Let us pray…
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
I passed a church last week where the sign read, “True faith has no doubts.” I imagine that this morning their preacher is reading this same passage from Matthew that tells the story of Peter stepping out of the boat and their focus is on the question Jesus asks Peter, “Why did you doubt?”
But I don’t think that’s where our focus belongs this morning.
The Bible is not merely an instruction manual, where if you follow the directions and get the steps right, you’ll perfect your faith, like a basketball player practicing three-pointers. We don’t need to analyze what Peter did or didn’t do, or what he could have done better or differently.
Nor is this the same story that we heard in chapter 8 when Jesus was already on the boat as the disciples crossed from Capernaum to the eastern side of the lake and he calmed the storm. In that story, the disciples were afraid of the storm, and they marveled at seeing Jesus calm the winds and seas because he demonstrated power they had not yet witnessed from him.
This is a different story and while it is important that Jesus saves Peter when Peter calls out to him, this story isn’t about what one scholar called “Baywatch Jesus” either.
I believe this story shows us Jesus’ compassion for us and the strength of being a community of people who follow Jesus, even, and maybe especially, when we have doubts and fears.
I expect most of us are more like Peter than we’d like to admit.
Peter was an imperfect disciple. He acted boldly, and sometimes recklessly. There are times when he makes big declarations and he also makes big denials. His confidence and courage fizzle and are replaced with fear and doubt.
Sometimes Peter probably disappointed himself; he certainly disappointed people around him and that included Jesus. And yet, time and again, Jesus shows up for him. He has compassion for him. Here Jesus helps Peter climb back into the boat and later, after the resurrection, he will cook him breakfast and tell him to feed his sheep. (John 21:17)
Jesus loves each one of us, even as he knows our fears and questions and witnesses our imperfections.
Like Peter and the other disciples in the boat,
when I catch a glimpse of God working in my life or those around me, I wonder if I can trust what I have seen or heard. I question whether something that seems providential is real, or if I’m imagining it.
Discernment, which wasn’t Peter’s strength, encourages us to pause, listen and examine whether something is of God, or of the world.
Sometimes my excitement wants to bypass that careful, necessary work. Being part of a community who is following Jesus and listening for what God is saying helps me, and all of us,
focus on Jesus.
We work together to follow faithfully.
Jesus knows us, like he knows those disciples on the boat, and like them, he sends us into the world as his followers.
For a few weeks, I have been listening to our congregation as people have told me about their hopes for our future together, what things leave them unsettled or anxious, and where they think God is leading us. In two weeks, on August 23rd, after each worship service, we will be gathering to explore “our place at Grace” and the ways that each of us has a place in the ministries of our congregation.
God is already at work here and in our community, and calls each of us to participate.
Anytime we are in periods of change and transition, there will be questions, doubts and even fears.
To us, like the disciples in the boat, I believe Jesus says, “Take heart.”
Take courage or take heart.
Know we are in this life of faith together.
When we are wobbly or uncertain, we can help each other.
As I reflected on the words, “Take heart” I remembered Luther’s Rose. The image may be familiar but maybe not.
Designed in 1530, the emblem features a black cross inside a red heart, placed on a white rose, set against a sky-blue field, and surrounded by a golden ring.
The red heart symbolizes the human heart and the center of faith in each of us. The black cross imposed on it signifies that faith in the crucified Christ brings salvation while the blue field evokes an image of the heavens and the gold ring represents unbroken eternity. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_rose)
What stands out to me today is the red heart at its center.
A living human heart beats, pumping blood, carrying oxygen to the rest of the body and removing carbon dioxide. We cannot live without it. It is both life-giving and lifesaving.
Sometimes we don’t think much about how essential the heart is. And I expect that can be true of our faith as well.
But when Jesus tells us to take heart,
he calls us back to the center:
to focus on him,
to focus on God’s Word,
and to focus on faith that saves.
Let us pray.
Holy God,
Thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus.
Thank you for the life-giving gift of faith.
May we take heart and have courage to live as your people,
confident that through our faith in Christ,
we have been saved.
We pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
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