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My wife and I have a four-year-old son named Stephen. As with most four-year-olds, Stephen knows no fear. His philosophy is: why walk when you can run, why stand when you can climb? He is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a childproof safety seal, able to leap tall cabinets at a single bound.
The amazing thing about being that age is that you don’t know what you can’t do – I suppose that’s one reason God gave us parents. It’s only as we grow older, as we’ve experienced some of life’s challenges, that we come to the realization that we have limits; that we have to be reasonable about things because we can’t do just anything. You don’t want to be reckless, after all.
So the other morning as I was reading a devotional book by Oswald Chambers, I was surprised to see he used the word “recklessness” in connection with our walk with Christ. Why would a respected Christian writer tell us to be reckless? Look with me at the passage of scripture that prompted his comment, which you’ll find in Matthew 14:22-33.
As far as I know, my dad had never even been on a small boat in his life. He’s certainly never owned a boat in his life, but some time after he turned 60, he went out and bought a boat. I’ve been told the two greatest days in a boat-owner’s life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it! He hasn’t sold his boat yet, so we still get to enjoy it on the St. Johns River when we visit.
But there is one thing I’ve never been tempted to do when we are out on the boat with my dad: I’ve never been tempted to step out of the boat onto the water. Call me a stick-in-the-mud, but even on a beautiful and calm spring day that thought just hasn’t crossed my mind.
But here, on a dark and stormy night, Peter does something reckless – he steps out of that boat to go to Jesus. And in this remarkable story, Peter demonstrates what reckless obedience is all about.
Reckless obedience is following Christ no matter what – no matter where you are, who you’re with, what you’re doing, no matter what the cost. Reckless obedience steps out of the boat when Jesus calls.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that reckless obedience is the path to life’s greatest satisfaction and accomplishment. More than that, when we learn to live a life of reckless obedience for Christ, we will find ourselves used of God to accomplish incredible things for His Kingdom.
So how do we live in reckless obedience? One of the first challenges we find in this text is to:
Expect great things of God
Jesus has been ministering to the crowds – teaching, healing the sick, and just before this he miraculously fed 5,000 people from five loaves and two fishes. Now He has sent the disciples on ahead in the boat, and He spends several hours alone in prayer, renewing His spirit and preparing for what is still ahead. (Every time I think I don’t have time to pray, I need to read this and remind myself I don’t have time not to pray. If Jesus needed the renewal and strength that comes from time alone with God, I suspect you and I can use it far more.)
Meanwhile, back in the boat, it’s rough going. They should have already been across, but they’ve been caught in a storm, and the driving wind is keeping them from making progress. Finally, at the fourth watch – which is between 3:00 am and 6:00 am in the morning – Jesus comes out to join them on the boat. Of course, He takes a shortcut – straight across the water.
The disciples are tired and weary – they’ve been fighting the wind and waves for hours now – and suddenly they see a shadowy figure coming toward them across the water. Immediately they are seized with fear that it is a ghost, an evil spirit. But Jesus seeks to calm them as He calls out, “Take courage. It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
There’s an interesting thing to note here about what Jesus said to them. That phrase translated “It is I” in most of our Bibles, is literally the statement, “I am.” So what Jesus was saying was “Take courage. I am.” Why is that significant? If you look at Exodus 3:14, as Moses meets God at the burning bush, God tells Moses His name: “I am who I am.” And he tells Moses to tell Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”
It’s the same thing Jesus says now, walking across the water to a group of frightened disciples. He’s saying, “Take courage. The same God who created this water, the same God who crafted the wind – He’s standing right here with you. You don’t have to be afraid.” If you thought God was standing next to you right now, do you think that might give you a little more courage than you’d otherwise have? Can I let you in on a little secret? He is – He is right there with you. Does that make a difference?
It sure made a difference for Peter. While all the other disciples stood there shaking and dripping, Peter says, “Lord, if that’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” The word “tell” doesn’t fully capture the force of what Peter is asking; he’s really saying, “Lord, command me to come to you.”
Here is a moment of remarkable faith in Peter’s life. He believed that if Jesus gave the order, He could do it. There could have been twelve disciples out there on that water, riding those waves without skis or a surfboard, but only one asked. Only one expected something special from God – and he got it.
Do you know what is the richest place in any city or town? It’s not the jewelry store, or the country club, or anything so modest as that. It’s the cemetery. Go by any cemetery – it’s full of riches that people carried to their graves. There are great songs that were never written, magnificent works of art never created, life-changing achievements never attempted, powerful testimonies for Christ never spoken. Can you think of anything more tragic than to go to your grave never having tasted the great things God made available to you – all because you never asked?
Victor Pentz is pastor of Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, one of the largest churches in America. He said that as a young pastor, one day he walked into his office with a pair of scissors and cut the word “impossible” out of his dictionary. Sound silly? No, that’s the kind of vision that God uses to transform churches, communities, and nations. Only when we expect great things from God are we prepared to receive great things from God.
In Ephesians 3:20, Paul says, “God can do anything – far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” (The Message)
Right now, ask yourself this question: What would I attempt for God if I knew I couldn’t fail?
Now, are you listening? He’s calling you to come out of the boat.
To live in reckless obedience means we are going to expect great things from God. But it also means we will
Attempt great things for God
Faith is a wonderful thing in the abstract, but the critical moment comes when it’s time to get out of the boat. Reckless obedience requires getting out of the boat.
After it was over, you can just imagine the disciples talking to one another: “I knew that was Jesus out there. I knew He could do that. I could have gone out there.” Lots of folks have faith in theory, but that night in the storm, only one of them got out of the boat. Peter not only believed Jesus could enable him to walk on the water – he acted on that belief.
Faith is not simply knowing that God is there, that Jesus can save – it is more than mentally believing. It also involves doing something about that belief – it means getting out of the boat.
In 1789, William Wilberforce stood before the British Parliament and called for an end to human slavery within the British empire. Every year for the next 18 years he introduced a bill to end slavery, and every year for 18 years his bill was defeated, but he never gave up on his campaign. Then in 1833, just four days before he died, Wilberforce saw Parliament pass a bill abolishing slavery. But it never would have happened if someone hadn’t gotten out of the boat.
In the late 1800’s, Wilbur and Orville Wright believed that “the age of the flying machine” had arrived, but for ten years their experiments continued to fail. Then, on December 17, 1903, on the sands of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, their little plane lifted off the beach and a new day of air travel had begun. But it never would have happened if they hadn’t moved their dreams from idea to reality – if they hadn’t gotten out of the boat.
In the 1940s, a young minister named Billy Graham had a dream of great stadiums filled with people hearing the gospel. Over the years and through many challenges, God honored that vision, and now more than 200 million people have heard Billy Graham preach the gospel in person, while more than a billion people have heard him through radio and television. But it never would have happened if he hadn’t gotten out of the boat.
What is it God has in mind for you? What great thing is God waiting to accomplish through you – if you’ll only get out of the boat?
The African impala is a beautiful, powerful animal. The impala can jump to a height of more than 10 feet, and it can leap a distance longer than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure with a solid 3-foot wall. Why? Because the impala will not jump if it cannot see where its feet will fall. If it can’t see where it will be landing, it won’t jump over the wall.
Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see. When we are willing to step out of the boat in reckless obedience, we are freed from the obstacles of life that would entrap us. Peter stepped out of the boat and joined Jesus in doing something no other man had ever done before. All because, when Jesus said, “come,” Peter got out of the boat.
It was a powerful moment of faith for Peter, but then something happened. Instead of focusing on Jesus, he begins to look around at the storm – and that’s when he began to sink. He stepped out of that boat with his eyes and his confidence fixed on Jesus – but now he starts to look around. Our text says, “when he saw the wind, he was afraid.” He began to look at his situation and his circumstances – he begins to think, “Wait a minute. I can’t walk on water!” And he starts to sink.
Many of us have experienced that at one time or another, haven’t we? God has called us to a task, but we get our eyes off of Him and begin to question ourselves.
We look at the circumstances. We see the wind, the storm, and we lose heart. A crisis comes into your life, and you begin to be caught up in that situation – this challenge is too great, this conflict can’t be overcome, this wind is too strong. That’s when you get your eyes off Jesus.
Sometimes we look at other people. It wouldn’t be surprising if Peter had looked back at the other 11 disciples still in the boat and thought, “Why are they in there and I’m out here?” It’s easy to start paying attention to what other people are doing and telling us to do, and we can forget what Jesus has told us to do.
Often things come apart when we look at ourselves. In the power of Christ you are about to walk on the water, then you start thinking, “Wait a minute. How am I going to do that? I can’t walk on water.” And down you go.
The truth is, when Peter realized he couldn’t walk on water, he was absolutely right! Of course he couldn’t! In his own power, he’d sink like a rock. But for a moment, when he stepped out of the boat, he wasn’t operating in his own power – he was walking in the power of Christ. And when we walk in His power, recklessly obedient to His call, walking on water is like walking down a sidewalk.
Yet it was at this moment, as he felt himself sinking, that Peter discovered a wonderful reality of reckless obedience – that in faith we can
Accept great grace from God
One of the amazing discoveries of walking with Christ is that it is in reckless obedience that we truly discover reckless grace. It is only when we are willing to step out of the boat in obedience that we are in a position to discover the awesome grace of God that is available to us.
As Peter shifts his attention from the Lord to the storm, he begins to sink, and he cries out, “Lord, save me.” Peter’s faith is not gone; he just lost his focus – and he still knows where to find help. In fact, there’s an insight in what Jesus says to him: “Why did you doubt?” That word “doubt” literally means to be “double-minded” – to be of two minds. That’s exactly what had happened to Peter – it’s not that He didn’t believe in Jesus; it’s just that the wind was so strong and the waves were so scary that he lost his focus on the Lord. He became double-minded.
Have you ever had that experience? You know what God wants you to do, and you’d like to be faithful, but there are other attractions -- things that are seeking to draw our attention. You want to trust Jesus, but you also want to fit in and be accepted at work or at school. You want to trust Jesus, but you also want to have your own way – be your own boss. You want to trust Jesus, but there are some other things you’d like to experience also – things that other folks seem to be enjoying.
And so you are torn – double-minded – and you begin to sink. There are two important truths contained right here that every Christian needs to understand. First, when you lose your focus on Jesus, that’s when you’re going to sink. Peter was walking on water until he started paying more attention to the wind than to the Lord.
But there’s another equally-important truth to remember: even when you’re sinking, Jesus is still there. As soon as Peter called on Him, Jesus pulled him out of the water and brought him back to the safety of the boat. Even when Peter’s faith-focus wavered, Jesus was standing right there ready to save him. That is grace.
Yet Peter would never have experienced the saving touch of Jesus in that moment if he had never stepped out of the boat. It is when we practice reckless obedience that we put ourselves in a position to discover reckless grace – grace without limits, grace that doesn’t depend on our abilities or our goodness, grace that reaches through a storm and brings us safely home. If Peter had never stepped out of the boat, he’d have never discovered that Jesus could save him in the middle of a storm.
It’s not the last time Peter’s faith will waver. Over in chapter 26, we can read about the night when the guards came and arrested Jesus in the garden. Peter followed, yet standing by the fire that night and confronted by people who accused him of following Jesus, he lost heart and denied his Lord. Yet even then, in the days following Jesus’ death and resurrection, God’s grace reaches out to Peter and restores him to service, and he becomes the first great proclaimer of the risen Lord on the Day of Pentecost. Reckless grace.
On August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines flight 225 crashed just after taking off from the Detroit airport, killing 155 people, One person survived: a four-year-old from Tempe, Arizona, named Cecelia. News accounts say that when the rescuers found Cecelia they did not believe she had been on the plane. At first they assumed she had been a passenger in one of the cars on the highway onto which the airliner crashed. But when the passenger log for the flight was checked, there was Cecelia’s name.
Cecelia survived because, even as her plane was falling, Cecelia’s mother, Paula, unbuckled her own seat belt, got down on her knees in front of her daughter, wrapped her arms and body around Cecelia, and then would not let her go.
Nothing could separate that child from her mother’s love - neither tragedy nor disaster, neither the fall nor the flames that followed, neither height nor depth, neither life nor death.
Jesus Christ left behind the glories of heaven and came to live among us. And at Calvary, He covered us with the sacrifice of his own body. He gave Himself so that you and I can have life abundant. That is reckless grace.
It is in reckless obedience that we discover reckless grace. How about you – are you ready to get out of the boat?
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notes:
i Wilberforce, Wright and Graham examples adapted from Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels, pp. 29-30
ii Bryan Chapell, In the Grip of Grace
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Michael Duduit is Editor of Preaching magazine and Director of the National Conference on Preaching, which will be held April 7-9, 2008, in suburban Washington, DC. (www.preaching.com/ncp) Effective June 1, 2008, he will also serve as Dean of the Graduate School of Ministry at Anderson University in Anderson, SC.
