August Sermons 2026

​Sunday August 2, 2026
Fr Nicholas Karipoff
The powerful story that we just heard from the gospel (Matt.14:22-34), the storm at sea, is found between two other very important stories. We heard the first last Sunday which was the story of the loaves and fishes. The second is the story of Christ’s long speech in the synagogue of Capernaum on the morning after the great miracle and after the storm. Within the story of the storm there is an episode of Peter walking on water towards Christ who was walking on water, which is found only in Matthew’s gospel. Peters’ fear, his drowning and the words of Christ to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? are usually taken as signs of weakness, but most likely Peter himself thought very differently. He saw this event as a sign of God’s strength, God’s power acting through him. For that reason, Peter, out of humility, did not allow his scribe, Mark, to include this event in his gospel. John also makes no mention of it because he had read the gospel, and he was a witness at the event. For the same reason, out of Peter’s humility, Mark’s gospel also omits the Lord’s praise to Peter when he replied to the Lord’s question: “Who do you think I am?” and Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Peter had great faith. In the context of the story, the others were terrified of both the storm and seeing what appeared be a ghost walking on water. But Peter took the initiative and said, “Lord, if it is you, allow me to walk towards you” and he does. Christ encourages him.
There is connection here between Peter and the fiery prophet Elijah whom, we, the church, celebrate today. After Elijah had brought down fire from Heaven in competition with the priests of Baal, he was humiliated by a woman, Jezebel, and he fled from her. What kind of humiliation is that? Fear humbles the fiery prophet and drowns the disciple who dares to walk on water. Fear is an interesting thing. Why does fear undermine faith? Fear is a function of our mortality. While we have not fully died to sin, as part of fallen humanity, and its manifestations within us, we will have a measure of fear within us. It is just a fact of life. At the same time, God allowed the great fiery prophet and the future great pillar of the Church, Peter, to experience humiliation at the height of their glory. One brings down fire and then he is humiliated. The other one walks on water together with the Lord and then starts drowning. There is a lesson to be learnt there. 
This was to protect them from overconfidence which robs us of God’s grace. Once we get a bit cocky and overconfident, we are finished. The storm at sea is a great lesson for the church for all times. It is a lesson for us collectively and individually. Storms will happen to all of us, and they will test our faith. They will humble us and we should learn firstly to stick together like the apostles in the boat. They felt better because there were a group of them together supporting each other. Secondly, focus on Christ and  not on the winds or on the waves, and trust that Christ will protect us individually and collectively.