Why Doubt?

The Sunday morning message in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish.  November 12, 2023.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 14:22-33.

            Today’s gospel reading is a familiar story.  Most people have heard the story, even if they cannot remember all the details.  Even a lot of people who are not Christians are at least aware that the Bible says Jesus once walked on water.

            To me, though, Jesus walking on water is not the most interesting or even necessarily the most important part of the story.  Now obviously, if I’d been there at the time, that’s what I’d remember.  I mean, as far as I know, no one ever walked on water before, and no one has since.  If I actually saw someone do it, and I was sure it was not just some sort of trick, I’d remember it the rest of my life.

            I was not there, though, and I read this now knowing who Jesus really is.  If we accept Jesus as the divine Son of God, as part of the Holy Trinity, as someone with the power to work miracles, it’s no surprise that he could walk on water if he chose to.  It’s a miracle, of course, but not any more impressive than a lot of the other miracles Jesus performed while he was on the earth.

            To me, the most interesting part of this story is Jesus’ statement to Peter.  You remember how it went:  Peter wants Jesus to let him walk on the water, too; Jesus tells him to come; Peter gets close to Jesus, gets scared, sinks, Jesus pulls him up.  Then Jesus says, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

            That always seems to me like such an unfair thing for Jesus to say to Peter.  After all, Peter was the only one who had enough faith to get out on the water at all.  I mean, you don’t hear anything about Andrew or Philip or Thomas or any of the others jumping out of the boat to go join Peter on that walk, do you?  Peter’s the only one who even dared to try getting out on the water, and his reward for his courage is to have Jesus accuse him of having “little faith.”

            At least, that’s how I’ve often heard this story explained.  It’s considered to be Jesus testing Peter’s faith, and Peter failing the test.  Now, granted, Jesus does not accuse Peter of having no faith at all.  Still, Jesus is not exactly complimenting Peter here, is he?  Saying he has “little faith”?  How would you feel if Jesus said that to you?

            But is that really what’s going on here?  Is Jesus’ statement really meant as an accusation, as a harsh criticism?  Let’s remember who Peter was.  He was not perfect, and the gospels don’t portray him as perfect or anything close to it, but he’s also the one to whom Jesus says, just a little while later, “You are the rock on whom I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”  That’s why Jesus changes his name from Simon to Peter; the word we translate as Peter means rock.  Would Jesus really build his church on someone whom he’d just accused of having “little faith”?

            I think that, when we focus on Jesus calling Peter, “you of little faith”, we focus on the wrong part of what Jesus said.  I think the important part of what Jesus said was not him saying Peter had little faith.  It’s the question Jesus asked him right after that.  Jesus asked him, “Why did you doubt?”

            Think of all the things Peter had already seen in his time with Jesus.  He’d seen Jesus heal people.  He’d seen Jesus stop a storm.  He’d seen Jesus cast out demons.  He’d seen Jesus bring someone back to life from the dead.  He’d seen Jesus feed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish.  He’d probably seen a lot of other things, too—after all, the Bible tells us there are a lot more things that Jesus did on earth than are contained in the gospels.

            If anyone should have not had any doubts about who Jesus was, it would be Peter.  In fact, Peter did not think he had any doubts.  When Jesus invited him to come out onto the water, Peter went right out there.  He did pretty well, too, as long as he focused on Jesus and walked right toward him.  Then, though, he started looking around, noticing things.  He felt the strong wind.  He saw the waves getting higher and higher.  He got scared, and when he got scared, that’s when the doubts started to hit him.  He started thinking about all the things that might happen to him while he was out there on the water.  The doubts got the best of him, and he started to sink.

            I think that happens to us sometimes, too.  There are times when it seems like our faith is pretty strong.  There are times, in fact, when we’re willing to step right out there and take risks for our faith in Jesus.  At first, we’re fine, as long as we keep focused on Jesus.  The trouble is that then we start looking around and noticing things.  We start getting battered by the winds of life.  We get scared, and the doubts start hitting us.  We start thinking about all the things that can happen to us in life.  Then, we start to sink.

            When Jesus asked Peter, “why did you doubt”, I don’t think Jesus was mad at Peter.  I don’t think he meant it as an accusation.  I think Jesus said those words sadly, almost wistfully.  Jesus was trying to give Peter the power to do anything in Jesus’ name.  He wanted Peter to know that with Jesus, anything is possible.  He wanted Peter to have so much faith in Jesus that he’d believe he could do anything, even walk on water.  He was hoping Peter could put his doubts aside and put his complete faith and trust in Jesus.  And at first, it looked like maybe he could.  I think Jesus was just kind of sad that Peter had not been able to set his doubts aside and accept what Jesus was trying to give him.

            I think Jesus asks that same question to us, and he asks it the same way.  Jesus looks at the way we live our lives, the number of times we try to do things our own way, the number of times we get scared, and asks us, “Why do you doubt?”  Jesus has so much power.  With Jesus, anything is possible, even walking on water.  Jesus wants so much for us to put our doubts aside and put our complete faith and trust in him.  I think Jesus is sad when we’re not able to do that, when we’re not able to just accept what Jesus is trying to give us.

            There is good news, though.  After all, when Peter got scared, when Peter gave in to the doubts, when Peter started to sink, Jesus did not just stand there and watch.  Jesus did not say, “Well, you doubted, so you deserve to sink to the bottom.”  Jesus reached out and caught Peter.  He lifted him back up, and they got into the boat together.

            That’s what Jesus will do for us, too.  When we give in to our doubts and start to sink, Jesus will reach out and catch us, too.  Jesus will reach out for us, and will lift us back up, just as he did for Peter.

            As long as we do one thing.  If you’ve been paying attention, you know what it is, too.  You know I skipped one really important part of this story.  When Peter started sinking, what did he do?  He cried out to Jesus.  It was not a long, complicated prayer or anything.  All he did was say three words:  “Lord, save me!”

            When Peter said those three words, we’re told that Jesus “immediately” reached out and pulled him up.  It sounds to me like maybe Jesus had been waiting for just that opening.  It sounds to me like Jesus was just waiting for Peter to acknowledge his fear and his doubt and to ask for Jesus to save him, because the second he did, Jesus saved Peter.

            You know, Bible stories like this give me a lot of confidence and a lot of hope.  I hope they do that for you, too.  They make me feel better about the fact that I give in to my doubts and fears sometimes.  For one thing, if even Peter, who was right there with Jesus and saw all those things happen and who was the rock on whom Jesus was going to build his church, if even Peter was subject to doubts sometimes, I think Jesus understands why you and I have that same problem.

            More importantly, though, a story like this shows us the way out of our problems.  When life gets to be too much for us, when we give in to our doubts, when fear overwhelms us, when it feels like we’re starting to sink, all we need to do is turn to Jesus.  We don’t have to do anything big or complicated to do that.  All we need to do is say, “Lord, save me!”  As soon as we do that, Jesus will lift us up and show us the way out.  The way out is not always easy, but it’s there, and Jesus will help us find it.

            Jesus wants us to believe.  Jesus wants us to trust.  He wants us to trust in his great power.  He wants us to trust in his great love.  He wants us to trust that he’s always there for us.

            We can do all things through Jesus Christ.  All we need to do is look to Jesus, put aside our doubts and fears, and accept the wonderful gifts Jesus wants to give us.