“Jesus and the Walk of Faith, Part 1. Faith and Doubt” by the Rev. Don Wahlig, August 13, 2023, Year A / Proper 14 - Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 and Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b • 1 Kings 19:9-18 and Psalm 85:8-13 • Romans 10:5-15 • Matthew 14:22-33

      In 1878 in Dayton Ohio, two brothers barely old enough to read were at home one day when their father, Reverend Milton Wright, came home with a present. It was a toy helicopter powered by a rubber band. The boys were fascinated. They wound the rubber band and let the helicopter go, thinking surely it would fall to the floor.  To their amazement, however, it took off upward and then kept rising. It hit the ceiling, bounced off, flew across the room, and finally sank to the floor. 

The two boys were mesmerized. They had never seen anything like it. That’s because there was nothing like it.  It was the creation of a French inventor who was certain that one day objects heavier than air could be made to fly. Those two brothers were Orville and Wilbur Wright. From that moment on, they became determined to build a flying machine that could be operated and controlled by a human being. That was their dream. But the closest they could come to a flying vehicle was a bicycle, so they opened a bicycle shop.

Business was good, but they remained obsessed with the idea of building a flying machine, despite the common wisdom that it was impossible. They began tinkering in the back room of their shop, trying to perfect wing designs for gliders. To test their designs, they eventually relocated their operation to a place where the winds were more reliable: the sand dunes of the North Carolina coast.

         They tried one design after another. They tried bigger and bigger wing spans. They flew hundreds of test flights, but all of them failed. Finally, after several years, they hit on the idea of a double-winged aircraft, propelled by a 12 HP small engine that turned propellers at the front.  They made a harness for the pilot to control the plane simply by shifting his body, and a movable rudder at the rear to make it more stable.

Then, on a blustery, cold December morning in 1903, on a remote beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright made the very first sustained, controlled, powered airplane flight.  It lasted 12 second and went 180 feet. Wilbur took a turn and flew even higher and longer. By the end of the day their aircraft was flying for almost 60 seconds for close to 1,000 feet. 

Through faith, persistence, and courage, the Wright brothers had done what the rest of the world believed to be not only dangerous, but impossible. And their spirits were soaring.

In our scripture today, Jesus calls Peter to do the very same. When we pick up the story, the disciples have just helped Jesus feed a crowd of 5,000. Jesus dismisses the crowd and tells the disciples to go out on the boat while he goes up the mountain to pray. Now, when Jesus goes off to talk with God, it is never a short conversation. So, it’s not until 3:00 in the morning that he makes his way back to meet the disciples.

Except by now, their boat is far from shore. The Sea of Galilee is notorious for sudden violent storms. Now the wind is getting up and the waves are building as a storm brews.  But that doesn’t faze Jesus. He sets out on foot and crosses the water to reach the boat. As he approaches, all the disciples think they’re seeing a ghost – until Jesus calls out, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

Just to be sure it’s really Jesus, Peter puts him to the test. “Lord, if it really is you, command me to come to you on the water.”   Jesus takes up the challenge. “Come,” he says.  And Peter sets out across the water. And he does well until his fear and doubt get the better of his faith. Jesus takes his arm, lifts him up, and says “Why did you doubt, you of little faith?”

How often have you heard this passage preached?  Dozens, maybe hundreds of times? The message is usually ‘Don’t be like Peter. Don’t let your doubts and your fear overcome your faith.’  But there is an even more important message in this text.  The message is not just what it tells us about Peter. The message is what it tells us about Jesus.

On a night not unlike this one some weeks before, Jesus and his disciples were in Peter’s boat as a storm was raging around them. That night, Jesus calmed the sea with a single word.  His disciples wondered aloud “What sort of man is this?”



Tonight, Jesus gives them the answer. He is God with us. I won’t bore you with the Greek here, but when he says, “Take heart, it is I,” he is using God’s personal name. And, for that matter, he is doing the same things God did at creation: hovering over the water, taming the waves, bringing life and order out of the watery chaos. No wonder the disciples declare him the Son of God!

But there is even more to this text. To find it, we are going to have to follow the advice of one of my seminary professors. If you want to get the full meaning of a scripture passage, make sure you put yourself in the shoes of all the different characters within it.

So, let’s ask the question: what about the other 11 disciples in the boat that night? When Peter steps over the side and takes those first tentative steps on the waves without sinking, what are they seeing?  What are they are learning? They see Peter following Jesus’ call.  They watch him doing what each and every one of them knows to be impossible. And they learn that, when you follow Jesus’ call, the impossible becomes possible. 

But what about Peter? The difference between Peter and the others is that Peter got to experience that miracle firsthand. Even if his doubt and fear limited him, he nevertheless had a taste of being part of one of Jesus’ greatest miracles. Once you’ve had that exhilarating experience, you are never the same. You want more of it.

That is the real message for us. When we take the risk and follow Jesus’ call, even the best of us will suffer doubt and fear. But it’s far better to be like Peter and step out in faith than to hang back and fail to take the risk. Not only does Jesus have a knack for holding us up when we start to sink, he loves nothing more than partnering with you and me to do something miraculous. 

         So, what is Jesus calling you to do?  Is Jesus calling you to take on a new role here at SSPC? Is he calling you to take a risk and be a liturgist in worship, a helper on the ROAR trip to West Virginia, or maybe to lead a small group this fall? 

Taking a step like that can be a little scary, especially if you haven’t done it before. But I assure you, Jesus will be there to keep you from sinking. Moreover, he wants to partner with you in transforming the lives of others – and your life, too. 

But let’s not stop there. That question is not only for us as individual Christians. It’s for us as a congregation. These past few months, as part of our new budgeting process, our committees have been hard at work discerning new ways for the SSPC family to realize our vision of sharing Christ’s love with all by reaching out beyond these walls.  We are looking at specific ideas to step out in faith and risk following Jesus’ call in order to be his partners in ministry right here in Mechanicsburg. 

What might that look like? Could it be a medical ministry, maybe loaning out medical equipment and providing pastoral care along the way? Could it be a faith-based after-school program as an extension of our preschool? Could it be a partnership with area businesses in order to help laid off employees make the transition to their  next job?

These are just ideas at this point. And by no means are these the only ones. What do you hear Jesus calling us to do in order to share his love with others? Think about that this week and drop me a note with any ideas you have.   

I will close with an old story about Mark Twain. In his later years, Mark Twain went to see the Holy Land. He specifically wanted to take one of those tourist fishing boat rides out onto the Sea of Galilee. When he got there and he found out how much it cost, he said, “No wonder Jesus walked.”

Friends, there is a cost to faithful discipleship. The cost is risk. It is never easy to step out onto a stormy sea. It’s scary. But that is what Jesus calls us to do. Step out into the storm – and trust in him. 

And, yes, even the most faithful among us, will be like Peter. We will take tentative steps in faith. And inevitably our fear will cause us to doubt.  And yet, even so, our willingness to take the risk and follow Jesus’ calling, relying on him to guide and support us, will lead others to trust and follow him, too.

And don’t be surprised if we find ourselves part of something truly miraculous. You may not be walking on water, but I guarantee you will feel like you’re flying.  Friends, it’s time to get out of the boat.

         May it be so.