Matthew 14:22-33 When we left here last Sunday the crowds who had been following Jesus were spread out on the seashore as far as the eye could see—thousands upon thousands of them, healed and whole—fed and satisfied. And I bet you can guess what happened next: John tells us in his Gospel that they came to Jesus, wanting to make him there king—by force if necessary.
And why not? All of their earthly needs were met and if they could just get Jesus to hang around, the future would look exactly the same. They could go to Jesus when they had any physical need, confident that it would be met, in an unending life of peace and plenty—joy and ease.
We understand the temptation of the crowd don’t we? In fact, doesn’t that really describe what we want out of our life with God? We want our needs met. We want to be happy and satisfied. We want to look forward to a future where there is only peace and plenty.
And there will be a life like that—one day. There will be a world like that—one day. But that day is not this day- and until that day- Jesus wants us to walk by faith—not by sight. He wants us to have confidence in him even when life doesn’t go as planned. He wants us to trust him even in the storms of life. The Bible says that:
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
Jesus had faced this kind of temptation before. At the beginning of his public ministry the devil came to him and tempted him, promising him that Jesus would rule all the kingdoms of the world if he would only give the devil his due. But Jesus resisted that temptation and he resisted this one too.
It must have been difficult to do. How the people must have begged him to be their king. How they must have pleaded with him to keep on meeting their earthly needs. How they must have complimented him and praised him and thanked him for what he had done.
Anyone else would have given in. But not Jesus! His mission involved much, much more than merely meeting the earthly needs of men. He came to save men’s souls.
Anyone else would have loved to have been the king. But not Jesus! He came to be a servant who would suffer and die so that we might live forever in Paradise.
The world that we hope for and long—the world where there is no suffering or sorrow or separation—the world where we will know God face-to-face and see him as he is, is still to come. Until that day we must go on in life, facing and bearing up under all of the hard times and difficulties that a broken world can throw at us. The Bible says that:
When evening came, Jesus was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.
A long way from home. Beaten by the waves. The wind against them. That’s a pretty good description of life as we know it and experience it here on earth. And it’s just the opposite of what we want!
We want to be safe and secure in our heavenly home or at the very least safe and secure in a place of earthly comfort and care. We want to float along in life with nary a ripple to disturb us. We want the wind at our back no matter what we undertake, directing us to one success after another.
But that’s not how life in the world is! We are not home yet. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us in heaven. He will come again to take us there. But we are not there yet.
The Bible says that we are a pilgrim people—that we are aliens and strangers in this world—that we are really citizens of heaven. We tend to forget that! We get pretty comfortable here. Many of us live decades or even lifetimes in one place. But all of us have a home elsewhere and we are not there yet.
Just like the disciples, while we are sailing along on that journey home, we get beat up by the waves along the way. There is some sickness. There is some painful separation among our loved ones. There is some sorrow of life. And we are beaten and battered by the waves of life—for all our life.
It sure seems like the wind is always against us to one degree or another. Much of our life is two steps forward and three steps back. We get a few dollars saved up only to need a new car. We are climbing the corporate ladder only to have it kicked out from under by an industry downturn. We’ve had good rain on our fresh planting only to never see another drop.
And so then you tell me: which is more familiar to you: laying around fat and happy on the seashore with not a care in the world? Or struggling against the forces of nature just to keep going? That’s what I figured. That is why Jesus wants to teach us to walk by faith and not by sight.
There are those moments in life when everything is going our way and we don’t have a care in the world and there is no question in our mind but that God is with us and blessing us.
We don’t need any faith in those moments because we can see with our eyes just how much we are blessed and loved. But those moments don’t last forever- and can’t last forever here on earth- and we must not insist on them like the crowds who wanted to make Jesus king by force.
What is much more common and familiar is what the disciples were going through—difficult times—dangerous circumstances-- where we have to learn to trust in Jesus in the storms of life. The Bible says that:
In the fourth watch of the night Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. Immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
Please note the contrast! Everything that terrified the disciples! Everything that made their life at that moment painful and difficult! Everything that overwhelmed them and made them afraid-- was trodden underfoot by Jesus!
He was not tossed back and forth. He was not afraid. He was not hard pressed under the opposition of wind and wave. Rather he walked upon it as its Creator and Master. What a comfort this is to know that whatever we face in life, whatever terrifies us, whatever opposes us is not greater or more powerful than Jesus Christ!
Not some dread disease. Not some financial difficulty. Not some spiritual struggle. Not even death is greater than Jesus. He showed his power again and again—healing diseases and meeting needs and conquering evil. Even his own death was conquered by his resurrection.
No matter what we face we don’t have to be afraid because our powerful Savior is with us in the midst of it and he can be trusted. The Bible says that:
Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come.”So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
For everything that Peter got wrong—from trying to direct Jesus away from the cross to denying him three times to striking back with the sword—there is so much that he got right!
Please note what Peter didn’t say: He didn’t say: get us back to shore. He didn’t say: make the storm go away!
Instead, he wanted to be with Jesus in the midst of the storm. He trusted and believed that being with Jesus would be enough! There is a lesson here for us.
Don’t we usually do just the opposite when we are faced with the storms of life? Don’t we pray for some kind of magical deliverance? Don’t we act more like the crowds on shore, wanting to assured with some kind of tangible sign of God’s blessing? For Peter, it was enough to be with Jesus—even in the midst of the storm. So it must be for us.
Jesus promised that he would be with us always—even to the ends of the earth. We may not always—or even usually-- be able to see that—the wind and the waves may make pretty difficult to see clearly his presence in the storms of life—but that doesn’t mean that Jesus isn’t there.
What we need to do is cling to his word just like Peter did and step out in faith. The Bible says that: When Peter saw the wind, he was afraid…
When we face the storm of life, when we are tossed to and fro by forces more powerful than ourselves, when it seems like the wind is always in our face—what is that causes our fears? Isn’t it when our eyes become fixed on the situation rather than our hearts being fixed on Jesus?
That’s what happened to Peter. He heard the word of Jesus. He knew Jesus’ power. Peter stepped out in faith while the rest of the disciples clung to poor hope of a little boat-- and so long as his eyes were fixed on Jesus he was fine—the power and the promise and the presence of Jesus were more real than even the storm. But when he looked around at the wind and the waves, he lost sight of Jesus and began to sink.
We know how true that is in our own lives! So long as we are close to Jesus and so long as we are listening to his Word we our faith is fine. But our faith begins to sink when we take our eyes off Jesus, when the storms of life drown out the powerful promise of his Word. But even then it is not too late to call out to the Lord in our need. The Bible says that:
beginning to sink Peter cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Why did you doubt? What, are you kidding me?! Look at the wind! Look at the waves! And Jesus’ response to us is: look at me! Look at me as I heal the sick and feed the multitudes and raise the dead and believe that I can care for your needs! Look at me as I carry your sin burden to the cross and die for you and believe that guilt and shame do not have to be a part of your life any longer! Look at me as I stand beside the grave, victorious over death and believe that there is not one enemy you will ever face that is greater or more powerful than I am. Look at me and trust me in the storms of life -and believe that I will save you! And he did and has. The Bible says that:
When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped Jesus, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Dear friends in Christ, we should not be confused, this is where true faith and trust will always lead: to confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior and worshiping him for who he is and what he has done.
How can it not?! How can anyone who knows who Jesus is—anyone who has experienced his care and concern--not worship him? It is simply impossible.
We need to re-capture and re-claim this basic Bible teaching, that those who truly trust in Jesus-- worship Jesus as Lord and Savior. Somehow people have gotten the idea that knowing the story of Jesus is the same thing as having faith in Jesus. That is absolutely not true.
For those disciples in the boat, their faith moved them to worship and how could it not?! They knew in a powerful way that Jesus was the Master of creation. They experienced his saving work and the peace that comes from it and it moved them to worship. May the same be true of us! Amen.
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