Lord of the Streets, Houston
August 9, 2026
Proper 14, A
1 Kings 19:9-18
Psalm 85:8-13
Matthew 14:22-33
“Dude, if I called you out of the boat to take a stroll on the water with me, did you really think I was going to let you drown?” Ok, so that’s a bit snarkier than what Jesus said to Peter, but I think it really gets to the heart of the question, don’t you? Jesus had called Peter out of the boat in the middle of the sea to take a stroll on the water with him, and when Peter got afraid and began to drown, Jesus picked him up, put him in the boat and said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
That’s actually a pretty good question. Why did Peter doubt? He saw Jesus, walking on the water. When Jesus called him out of the boat, Peter started out walking on the water just fine, but then he got afraid when he saw the wind and the waves. So, of course, Peter doubted because he was afraid. With fear of drowning foremost in his mind, I can imagine Peter having two questions. Could Jesus keep him walking on the water, and would Jesus keep him walking on the water. In other words, Peter was doubting Jesus’ ability and his good will.
Maybe that sounds familiar.
Sure, Jesus is powerful and all, but can he really help with this? I can see Peter wondering just how far Jesus’ powers extended. If a wave knocked Peter ten feet away from Jesus, would the floaty, water-walking awesomeness still reach him? Then there’s the question of Jesus’ intentions. What if Jesus was secretly angry with Peter and had only called him out of the boat to trick him? What if Jesus actually wanted him to drown and figured this way he could make it look like an accident?
That may sound nuts, and it is nuts, but Peter wouldn’t have been the first to question God’s power or good will. When the people of Israel were hungry and thirsty in the desert after God freed them from slavery in Egypt, they cried out, repeatedly in Exodus and Numbers, “What the heck, God? Did you bring us out of Egypt just so we could die in the wilderness?” The people were hungry and thirsty, so of course they began to doubt. Could God bring them food and water in the desert? Would God bring them food and water in the desert? Spoiler, but God did.
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| Photo by Sebastian Bill on Unsplash Text inspired by Despair.com |
We all have a fear response. For some of us, it’s kinda mild, and for some of us, our fear response is huge. Now, that’s supposed to be a good thing, protecting us from actual threats, but we often become afraid over things that feel like threats or remind us of threats, even if we’re not really in danger. Just the wrong thing will hit, past trauma will get triggered, and the fear response takes over. So, we get afraid, sometimes very afraid, and once that fear takes over, we may just start to sink. Even if we have great faith, we may start to sink when fear hijacks our brains.
There’s no shame in that, and the fact that fear takes over doesn’t mean we don’t believe well enough. No matter how well we believe, that fear response may hijack our brains, and we may begin to sink. That’s ok. It happens. So, when it happens, when we’re overcome with fear and we begin to sink, Peter has shown us what to do. Turn our fear over to Jesus and ask for his help. Trust in Jesus and allow our fears and doubts to quiet down so that love, hope, and faith can lead us.
Now, that doesn’t mean everything is always going to turn out great, if only we trust in Jesus enough. Jesus did tell us that even if we have great faith, bad things may still happen to us. People are still people, the world is still the world, and no matter how faithful we are, life’s slings and arrows may still hit us.
The work of the church is to continue in the ministry and mission Jesus has for us, even when we are hit by life’s slings and arrows. We are to offer our fears to Jesus, trust in the mission and ministry Jesus has for the church, and remember Jesus’ message, “Dude, if I call you out of the boat, do you really think I’m going to let you drown?”
In our life at Lord of the Streets, Jesus has given us a mission, and our mission is to relieve suffering and reveal dignity by rebuilding lives through ministries and relationships with people facing homelessness. That’s how Lord of the Streets lives out Jesus’ mission of love, hope, and faith: relieve suffering and reveal dignity by rebuilding lives through ministries and relationships with people facing homelessness.
That’s the mission for everyone who chooses to be a member of Lord of the Streets (and for everyone who chooses to be a partner and supporter of Lord of the Streets). So, for everyone here, that’s all of our mission if we choose for it to be. We help one another out, we build relationships together, healthy relationships where we support each other and build each other up in love.
I was talking to a member last week. He was homeless and now has a place to live near here, and unfortunately, there’s a lot of drugs where he lives and not a lot of love, hope, and faith. So, I suggested that he start offering some of that love, hope, and faith. Invite some neighbors to meet together, pray together, have fellowship together in ways that don’t involve drugs. Ask Jesus to let that grow and bring love, hope, and faith to his apartment building and drive out the drugs and despair.
The man I was talking to hasn’t stepped out of the boat on this one yet. That’s ok, it’s a fearful prospect. Jesus’ message to him is, “Dude, if I call you out of the boat, do you really think I’m going to let you drown?” If he does begin gathering a community of love, hope, and faith to drive out the drugs and despair, I really don’t think Jesus intends for that to fail.
I’m having to listen to that same message right now as well, “Dude, if I call you out of the boat, do you really think I’m going to let you drown?” We’re in the midst of renovating our building at Lord of the Streets, and at the same time, our A/C went out. This is all happening as we’re working to expand our ministries to help folks get off the streets and stay housed. We’re working to build greater community of love, hope, and faith at Lord of the Streets, so that community can spread, so that folks do get housed, like the man I mentioned earlier, they can continue to build greater love, hope, and faith wherever they are.
Well, with all the crud going on with our building and the A/C going out right as this is starting to begin, I’m seeing a lot of wind and waves, and it’s hard not to get afraid and start to sink. So, what I’m trying to do is listen to Jesus’ message, “Dude, if I call you out of the boat, do you really think I’m going to let you drown?”
What I’m trying to do is believe that Jesus has this ministry for Lord of the Streets, and even though things are a pain in the tail right now, it’s gonna get better. We’re gonna get through this, and we’re going to have this ministry of connection and relationships. We’re going to have this ministry of being able to join together, and grow together, and support one another together, and not only get housed but stay housed and have these communities of love, hope, and faith so the church continues to spread, not only in our building, but in all the buildings where we end up living.
So, what do we do with our fear of drowning in the meantime?
Well, we keep on praying. We keep on, every day, saying, “Lord, grant me love, and hope, and faith. Guide me. Guide us. Guide your church into the mission and ministry you have for us at Lord of the Streets.
Then, when we do get knocked down by the slings and arrows of life, because we will, we continue to trust that even though resistance happens, Jesus’ mission ain’t gonna fail. What did Jesus say? “The gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Any one of us may get knocked down. Any one of us may get hurt, but we’re a part of something bigger than ourselves. We’re a part of Jesus’ mission of love, and hope, and faith, and nothing is going to stand against that, as we live that out together, and step out of the boat, and listen to Jesus’ words. “Dude, if I call you out of the boat to walk on the water with me, I ain’t gonna let you drown.”
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