Matthew 14:22-33
August 11, 2013
Life Storms
Two hunters came across a bear so big that they dropped their rifles and ran for cover. One man climbed a tree while the other hid in a nearby cave. The bear was in no hurry to eat, so he sat down between the tree and the cave to reflect upon his good fortune.
Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, the hunter in the cave came rushing out, almost ran into the waiting bear, hesitated, then ran back into the cave. The same thing happened a second time.
When he came running out of the cave a third time, his friend in the tree screamed out to him, “Woody, are you crazy? Stay in the cave until the bear leaves!” Out of breath, Woody screamed back – “I can’t, there’s another bear in there.”
Do you ever feel like the hunter in the cave? Every time you turn around there’s another problem waiting for you. No matter what you do, you can’t escape from your troubles. And as we seek to solve our own problems, on our terms, we often realize, we only make them worse.
Well, last week we began talking about the storms of life which hit us and knock us down. We looked at the ways in which the storms hit us and God’s place in the midst of the storms. We started looking at Matthew 14, the story where John the Baptist had been beheaded, then Jesus fed 1000's of people, and now He tells the disciples to get in a boat and cross the sea. Instead of me reading the passage to you, let’s watch it ~
This is a powerful passage of scripture. There’s really so much going on. The disciples are in a great and powerful storm. These experienced fishermen are scared, and at this point in their journey, there’s no turning back.
Like the disciples, we’re in danger of going down with the ship. Too many of us are in danger of having our spiritual lives sunk by the onslaught of life’s storms. We say things like, “There’s no use because . . . I’m no good. That’s just the way I am . . . there’s nothing I can do about it. Life just stinks.”
That’s the type of attitude that says, “Since the ship is going down, I might as well go down with it.” The storm’s of discouragement, despair, and disbelief threaten to sink us, but instead of going down with the ship, we need to take action.
Peter’s example teaches us about how to find life, even in the storms of life.
In the midst of this fierce storm, something miraculous was happening. Yet the disciples were totally unaware of it. Jesus approached the boat walking on the water. At first the disciples were frightened by his appearance, but Jesus comforts them by reassuring them that it’s Him.
Peter was unwilling to simply go down with the ship and wanted to go to his Lord. But who just gets out of the boat in the middle of a storm and walks on water? Let alone on a sunny day. So he asked Jesus to command him to come to Him on the water. Jesus called Peter to come to Him and Peter stepped out in sheer faith and began to go to the Lord — — walking on the water.
When we find ourselves caught in the storm’s of life that threaten to sink us Jesus will always come to us. Here’s a key point that I want you to grasp. If you remember something from this morning, this is it. And it’s a double edged sword ~
Jesus will come to us in the midst of the storms. He’s always there. Before, during and after, He’s there. He didn’t go anywhere, even though we’re wondering where in the world is Jesus. It’s like those old Where’s Waldo books . . . we wonder “Where’s Jesus?” Now, He never left us, and here’s the other part of the double edged sword ~
He wants us to come to Him. He wants us to call out, to cry out, even whisper . . . His name. To do it in faith. Listen to the story — as the disciples are freaking out,
25 In the fourth watch of the night Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.
26 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.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered Him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
29 Jesus said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
Do you see what’s happening? Jesus came to the disciples. He’s crossing the sea and they’re petrified because of the storm, and now add to their fear, some guy walking across the sea in the middle of a storm. Jesus approached the disciples, they don’t know who it is, other than their belief that they are so scared, they’re now seeing ghosts.
What does Jesus do? The Word tells us . . . Jesus immediately, without delay spoke to the disciples, letting them know it was Him, not a ghost. There was nothing to fear. It was Jesus. When Jesus said, “Take heart” literally He was saying have bold courage, have a confident confidence. In other words, ‘it’s me.’ It’s okay. I’m here for you.
But Jesus isn’t content just to come to us — because He also wants us to come to Him. So, in the midst of the storm, how do we respond to the call and presence of Christ? The key is faith. Peter trusted this was Jesus, he had faith if Jesus said to come to Him, then everything would be possible with the call of Jesus.
It’s a great act of faith by Peter. And Jesus calls us to step out in an act of faith. This act of faith will always be something we cannot handle on our own and it will seem crazy from the world’s perspective. Nobody is going to just get out of a boat and start walking on water, especially in the middle of the storm.
The response that Jesus calls for requires faith and action. Peter had to believe in Jesus, but if he didn’t act on that belief he never would have walked on the water. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army said, “Faith and works should travel side by side, step answering to step, like the legs of men walking. First faith, and then works; and then faith again, and then works again — until they can scarcely distinguish which is the one and which is the other.” (William Booth in The Founder’s Messages to Soldiers, Christianity Today, October 5, 1992, p. 48)
Like Peter, we must be willing to step out in faith when Christ calls us. It’s been said that the African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet in one jump. Yet they can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The Impala will not jump if they cannot see where they will land. Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see, and with faith we’re freed from the limits of this world to the inexhaustible possibilities and the infinite power which is available from God.
If God calls you to do something, no matter how radical it may seem, do it. He promises to be with you. It doesn’t take faith to stay in bed and pull the cover over your head. It does take faith to step out of the boat, trusting that what God has called you to do, you can do, and He will be with you every step of the way.
So, Peter boldly stepped out of the boat by faith and began to walk on the water to Jesus. I don’t believe Peter took one step, stopped, and went under. The Bible says, 29 So Peter got out of the boat and WALKED on the water and CAME to Jesus.
We can focus on the fact that Peter sank, but the truth is, if you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat! Can you imagine that scene. Imagine the look on the faces of the other disciples. The wind is howling, the waves are crashing into the boat — — and there’s Peter, on top of the water.
I believe Peter started walking to Jesus. But along the way, he was just like us, and he got distracted and in fact, for Peter and like us, the storm caught his attention more than Jesus caught his attention. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”
And when the storm gets more of our attention, you know what we do? Don’t you? We focus on the fear from the storm, and that’s what Peter did, and you know what happened to Peter. He took a big gulp of sea water.
As long as his eyes and faith were focused on Christ, Peter was empowered to do the miraculous. But the crashing waves and the howling wind caused him to lose faith by losing focus on Jesus. As Peter cried out to Jesus, Jesus reached out and pulled Peter from the water. Sometimes God will let us go under. We don’t like that. We don’t want that to happen. I don’t want that.
I was with someone who was having surgery and the nurse asked about their pain tolerance. They were asked on a scale of 1 - 10, they said about an 8. I was like — WOW! An 8! The nurse said, ‘great, how about we don’t let you get above a 5.’ The patient was good with that.
If it was me. I’d ask can I use decimals. I’d say my pain tolerance is about a .5. I don’t want to sound too wimpy, but I don’t want pain. No way. Most of us are the same way. We don’t want pain, we don’t want the Lord to let us go under, even if it’s our own fault.
After Jesus rescued Peter from drowning, Jesus entered the boat with Peter and the disciples. And in that moment, there was peace as the storm lost its power and died. The storms of life are powerless when the presence of Christ fills our lives and produces peace in our lives. The truth is there can be no true peace in our lives apart from the presence of Christ.
Does this mean that everything in you life will be rosy? People and life and circumstances and satan will seek to destroy us. But Christ will take us to the eye of those storms. In the eye of the storm there is peace even though the storm is raging all around us.
There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. There were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.
One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror as peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture though that it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains too. They were rugged and bare. There was an angry sky from which rain fell, and lightning flashed. Down the side of the mountain was a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the king looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird built her nest. In the midst of the rushing water, sat the mother bird on her nest in perfect peace.
The king chose the second picture. Do you know why? “Because, peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”
DESCRIPTION of PICTURE
1. little bird hiding place in the cleft of the rock
2. we have a refuge in Jesus Christ, our Rock.
3. His empty tomb with an angel
4. The beast symbolizes evil in the world.
5. The cross cuts through the beast to show victory . . .
As John wrote about Jesus said ~ we can overcome "because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4:4
Only in Christ, can we have "Peace in the Midst of the Storm." True peace is found not the absence of crisis, but in the presence of Christ. Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
How do we receive this peace? It starts with faith. Faith not in the world, not even faith in me or one another. We’re by-products of faith. It all starts with faith in Jesus. He’s the One we must trust and believe in. Without that faith we will go under. And when we don’t have Jesus to pull us out, well, it’s not a nice ending.
And when we really experience Jesus, what will we do? What should we do? We will do what the disciples did. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
The disciples worshiped Jesus not because He calmed the storm, but because He was the Son of God. True worship praises God because of who He is, not because of what He’s done or what we hope He’ll do.
Pure worship doesn’t ask, “What have you done for me lately” or “What’s in it for me?” Pure worship is the worship of God simply because God is God.
