The Gospel of Matthew - Faith and Doubt [May 3, 2026]

Good morning everybody. It is a real pleasure.

How am I doing with this? Can you hear me? It

is a real pleasure and an honor really to be

invited to come and speak. I do go to a lot of

churches and I always feel sort of humbled and

very thankful to get the chance to come and worship

with new people to just sort of gather in God's

house. and to remember together the promises

of the gospel. So it is really, it is my privilege

and I always like to start by saying thank you

for the invitation and also just to let you know

Pastor Gregg and I are really very, very

good friends. We've gotten to be very, very close

over the years and I am a little embarrassed

that this is the first time I've been in this

space on a Sunday morning and I'm grateful for

the chance to fix that. But I am thankful and

I was invited to speak about the topic of, well

actually he invited me to, he gave me like a

whole list of dates and topics and I chose the

topic faith and doubt. I chose that. I'm not

sure exactly why I chose that and I don't know

if it was a good idea but that is the one that

I chose to talk about, faith and doubt. And the

topic is, or the sermon. the sermon text is the

story from the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus

walks on water and in this version of the story

we have the Apostle Simon Peter also sort of

walking on water and so I'm going to just continue

from the text that from the couple of verses

that we just heard and read a couple of more

verses so this is from Matthew chapter 14 and

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

it starts in verse 22 What we just heard, immediately

Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and

go on ahead of him to the other side while he

dismissed the crowd. And after he had dismissed

them, he went up on a mountainside by himself

to pray. Later that night, he was there alone.

and the boat was already a considerable distance

from the land, buffeted by the waves because

the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn,

Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.

And when the disciples saw him walking on the

lake, they were terrified. It's a ghost, they

said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately

said to them take courage it is I don't be afraid

Lord if it's you Peter replied Tell me to come

to you on the water Come Jesus said then Peter

got down out of the boat Walked on the water

and came toward Jesus, but when he saw the wind

He was afraid, and beginning to sink, he, let's

see, beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save

me. Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and

caught him. You of little faith, he said, why

did you doubt? And when they climbed into the

boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the

boat worshiped him, saying truly, you are the

son of God. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks

be to God. And so a question to start off our

time together, a question for all of you is how

do those words from Jesus that he said to Peter,

how do those words affect you? The words that

Jesus said to Peter when they were out of the

boat, when Peter cried out for help, how do those

words sound in your head? Either when you read

them off your phone or in a paper Bible or when

you hear them spoken aloud. I don't know if it's

the way that these words are translated into

like a contemporary English Bible or if it's

something about my personal psychology, right?

But I hear judgment in these words, right? I

hear disappointment. And it's like really bad,

depending on, I don't know, it might really just

be depending on how I'm feeling when I read these

words, but I actually hear something just a little

bit shy of contempt in Jesus' voice when he says,

you of little faith, why did you doubt? It's

like he's saying, are you kidding me? Are you

kidding me? Why did you doubt? What is your problem?

I imagine myself in that situation feeling terrible,

right? Feeling like a failure, feeling like a

waste of space, right? And maybe that's how Jesus

said it. Maybe that's how he felt when he said

it. He was completely disappointed and he was

letting loose, telling Peter what a worthless

disciple he really was, right? Maybe that's how

Jesus said it. But it might not have been right

might not have been because the words on the

page It's really an observation and it's a question

Okay, so Jesus just said he says to Peter he

says you have little faith you doubt It's an

observation right and then the question is Why?

And that is a good question to ask, I think.

Why? Why do you doubt? You know? It's not a question

that most of us ask, I think, a lot. Especially

when we observe doubt in somebody else, right?

Or if somebody else doubts us, right? If somebody

doubts you, how do you usually take it, right?

If somebody doesn't think that you are telling

the truth, hmm. If somebody doesn't believe that

you are going to do what you say you are going

to do. If somebody doesn't believe that you can

do something that you know you can do. If somebody

doesn't think that you know what you are talking

about. How do you react to that? Whatever your

line of work, I don't know. if you're in medicine

or you work on cars or you're a plumber or you

teach children to read, right? You've got education,

you've got experience, you've got some expertise

in some things, and you may have had an encounter

at some time with somebody who just doesn't think

that you actually know things that you actually

know, right? They've been watching some TikToks

and they think that they know. Better than you,

right? You probably have never had an experience

like that. Some of us have, right? How do you

react though in a moment like that? Right? How

do you react to the doubt that you observe in

other people? Do you get angry? Do you get defensive?

Right? Do you judge them for their doubts? Right?

So maybe I'm projecting a little bit onto Jesus.

When I read Jesus's words, why do you doubt and

I assume that he's mad right? Maybe that's just

the way that I would be right But the wisest

people that I know the wisest people I have known

in my life are Well, they don't react like that

The wisest people I have known in my life are

curious. They take note of what they see in the

people around them, and they inquire. They want

to know more. They ask, why? These people do

not transcend the messiness of human interactions.

No, of course, no. people mistrust them and disbelieve

them and assume the worst about them. Sometimes

it happens. It's life, right? But they have some

kind of skill to use these moments as like an

open window or a cracked door or an opportunity

to look deeper and learn more about a person

who is acting this way or that way or that way.

There is a guidance counselor at Sudlow Intermediate

School in Davenport, Iowa, who I have known for

many years and she is a person like this. Wise

and compassionate people know that some of us

have been deeply betrayed and so it is difficult

for us to trust. Wise and compassionate people

know that some of us have been lied to so much

in our lives that we have a hard time believing

anything that we hear from most people. Wise

and compassionate people know that some of us

have been wounded, broken by things that happened

to us or things that happened to our loved one

who was hurt and we couldn't stop it. And so

now we walk around with armor and clenched fists

ready to fight. Because anybody who might be

thinking about hurting us or hurting the one

that we love had better think again. Wise and

compassionate people know that there are many

reasons people doubt. There are many reasons

that people disbelieve or mistrust. There are

many reasons that a person can be cynical. And

wise and compassionate people want to know, what's

your reason? Not because you're bad, but because

they want to know you better. Jesus says to Peter,

why do you doubt? That's the question. Why? I

guess there's also the question, what is the

doubt? That's that's another question embedded

here because when religious people Think about

belief and faith and doubt we tell ourselves

that we're supposed to believe Certain things

and not supposed to doubt and the things that

we are supposed to believe and not doubt are

often claims about the nature and reality of

God and Jesus. We don't want to doubt Jesus where

they might be things about the Bible or things

about the theology that we were taught when we

were younger. And there is some set of things

that we are told that we are supposed to hold

true. And if we doubt any of those things, we

jeopardize everything. That's what we think faith

is and our whole lives are at stake in it. This

can be scary, right? That is why doubt is scary

for some people, right? But in this story that

takes place on the water of the Sea of Galilee,

you know, excuse me. In this story, Peter is

not dealing with any of that. Right? Peter is

not doubting whether the Bible is inerrant in

this story. Right? Peter is not questioning the

legitimacy of penal substitutionary atonement.

Peter is doubting. Right? But what is Peter actually

doubting? He's doubting himself. Right? Yeah.

He's doubting... himself. He doesn't disbelieve

anything about Jesus, right? He's looking at

Jesus walking on the water right now. He believes

in Jesus, okay? And, you know, he begins to fear

the storm, right? He starts to sink. What does

he do, right? In that moment, he actually has

faith like a church praise and worship song,

right? Like that song, Oceans, I think that might

be written about in this, I'm not really sure,

but like he starts to sink down beneath the waves,

and I will call upon your name, right? Like this

song that we just sang a few minutes ago about

you'll be my wind and my sails, and you'll be

my anchor of my vessel, something like this,

right? And then, you know, if I'm starting to

sink beneath the waters, I will cry out to you.

I will call out your name. And that is exactly

what Peter does in this story because he believes

in Jesus, okay? He trusts Jesus, right? And he

has actually trusted Jesus so much that he has

begun to think about himself differently. the

process. He had started to believe that he could

do things that Jesus could do. This is because

of the way that Jesus led even as he attracted

people to himself and there were more and more

people all of the time who wanted to see Jesus

and and talk to Jesus and get help from Jesus

but even as Jesus's own personal notoriety had

been growing and growing and growing Jesus was

pushing the people around him people like Peter

to take up the work that he was doing and do

it for themselves He had begun sending out his

disciples, for example, to other towns on their

own to teach and to heal the sick. And in fact,

if you've still got your Bibles open to Matthew

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14, you'll see that just before we get

on in the boat and go out to sea, we have a story

that is sort of known. The shorthand is the feeding

of the 5 ,000. There's a great crowd of people

gathered on the seashore and they are fed. by

a miracle of sharing bread and fish, what seemed

like it would only be enough for a small group

of people, ends up feeding a great crowd of 5

,000 people, right? And that is what immediately

precedes this story of them walking on the water.

But when Jesus oversees, let's say, the miracle

of the feeding of the 5 ,000, and he makes sure

everybody has enough bread and fish to eat so

much that there's leftovers, Jesus doesn't actually

feed the people. Jesus gives the food to the

disciples and has the disciples feed everyone

who is hungry, right? And in that miraculous

moment, Peter is being encouraged to believe

that he can do the things that Jesus does, right?

This isn't just Jesus's work. This is our work.

together. And so as he followed Jesus, Peter

was constantly encouraged to believe that even

though Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is the anointed

one, right, we are all supposed to be following

Jesus' example, right, to speak the truth. to

heal the sick, to feed the hungry. Jesus is the

Messiah, but the Messiah's work is the people's

work. God's work is the people's work. Peter

has been seeing this and he has been starting

to really believe it, right? Such that when he

sees Jesus walking on the water, he actually

thinks to himself, I can do what Jesus can do

right and he has a moment of supreme confidence

when he steps out of the boat and he begins to

walk on the water himself this is not like a

like a monty python moment where he steps out

on the out of boat and immediately sinks to the

bottom of the sea no he actually takes a few

steps it is actually happening right but then

his confidence, his belief in himself falters.

And the scripture says that he sees the wind,

the crashing waves, the movement of the water,

and he doubts himself. Actually, I can't do this.

Why did I think that I could do this? Am I insane?

believed he could and now all of a sudden it's

like wait what what why no yes no no i cannot

actually do this i can't do the things that jesus

can do that's the doubt right i can't actually

that's the doubt okay belief is sometimes about

giving intellectual assent to a set of unprovable

supernatural claims. I believe that a thing called

heaven exists. Sometimes belief is like that.

But more often, belief is like the thing that

I testified to when I used to coach Little League.

When I told a nine -year -old boy who was about

to walk up to the plate with a baseball bat,

I believe in you, I wasn't saying that based

on objective and subjective criteria, I attest

to the fact of your existence, right? I was not

saying I believe you are a real boy, I believe

you have real feet and your real socks. Like,

no, of course that's not what I was saying. When

I said I believe in you, I was saying from some

deep place where true things are known inside

of me, I see and I know that you are able to

meet this moment, to face your fears, and to

do what needs to be done. I believe in you. Peter

believed in God. He believed in Jesus. And Peter

believed in himself. But on that last one, Peter

also doubted, right? Faith and doubt is not an

either or. People contain contradictions. I want

to hate. I want to love. All within the same

person, right? Peter believed. Peter doubted.

And Jesus asked, why? He didn't say, shame on

you for doubting. You no good doubter. Of course

Jesus didn't say that. But he did ask, why? And

why is a good question? You can learn a lot about

other people. You can learn a lot about yourself

just from asking why. Why do you react with anger

over here and laughter over here and weeping

over here? Why do you remember your strength

when this happens and forget it when this happens?

Why do you follow your fear at this moment and

follow your courage at this moment? Right? In

the text, of course, Peter doesn't answer the

question. He doesn't like have a quip at the

ready, right? There is no answer given to why

he doubted, other than the fear of the wind,

the wind that was also present a moment before

when he had all of the courage and faith that

he needed to step out of the boat, right? So

when Jesus asks him why, you know, why do you

doubt, we don't have his actual literal answer.

We can imagine different reasons why he doubted,

why he would doubt, why... he would doubt even

though he possessed belief within him, right?

We have many stories about Peter. We get to know

him as a man in the gospel. We can make educated

guesses about where his doubts may have come

from, injuries, insecurities, trauma, grief,

shame that he carries around, a gnawing sense

of comparison between what he is and what he

thinks he's supposed to be, right? There's different

things that could be the reason that he doubted

in that moment. whatever it is, we know it's

something, right? And because as readers and

students of the gospel, we are not given the

actual reason, the actual answer for the why

of Peter's doubt, because we are simply left

with Jesus's question, right? Then we know that

the question is for us as well. Why do we doubt?

He knows we do. He knows that we doubt. We don't

have to be afraid to admit it, but why? Because

if we can hold the question, interrogate our

own hearts, we might name something that we desperately

need to know. The answer to the why question

is exactly where Jesus is going to meet us. The

answer to the why question is what Jesus is there

to help us prevail against. Why do we doubt if

it's the legacy of lies and deceit that dismantled

our foundation and shattered all of our trust,

then that is where Jesus is going to help us

heal. Why do we doubt if we were betrayed? or

abandoned by somebody that we believed was our

friend, then this is where God is going to show

us a way toward beloved community and new bonds

of fidelity and friendship. Why do we doubt if

it's guilt that we feel from something terrible

that we did that we can't undo and we can't make

right even though we said we're sorry? If we

live with the weight of that sin and we doubt

that we can overcome it, if that's the why, right,

then that's the burden that Christ is going to

help us bear and show us how people who have

done wrong can yet do good before our time is

done. Why do we doubt? Maybe we still hear the

voice of one who taught us when we were little

that we were no good. all these years later we

still have doubt because we were taught to hate

ourselves. If that's the thing, then that's where

God will find us with the words that Jesus heard

in the Jordan River, you are my beloved and with

you I am well pleased. If it's the lingering

threat or the lingering effects or the lingering

presence of violence, in our real lives or a

lost sense of safety or a fear of loss in the

future. If that is the why of our doubt, then

that is the spot amidst the waves where Jesus

will meet us and will say, take courage. It is

I do not be afraid. I am here with you, you and

me. We will not be defeated by this moment. we

have much to do. So why do you doubt? It's good

to ask and it's good to picture Jesus there beside

us as the answers materialize. He will help us

to set down what it is right to set down. He

will help us to let go of what it is right to

let go. and He will help us to hold and to carry

what it is right for us to carry. But on the

other side, right? On the other side of this

stormy sea that we're in, in this moment of doubt,

when we pull the boat ashore, Jesus will continue

to lead us because there are more people for

us to meet. more people for us to love, more

people for us to serve. Grace is still growing

and Jesus has more light for us to share. So

you of little faith, you who doubt, take heart,

take courage. Anyway, thanks be to God. Amen.

Would you pray with me? Loving and gracious God,

we give thanks for this beautiful day. I give

thanks for these ancient words, this ancient

story that made such a difference in the lives

of those who were there and in the lives of those

who told it that more people kept telling it.

and kept telling it, and it came down through

generations, came down through centuries for

us to hear it today. We give thanks for the courage

that Peter had to get out of the boat. When he

doubted, we see our own doubts in him. We thank

you for being the one he can cry out to. We thank

you for being the one that we can cry out to

when we begin to sink. And we thank you for the

story that you kept writing in Peter's life as

he got to the other side of the sea because he

had much yet to do. And we ask you to guide us,

to strengthen us, encourage us, bless us, keep

us, and to keep leading us. to the things that

we are called and supposed and meant to do today

and tomorrow and all the days that you will lay

before us. We give thanks in Jesus name. Amen.