Wet Water Walkers & Dry Boat Riders
By Kenny McKinley
Matthew 14:22-36
(read text)
Charles Swindoll in his book “Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back” tells a story about a farmer who wanted to impress his hunting buddies. So he went out and bought the smartest, most expensive hunting dog he could find. He trained this dog to do things no other dog on earth could do---impossible feats that would surely amaze anyone. Then he invited his neighbors to go duck hunting with him. After a long patient wait in the boat a group of ducks flew over and the hunters were able to shoot a few of them down. Several ducks fell in the water. The farmer looked at the dog and said, "Go get ‘em!" The dog leaped out of the boat, walked on the water, and picked up a bird and returned to the boat. As soon as he dropped the duck in the boat he trotted off across the water again and grabbed another duck and brought it back to the boat. The owner kind of swelled up with pride as his dog walked across the water and retrieved each of the birds one by one. Kind of smugly, he looked at one of his buddies and asked, "Do you notice anything unusual about my dog?” One of them sat back and rubbed his chin and thought about it for a little while and finally said, “Yeah, come to think of it, I do! That stupid dog doesn’t know how to swim does he?”
Many give Peter the same reaction. Instead of recognizing that he was the only disciple who even stepped out of the boat, he’s criticized for his lack of faith. He draws close to Christ while 11 other disciples sit in the boat, content in their perceived safety. (sermon central)
Let’s remember what was going on here. The disciples had just gotten the news about John the Baptists beheading. But they didn’t even have time to grieve because the next thing we see is the multitude coming to Jesus, and the feeding of 5,000 men (no telling how many women and children there were). And then Jesus tells the disciples to get in the boat and go to the other side.
The Greek says that He strongly urged them to get into the boat and go to the other side. And the next thing you know, along comes a storm.
Which brings me to my first point. When your serving God, and trying to be obedient to Christ, you will have to face storms in your life. Now I’m not talking about physical storms that are common in nature, but the storms of trials and difficulty. Even sitting here today, you may be going through a storm. Maybe it’s money problems, or problems in a relationship. You might be having family problems, or problems at your job or school. We all have storms in life.
Anyone who tells you Christianity is smooth sailing doesn’t understand what the Bible teaches about serving the Lord. 2nd Tim. 3:12 says, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
So basically the disciples were in a storm because they were trying to be obedient to Christ. Now that’s not the only reason storms come in the lives of believers. Remember Jonah? He had to go through a storm for correction, but I don’t think that was the case here in our text.
For the disciples, this wasn’t a corrective storm because they were doing what Jesus had commanded them to do. They were trying to be obedient to the Lord. They were trying to get to the other side.
Remember the last part of the Sermon on the Mount? Where Jesus talks about building your house on the Rock? He said that “whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock, and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, because it was built on the rock.” He was saying that if your life is built on Christ Jesus, then that doesn’t mean that you’ll be exempt from the storms, but you will be able to weather them. The wise man had to go through the storm, but the difference maker was his foundation.
And in both these instances, we go back to obedience. The wise builder was wise because he was not only a hearer of God’s Word, he was also a doer. And the disciples were obedient as well. Jesus said, “Go to the other side.” And they went, or at least tried. It was a step of faith, and obedience. Which go hand in hand. Remember James tells us that faith without works is dead.
Which brings us back to Peter. Peter’s step is a step of faith, of commitment, and obedience. D.L. Moody, the founder of Moody Bible Institute asked the question, (and I’m paraphrasing) “What could God do with someone who was totally committed to Him?” And then he answered his own question, “Lord let me be that man.” And look what God did with him. He ended up being a great pastor and evangelist, and like I said, the founder of Moody Bible Institute.
A lot of Christians today are only satisfied with doing little things for God, but not Peter. Out of the 12, only Peter asks to join Jesus in “walking on the water.” And all it took was Jesus’ Word. Jesus said, “come”, and Peter was obedient. Peter climbed out of the boat, stepped on the water, and walked on the sea toward the Lord. Now we don’t know how far he walked or how many steps he had taken before he started to sink. But we are sure that he did walk on the water.
And sure, everyone points out that Peter sank. But let me ask you a question, would you rather sink being obedient to God? Or stay in the boat even though the Lord has told you to come?
One of the biggest problems I see in the church today is that Christians are afraid to get out of the boat and answer the Lord’s call. Sure Peter sank, he sank because he took his eyes off of Jesus and began to look at what was going on around him. But the other 11 disciples never even had their eyes on Jesus but were looking at the storm from the get go. Peter was the only one who had faith enough to step out of the boat.
So how does this apply to our lives today? Well individually God may be calling you to some task, or some ministry. He may be calling you to do a certain thing. And I can’t say what God is calling you as an individual to do, that’s between you and Him. But I can say that as Christians in general, God has called us to a specific task. Mark 16:15 says, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Just like the 12 disciples, Jesus has told us to go as well. He has told us to go and preach (or proclaim) the gospel (good news).
And when Jesus told us that in Mark 16:15, He wasn’t making a suggestion. It’s a commandment.
Now in the 10 years that I’ve been in various types of ministry I’ve heard all sorts of reasons why people don’t share their faith. So what were going to do today is look at some Biblical examples of how people witnessed for the Lord, and apply them to our own lives. After all, that’s part of why we’re here today. “To be equipped for the working of ministry.”
Turn to Luke 5:17-20 (read). There are a lot of hurting people out there, who need help. And guess what? The church has what they need, or at least we should. We have the answers that a hurting world needs. And that answer is Jesus Christ. So if you happen to know anyone who is hurting, or sick, or down, invite them to church, where they can find comfort, and love, and fellowship, and compassion, and most importantly a Savior who knows and understands their every need.
Ok, lets go on here, stay in Luke chapter 5 and look at verses 27-32 (read).
Now Matthew was a tax collector, he wasn’t a Bible scholar, or anything like that. He wasn’t a pastor, or an evangelist, or even a Sunday school teacher, so he didn’t have all the answers about Christianity, but he knew Who does. So what did Matthew do? Well, he threw a party, a feast. And he invited all of his old tax collecting buddies because he knew that even though he didn’t have all the answers the One who did, Jesus Christ, was going to be there as well. In John chapter 4 the Samaritan woman at the well did the same thing. She brought others to where they could meet Jesus. Now that might be you today. You might not know the Bible as well as you’d like, and you might not be able to answer some of the tough questions, but I bet that there’s someone here who can. So if you’ve got friends or associates with questions, don’t let that stop you from witnessing, because if they get to a question you can’t answer, I’m sure that someone at church can. So either introduce them to someone who can answer their questions or better yet, invite them to church. That’s the other part of why we come here. To grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Now turn to Luke chapter 8, in verses 26 through 38 we read about Jesus casting a legion of demons out of a man, but I want you to look at vs. 39 (read). Never underestimate the power of your testimony. Any and all of us can tell others about what the Lord has done for us. It may be as simple as, “All I know is that I was blind, but now I see.” But when we give glory to God through our words, and then exhibit it in our changed lives, people are going to notice. When you get serious about serving God in your everyday lives, people are going to notice. Jesus said that you are the light of the world, a city on a hill cannot be hidden. We are to let our light shine before all men, that they might see our good works and then, praise our Father up in heaven.
You see, when a person who’s lost and in the dark sees a light, they’re going to head towards that light.
Probably the main reason people don’t witness is because they are afraid. They are afraid of either being persecuted, or they’re afraid of looking foolish. Did you know the one command Jesus gave more than any other was “fear not”? FEAR NOT! “Fear not for I am with thee”. In other words, if we are being obedient, and doing what He has commanded us to do, we have nothing to fear. What did He say to the disciples when He came walking to them on the sea? “It is I, do not be afraid.” Sure, if your living for Christ you will have to face storms, just a little while ago we quoted 2nd Tim. 3:12 “Any man who desires to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” And Jesus Himself said, “In this world you will have trouble…” But let’s not forget the last part of that verse, “but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” More than any other command, Jesus tells us to fear not. But there is one time when He tells us that we should fear, Luke 12:4 (read). In other words, don’t be afraid of what men might say about you, or do to you, because this life here on earth isn’t even a drop in the bucket. Don’t fear men, fear God.
Ok, so that takes care of persecution, but what about looking foolish? Turn with me to Romans chapter 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. For the Jew first, and also for the Greek.” You see, it’s not about your education, your speaking ability, your charm, or any of that stuff. Paul says that it’s THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST that is the power of God unto salvation. And he says that he’s not ashamed of that. We don’t have to apologize for the Bible. God said what He meant, and meant what He said. It’s not our job to make the gospel politically correct, or even more “seeker friendly”. It’s our job to simply present the Gospel, to plant and water, and then let God bring about the increase. We present the Word, and then step back and let God perform His Word.
“Well what if no one responds?” It’s not up to you, or me. God calls the sinner through the preaching of the Gospel; we just have to be faithful in preaching it.
Jeremiah preached for 40 years and no one came forward at his altar calls, but that doesn’t mean he was a failure. He was faithful and obedient in what God had called him to do.
Now there’s one last thing that Peter shows us about our obedience in witnessing, but instead of looking at Matthews telling of this story turn with me to Mark chapter 6 and let’s read Marks take on this. Mark 6:47 & 48 “Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.” Wait a minute! Stop right there! He would’ve passed them by? You see, Jesus had told them to do something. And they were trying to do what He had told them to do, but there was one problem. They were trying to do it in their own strength. You see, the disciples had been out there for several hours struggling against this storm, but they were getting nowhere. In John 15:5 Jesus said that without Him, we can do nothing, but Philippians 4:13 tells us that we can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us. God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called. But as long as we try to do it in our own strength, we will struggle and struggle and never fulfil our calling. We see this over and over again in the Bible. Jacob tried it his way, but it wasn’t until he wrestled with God, and was forced to lean upon Him that he actually got on the right track. The Prodigal son had to come to the end of himself and realize that his ways were not the right ways. And the disciples struggled against a storm until they got Jesus in their boat.
Peter in and of himself couldn’t walk on water, but because of his faithfulness, and obedience, God allowed him, and empowered him to do just that.
And so today, the question I have for you, and this is for the Christians here today, are you a wet water walker, or a dry boat rider?
ALTER CALL
