Troubled Waters

Sunday Readings: 1 Kings 19:9-18, Psalm 85:8-13, Romans 10:5-15, Matthew 14:22-33

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

I must give it to Peter; he’s got some gumption! If I found myself in his position today, I don’t think I would have responded in the way he did by saying, “Lord if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”

No way!

Have any of you heard the song, The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot? It’s a song everyone growing up in Minnesota -and likely Wisconsin and Michigan, too -  knows that shares the story of how a great tanker ship that sailed out onto Lake Superior from Duluth, Minnesota sank off the coast of northern Michigan. With lines like, “The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead when the skies of November get gloomy.” And “The wind and the wires gave telltale sound when the waves broke over the railing.” And finally, “all that remains are the faces and names of the wives and the sons and the daughters.”

They are frightening lines that remind us of that great 720-foot-long freighter ship that was lashed by a great body of water until it sank with all 29 crew members aboard.

The gospel today tells us that the disciples are being “battered by the waves” in a boat trying to cross the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is a large freshwater lake about 13 miles long and 8 miles wide – so it’s smaller than Lake Superior by quite a bit, but it is likely just as unpredictable as any one of our American Great Lakes and is not a body of water to be messed with lightly.

So, this is why Peter’s suggestion that he hop out of the boat upon command to walk across the stormy waters would not be among one of my first ideas.

It shows us that Peter must have had a great faith in Jesus whom he trusted to keep him safe… A great faith that I wish I had access to! With that wish for more faith though, I am also reminded of what Martin Luther’s honest words from the Small Catechism say: “By my own strength, I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, made me holy and kept me in the true faith.”

This line comes from Luther’s meditation on the Holy Spirit portion of the Apostle’s Creed. For those who may not know, the Small Catechism is one of the main theological teaching tools written by Martin Luther, the founder of our Lutheran tradition.

Luther’s honest words acknowledge the fact that I would not have responded to Christ’s walking on water in the same way Peter did. I would have been more like the other disciples, who screamed – “It’s a ghost!” and remained terrified as the wind and the wires gave telltale sound as the waves came over the railings.” By my own strength I cannot have faith… it’s sometimes too much.

Peter’s big expression of faith is also odd for this Gospel where regular, small, everyday examples are frequently used to describe a small but consistent faith. For example, salt – a cheap everyday item, figs as good fruit from a tree, seeds sowed on a farm growing into wheat, the tiny mustard seed that slowly grows and grows.

Is the Gospel now expressing something different and contradictory today? A mammoth sized faith that inspires someone to jump out of a boat in a raging storm in the belief that he will walk on water by the strength of his faith? Is the gospel now challenging us to “Big Faith”?

As I often say, when we reach a point of confusion or contradiction in reading scripture, pause and pray. This time the words of Martin Luther came to my mind as a little prayer or mantra - I prayed: “By my own strength I cannot have faith, but the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, made me holy and kept me in the true faith.”

As I prayed, I humbly acknowledged that, as I imagined myself in the boat on the Sea of Galilee, I am definitely one of the 11 disciples screaming in fear. I just am. And, on a closer reading of the text… it’s only Peter who ends up getting out of the boat. None of the other disciples ever get out.  

They stay inside their vessel, they put their trust in their human created thing and not in Jesus Christ their Lord, who comes confidently striding out on the waves.  “By their own strength they cannot have faith in Jesus Christ their Lord.” Just like me. Perhaps, just like you.

I encourage you to think of a moment in your life when you may have felt like you were caught in a storm and the wind and the waves were making telltale sound as the water came over the railings. What disciple would you be? Peter? Maybe sometimes, if the storm is one you’ve weathered before and you feel confident in the path through it. But, I also wonder if you’ve ever felt like the other disciples who didn’t step out of the boat into the stormy water?

By your own strength alone you cannot have faith. It’s ok. Because God reaches out to us nonetheless by the gift of the Holy Spirit, who through the Gospel makes you holy and keeps you in the faith. God blesses us with faith in God. Faith is a gift from God. 

As this morning’s gospel story comes to an end, none of the other disciples ever get out of the boat. Only Peter does, and he even falters when he notices the strong winds. However, notice that Jesus calms the storm for everyone, even those - perhaps especially those - who didn’t get out of the boat. For those who were stuck screaming in fear. For those who honestly acknowledge that by their own strength they cannot have faith…

But notice, Christ meets them in the boat and tends to their fear. Jesus joins them in their distressed situation, calming the waters and helping them to get through their journey to the other side of the stormy sea. Jesus doesn’t zip them through to the other side, he joins them in their distress and becomes a faithful companion.  

I think that’s a promise to us. That Jesus our Lord is God-with-us. Martin Luther acknowledges this too saying, “the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with gifts and made me holy…” That is, the Holy Spirit is with us during our times of stormy seas, enlightening us with gifts, accompanying us, and making us holy. We’re not alone through times of rocky waters. God is with us, as a faithful companion.

I may not be the type to jump out of the boat to walk on water, but I do know the Holy Spirit surrounds me and us gifting us with faith in Christ – even if it is as small as a mustard seed, thanks be to God it’s still there.

So, when there are troubled waters in your life, be of good courage for the Triune God comes to you and says, “Take heart! It is I.” The presence of God is accompanying you through the troubled waters calming perhaps just enough so you can sail to the other side.

To God be the Glory.

Amen.

Rev. Ryan Heckman | 11th Sunday after Pentecost | Sunday, August 9, 2026