Take Heart, Take Hold, Jesus is Here - 11th Sunday after Pentecost
Author: Pastor Carolyn Hetrick
August 09, 2026
Have you ever
had the feeling of being in the middle of something really long and exhausting
that makes your doubts and fears start to pile up? Maybe it’s the long-distance
race you’re running, and you hit that place where you have to tell your mind to
get out of the way. Or it’s a caregiving role, or a difficult learning curve at
work, or an unresolved relationship, a financial crisis, a chronic condition.
There are lots of ways we can be in the same boat in that feeling.
The disciples
in the gospel are literally in that boat when a storm kicks up, and the wind
begins to be against them. All night. They are still far from the shore they
want to reach and far from where they started. As their doubts and anxieties
crash over them like waves there is chaos in the boat and around them. Jesus,
where are you?!
Faith calls
us to trust but the truth is often we try to control things and that effort too
is exhausting. Jesus comes to those he loves in the storm saying “Take heart. Take
hold. I am here.”
There are a
couple stories in Matthew that show up twice. Same kind of experience, on two
different levels. One is the feeding of thousands. We just heard the feeding of
5000. Later there will be the feeding of 4000. In the first, the disciples are
overwhelmed and try to control their anxiety buy telling Jesus to send all the
people away before he changes the picture. The second time, he will tell them
straight up, “I have compassion for these people, let’s you and I feed them.”
He takes them a little deeper in faith.
Today in our
storm story, this is the second storm. I know it gets labeled “Peter Walking on
Water” but let’s hear is as “Storms, Take 2.” The first story had Jesus in the
boat asleep in the storm and the disciples intervene shouting at him, “Don’t
you care?!” This time, he is not in the boat with them but comes to them to
show that he cares. When they feel abandoned, Jesus brings God’s presence and
heart close, to increase their deflated faith into something a bit deeper. So
that maybe as they encounter other storms, they will be able to draw upon this
faith.
Peter sees
Jesus coming close and he tries to manage the closeness. Please don’t criticize
him- let’s see his desire to connect with Jesus. I don’t think he is
showboating. Jesus doesn’t treat him that way.
Jesus says,
“Come.” Peter starts out but then, another gust comes and he blinks. All his
fear comes back. Haven’t we felt that way too? Hear Jesus saying, “I know your
faith feels small. You feel small.” And then Jesus reaches out his hand. “Take heart,
take hold. I am here.”
We are not
told that enough faith means no storms. We are shown that Jesus meets us in
faith to get us through the storms and back in the boat. Fear and trauma isolate
us- Jesus brings us back to community, to communion with him and others. Notice
that the storm does not truly become calm when Jesus takes Peter’s hand, but
when Jesus and Peter are back with the others in the boat.
Even modern-day
psychology will tell you that the best way to meet a person with trauma is not
to fix them, but to be present, patient, loving and grounded. For us as
followers of Jesus, we say that God’s word and presence in community grounded
in Christ’s love will be how Jesus’ presence is mediated. Not always as quickly
or in the way we imagined, but there nonetheless. Take heart, take hold, Jesus
is here.
Part of how
we live this out is in the sharing of storm stories. It’s why this story is in
Scripture. But we have stories too. Stories that help us and others in storms
say, “Wait! I remember how the story ended!” To build up our faith in believing
Jesus is here saying, “Take heart, take hold, I am here.”
Years ago, father-in-law
was ill with leukemia. Each time he had a bad episode and ended up in the
hospital was worse than the one before. Each recovery a little less. We had a
baby and found ourselves balancing the medical rollercoaster and parenting and
working. One time grocery shopping was at midnight in a 24-hour Giant. At work,
I stepped into my colleague’s office so burned out because I felt overwhelmed
by everything coming at us and it felt endless.
He had lost
his mom the year before and I remember telling him I felt like I was in a
tunnel and couldn’t see light at either end. What will be the next wave to hit?
How long will it be like this? My friend did the best thing possible. He showed
me Jesus by sharing his storm story. How it was when he was trying to hold a
lot of the same things.
He was honest
he didn’t always see Jesus right away. Some of it was only later. He could say,
“Right! That’s where someone reached out a hand, where I was brought back.” He
didn’t give me platitudes or tell me “you just need to…” He talked about how
bad it was and how God was there and what getting to the other side was like.
And who helped him. There was still a storm out there, but I wasn’t flailing
alone in the water. Take heart, take hold, Jesus is here.
And the truth
is we need each other and Jesus wants to help us grow deeper in faith and will
use us to help each other. When we are willing to tell our storm stories, and
make room for others, it renews our faith in the presence and the love and
power of Jesus Christ. It helps us stay in the boat with Jesus rather than
trying to just go it alone, trying to control what feel uncontrollable. In the
end those things don’t help us, personally or collectively. We just end up
feeling like it is all still raging and maybe so are we.
Telling our
stories, and what they have in common with the stories of God across time are
like reaching out a hand bringing someone back into the boat and allowing us to
deepen our faith. As followers of Jesus, we have a distinctive witness to
offer- a hope we can share, a consolation we can offer, an encouragement where
hearts don’t feel courageous. Take heart, take hold. Jesus is here. Jesus says,
“Do not be afraid,” to tell us we can stop acting out of fear and move deeper
into faith. Take heart, take hold, Jesus is here.
In the end if
we had focused just upon what Peter did, it’s like seeing someone acting
impulsively and just asking “What’s wrong with them?” instead of “what has
happening for them? How can we help them see Jesus?” We embody God’s word. One
of the most honest things we can say to ourselves or another struggling in a
storm is, “I know your faith feels small right now. I’m here.” Our collective hearts
and hands and words are a powerful way to mediate Christ’s presence in a world
that so quickly criticizes and demonizes and cuts people off for not “getting
it right.” In a world that can feel chaotic and exhausting we point to Christ’s
peace in Scripture and in our lives. We can look for God’s heart close to ours,
coming to us with compassion and love now. We can encourage each other: Take
heart, take hold, Jesus is here. AMEN.
Copyright Rev. Carolyn K. Hetrick, 2026 All rights reserved. May
not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.
Sermon Text: Matthew 14:22-33
22 [Jesus] made the disciples get
into a boat and go on ahead to the other side [of the Sea of Galilee,] while
he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds,
he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there
alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by
the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the
sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking
on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in
fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them
and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
28 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you,
command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the
boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened,
and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand
and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you
doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind
ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him,
saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
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