Take A Step In Faith10/11/2020
Daniel 1:6-21 Matthew 14:16-27 Sujo John I Am Second
We are in the second message of our series, New Season, New Start, New Mindset. Last week, Pastor Toby encouraged us to Dream Again. We often times are forced to Dream Again when something happens in our lives that we had hoped would not happen. Yet God will often send us into places that we do not wish to go.
We are familiar with the story of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego. But none of them desired to be in the place God used them. You see the King of Babylon had invaded their country, when they were teenagers. The king decided some of the people would stay in their own country, but others would be taken away to Babylon as hostages. If the new king in Judah did not follow the instructions of Babylon, these hostages would no doubt be killed. Daniel and his friends were among the older teens who were taken as hostages to Babylon.
Daniel and his friends had no idea of what kind of treatment they would get in Babylon? Would they be kept in dungeons? Would they be treated as slaves? Would they be beaten without cause? Would they be executed? Would they ever be allowed to come back to their own nation of Judah? They were justified in being nervous, anxious, afraid and fearful.
The most important thing Daniel and his friends took with them when they left with the soldiers, never to return to their home of Judah again, was their relationship to their God. Daniel was the first to make up his mind, “no matter what I have to face or the price I will have to pay, I will not forget the laws of my God and I will remain true to God.
When Daniel was presented with food he knew he should not eat that the King of Babylon had provided for him, he faced a dilemma. What was he going to do? I guess he could have eaten it, and then asked God to forgive him.
I guess he could have brought a bag with him to the table and pretended to eat some of the meat, by hiding it in the bag and throwing it away secretly. He could have pretended to have drunken the wine by keeping his lips together when he raised the cup to his mouth. It would have made it look as though he was fitting in with the crowd.
Or he could do something courageous. He could take a step of faith and put himself out there for God. He could expose himself as a true believer. This might get him kicked out of the free three year college the Babylonians had put him in. It might get him a new room in a dungeon cell. At worst, it might cost him his life for disobeying the king of Babylon to eat the food he had provided.
When we talk about taking a step of faith, we often think of something great that might happen in reward for us taking that step. Yet the only reward Daniel expected was the knowledge that he had been faithful to God. He wasn’t seeking some position, power, or blessing. He was seeking to know God and the ways of God. He recognized even though he did not want to be in Babylon, God had sent him there, and that God was already there when Daniel arrived.
Daniel’s step of faith led him to lead others in a deeper walk with God. God’s blessings poured into their lives in a way they could have never dreamed. This one step would lead to those who came into Babylon as terrified hostages, to become people who would change the spiritual life of the entire nation of Babylon.
One of the greatest steps of faith God has called you to step occurred when you heard Jesus say, “come follow me.” That step meant that you were admitting, you were not good enough to save yourself from your sin.
It was a step of faith to believe that God could actually use you and wanted to use you in the kingdom of God. When you took the step, you actually had no idea where Jesus was going to take you or what He was doing or what He was going to require of you.
In our video today, Sujo said he had been a secret Christian. He had no idea that on 9/11 Jesus would lead him into one of the twin towers. The building was on fire and ceilings were crashing around and upon him. When he was huddled with a group of 10 people, terrorized and facing death, that was when he realized, he needed to tell people about on Jesus.
His most challenging moment came when he took a step of faith to tell those people to start to calling on Jesus. He didn’t worry about what words he should use or what they would think about him. He knew he needed to tell them about Jesus.
That step of faith put 10 souls in heaven, that were on their way to hell. Sujo had no way of knowing that God was using him to save souls in the midst of the darkest moment of his life. His step of faith was all about being obedient to God.
In our New Testament reading, Jesus had taken five loaves of bread and two fish and did a miracle of feeding over 5,000 men with it in addition to the women and children that were present. The disciples were thrilled at the size of the miracle.
Jesus had allowed them to be a part of the miracle by letting them take the bread to the people. As soon as the bread and fish were taken out of the basket to serve a group, more bread and fish instantly appeared in this basket.
Everybody was getting caught up in the moment. It’s not everyday that you get a free meal and are told to eat as much as you want. For farmers and poor people, this was like a dream come true. We see that Jesus has the capacity to meet all our physical needs.
He’s healing the sick. He’s opening the eyes of the blind. He’s causing the lame to walk and the deaf to hear. He’s casting out demons. He declares sins are forgiven Now he’s taking care of those of us who are just plain hungry.
But Jesus senses that something else spiritually is entering the situation. He tells the disciples they need to get into the boat and leave right now. The disciples object to leaving this great event so soon. But verse 22 tells us that Jesus insisted that they get into the boat and cross to the other side.
John’s gospel let us know that the people were planning on seizing Jesus and taking him by force to make him their king. Jesus knew that his time had not yet come. He didn’t want the disciples getting all caught up in this spirit of the people so He sent them across the lake and then dealt with dismissing the people. Jesus then went up on a mountainside to pray
When Jesus sent the disciples across the lake, it was still day light. The disciples had a 7 to 8 mile journey ahead of them, and normally that would not be much of a problem. Unfortunately, they ran into a very fierce storm that seemed to have come out of nowhere on the Sea of Galilee. Even though this a very good size boat, the waves are tossing it this way and that.
The wind is blowing hard and its blowing against them. It’s pitch black out there on the sea. If the lightening didn’t light up things, you could barely see anything. They are fighting for their lives to keep the boat from sinking.
They have now been at this thing for hours. It is now 3am in the morning and the storm is still not letting up. They are tired, wet, weary, exhausted and probably wondering, why on earth did Jesus send us across this lake. They have only managed to row 3 or 4 miles. So they are halfway to where Jesus told them to go and halfway from where they had left.
We have seen Jesus demonstrate that He is God by the miracles that he has done concerning the physical human body. We see his divinity in Jesus’ ability to create something out of nothing with the multiplication of the bread and fish.
Even though it is dark and a storm is raging with very poor visibility, Jesus is able to see the disciples in the boat which is 3 to 4 miles away from land. When we think of Jesus walking on water, we often think of a calm lake with him taking a few steps and then going back to land.
No, our Savior is walking on a raging sea, for 3 to miles to get to a group of people that he loved. I don’t know what sea is raging around your life today, but I do want you to know that there is a savior, who is walking on your sea headed in your direction, just to rescue you. You may not be able to see him for the moment, because of the darkness, but rest assured that Jesus is on the way.
The disciples were rowing away, spending a lot of energy and still going nowhere. Finally, they see Jesus, but they don’t know its Jesus. They do see something coming toward them walking on the water. Nothing in their background had prepared them for this.
Moses had split the Red sea so the children of Israel could go through walking on dry land. Joshua had caused the Jordan river to back up so the people could enter the promised land and dry land. Elijah and Elisha both struck the Jordan River so that it split open for them to walk across the river on dry land. But nobody had heard of anybody walking on the water.
But I’m here to tell you, just because it hasn’t been done, doesn’t mean that God can’t do it. Jesus was doing something new. We have to be ready to accept it, even though it might not come in the form we are looking for or expecting.
The disciples tried putting a name on what they saw, and fear caused them to yell out, “It’s a ghost.” Don’t let your fears cause you to run away from what God might be sending into your life. It might by scary, and it might be unknown, but don’t just get up and try to run away. Don’t try to figure it all out by logic. Logic dictated only a spirit could be light enough to move on water. Logic doesn’t always work when God is involved.
Remember, Jesus had prayed before he left the mountain and started walking on the water. I kind of believe Jesus was praying for the disciples. He knew that Satan knew, if he could just sink the boat with the disciples in it, He might be able to throw God’s plan of salvation off track. I kind of believe Jesus is praying for us, not only as individuals but as a church. I believe He’s headed in our direction with a word of where we go next.
Jesus’ word to these terrified disciples was, “Don’t be afraid. Take courage I am here.” I wonder if Jesus yelled this out to them so as to overcome the noise of the wind and the waves, or did he speak it softly enough for it to be heard in their hearts first and then in their ears. Usually when Jesus speaks, we hear it in our spirit before we hear it in our ears.
That’s why it is so important to feed our spirit through reading the word of God. Feed our spirit by being in a weekly bible study and fellowship group with other believers. If our spirits are too weak to know the voice of Jesus, we are missing out on what should be ours.
There were 12 men in the boat. Only one wanted to be with Jesus in a way that no one else had ever been before. How do you want to be with Jesus? Do you want to keep him at a distance, outside of the boat of your life? Scared of what he may require of you. Do you want him in the boat with you, but him up front while you’re seated at the other end of the boat? There in case you need him, but far enough away to allow you to do your own thing.
Or do you want to have a fresh encounter with Jesus going deeper than you have ever been before, knowing that it will cost you something to make it happen.
Peter had a stirring in his soul to want more of Jesus. Peter said, “Lord if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” I want you to notice the restraint and humility of Peter. He didn’t say, “if Jesus can do it, then I can do it. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” No, Peter’s saying Lord, I know you can give me strength to do anything that you command me to do.
When Jesus tells Peter to come, Peter Takes a Step of Faith which is in obedience to what Jesus tells him to do. When we start to take a step of faith, we need to consider if we are responding in obedience to a call of God, or are we just trying to please ourselves. Peter’s risk was in response to Jesus’ command to “come”, not simply because Peter desired to do it.
No doubt somebody yelled out, “Peter don’t do it. You will drown in the midst of this storm.” “Peter, just wait until Jesus get in the boat, you might change your mind.” “Peter if you wait until the storm is over, I might try it with you.” “Peter, if you don’t make it back, can I have your equipment.” When God speaks to our heart, we need to move forward.
Peter was very deliberate in his actions. He didn’t dive into the sea and he didn’t jump into the water. He got over the side of the boat and the water was already holding him up. He started walking toward Jesus.
There has never been another day like this in human history. The Son of God standing on water, and a human being walking on the water toward him. Peter walked far enough from the boat to get out there where they was just wind and waves and Jesus. Keep in mind it is still dark. It’s possible that one of the waves interfered with Peter’s ability to see Jesus.
It’s not that Peter took his eyes off of Jesus, it’s that the wave came in between them. That’s when Peter cried out for help. “Lord Save me.” Even though he couldn’t see Jesus, Jesus was actually closer to him than ever, because he reached out immediately and grabbed him. Jesus responded, you have so little faith, why did you doubt me?” When they got back in the boat the wind stopped.
Peter is often faulted, for sinking when he looked at the waves. I think we should commend him for his willingness to take a step of faith. If Peter took a step of faith, and Jesus told him that he had so little faith, then what amount of faith did the ones who stayed in the boat have and didn’t want to try to get any closer to Jesus.
We are in a New Season. We need to recognize that God has sent us onto a peaceful lake that’s going to get stormier. We need a new start. When the storm comes, all the energy we have is not going to get us to the other side. But help is on the way. We need a new mindset. If we always play it safe and stay put, we will miss the opportunity to be a part of something new that God wants to do in our lives.
Where is God asking you to take a step of faith today? Where is God asking you to take a stand for me? Where is God asking you to risk it all, by being obedient in the place you find yourself today?
The film I refer to with Sujo John can be found at www.Iamsecond.com under the category Survivors.
