on the water, holding tight to Peter’s hand, saving him.
When I first saw it, I thought it was so strange. Here I was in the geographical center of North America, as far away from any ocean or sea as you can possibly get on this continent, and the scene these Norwegian farmers chose for their church was of Peter in those churning waters, nearly drowning, hanging on to Jesus for dear life.
As I thought about it more, I wondered if it wasn’t chosen because many of those Norwegian immigrants had made a harrowing journey across the sea to get there. That might be part of it, but eventually I came to understand that this image isn’t primarily about the sea. Peter wasn’t just drowning in water. He was drowning in fear. He was drowning in doubt.
Just a moment before, Peter had been walking in faith. His faith had him walking on water. Jesus said, “Come,” and Peter trusted Jesus’ word, and so out he went, walking in faith, walking on the water. Then, the scriptures tell us, he noticed the strong wind and became frightened. It was when he became frightened that he began to sink. “Lord, save me!” Peter cried. And immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” Jesus said, “why did you doubt?”
Do you see it now? Peter wasn’t just drowning in water. He was drowning in fear and doubt. And so, this isn’t just a story about the sea. It is a story about what the sea represents, which, in the biblical worldview, is chaos. It is a story about any number of things that threaten to pull us under.
Those Norwegian farmers were far from any ocean, but they had plenty of things that threated to pull them under. People died all the time from disease and from farm accidents and from exposure to the elements, and so they were frequently drowning in grief and sorrow. Their survival as farmers depended on the weather, which was extreme and unpredictable. There were pests which could wipe out a year’s worth of hard labor in mere hours, and so they were frequently drowning in financial worries. There were all kinds of waves crashing over them – they just weren’t waves of water! They were waves of fear and doubt. And so, even though they were as far from the sea as you can get, those Norwegian farmers on the prairie saw themselves in Peter as Peter struggled to keep his head above water.
But that wasn’t all they saw. The altar painting also showed Jesus’ arm reaching down to Peter. And so they saw Jesus holding on to Peter tightly, saving him from drowning. They saw a savior who was more powerful than the wind and the waves. The image of Peter reflected back to them the reality of their lives, while the image of Jesus assured them that they had a savior who was holding on to them too.
Peter shows us the reality of our lives here today as well. As a pastor, hardly a day goes by when I don’t encounter someone struggling to walk in faith, sinking down into fear and doubt, struggling to keep their head above water. Here’s a confession for you: sometimes I am one of them! There are powerful winds and waves that cause us to be afraid. Health issues bring fears which drag us down. Grief can feel like waves of sorrow that keep crashing over us. Financial troubles can weigh heavily. The traumas we have experienced in life can resurface and feel overwhelming. We worry about loved ones. We worry about our world. Life is chaotic and threatening and scary. We feel helpless in the face of so many forces beyond our control. Before we know it, instead of walking in faith, we start to sink just like Peter did.
But just as this story shows us the reality of our lives, so too does it show us the truth of our savior. When Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus IMMEDIATELY reached out his hand and took hold of him. Jesus didn’t make him prove himself first. He didn’t make Peter get up and take a few more steps on the water before helping him. Jesus IMMEDIATELY reached out and caught him. He wasn’t going to let him go under. He wasn’t going to let him drown.
In the same way, when we cry out to Jesus, he is already right there beside us, ready to help. When we cry out to him, he IMMEDIATELY takes hold of us, pulling us to himself with his firm grip. He doesn’t leave us to fend for ourselves. He doesn’t leave us to flail about in the water. He gets a hold of us and he doesn’t let go.
What happens in the boat after all of this is not just a nice conclusion to the story. The scriptures tell us that when Peter and Jesus got into the boat, Peter and the other disciples – disciples who had fears of their own – worshipped Jesus together, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” This part is our story too.
The boat is the church, and we are those disciples. We are not disciples because we walk perfectly and fearlessly in faith all the time. We are not disciples because we have great wisdom or because of our great morals. We are not followers of Jesus because we have everything figured out.
We are Jesus’ disciples because we too have been overwhelmed by fear as chaos rages all around us, but he has reached out and taken hold of us.
We are Jesus’ disciples because we too have been battered by the wind and the waves, but we have come to trust that Jesus is truly the Son of God, and as such, he is more powerful than anything that threatens to sink us.
We are Jesus’ disciples because we know what it feels like to drown, but the Lord Jesus has heard our cry. And even though our faith is small and weak and fleeting and floundering, he is quick to lift us up by his grace and mercy and love.
Being a disciple of Jesus doesn’t mean walking on water ourselves, it means knowing that he can and entrusting ourselves to his strong saving hand.
No matter what wind or waves you are facing today, the Lord Jesus is already right there beside you. He hears your cry and is holding tightly to you, so do not be afraid. Even now he is lifting us up into the boat of his church, where together, safely in his presence, we worship him.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Jeffrey R. Spencer
Oak Harbor Lutheran Church