How many of you love being around or in water? How many of you do not? I do not understand how it is possible to dislike the water. I know that some people do not like being around or in water, but I love it. I grew up in water. Almost every day in the summer I was at our local swimming pool. If I was not, I was swimming in a pond or a creek or a lake. Some of my friends and I would even swim in the ponds that formed in old strip mines, which was not a good idea as they were full of chemicals, snapping turtles, and leeches. There’s nothing like climbing out of a strip mine pond and having to take a lighter to burn the leeches off of your body. Don’t ask me what we were thinking in swimming in that nasty water, because obviously we weren’t thinking. Although I love being in water, I will admit that turbulent water is a far different matter. I have been out on a lake more than once, far from the shore, in a very small watercraft, when a storm rolls in and the waves get high, the wind blows very hard, and the shore is a scary distance away. I’m a pretty decent swimmer, but it is scary to be on the water in a moment like that. Whenever I read the passage that we are studying this morning, I think about some scary moments I have had on water and can understand the fear that overcomes Peter.
Today we conclude the series of messages titled The Miracles of Jesus. Even though I did not get very far into my message of two weeks ago, in the 11:00 service, I decided not to return to that one, and I hope you don’t mind. When I started reading through my manuscript for that message, there was an uncomfortable association with two Sundays ago, so I decided I was going to set that message aside.
Beginning next week we will begin a five-week series of messages from the book of James. There are five chapters in the book of James, so we will do one chapter each week. I hope you will take some time and read through that book in the next few weeks. It is one of the most practical books in the Bible, I think, and has some very important – and very pointed – things to say to us. Whenever I read the book of James, I always find myself wincing somewhat from the pointed truths contained there, but I also learn a great deal.
This week we turn to Matthew’s gospel, to chapter 14, where we find a story that contains what I call two and a half miracles. The two miracles are Jesus walking on the water and his calming of the wind and the waves. The half miracle is a reference to Peter, and I refer to his experience as half of a miracle because after stepping out of the boat, Peter manages to take only a few steps on the water before his faith falters and fear overtakes him and he begins to sink. I don’t say that to be critical of Peter, as he deserves credit for having the faith and the courage to step out of the boat and into the stormy water – a feat I’m not sure I could manage – but as his faith falters, and so does the miracle of his walking on the water.
Follow along as I read Matthew 14:22-33 –
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.
23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,
24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
1. When you are uncertain about the present and/or the future, look to the past.
The disciples were not always very good at learning the lessons they should have learned from their experiences with Jesus. Experience is a great teacher, but the disciples weren’t always very good students. Just before this story, for instance, is the feeding of the 5,000. It seems to me that when you experience a miracle such as the feeding of that great multitude, you might find it easier to have more confidence about God’s provision for the future. If Jesus was able to feed a crowd that was much larger than the 5,000 – remember the 5,000 was only the number of the men who were present – then perhaps it should have been obvious to the disciples that they would be safe on those wind-swept waves. And we can also go back through the Scriptures and find many examples of how God’s provision and care in the past served as a promise of provision and care in both the present and the future. When Moses led the Hebrew people out of captivity in Egypt, and as they wandered through the wilderness, he would remind them of the way God had freed them from bondage and how that deliverance was both a reminder and a promise that God would continue to provide and care for them. All throughout the Scriptures we find example after example of the way in which the uncertainty of the present and future could be overcome by looking to the past. In fact, Jesus asked his disciples in Mark 8:18-19, don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?
I should add, however, that I’m not always a good example of doing what I recommend, and I’m going to hazard a guess and say I’m probably not the only one that falls into that category. You don’t have to raise your hand, but is there anyone here that understands what I am talking about, because you also struggle to look to the past to find hope and promise for the future?
2. Sometimes it’s hard to see Jesus through the wind, the waves, and the darkness.
When Jesus comes walking on the water, towards the disciples in the boat, he calls out take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid(verse 27). And Peter, in a very interesting reply, calls out, Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water (verse 28). Here’s my question – who else was Peter expecting to come walking across the water? Lord, if it’s you? What kind of question is that? What in Peter’s experience could possibly have made him think that anyone but Jesus would be taking a stroll across the water to come to them in the boat, in the midst of the darkness, the wind, and the waves? Is that James or John? No, they’re in the boat with us. Could it be Mary or Martha? No. So, who in the world can that be walking across the water in our direction? But let’s give Peter the benefit of the doubt, as it was nighttime, the wind was blowing hard, the waves were crashing about them, and the water was blowing in their faces (but still, I’d like to know who else he thought it might possibly have been).
But not only is it that Peter asks an odd question; he also makes an odd request. Why, I wonder, would Peter ask Jesus to invite him out of the boat and to walk to him on the water? Personally, I would take a lower standard of confirmation than asking to be invited out of the boat, into the wind and the waves, and to walk to Jesus on the water. If it were me, I would probably just ask Jesus, could you produce a little light so I can see for sure that it is you? That’s all I need. Or could I hear your voice one more time, just so I can confirm it is you? That would be plenty, in my opinion. I can tell you this with the greatest of certainty – when I am far out in the middle of a lake, at night, with the waves crashing around me and the wind blowing, my preferred method of confirming the presence of Jesus would notbe to say, hey Lord, if it is really you, can you ask me to step out of the security of this boat and into the darkness and the wind, and into the churning water? I don’t mean to sound as though I am second-guessing Peter, but it seems to me he could have come up with a better plan for confirming it was Jesus. I mean, why did Peter create such a difficult situation for himself?
Sometimes it’s hard to see Jesus through the wind, the waves, and the darkness. It’s understandable, then, in times of difficulty, that we would say, with Peter, Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Peter made such a request because he wanted a sign in a moment of uncertainty, and he wanted assurance when it was hard to see through eyes of faith. We too want some kind of confirmation in times of difficulty, a sign that will remove any doubts we might have that Jesus is there. Indeed, sometimes, it’s hard to see Jesus through the wind, the waves, and the darkness. Peter wanted confirmation that Jesus was there, and to be honest, who wouldn’t? Peter wanted to know that Jesus, who was the person in whom he could place his hope and his trust was there for him. Peter didn’t, however, ask for it to be easy sign, interestingly. Peter didn’t ask Jesus to come into the boat with him so he could see Jesus. No, Peter asked Jesus to call him to come to him on the water, and I admire that. Peter wanted to walk through the wind, the waves, and the darkness. Peter wanted to be called through all the difficulties and to be called to go through those things that struck fear into his heart and all he wanted and all he needed was something to guide him through. To Peter, Jesus became a lighthouse, a lighthouse that would shine through the darkness, a lighthouse that would show the way through the wind, and a lighthouse that would show him the way through the waves. Even though Jesus calmed the waves and the wind, he did not do it right away – not when Peter stepped out of the boat – and Peter did not ask him to bring calm and stillness. All Peter wanted, remarkably, was a way through.
What we can learn from Peter’s example is to say, Lord, I’m not asking for an easy way through the difficulties; I’m just looking for a guiding light to get me through. Lord, I’m not looking for an easy journey; I’m looking for the strength to help me to complete the journey. Yes, sometimes it’s hard to see Jesus through the wind, the waves, and the darkness, but rest assured he is there, and he will help us to see him.
3. So, keep your eyes on Jesus.
Years ago, Tanya was leading the Bible story segment in a week of Vacation Bible School. In teaching the story she wanted to find out what the kids already knew about it, so Tanya asked, who do we know that can walk on water? One of the girls in the class raised her hand and started waving it with a lot of enthusiasm – I know, I know! Tanya, of course, asked her, who do we know that walks on water? To this day, her answer still just completely tears Tanya up, because when Tanya asked who do we know who walks on water, the girl answered very proudly, Dave does! At that moment I promised to pay for her college education!
If I have ever been deluded enough to believe I could walk on water, that illusion was shattered two weeks ago. At first, I thought that I had been acting as though I believed I could walk on water, but I realized that to a great extent my problem was that I had taken my focus off of Jesus and begun to pay too much attention to the wind, the waves, and the darkness. It’s going to be a process for me to figure out what happened in my mind and my heart to get to that point, but I was in a situation that was much like that of Peter. I knew I was sinking, like Peter, and I thought I had cried out like Peter did – Lord, save me! – but I guess I didn’t really mean it, because I was still trying to walk on the water myself. One of the dangerous mindsets of ministry is that it is easy to believe that everything rests and turns upon me. If I don’t do this, things are going to fall apart. If I don’t keep going and pushing, things are going to fall apart. And what then drives you is not a focus upon Jesus and seeking to be like him as much as the focus is on insecurity, and anxiety, and fear, and a collection of thought patterns and behaviors that become harmful and destructive. You begin to worry more about whether the technology we use in worship will work than about the moving of the Spirit. You begin to worry more about who is here or not here than whether the presence of God is among us. You begin to worry about the ebb and flow of the offerings – and fret over the weeks when there is more ebb than flow – and wonder how the bills will get paid. And eventually, you sink.
Verses 29 and 30 say, “Come,” he 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, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Peter was doing fine as long as he was focusing on Jesus, but his difficulties began when he focused instead on the wind and the waves. Now, I have to be honest and say it would be hard not to concentrate on the wind and the waves, as that was a scary situation in which Peter found himself. The reality is, however, that we often turn our focus away from Jesus and turn it to that which frightens us. It is hard not to do so, as many of the fears we face in life are very real, but allowing them to overcome us is not the answer.
I very much enjoyed sitting in the back row of the sanctuary at Middletown Christian Church last Sunday morning with Tanya. It was nice to not worry about the many things that occupy my mind on a typical Sunday morning, and which so often get in the way of my own ability to worship God. Sitting there I realized that, just as Peter’s problem was not really the wind or the waves – as problematic as they certainly were – neither was my problem a case of exhaustion. My problem was allowing the metaphorical darkness, and wind, and waves, to envelope me and pull me under. I have realized that Jesus did not say to Peter, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you out into these waves or into this wind. No, that is not what Jesus identified as Peter’s problem; Peter’s problem, according to Jesus, was his lack of faith. It has been my lack of faith as well. I have worked, and worked, and worked, as though everything has depended upon me, rather than having faith that God is in control and will take care of everything. I know that is easier said than done, for a variety of reasons, but I understand how important it is for me to get to that point, as I cannot continue on the path I have been on. I know that Jesus has called me out of the boat and to come to him on the water, but I know that I do not have to make my way through the darkness, the wind, and the waves on my own, and that I can trust him.
The title slide you see for this message is not the one I wanted to use. I found one I really liked, but when I downloaded it the image quality was too poor to use. The picture was from the perspective of being underwater and looking up to the surface. On the surface, the image of Jesus can be seen, with his arm and hand outstretched, reaching down toward the water. I loved that image, because for some time now I have felt as though I were underwater, and the image of looking up and seeing the outstretched arm and hand of Jesus was very comforting to me.
I am trying very hard not to be afraid to cry out Lord, save me! I believe I’m not the only one who needs to stop being afraid to cry out those words. Look to Jesus. Do not fear the darkness. Do not fear the wind. Do not fear the waves. Do not let yourself sink. Reach up, and take the hand of Jesus.
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