The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost - Matthew 14:22-33 - The Rev. Colette Hammesfahr

 

August 9, 2026 – Matthew 14:22-33

In January 2007, The Washington Post conducted an experiment. They hired Joshua Bell, one of the world’s renowned violinists, to stand in a Washington, D.C. Metro station during the morning rush hour and play his violin. Now, Bell wasn’t an ordinary street musician. In the Metro, he played demanding classical pieces on a Stradivarius violin worth millions of dollars.

For about 43 minutes, 1,097 people passed by Bell. Seven people stopped for at least a minute. 27 people gave money. During the 43 minutes, Bell collected $32.17 from those who walked by him. Only one person of 1,097 recognized who he was. Something remarkable was happening right in front of people, and most simply hurried past.

Now it wasn’t that the commuters were bad people or that they didn’t care. They were going to work. They had trains to catch. They had places they needed to be. They simply weren’t expecting extraordinary beauty to be there in the Metro station.

This is much like the situation the disciples were in when they saw Jesus in the storm – they were not expecting him to be there. We’re on the heels of the Feeding of the 5000. Jesus and the disciples are on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus told the disciples to get into the boat to sail to the other side, while he dispersed the crowds and then went to pray. Matthew doesn’t tell us where they were going, but other Gospels tell us they were probably heading to Bethsaida or Capernaum. Many of the disciples were seasoned fishermen, so this wasn’t a strange request. They could handle this journey, as they very often did. The Sea of Galilee was known for its quickly rising storms, so they were aware of the unruly weather they might encounter.

A terrible storm comes up, and the boat is getting battered around. Waves are pounding the sides. The wind was strong, and they were far from land. Matthew doesn’t say that the disciples were frightened at all. This is what they knew…this was what they encountered all the time when setting sail to fish. Expecting Jesus to be somewhere praying, they suddenly became frightened when they saw Jesus walking towards them on the water. They see Jesus coming, but they don’t say, “Look! It’s Jesus!” Instead, they say, “It’s a ghost.” The problem wasn’t that Jesus wasn’t there. Jesus was right in front of them. They just didn’t recognize him.

Just like the commuters walking past Bell playing his violin and the disciples not recognizing Jesus right in front of them, we too face the same problems. We expect to encounter God in church, when we pray, when we read scripture, and when we come to the altar. But what about when we’re standing in line in the grocery store? Sitting beside someone at work? Talking with a child? Having coffee with a friend? Being interrupted by someone who needs us? How often is God present right in front of us while we’re busy looking somewhere else?

Poor Peter. He always gets a bad rap. But it’s Peter who recognizes Jesus enough to say, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you.” He gets out of the boat. He walks on the water. And then, Peter’s attention shifts. Matthew writes, “But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened.” I think this is very interesting because we know that the wind was already there. Jesus was still standing there. So, what changed for Peter? What was Peter paying attention to?

Isn’t this how we live much of our lives? God never disappears from our lives, but something else tends to capture our attention. The diagnosis. The argument we had yesterday. The bill we don’t know how we’re going to pay. The decision we have to make. The person we’re worried about. The mistake we can’t stop replaying in our heads. The endless list of things that need to get done. The news. The phone. The schedule. The wind is very different for each one of us.

The wind is very real. Peter wasn’t just imagining it. Jesus didn’t say to Peter, “Come on out of the boat, there’s no wind.” He never said, “These waves aren’t real.” It was all very real. Peter’s mistake was that he allowed what frightened him to become more real to him than the presence of Christ standing right in front of him. That’s the challenge with faith, isn’t it? We think that because of our faith, the wind shouldn’t blow, storms shouldn’t come. But faith isn’t pretending that the wind isn’t blowing. Faith is learning to recognize that while the wind is blowing, Jesus is there too.

There are so many things that keep us from recognizing God’s presence. Busyness, expectations, familiarity, fear, distraction – and especially our expectation that God will appear only in obvious places.

In the D.C. Metro, Joshua Bell was playing his violin, and he was playing it whether people noticed it or not. It’s the same with God. God’s presence doesn’t depend on us noticing it. God is there whether we know it or not. But it’s when we notice it that it can completely change the way we experience the journey.

Recognizing God’s presence doesn’t mean that suddenly everything becomes easy. Peter recognized Jesus. He trusted Jesus enough to climb out of the boat. And he still sank.

I think sometimes we’re a little too hard on Peter. We focus on the fact that he sank and we forget something rather remarkable: Peter actually got out of the boat. The other disciples stayed where they were. Peter was willing to trust Jesus enough to put one foot over the side and then the other. And for at least a few moments, Peter walked on water.

Most of us will never be asked to walk on water. We probably won’t be asked to do anything nearly that dramatic. But Jesus does ask us to trust him in the ordinary moments of our lives. To trust him when we don’t know how something is going to turn out. To trust him when life takes a direction we didn’t expect. To trust him enough to forgive. To trust him enough to try something new. To trust him enough to say yes when it would be easier to say no. To trust him enough to take the next step even when we can’t see where the road will eventually lead.

And sometimes we’re going to sink. Sometimes we’ll get distracted. Sometimes fear will get the better of us. Sometimes we’ll take our eyes off Jesus and become overwhelmed by everything happening around us. But notice what happens when Peter begins to sink. Peter cries out, “Lord, save me!” And Matthew tells us, “Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him.” Immediately.

Jesus doesn’t stand there and lecture Peter while he sinks. He doesn’t say, “Well, Peter, you sure got yourself into a mess.” He doesn’t tell him that if his faith were stronger, this wouldn’t have happened. Jesus reaches for him. Peter’s attention shifted away from Jesus, but Jesus’ attention never shifted away from Peter.

Maybe that is the most important thing for us to remember. We’re not always going to recognize God’s presence. We’re going to get busy. We’re going to get distracted. There will be times when the wind seems much bigger than God. There will even be times when we wonder where God is. But God is still there.

So maybe the question this morning isn’t whether we have enough faith to walk on water. Maybe the question is much simpler: What has my attention right now? What is the wind that has become so big that it’s difficult for me to see anything else? And then maybe the next question is: Where might God already be present that I haven’t noticed?

Because the music is still playing. The wind may still be blowing. And Christ is still there, reaching out his hand and saying, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Amen.