Today I want us to look at replacing our fear with courage. Are any of you afraid of heights? I'll have to admit that I am one that is very afraid of heights. When I was in my teenage years, I was helping my dad and brother replace the water lines and sucker rods in his well. He had a windmill that drew the water from the well.
To pull the pipe and sucker rods from the well, you have to use a chain hoist because you are pulling 8 to 10, 20 ft links of pipe and they are very heavy. We would tie the chain around the pipe at the base of the windmill and hoist it almost to the top of the windmill using the windmill as the frame. As the first link of pipe was hoisted up to the top of the windmill, my job was to climb to the top of the windmill and release the chain to drop it down for the next link of pipe.
As I stated, I am afraid of heights. The first three to four links of pipe went slowly because I felt I needed to hang on for dear life. But as the job went on, I developed more and more courage and paid no attention to the height. Eventually, my courage overcame my fear.
What is interesting is that the fear didn't really leave me. Yet I overcame that fear with courage. That’s the theme of this message—overcoming fear with courage. Jesus's disciples in Matthew 14 had the opportunity to exhibit courage, and we do too. The key is fixing our eyes on Jesus, trusting that He will do what only He can do. Prayer.
Matthew 14 records some significant moments in Jesus's ministry. The chapter begins with the beheading of John the Baptist, the same John who prepared the way for Jesus. Jesus surely knew John from childhood, since their mothers were related, so even as He expressed grief at the death of Lazarus, He was also touched by the death of John.
We are told that when Jesus heard about the beheading of John, He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. After the news, Jesus wanted some time alone with His Father. Later is this chapter, we read the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. Let’s pick up that story right after the 5000 were fed.
Matthew 14:22-26 – “Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 After dismissing the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Well into the night, he was there alone.
********24 Meanwhile, the boat was already some distance from land, battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. 25 Jesus came toward them walking on the sea very early in the morning. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost!’ they said, and they cried out in fear.”
The crowds followed Jesus and sought him out. Matthew tells us that Jesus responded to the crowd with compassion, healing the sick among them. This time of healing led to Jesus feeding the crowd with five loaves and two fishes.
Still, Jesus hadn't had that much-needed time with His Father. So, when the meal was over, He sent His disciples on, dismissed the crowds, and went up on a mountain to be by Himself to pray. While Jesus was praying, the boat that Jesus had told His disciples to get in was being rocked by the waves and the wind.
I want to pause already in this story because this is a great reminder for all of us. This tells me that God's Will and direction for us may lead us into a storm. Some lessons are learned only in the middle of a storm. But Jesus will use whatever means necessary to refine us and make us more like Himself.
As we are going to see, this became a strong faith building moment for the disciples, but they would have missed this opportunity if they were unwilling to be obedient to the one thing Jesus told them to do: get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side. They followed His directions.
So the disciples found themselves on a boat in the middle of a storm. This was probably not the first time these fishermen had gotten caught in a storm, but what happened next was a first. In this boat being rocked by the storm, in the middle of the night, they see a figure that was walking near them on the water. Of course, they were afraid and they even called it a ghost.
Let's think back for a moment to earlier that day. Jesus had already displayed His power over nature by feeding thousands with a small lunch, and He was now showing His power over nature again. And He did it in a way the disciples didn't expect. In fact, it scared them. They weren't expecting Jesus. They had never seen anyone walking on water. So, they assumed it was a ghost.
So the disciples reacted probably the same way we would have reacted. If we were honest, we would agree that we are afraid of anything that we don't fully understand. Whenever we are faced with something outside of our realm of the norm, typically we are afraid and don't rely on our faith.
Despite all the ways Jesus has shown us that He is before all things, we still, at times, grow weary at the sight of something that is not what we consider normal. Just like the disciples did, we can jump to the wrong conclusions instead of trusting and jumping into the arms of the One from where our help comes. And thankfully, just as Jesus did for the disciples in this story, Jesus doesn't leave us to handle our fear on our own.
Matthew 14:27 – “Immediately Jesus spoke to them. “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
If you read Mark's account of this scene, he mentions that Jesus wanted to pass them by. But sensing that they were afraid, Jesus didn't hesitate to respond. He tells them to have courage and to not be afraid. With this phrase, Jesus was revealing himself to be more than just their teacher.
To go a little deeper into this, the same Greek words translated “it is I” was also used by Jesus when he identified Himself as “I am.” It is a clear reference to YAHWEH, the covenant name for God. S,o Jesus was identifying himself with God. Putting all of it together, in this moment with his scared disciples, Jesus assured them that it was he, Jesus, the one they knew and followed, and He was also God, the Lord over nature.
Jesus wasn't trying to be like a coach giving a halftime speech to motivate his team to get out there and play harder. He commanded the disciples to take courage because He was right there with them. The wind and the waves were scary. But He is greater than the forces of nature. He was the firmest foundation these disciples could ever put their hope in. These weren't empty words; they were anchored on who He is. In all of this, we can trust in Jesus because He is God.
Matthew 14:28-30 – “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter answered him, “command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Now we get back to the trusting-in-Jesus factor. Trusting in Jesus means allowing Him to lead us. Peter wanted to trust Jesus. But he wanted to be sure it truly was Jesus, so Peter acted in a way that He was known for. With Jesus's words, Peter got out of the boat and he walked on the water. In that moment, Peter didn't fear anything, but he allowed Jesus to guide his actions.
Jesus called and Peter answered. So, Peter was walking on the water because he obeyed and looked to Jesus as he walked toward Him. But when Peter glanced away from Jesus and looked at his surroundings, his fear came back.
Now before we slight Peter for his lack of faith in that moment, let's note two things. First, Peter faltered only for a moment. What did Peter do when his faith weakened? He turned right back to Jesus. Second, it's worth noting that Peter got out of the boat, but 11 men stayed in the boat. We can learn from Peter and it can simply be summed up by saying, keep your eyes on Jesus.
Matthew 14:31 – “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
When Peter began to sink, Jesus quickly reached out His hand and caught hold of him. I'm not sure if you noticed but this is the second time in this passage that the word “immediately” is used. Verse 22 was the first time. This tells me that Jesus wasted no time in calming fears and rescuing those in need of help.
Jesus didn't scold Peter and give him a talking to before He helped him. Jesus didn't let Peter know all the ways that he had fallen short before He extended His hand. Jesus just stepped in quickly and caught hold of Peter when he cried out. This assures me that we can always depend on Jesus to hear us when we cry out to Him. Do you believe that?
Peter initially had faith to trust Jesus and get out of the boat, but Jesus described Peter's faith as being little. It wasn't that Peter lacked faith; he just had little faith. What Jesus said to Peter was a tender rebuke, asking Peter to consider why he had doubt it. Peter had enough faith to obey Jesus's command to come, he walked with his eyes on Jesus, and there was absolutely no reason to doubt even as he looked around at the wind and waves.
Have you ever turned away from Jesus in any area of your life, maybe you're kind of in that situation right now. If so, just remember that Jesus is waiting and ready to respond immediately when you turn back to him.
Matthew 14:32-33 – “When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those in the boat worshiped him and said, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
And now we see a second miracle that was about to happen on the lake. Peter and Jesus got into the boat and the wind ceased. This was no gradual dying down as the storm moved on. The wind just ended, suddenly. This really becomes clear because of the disciples’ reaction. They were led to worship and declare that Jesus is the Son of God. The disciples realized that Jesus was far greater than all of their fears, and it led them to worship Him.
The disciples had seen enough. The day had been an eventful day. It all led to spontaneous worship on a boat in the middle of the water. Jesus, the Son of God, was who He said He was. And worship should be our natural response to Jesus's power and authority.
I am pretty sure that Peter's worship included his thankfulness for being rescued on the water. The disciples worshiped Jesus because He was in their midst. They worshiped Jesus because He was greater than the obstacle before them, and they recognized right there that fear doesn't win out when Jesus is in the mix.
And that leads to us. It's no different for us. As I have said before, fear will be a part of our life. But we are not alone. Do you have a fear of the direction this church will go once I retire? You may not call it fear, but instead you might call it anxiety, or even apprehension.
Just remember from this lesson, that we are not alone. Jesus is the Son of God, and He is with us. And because of that, we can't help but worship Jesus when we see Him for who He truly is. We stand on the threshold of a major change for this church. But we can stand courageously without fear because He is with us, and He is greater than all.
And as we worship, we can dispel all fear because as Robert Weber once said, “Worship is an “It Is well with My soul” experience. As we worship, we keep our eyes on Jesus and allow him to dispel all fear, anxiety, and apprehension.
And I wonder if after God’s plan is competed for the direction for Southeast Baptist Church, if you He will ask us as Jesus asked Peter, “Why did you doubt?”
Now I ask, is it well with your soul? If you know Jesus as your Savior, you should know for certain that it is well with your soul. You have nothing to fear.
But if you have never asked Jesus to be your personal Savior, you still have to deal with fear, anxiety, apprehension, and the list goes on. Why not get rid of all of that and ask Jesus into your heart. He will dispel all your fear.
