In the journey that Mary and Joseph took to Bethlehem they conquered their fear and learned to live by faith. Peter was called to do the same. He boldly began the walk but he lost his focus and began to be afraid. Fear is our constant companion in life but it doesn’t have to be our master. Jesus wants you to enjoy an abundant life – that means NO FEAR.Matt. 14:22–36; Mark 6:45–56; John 6:15–21
Jesus Walks On The Water
by Steve Higgs
Have you generally had a good experience with bosses in your life, or generally a bad experience?
What kind of relationship have you had with your bosses? I’ve had one bad boss. When I was in early senior high, like a freshmen or sophomore I worked for Dominoes Pizza (it was a sweet job because you could get pizza for really cheap) and would walk around the neighborhoods with my friends putting Dominoes advertisements into peoples doors. Well, several groups of kids did this each Sunday afternoon. On one afternoon one group of workers took their flyers and dumped them into the river in Mason and then went into the woods and smoked while they should have been working. The police found the flyers reported it to Dominoes and next thing I knew we were all fired. I tried to explain it, but his decision was final.However, just for kicks and giggles I thought I would see what the internet had to say about how people feel about their bosses. I found 456,000 sites dedicated to people who hate their bosses. One site contained a free game that you could upload a picture of your boss, choose your ammunition and quote, “execute your boss.” There was a book listed on Amazon called, “How to survive and get ahead when your boss is a tyrant, control freak, or just plain nuts.” Another website had this statement all over there site, “I hate my job, my boss is a weasel, let’s go traveling.” They went on to advertise a trip to India. A lot of people have issues with authority. And quite frankly many times it stems from our relationship with our bosses or parents or even church leaders.
Yet, that is one of the turning points of our story today. Peter gives Jesus control of his very life. He says, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” This is an amazing thing: Let me paint this picture for you. It’s really dark out, somewhere between 3-6 a.m. There are no street lamps, and even if there were….they are on the water. So, it’s dark. The wind is blowing hard enough that it has increased the waves significantly. So, you’ve got darkness and wind and high waves crashing against the boat. You’ve got this chaotic activity in the sea, but Jesus walking on the water. What does that fact teach us, and what did it teach Peter. That he was serving a God who had power and authority over nature. This story appears in 3 out of the 4 gospels and 2 out of 3 don’t include Peter walking on the water. Why? Did Matthew make it up? No, the other writers choose to focus on the more important aspect of the story…that we are serving a God that created the world and Jesus says, “if I want to walk on the water….hey I created it I’ll walk on it if I want to.” Our initial statement to quote another Bible story is, “who is this that the winds and the waves obey him.” You see, Jesus is not some magician that wants to entertain us with his tricks: walking on the water, calming the sea, turning water into wine. His primary purpose in life is people and make no mistake about it he wants to show his power in you. Peters reaction is the right one: I don’t want Jesus to only have power over nature only….I want him to display that same power in me. So, he seeks out the commands of the Master (he asks Jesus to command him out of the boat)--- a true quality of a disciple. Jesus wants to invade us today with his power. This story is so interesting because you have Jesus walking on the water and displaying his power for the disciples. Peter asks to come out and Jesus says, “oh you think this is cool huh…come on out.” He then displays his power in Peter, that wasn’t Peter on his own that was Jesus at work in him.. Peter gets a bad rap in this story because he began to sink, but the other disciples remained seated while Jesus worked in Peter. Have you ever been a spectator to God’s power? I mean it’s cool to see God work in others, but have you ever had the reaction…..I want God to do that in me. Maybe you came to church today, and you say I don’t want it….I need it. I need God’s power in my family because it’s weak right now….I need God’s power in my job because it’s fragile…..I need God’s power in my life because I feel like I’m hanging on by a thread to this faith thing and I need a demonstration of God’s power. You’ve come to the right place and you’re seeking the right person. Jesus wants to invade you’re life and he wants to display his power. I think Peter, although he messed up sometimes was somebody that God was really able to use…Peter many times radiated God! There was no doubt that God was at work in him. I want to be more like that….so let’s spend some time this morning looking at Peter.
I have a really bad habit of not finishing projects, particularly around home. I think I have an attention problem because I get bored. I got a DVD player for Christmas and it had the surround sound, which is the kiss of death for me because it involves electronics—a subject I know nothing about. So, I set it up with a room full of people and one friend in particular kept making sarcastic comments about my abilities in the area of electronics. You know, I know I’m not very good in that area, but you don’t always want to be reminded of that either…you know what I’m saying. So, anyway I put together the DVD player and hooked up the speakers and popped in my Spiderman DVD, and it make this horrible noise about every 30 seconds. So, I messed around with it for about an hour and half and I consulted people. Long story short I put the DVD in the box and it sat there for 3 weeks. I returned it and got a new one that works now.
Peter can be kind of like that….he starts well and with good intentions, but he doesn’t finish all that well. Look at this story…he gets out of the boat, and even walks on the water, but he looks around and sees the waves, he feels the wind and gets afraid and begins to sink.
Let me give you another example of this from the life of Peter. Jesus is arrested, but before he is he predicts that Peter will deny that he even knows Jesus 3 times. Do you remember what Peter said, “even if I have to die with you I will never disown you.” So, Jesus is arrested and all the disciples scatter except for Peter and John. Peter, Matthew reports, followed at a distance. Jesus had 2 basic trials….a religious trial and a political trial. Peter follows to the religious trial….I believe to defend Jesus. All during the trial they are bringing false witness against Jesus who are making up stories. Here’s the amazing thing….Peter is in the room, warming himself by the fire, and he says nothing in defense of Jesus. Later he denies even knowing Jesus. Keep in mind that the rest of the disciples are hiding out somewhere in some room, Peter at least follows with good intentions.This is Peter. He is a man who acts first and thinks later. As a result he is able to step out and do things for God, but he looks around and see’s the wind and begins to think, “what am I doing here?” He looks around the room and sees that a lot of these guys have swords and this is dangerous. It is at that point that his faith begins to fail.I think most people are probably more like me and the rest of the disciples. I tend to think first and act later. So, I’d be sitting in the boat saying, “hey Jesus come over here come over here.” Clutching the side of the boat and getting sea sick. As a result of that decision , if I’m not careful I may never get out of my safe and secure boat. God may never have the opportunity to display his power in me because I stay seated.That is something Peter is good at: he gets out of the boat. He lives a life of abandonment to safety and security, and as a result of that choice he experiences the power and later the protection of Jesus in a very real way.
This Spring we have a group of MCCer’s going to the Ukraine. This group of people have gotten out of the boat. I know that some of them have concerns about money. I know that some of them have concerns about safety. I also know that when we get out of the boat, Jesus has an opportunity to display his power to the entire world in us and through us.
John Ortberg says it this way, “if you want to walk on the water you’ve got to get out of the boat.” If you want God’s power displayed in your life…..you’ve got to get out of the boat, you’ve got to get out of your seat and into the deep water. So, let me give you some thoughts here.
When you seek out and obey the commands of Jesus you are getting out of the boat? This is to become very familiar with Jesus the Teacher. Peter did this when he asked Jesus to command him….teach me what you want me to do Lord.The person dedicated to this idea asks some very difficult questions. What does it mean to Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? What does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself? What does it mean to take up your cross and follow Jesus? And then to ask the most difficult question of all: how do these truths affect the way that I live.The person that believes Jesus is the Great Teacher believes that he has something important to say. So, every teaching in the Bible affects life. When problems in the family come up we turn to God and say, “what does the Bible have to say on this.” When we run into a question of morality or ethics we ask, “did Jesus have a teaching on this subject.” And so God’s word, the Bible becomes not just a book to read, but it becomes a handbook on life. Jesus becomes not just savior, not just God, but the great Teacher who has something to say about life.What begins to happen is this…..like Peter Jesus commands become a life changing experience. As you read the Bible and as you study Jesus slowly and slowly it will begin to affect the way you live. Pretty soon you will find yourself consistently in the deep water.Secondly, when you dedicate yourself to the imitation of Jesus you will be getting out of the boat. This is to become familiar with Jesus the Person. It almost sounds childish. You can see Peter in the boat, “if Jesus walks on the water. I…I want to walk on the water.” This same idea comes up when Jesus is talking about going to his death…Peter says, if you die then I die.I recently saw an interview with Kelly Ripa, and she was being asked if she was offended by the parody of her that SNL did. If you didn’t see the sketch it was pretty funny, and ended with Kelly pretty much giving birth on stage. Kelly responded, “no, I was honored because that means SNL thinks I’m famous enough that people would recognize a parody. SNL proves the power of imitation. Think about the phrases that became well known during the last presidential election, “dignitude, stratergy, don’t mess with Texas.”
If anyone radiated God’s power, if anyone had abandoned comfort to get out of the boat, by definition it was Jesus. He left heaven to come to earth, and He was God in the flesh..those two things qualify him I think.
So, if Jesus is the quintessential man who got out of the boat and if want to do that, then he is a good person to imitate. So, as followers, we must begin the difficult work of reading and meditation and trying to answer the question, “how did Jesus live when he was on earth.”What do these Jesus’ stories teach us about how he interacted with others? How can I be more like Jesus in my day to day life? Am I kind and compassionate to others? Do I show grace/forgiveness or do I tend to be judgemental and harsh? Those are just two examples…but to begin the difficult work of asking, “how would Jesus act if he were in my shoes?”….as a father or mother, husband or wife, as a worker or even as a stay at home mom. How can I be more like Jesus? When you begin asking those types of questions it moves us from the boat into the water.So, that’s what Peter was good at (he was good at seeking out the commands of Jesus and he was good at imitation), and I want to spend a few minutes talking about what he really struggled with. Remember what I said that he acted first and thought later…well, when he got into the water it was those thoughts that got him into trouble.His main issue was a misunderstanding of fear. John Ortberg in his book reminds us that fear is a part of getting out of the boat. To dedicate yourself to that is to dedicate yourself to fear. It’s all over this passage. They see Jesus and they think he is a ghost, they get afraid. Peter get’s out of the boat and there is fear, he begins to sink and there is fear.If you choose to get out of the boat and do something for God, fear is a part of the package. Because fear will keep you from getting out of the boat we need to learn to deal with it.
Peter walked on the water when he was walking toward Jesus (check out verse 29). He begins to sink when he turns his attention away from Jesus and looks at the wind and the waves. That’s my problem….many times (remember I’m a thinker first and a doer second), many time I monitor the situation from my seat. I will begin to think about all the things that could go wrong, you know the wind and the waves. What I should be doing is always walking toward Jesus…spiritually. In my prayer life, in my worship, to take steps toward Jesus.Let’s try to put some feet on this issue. What does all this look like? What does it look like when someone says, I’m ready to get out of the boat? What does it look like when someone gives Jesus control? I don’t know for you….it looks different to different people.I know what it meant for Marianne Ellert. She was this churches first childrens minister. She went to college with me, and we are friends. It meant flying away from home, family, and friends to go teach at a Christian College in the Phillipines.
I know for one group of MCCers it means going to the Ukraine. What does it mean for you? Maybe it means to talking to the guy in the cubicle next door, not even necessarily about God, but just to begin a relationship. Maybe it means your home group reaches out to a family in the neighborhood. Maybe for you it means committing yourself to Christ for the very first time.You say, that’s scray. All you can see is the wind and the waves whirling around you. Can I remind you of something? Jesus walks on the water, Jesus commands the wind to stop and it does.During Jesus day some people followed him around because they really did view him as a magician. Clapping their hands. Jesus show us the one where you walk on the water. Show us the one where you healed the man. Show us the one where you fed all those people. They view him as a show to watch. Jesus does not want to be an entertainer for the crowd, showing off his power.I am many times awed by God’s creation and by God’s power. When I see a sunset, when I witness a miracle. You see, God doesn’t want to stop at nature….he wants to invade you with his power. He wants to fill you up with himself so that you are powerful then you could ever be on your own. He’s willing to do his part the question is are we willing to make ourselves available.Every once in a while, someone stepped out from the crowd and said, “Jesus, that’s a great miracle. Can you do that in me.” Jesus would say like he did to Peter that day, “yes…..come on out the water’s fine.”
