Summer Worship 9:00 a.m. July 5 - Sept. 6
Summer Worship 9:00 a.m. July 5 - Sept. 6
Christ the King Epiphany Church, Wilbraham
The Rev. Martha S. Sipe
August 9, 2026 / Pentecost 11 (Lect. 19A)
Matthew 14:22-33
You’ve heard me say this before: It’s so easy to pick on poor Peter. Throughout the Gospels, Peter is portrayed as impetuous and impulsive, too quick to speak and with too high an opinion of his own abilities. Think about the time he rebuked Jesus, only to receive a rebuke in return from the Lord. Think about the time he refused to let Jesus wash his feet, only to turn around and then ask him to wash his whole body. Think about Peter saying he’ll follow Jesus, even to death, and then denying he even knows him in the courtyard of the high priest.
It would be so easy to make this story just another example of Peter’s woeful inadequacies. What was he doing, asking Jesus to command him to walk on the water? Was he trying to get brownie points? Was he trying to be like Jesus? Was he trying to assert himself as the natural leader of the pack. And of course, no matter what his motivation for trying to walk on the water, there’s also the fact that he tried and failed . . . like I said, it’s easy to pick on Peter.
But all of those examples of Peter’s rash words and decisions come after today’s story chronologically. If we were reading this gospel for the first time, we wouldn’t yet have any preconceptions about Peter at this point; all we would know was that he was a fisherman, that he had a brother named Andrew, and that Jesus had called them to be disciples. When I realized that this week, it helped me to see him afresh . . . and to give him the benefit of the doubt. What if Peter wasn’t showing off by trying to walk to Jesus. What if he just really wanted to be closer to Jesus in his moment of peril?
That seems like a pretty normal human reaction. I know it would be normal for me. As we’re quickly approaching the 25th anniversary of September 11th, I find myself thinking about that day. I remember hearing the early news reports from my church and immediately going home to be with Tricia. It was a time of stress and uncertainty, and I just wanted to be at home with her. And that’s not unusual. Psychotherapist Dr. Stephanie Sarkis has written that “it’s a natural, primal tendency to want to reconnect with loved ones during a crisis. . . . We want to be with our people, especially the ones [we] feel a sense of normalcy from.” Maybe that’s what was going on with Peter. He and the others were clearly in a crisis. As if it weren’t bad enough that the wind was pushing the boat far from shore and the waves were battering the small craft, then they thought that Jesus was a ghost. Matthew tells us that they were terrified. It was anything but normalcy. And so I wonder if Peter’s water-walking attempt was neither a show-off stunt nor a power grab, but simply a desire to be near the one he knew could make everything right again. He had heard the Master’s voice echoing off the waves. He had received Jesus’ comforting command: Do not be afraid. But remember, the wind was still roaring, and the waves were still churning. It was still a time of peril. Perhaps it was the most natural thing in the world for Peter to want to be nearer still to his Lord. Notice that he doesn’t say “Lord, help me to walk on the water.” He says, “Lord, command me to come to you.”
This could all be a flight of fancy on my part. Peter’s decision to get out of the boat could be just a precursor of all the other rash and brash things that he did. But here’s the thing: even if his motivation was less than pure, even if his asking Jesus to call him out of the boat was more about him and less about Jesus, Peter was not wrong to obey the call. Nor was he wrong to place his trust in Jesus. Because even though he faltered and began to sink, he still knew enough to call on Jesus for help. And Jesus immediately reached out his hand and pulled him up out of the water, saving him.
Just as he pulled each of us out of the water when were baptized, saving us. And in the end, perhaps this is what this story is all about. It’s not about Peter – neither about his good intentions nor his weak will. It’s about Jesus and his ability to save. It’s about Jesus and his promises to us in our baptism. When he speaks to us, we know and trust his voice just as Peter did because we belong to him. Even in the midst of the most threatening storms of life, just like Peter, we are not alone because he is with us. Even if we, like Peter, lose our focus and stumble in our faith, we will be forgiven. And in the end, he will once again take us by the hand and lead us to the place of perfect peace. Because we are baptized.
When Jesus says – “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” – it’s not just a word of peace to Peter and the other eleven. It’s also a word of promise to us all. When the storms of life are raging, he comes to us, answers our cries, and then leads us safely home.
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