Sermon for August 9, 2026: The Deep End based upon Matthew 14:22-33

Matthew 14:22-33 Jesus Walks on the Water (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

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     On a recent Friday night, I accidently called and woke up a Catholic priest at 10:30 pm. Now, I did not mean to call the priest directly, nor have I ever actually met this particular priest. I was just trying to help one of my oldest friends in the world verify that said priest had actually planned to officiate her mother’s funeral two days later. It turns out that I, a pastor, have had a lot more experience planning funerals than most non-clergy that I know. I wasn’t able to travel to Knoxville for the funeral because it was the same weekend we were leaving for Montreal, so I was trying to use my pastoral experience as best as I could to offer guidance and care from afar.

     What I was trying to do that late on a Friday was find out if the priest had left an emergency or weekend number on the church office voicemail. I don’t know if you know that we clergy do that sometimes, but we do. I’ve called a lot of pastors in my life, so I knew that. I decided to call the church office and listen to the message to see what it said. Well, in case you ever need to call Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, Tennessee in order to listen to the office answering machine, I would like to tell that you should not call them at 10:30 pm. Because, unlike our church, where you would reach the voicemail at that time of time, the pastors of that church have the office phone forwarded to their personal cell. They will politely and drowsily answer a call that comes that late. And, you will have to figure out what to say to that tired man.
I fumbled at first, professionally and personally embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you would answer. It is not an emergency, and I can call back tomorrow.” He kindly said, “Can I help you?” I decided to press on: “I am a friend of Pat Davenport’s family and I’m trying to help them finalize her arrangements.” He sleepily informed me that the associate pastor of the church was going to her graveside service. I said thank you and that her daughter would likely call with more logistic information on Saturday, and thanked him, again. He said “God bless you” and hung up the phone. I was left with the sense that he was kind and a good pastor.

     I left a voice note for Jennie explaining what happened, which was followed by a phone call (we are both night owls, unlike her mom’s priest). She laughed so hard about what had happened. As did her husband, who sent me a text, calling me “legendary.” Her sister appreciated the confirmation that they would, indeed, have a priest to bury their mom. She and the church admin talked more details on Saturday at a normal time of day. As Tasha and I began our travels, I learned that the senior pastor, who’d I’d woken up, officiated the funeral on Sunday, and the associate, the graveside on Monday. They were good pastors to my friends. And, I got to help my friends laugh a little at a very hard time even though I was so far away.

     In his commentary on this text, Arthur Van Seters talks about this portion of Matthew as giving us a view of the disciples evolving in their ministry. He reminds us that the original audience for this Gospel was a particular congregation that was being targeted for persecution. The author tells Jesus’ story in such a way to inspire them to persevere in the midst of hardship. Even Jesus’ direction to the disciples to get in the boat and go to the other side of the water might be considered its own test of their training and skills. As Van Seters says, “What would it be like for the disciples to venture out on their own?” Would they do the thing Jesus asked of them? How would they handle something unexpected?

     I bet that you’ve had your own deep end experiences... times when you have ostensibly got the skills to handle something, but it’s been thrust upon you in a way that you maybe didn’t expect or weren’t sure you could handle. My first on-call as a chaplain resident was the weekend that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. They brought some evacuees up from Louisiana to Knoxville, and since it was the weekend, I was the only chaplain in the whole big hospital that was also the main level 1 trauma center for the region. I did have back up if I needed it, and my supervisor came by to help me organize some clothing donations for the evacuees. That being said, though, for those 24 hours, it was mostly just me providing pastoral care for evacuees plus all of our regular patients.

     Zina Jaque, in her commentary on this text, talks about the boat adventure that Jesus compelled his friends to go on this way. “Jesus did not give the disciples a choice. He put them in that boat the way a teacher puts a test on your desk. You did not ask for it. You may not be ready for it. But it is here, and you are going to take it.” Take a moment to think about your deep end experiences. Did you feel confident that you had the skills? Did you feel like you had back up? Did you feel ready?

     To be fair to Jesus, some bad stuff had happened just before this story. A feckless and foolish king had killed his cousin John. John’s disciples had had to bury him and were still trying to figure out their next steps. While Jesus was still in mourning, he found himself surrounded by crowds of people needing help. The first story after John’s death is Jesus having compassion on these crowds of hungry people and feeding them. It’s the second of two stories about Jesus taking a little bit of food and using it to feed thousands of people. It is interesting that in that story, Jesus’ disciples are sure they don’t have enough to help everyone, and Jesus reminds them that they do. They have enough and more!

     Maybe that’s why he sent them across the water, especially in the wake of watching John’s disciples try to figure out what to do without him. Jesus knew that his disciples still needed to gain some confidence and experience. What happens when he goes out to greet them on the water is far more shocking that a priest answering a phone call at 10:30 at night.

     “It’s a ghost!” That’s what they say when they see him atop the water. This is actually a reasonable response from the disciples. It is reasonable to be afraid, especially if you’ve been stuck in a storm on the water all night and then also are maybe seeing your wholly human friend walk on water like some weird little lizard. Jesus, wholly divine, tells them, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter very much wants to not be afraid. And, he tries to take heart. And, he got scared anyway because he was doing something impossible in a terrifying situation.

     Thank God, like me and like you, he had back up. Jesus offered him a hand and kept him from sinking. Jesus’ next words can sound like a castigation, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Maybe it is, at least a little. But, maybe it’s also, “you could have done this,” or even “you didn’t have to do this, and when you tried, you got in over your head.” Jacque offers up that second interpretation in her commentary. Peter had tried to test Jesus back and wasn’t prepared for it. You see, Jesus had told them to go out into the boat. He hadn’t told them to walk on water. Peter decided to do that on his own. That, it turns out, was beyond his skills and training. He needed Jesus to help him out.

     Though they were terrified, the disciples in the boat had managed to survive the storm. They were also pretty relieved when it stopped when Peter and Jesus climbed back in the boat. It is at this moment that everyone who stayed in the boat says for the first time in the Gospel of Matthew, according to Zina Jaque, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Jacque also notes that this phrase is only spoken once more in this gospel: at the foot of the cross, by the centurion. For Jacque, these confessions are connected because the events that inspired them are connected. Each is a hardship Jesus compelled his followers to go through. Each has a miracle they don’t understand. I believe that making it through the first, helped them get through the second. And, I hope that the centurion was as inspired to live differently as the disciples were after their deep end experience.

     In a challenging season, I imagine that many of us will see ourselves in the disciples here, trying to do what Jesus said to do, but realizing that it’s really hard.... maybe even doing more than is asked of us and getting in over our heads. May we remember that a moment may be difficult, but that doesn’t mean that we aren’t exactly where Christ compelled us to go. And, may we ask for back up when we’ve tried something beyond our capacity. When, we’re asked, “Can I help you,” let us be brave enough to say yes, and press on to what we were called to do in the first place. In so doing, we will help the people we love and strangers alike.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:

Arthur Van Seters notes on Proper 14 in Preaching God's Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year A featuring 22 New Holy Days for Justice (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013)

Zina Jaque: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-19/commentary-on-matthew-1422-33-7

J. Andrew Overman's note on Matthew in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001)