Lessons from Storms in the Scripture #6 -- August 5, 2001-- AM
SINKING IN THE STORM
-- The Storm Where Peter Walked on the Water --
Matthew 14:22-33
INTRODUCTION:
(1) When an important event has unexpected and undesirable shifts in circumstances, one normal outcome is a sinking feeling in the stomach. It is called ¡§sinking feeling¡¨ because it is nearly identical with the feeling experienced with the rapid change in bodily elevation one feels when he travels in a fast-moving vehicle or vessel and hits a sudden rise or dip. The up and down motion leaves abdominal contents trying to catch up with the body. It is a sinking feeling and it grips the pit of one¡¦s stomach.
(2) Leith Anderson describes one of his most memorable sinking feelings.
It was in 1965 that I graduated from Moody Bible Institute, and a week later to the day, Charlene and I were married. Then ten days after that I began one of those summer jobs that is typically in the biography, I suppose, of just about every college student; I became a delivery man for the Steuben Brothers’ Bakery just outside of New York City. I had one week of training--by a man who had run that particular delivery route for twenty years.
How well I remember the first day I was on my own. It turned out that it was Fourth of July weekend and he, thinking that it would be as if he were running the route, ordered double of everything. So we had twice as many cakes and twice as many loaves of bread and twice as many pies and twice as many cupcakes and all of these things for me to sell on that first day at work. I arrived at the warehouse at 4:30 in the morning. It took me an hour and a half to fill the bins and shelves, and I couldn’t get it in, so all of the walkway--everything--was filled with all of these bakery goods.
At 6:00 I stood behind the wheel of the truck and started it up. Oh yes, stood behind the wheel of the truck. It was a Divco truck. This is the way you drive a Divco truck: There’s no accelerator on the floor; the accelerator is the knob at the end of the gearshift lever. When you turn it clockwise, you go faster, and when you turn it counterclockwise, you go slower. But the most exciting part is that you stand up, and there is one pedal: halfway down is the clutch, and the rest of the way down is the brake. I hadn’t had much experience driving this particular vehicle. I stood behind the wheel, started it up, put it in low gear, and drove through the warehouse out onto Broad Street in Clifton, New Jersey.
Everything was great until I shifted into second gear and somewhat intuitively pushed the pedal all the way to the floor. The truck came to a screeching halt, and all the pies and cakes came flying to the front--all over the windshield, around the steering column, and up against the glass. There I was, stopped out there having damaged almost all the bakery goods I was there that day to sell.
As I reflect on that gooey mess, and I must admit I have a recurrence of that sinking feeling in my heart when that happened, it seems to me my trainer had mentioned that might happen, and he said I ought to be very careful not to press the pedal all the way to the floor when shifting from one gear to another. But I didn’t listen to everything he had to say. -- Leith Anderson, "Unlistened-to Lessons of Life," Preaching Today, Tape No. 48.
(3) Knowing your own responsibility and the potential effects of your carelessness intensifies the dip in your stomach. The stark reality of the setting makes an involuntary response almost immediate. In part, this is because the consequences are threatening, sudden, and beyond your control.
It has been said that to realize the worth of the anchor we need to feel the stress of the storm (Baptist Progress). During a storm, the Apostle Peter once experienced a plummeting sensation. He was on a lake during contrary winds, where he felt the drag of the elements, the accompanying sinking feeling, and the rescuing grip of the Savior. In the storm, he sank but in Jesus, he found his stability ¡V an anchor that came from above and was worthy of his attention.
PROPOSITION: WITH FOCUS FIXED ON JESUS, ONE CAN RISE ABOVE LIFE¡¦S WAVES.
Three times in this passage, the word ¡§immediately¡¨ introduces something Jesus does. Each action reveals a need of the disciples that the Lord met in the time of storm. Here are Three indispensable contributions from the Lord to His disciples in the storm.
I. OBEDIENT disciples need the INTERCESSION of the Savior (Matthew 14:22-25).
A. The Lord sent the disciples ahead.
1. Directly after the clean up from feeding the 5.000, Jesus made His disciples get into the boat. The word is somewhat strong for this context. The action is partly due, it seems, to the intent of the crowd to make Jesus king by force (see John 6:15).
2. This was an immediate step He told them to take and it prevented an improper human action. To obey, the disciples had to get in the boat and go without Him to the other side.
B. The Lord sent the multitudes away.
1. The busy interaction with the crowds created a need to get alone for prayer. The drains on the human spirit due to people interaction are great. The diminished resources are replenished only through spiritual means.
2. This means prayer is necessary for the servant of God. It also means that the multitudes cannot receive incessantly. The man of God has to have time with God.
C. The Lord went to the mountain to pray.
1. Even the disciples had to give Jesus time alone with the Heavenly Father. They went into the boat without Him. They traveled toward the other side while He stayed and prayed. Perhaps their safety depended on His prayer.
2. Jesus was alone to pray: just He and His Father and the Holy Spirit. It would have to be a meeting scheduled by God for Him to be found by others in secluded prayer. Perhaps we need such a place of solitude and repose in prayer.
3. He was on the mountain when the evening came. He was alone. The fall of twilight found Him there. He was there before it became dark. He had been some time in prayer before it got dark. It is good to meet the night hours with prayer.
4. What did Jesus pray about when He was alone with the Father? Perhaps John 17 gives us some insight. Here we see the Lord praying and we have the words recorded for us. In this prayer, He acknowledged the Father’s timing and agenda for His time on earth. He also concerned Himself with the Father’s glory as it pertained to imparting eternal life [1-5]. He prayed about giving the Father’s Word to the Father’s people so that they might glorify Christ [6-10]. He prayed for the disciples to be guarded in godly unity and preserved in the name of the Father [11-12]. He prayed that His disciples might have joy and sanctification in the truth [13-19]. He prayed for future disciples and their union with the first Christians that they might uphold the glory of the Father in the world [20-23]. He prayed that the disciples would be where He is to behold His glory and that godly love would be in them [24-26].
II. FEARFUL disciples need the PERSON of the Savior (Matthew 14:26-29).
A. The Lord came at the right time.
1. For the wind to be contrary it would have to impede progress. It would have to get in the way of where they were going. This means that they were slowed down from doing what God said to do by that which was part of God’s plan. He controls the wind. Wind seems to waste time but really it measures it so that timing is controlled and we arrive when and where He deems best. Oh that I could learn to enjoy the process and not get so wrapped up in the product. God is using the contrary winds to put us in the right place at the right time.
2. The whole boat was in the middle of the sea. All who were in it were in the middle of the sea. Every person had thoughts in the boat in the middle of the sea. The Lord knew what was happening in the middle of the sea.
3. When is the fourth watch of the night? Where did the phrase come from? We know that the boat was traveling in the night. We know the winds were contrary in the middle of the night. The disciples were in the middle of a storm in the middle of a boat in the middle of the night in the middle of the sea. This is when Jesus went to them walking on the sea. Above the waves came the Savior. He came to the middle. Jesus was above the waves, beyond the winds, untouched by the night, and outside the boat.
4. D.L. Moody and his son Will boarded the ocean liner Spree at Southampton, England, on November 23, 1892. Moody had just finished revival meetings in London, including eight days of services in Spurgeon’s Tabernacle, and now he was bound for New York. Foremost in his mind, besides seeing his family and students again, was the great campaign he was planning for the Chicago World’s Exhibition the following year.
On the third morning of the trip, passengers were startled by a loud crash and a shock going through the ship. Will hurried out to the deck. He quickly returned to say that the shaft of the vessel was broken. "The ship’s sinking, Father," he said.
The disabled ship, carrying hundreds of passengers, drifted helplessly away from the sea lanes. The vessel was taking on so much water that its pumps were useless. The crew prepared lifeboats and provisions, but they realized the small boats would soon perish in the rough seas. So they mustered passengers into a main saloon and waited, hoping to be discovered by a passing vessel.
On the second evening of their torturous wait, Moody led a prayer service that calmed many of the passengers, including himself. Although he was sure of heaven, the thought of his work ending and of never again seeing his family had unsettled him. -- Vinita Hampton, in Christian History, no. 25.
B. The disciples found reason to fear.
1. The sight of the Lord was not immediately welcome. They were troubled at His appearance. He was so much different than what they were expecting to see that they were troubled. They concluded He was a ghost. They saw the supernatural in a way other than what it was. They did not recognize help when it came. The Lord looked oppressive to them. They were afraid of Him and cried out of fear.
2. The Disciples had their superstitions about apparitions to battle in this storm. Their misperceptions caused them to see their advocate as an adversary. The Lord looked like a ghost. They were willing to believe He was ghost. Threatening conditions, superstitions, and misperceptions lead to cries of fear.
C. The disciples cried out in fear.
1. As soon as they cried out, Jesus spoke to their fear. Their fear was more due to His arrival and a combination of factors than simply to the storm.
2. His presence served to impart cheer and remove fear. They could draw strength from the fact that it was He who had come. He came with a greeting that was more than common. Not only was the setting unusual but the wording included an emphatic personal identification in the Greek. He said ¡§ƒµƒ×ƒçƒnƒÕƒÙƒÝƒÙ, or ¡§I AM!¡¨ The same name God gave to Moses in Exodus 3:14 was often related this way in Greek. John¡¦s Gospel also uses it often in this very sense.
3. Our youngest daughter, Kristie, is afraid of a toy horse that we have purchased for her. Due to immature fear she does not know that this toy is a friend and not a foe. She screamed when she found it in the van near where she sits. [August 1, 2001]
III. SINKING disciples need the COMPANY of the Savior (Matthew 14:30-33).
A. Peter got out of the boat.
1. Peter seems to test the Lord here. Why would he want to get out of the boat? It makes little sense, yet it was an expression of faith. The Lord could keep him above the water if He wanted Peter to get out of the boat. Peter asked the Lord to command him to come to Him on the water. Peter would not go out without some indication from the Lord that it was His will for him to get out of the boat.
2. Peter wanted to rise above the water. He wanted to get to the Lord on the insecure substance. Getting out of the boat put him on the edge of the storm. He was closer to the Lord but also exposed more to the world’s elements.
3. Jesus gave Peter the command. He said, "Come!" In all that wind and noise, it would be easy to conclude the Lord did not say that. Perhaps others thought Peter was mistaken. Peter heard and then it became a choice of obedience he had to make. Peter got out of the boat and began to do just as the Lord had said. He began to go to where the Lord was. This was now Peter’s objective: to join the Lord even if it meant going onto the water where he could not remain unless the Lord sustained him.
4. The majority of the disciples would not go out onto the water. Very few brave the elements with that sense of adventure. Very few will step out of the boat in the storm onto the waves. Many will never think of it. Many would never believe it could be something they could do. BUT Peter did.
B. Peter failed to keep focused on Jesus.
1. The storm was a distraction to Peter. When he should have focused on his objective [getting to where Jesus was], he looked at the effects of the winds. The waves looked bigger. They threatened his security. They crowded the original intent from his mind and he no longer remembered his goal. He forgot the power of the Lord due to his fear of the storm. Focusing on the storm distracted him from the ability of Jesus to keep him above the waves. When he was distracted, he began to sink!
2. That sinking feeling then led Peter to cry out, "Lord, save me!" This is a good response to the sinking feeling in the middle of the storm, on the middle of the sea, in the middle of the night. Call out to the Lord for deliverance! Get focus back on Him.
C. The Lord reached out and rescued Peter.
1. This is the third time the word immediately appears in this context. Each time it introduces something Jesus does. Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat (22). Immediately Jesus spoke to them (27). Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand (31).
2. The hand of Jesus is so prone to save. It marks the heart of the Savior to extend His hand to the sinking who cry out to Him. See Romans 10:13. The Lord’s hand was not too short to reach Peter in his hour of need. The Lord’s hand is not too short to redeem. The Lord caught Peter. He was sinking in the middle of the sea, in the middle of the storm, in the middle of the night. Without the Lord, Peter was gone. Yet, Peter wanted to get out of the boat. Did the Lord tell him to come in order to teach him a lesson? Was it to build his faith? Was it to illustrate His power or His propensity to save? We have the Gospel here portrayed. The sinking disciple needs the hand of the Savior in the middle of the storm in the middle of the sea in the middle of the night.
3. After catching him, Jesus questioned his faith. Peter’s faith was "little." It was enough however to get him out of the boat. It was enough to lead him toward the Lord. It was not enough to keep him focused on the Lord when the storm waves and winds threatened. Note: it requires faith to remain focused on the Lord in order to remain above the waves in the middle .... Why did Peter doubt? That lack of focus leads to distraction. Distraction leads to doubt. Doubt leads to that sinking feeling. The only remedy is the hand of the Lord. Doubt is a dart of the enemy. The shield of faith quenches the fiery darts. None of the other Disciples were called men of little faith on this occasion.
CONCLUSION:
(1) Focusing on Jesus enables His disciples to stay above the waves.
(2) On day six of the ill-fated mission of Apollo 13, the astronauts needed to make a critical course correction. If they failed, they might never return to Earth.
To conserve power, they shut down the onboard computer that steered the craft. Yet the astronauts needed to conduct a thirty-nine-second burn of the main engines. How to steer? Astronaut Jim Lovell determined that if they could keep a fixed point in space in view through their tiny window, they could steer the craft manually. That focal point turned out to be their destination--Earth.
As shown in 1995’s hit movie, Apollo 13, for thirty-nine agonizing seconds, Lovell focused on keeping the earth in view. By not losing sight of that reference point, the three astronauts avoided disaster.
Scripture reminds us that to finish your life mission successfully, "Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" (Heb. 12:2). -- Stephen Nordbye in Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (Baker), from the editors of Leadership.
(3) A boy had been disobedient to his parents from his childhood. When he became a young man, he left home, scoffing at his godly mother who faithfully prayed that he would turn to Christ. He went off to sea without even saying goodbye to her. On his first voyage the ship encountered a wild storm. As he stood on deck, he cursed God. At that moment the ship lurched and he was thrown overboard. Quickly a lifeboat was lowered, and it reached him just as he was disappearing beneath the surface. The crewmen rescued him and returned him to the vessel. Everyone thought he was dead, but the ship’s doctor kept on trying to revive him. Finally he opened his eyes, and his first words were, "Jesus has saved my soul!" After he was completely recovered, he told how in that horrible "leap" to the sea his sins had crowded about him, dragging him down. But in that awful moment he remembered a text his mother had taught him years before: "This is a faithful saying, and worth of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Tim. 1:15). He said, "As I was sinking, I cast myself into the outstretched arms of the Savior."
