Pastor Tom Johnson, August 10, 2014
Jesus has just illustrated the Kingdom of God through
parables: brief stories, illustrations, and word portraits. Now it’s time to
bring home the truth of the Kingdom through all the senses—not just hear about
it but see, smell, taste, and touch what the Christian journey is like. So Jesus fed the five thousand. And now he sends them on a
journey across a stormy sea. Come with me as Jesus makes us get into the boat.
Join me and the disciples as we experience what it means to walk with God—even
walk on water.
Jesus calls us to follow him. He sends us away into the boat
and he goes a different direction—up to the mountain by himself to pray. Jesus
ascends up to the Father in prayer as we descend into the sea at the close of
the day. The day is spent. The dark evening skies have come. And so
has the howling wind and crashing waves. Even the professional fishermen among
us are scared. Sent out like lambs among the wolves—like a life raft filled
with helpless orphans. Jesus is far away. We cannot imagine
him able to reach us. We about to be swallowed up alive and washed down into
the throat of death. Where is he who promised he would never leave or abandon
us? My God, why have you forsaken us? What choice is there but to entertain our worst fears and
superstitions? Through the wind, tossing sea, falling rain, and illuminated by
brief flashes of lightning we see a figure of a man doing the impossible—we see what we can only explain as a ghost—the shadow of a person
walking confidently upon the water toward us. Is he the personification of
death coming to claim us?
“Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid!” Literally, “Have
courage—be cheerful—I AM. I AM that I AM. I am the Lord. My divine Name should
remind you that I am no ghost. I am not mere flesh and blood but also Creator
of heaven and earth and sea. I am Sustainer
of the universe. So don’t be overcome by fear.”
“If that is true,” Peter cries out, “then call me out onto
the water.” And so Peter also does the impossible. For with God all things are
possible. Jesus assures him by confidently calling him to walk upon the water.
But that does not stop the wind and the waves. Peter’s fear of the threats of this world begin to grow. And
as his fear grows, his trust and faith in Jesus diminishes. Fear and the threat
of death are still there to haunt Peter and the disciples. And who can blame
him?
If it isn’t the wind trying to knock us over, it may very
well be something else. The world may seem against us just like the wind and
the waves were against the disciples that day. We should not underestimate how
terrifying this experience is for the disciples and for Peter. Many of them are
professional fishermen. They are professionals on the water. If they are
frightened, we amateurs would be beside ourselves in fear and terror. We believe that Jesus is with us as he promised: “Remember,”
Jesus tells us in his ascension, “I am with you until the end of the age” (Matt
18:20). But just as with the disciples, Jesus can sometimes seem more like a
vague apparition or a ghost in the eyes of our faith. We walk by faith, not by sight. But our
faith vision of him in our lives can be dulled and blurred by the wind and
waves of this world. Peter is of little
faith, as Jesus says. But he is not without
faith. He did walk on the water no
matter how brief of a time it was.
Remember Jesus said, just a few verses before this, that “The
kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…the smallest of all the seeds, but
when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the
birds of the air come and make nests in its branches” (Matt 13:31,32). Peter
walks on water by his little faith! And so, I think Jesus’ words are not as much a rebuke as it
is a challenge to all of us to strengthen our faith. And what better way of
doing that is there then to challenge God himself to reveal his presence and
power in our lives. For it is not with the strength of our grip that we reach out to God but the strength of his arms that catch us when we fall.
“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the
water!” “O God, if you are out there—if you aren’t just some abstraction in my
life—if you are not a mere figment of my imagination—call me out to do the
impossible! This is the moment I need to know you are really present in
my life! Deliver me from evil. Save me from doubt and unbelief. Rescue me from
sinking into fear and despair. Help me to transcend the troubles of this world
and finish my journey safely to the other side!”
“Reach out your hand like you did with Peter and catch me.
My faith is weak and small but you promised that even faith like a mustard seed
would grow into a tree where birds can make their nests. Help me to find refuge
and a home in you! And when the wind and the waves finally stop raging—when
the storm is over—I will give you all the thanks and glory. Truly you are the
Son of God. This is not just a thing of fiction. You are not an invention of
humans or an opium for the masses. You are who you say you are—the great I AM—the One who catches us when we fall—even when our faith is
small—and takes us safely to the other side.”
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