What Good is a Little Faith
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the 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 worshipped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
At the opening of this week’s gospel passage, Jesus is forcing the disciples into a boat before dismissing the crowds and, finally, going off by himself, up a mountain to rest and pray. This may seem abrupt, especially with the way we hear these passages in church. Tiny sections of a story, separated by a whole week, sometimes with intermediary portions left out. But it makes sense when we read the story as Matthew was trying to tell it.
At the beginning of last week’s gospel portion, Jesus has just learned that his cousin, John the Baptist, has been executed. He is upset and concerned by this. He and the disciples are headed out for some quiet—and quite possibly to make their way away from Jerusalem until Herod calms down a bit—but they are pursued by crowds. People in search of the teaching and healing that Jesus offers. So, the rest and travel are postponed while Jesus tends to their needs, including the feeding of 5,000 men and unnumbered women and children.
Today, Jesus is bundling the disciples off into a boat and telling the crowds to go home so that he can, finally, get some time to rest. Even if it does need to be up a mountain where, hopefully, nobody will find him. He assures the disciples he will catch up with them later. And so he does, just not in the way they were expecting.
The disciples are managing a difficult journey, fighting troublesome weather, when they spot Jesus walking toward them, across the water. When Jesus calls Peter to meet him, Peter sets out and manages to walk across the water toward Jesus. When the wind whips up the water, Peter is frightened, sure something will go amiss, and he begins to sink. When Jesus rescues him, we hear the famous line, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31) Jesus is gently rebuking Peter for not believing that he could walk on water, even though Jesus had assured him it would be so.
At least, that’s what we’ve been told is happening.
I understand why readers might hear this as Jesus chiding Peter. The disciples often need correction, grandly missing the point that Jesus is trying to make. Jesus is grieving the execution of his cousin. He has only had a few hours to himself and now he’s back with the disciples, on the sea, offering an impromptu lesson on faith. Jesus has every right to be grumpy. But, what if that’s not the case? What if Jesus calling Peter one of “little faith” isn’t a criticism, but an encouragement?
Jesus uses the term “little faith” on five occasions that I can find in Matthew’s version of the gospel. In addition to today’s passage, it shows up in 6:30, where Jesus is reminding people that if God is willing to clothe the grass of the field, so much more will God clothe those of little faith; 8:26, where Jesus calms the storm and asks the disciples in the boat why they, of little faith, were so scared in the first place; 16:8, where Jesus warns the disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees and they assume he means literal bread, rather than the teachings of those groups; 17:20, where Jesus calls the disciples out on a lack of faith and says that even faith so little as a mustard seed can move mountains.
In each of these cases, Jesus is correcting the disciples on errors they have made or points in his teaching that they have missed. And it may be that Jesus is referencing their “little faith” as a problem, or something to be improved. But it is just as easy to read each of these instances as Jesus saying that their “little faith” is enough to address the situation and that the problem arises when they doubt even the little faith they had. After all, a little faith is sufficient to move mountains and receive glorious vesture from God. Why would it not be enough to survive a storm, to feed thousands, or even walk on water?
Peter may have doubted himself and began to sink into the lake. We could count this as a failure. Another occasion in which Jesus needs to rescue the disciples and point out to them how they got it wrong in the hope that they will do better the next time. But it is worth spending a few minutes contemplating that Peter does actually manage to walk on water for a few moments. He may be a man of little faith, but his little faith is enough to support him.
Peter has faith that Jesus has called him out on to the water and that Jesus will support him if he responds to that calling. And it works! It works until the wind whips up and Peter turns his attention from Jesus to everything that he thinks he knows about this situation. People can’t walk on water. And the wind makes the water even more dangerous. Surely, he ought to be sinking into the sea because that is how these things work. Peter is certain that he knows how this situation ought to play out and forgets what Jesus just told him a moment prior. So, he begins to sink.
When Jesus pulls him out and leads him back to the boat, with Peter’s ability to walk on water restored, Jesus reminds him that he has a little faith. And that the little faith was sufficient until Peter doubted because of his own certainty. Peter’s certainty that he knew what was possible and how this scenario should play out where what dropped him into the sea, not a lack of faith. His faith, no matter how little, was what kept him atop the waves. A little faith God will clothe much more gloriously than the grass of the field and is sufficient to move mountains. Why wouldn’t it be enough to keep Peter walking on water for a few minutes?
How often have we hesitated to respond to a call from God because it seems impossible? The task or the situation is just beyond us. That need is something for others to do. People who are more skilled, more experienced, more thoughtful, more holier, people who are more faithful than me. Than us. We so quickly discount that we are the ones hearing the call. That, regardless of our estimation of our ability or what “should” be possible, God is calling us to the task.
When we consider, as a church, the ways in which God is calling us to mission and ministry in the world, how many do we dismiss? I’m not talking about the ideas which, after careful discernment, we agree are not for us or not for us right now. I mean those ideas where the call is before us and we feel drawn out to it. We take a couple of hesitant steps out of the boat on to the water and then immediately jump back in, sure that if we go any farther, we’ll sink. Even though we can see Jesus out on the waves, calling and beckoning us to join him there.
Our certainty about what is possible is so often the fence that keeps us safe, but also limits our imaginations as to what we might do. It is our faith, however little, that frees us to explore what God imagines we might do. What good is a little faith? No, what good is a little faith.
