Matthew 14:22-33
August 18, 2002
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
One of my first paying summer jobs was washing pots and pans at the Baptist camp just outside of Boston. The camp cook had a Vespa motor scooter. I saw this was a perfect opportunity to learn how to ride. Asking her if she’d teach me how to ride, she replied, “Sure, it’s real easy.” So later that afternoon when I finished all the pots and pans, we went out to a small road behind the camp.
I was behind the handlebar as she gives me my first lesson. “This is the front brake and this is the rear brake. Here’s the clutch and down there is the gearbox. The gas is up here on the handlebar.” Then she said, “Go ahead, and take it for a ride.”
I thought to myself, “Gee, this must be easier than I thought.” I started the engine and quickly found myself moving up through the gears…first, second, third. I took the scooter slowly down a long, straight stretch of road, getting the feel of the cycle. I was Easy Rider!
I came down to a bend in the road and suddenly realized, “Now where did she say the brakes were?” I tried with the right foot and then my left foot to find the brakes. It was too late. I ran off the road and into a thorn-infested bush. It sure felt like that bush jumped right out in front of me and pushed over the scooter! I badly scratched my friend’s shiny scooter and had cuts and bruises up and down my legs and arms. I pushed the cycle back to camp, totally embarrassed and was sore all over for a week.
I learned the hard way that riding a scooter wasn’t as easy as I had thought. I didn’t realize I was missing something until it was too late. For Peter in our Scripture lesson for today, he was missing something and found it when it was almost too late.
Big Feet
While Jesus went by himself to pray, the disciples spent a sleepless night in a storm-tossed boat. Early in the morning, the disciples saw a figure walking on the water toward them. They thought it was a ghost. Jesus quelled their fears saying, “Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid.”
Well, Peter thought he, too, could enjoy the experience of walking on water. “If Jesus can do it, maybe I can too,” said Peter. It’s like if my friend knows how to ride her scooter, maybe I can do it too.
So Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.
Peter found walking on water was easy. His big feet kept him afloat until he noticed a strong wind. When he became frightened, Peter started to sink and cried out, “Lord, save me!” Extending his hand, Jesus assists Peter into the boat and asked him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Little Faith
Peter was not sinking in the water because he had “no faith” but because he had “little faith.” Some faith is good, but all faith is better! We are more like Peter than we want to admit. It’s not that we have “no faith” at all, but rather we go through life with only a “little faith.”
Our “little faith” comes from both fear and doubt. The Scripture says, “When Peter noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’”
Last week at Youth Camp I shared the story of a young boy who was forced to flee to the roof of his house when it caught fire. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you.” He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As you can imagined, the boy was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: “Jump! I will catch you.” But the boy protested, “Daddy, I can’t see you.” The father replied, “But I can see you and that’s all that matters.”
When we are afraid, we have little faith.
Our “little faith” also comes from doubt. The Scriptures say, “Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’” When we doubt what God has commanded us to do, we are demonstrating little faith.
There’s a mountain climber who slipped and fell on a difficult cliff. He grabbed a branch and hung on as tightly as he could. He shouted out, “Is there anyone up there? Help me!” A voice came from the skies saying, “I am all good, the God who loves you. I will save you if you let go.” The climber thought hard for a few moments and then said, “Is there anyone else up there?”
When we doubt God’s word for us, we have little faith.
In the beginning of this passage, it looks like Jesus himself set up this test of the disciples’ faith. For what good is faith if it is never tested or challenged? It is easy to have strong, confident faith when the seas are calm and all is going according to plan. But it is when life becomes choppy and we become fearful that our faith is tested to prove its toughness and resilience. It is easy to claim we have faith in Jesus Christ until the trials of life are nipping at our heels.
Youth Camp Faith
For many of us here today, we have great memories of last week’s Youth Camp 2002. For 24 hours each day for 7 days in a row, we focused on Christ with little to no distractions and choppy waters. There was no wind to frighten us from following Jesus’ commands. But we all know that the true test of faith will happen in the upcoming days and weeks. Will our fears and doubts nip away our Youth Camp faith and will Jesus say to us, “You of little faith?”
For us with little faith, we realize that we have more faith in ourselves than in Jesus Christ. We assume responsibility and take control from Christ. We see that we have “big feet” to keep us from sinking. We think that we are in full control of life—like I was in full control of that scooter I was riding—and forget to have faith and trust in God until we begin to sink or coming up to a bend in the road.
Our Youth Camp faith will begin to evaporate and wane when the trials of life begin blowing against us. That’s the reason why we have Retrospect in November so that we can be reminded of our faith is in God and not in ourselves.
Jesus Christ can walk on water because his faith in his heavenly Father permits him to walk above the chaos of the seas. Jesus knows that his father will not allow him to sink in the perils of life. So, too, if we take our eyes off Jesus Christ, we will sink. People with all faith focus their faith on Christ, not on the wind and dangers surrounding them, as Peter did.
Scooter Riding
Every time that I drive down Bush toward the church and passing by Van Ness, I would see the Vespa scooter dealer with shiny new vehicles inside. I would think about that time when I rode my first scooter at camp. After my cuts and bruises scabbed up, I got back on my friend’s scooter only after taking some more lessons from her and learned how to ride. I rode to town and back and felt really cool!
Peter did well walking on water, until the time his attention was distracted by the strong wind and his fear. I wonder if he ever tried it again, this time with less faith in himself and more faith in Christ. I wonder if he focused less on the turmoil of life and more on following Christ. I would hope Peter tried it again.
There is no doubt that our faith will be tested and challenged in the coming days. School will begin very soon and there will be many temptations and challenges that will distract us from focusing on Christ. And when we discover that we are sinking in fear and doubt, let us be mindful that Jesus will be there to extend out his hand and catch us before we sink. He will help you back into the boat to remind you once again to focus only on him. We will be able to try again.
Our faith will be tested; just like Peter’s. And in doing so, we, too, may affirm our faith in Christ with those who first believed, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Let us pray.
Lord God, with humility and obedience, we come to you desiring to have more faith in your plan for our lives. Help us to not be afraid of the struggles in life and to focus only on you. Clear away our doubts and grant us another chance to have faith in you. In the name of Christ, our Savior, we pray. Amen.