Risk and Reward
Matthew 14:22-33
Many of you might remember the Lethal Weapons movies of a few years back. In these movies there was a good safe cop who did things conservatively, by the book, who wasn’t in to taking unnecessary risks. Then there was the character played by Mel Gibson who was always taking risks. He would jump off of buildings, fight anyone, and do just about anything that involved taking a risk.
Interestingly enough, later Mel Gibson would take a risk of his own. He would risk his own money, his reputation and his status in Hollywood in an attempt to make a film portraying the Passion of the Crucifixion of Christ. Many people warned him not to do it and the nay-sayers warned him that it would fail and it would cost him dearly. No company would pick up and finance the film, so out of his own money, Mel Gibson made his movie. Folks said he was crazy for doing it, but this was something that he felt God was calling him to do, so he put it all on the line, risking a great deal to be faithful to something he felt God was calling him to do. He took a risk, and he has been rewarded for it.
Maybe this morning God is asking you to take a risk. Now it may surprise you, but God does want you to take certain risk. In fact, Not only does He want it, He demands it. In the parable of the talents, the person who was given one talent did nothing with theirs but hid it out of fear, and Jesus said that the master came back and called him a wicked and lazy servant for not taking a risk with it. Lazy we can understand, but wicked?
God has entrusted us with so much and has given us so much, we can’t just sit on it…He expects us to take certain risk for Him. Zig Ziglar once said that it is risky for a plane to take off, but that is what planes are meant to do, and it’s even riskier for a plane to sit on the ground and rust. It’s risky for us Christians to step out of our comfort zones and attempt the impossible for God, but that’s what we are called to do.
We call it stepping out on faith. Now maybe that is easy for you. By nature you are a risk taker, but many of you fall into the category of safety seekers, and that is good, but God calls us on occasion, to step out of our safety zone and take a calculated risk of faith. And maybe after today, you will take that risk in your life.
In our text, we see it had already been a grueling day. The disciples had been ministering all day and were exhausted. They had just witnessed a miracle where Jesus fed 5,000 people with only 5 loafs of bread and 2 fish, and no doubt it was a day of highs and now as the day came to a close, Jesus sends the disciples away to the other side of the shore as He goes to pray.
Now what was supposed to be a simple trip ends up taking longer then they expected. Now I’ve been known to get lost on occasion and when a trip is supposed to only take a few hours ends up taking about 6 hours you start to get a little feisty and irritated, especially if you had already had a long day.
During the fourth watch of the night, between 3 and 6 a.m Jesus began to make His way to the disciples. Now remember, they had been traveling between 9 and 12 hours for what should have been a short trip. The wind was blowing hard against their boat. Their lives weren’t in danger, but they had been blown off course and were probably frustrated, tired, and irritable.
Matt 14:25-26 says that, “During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. (Now imagine the scene, the wind is blowing, its dark, and the disciples are struggling to get their boat to go and they look and they see a figure taking a casual stroll on the water. Now how did they react to this? Verse 26 says, “When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified.” It’s a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.”
Fear is health a lot of times. It can keep you alive by keeping you from doing some stupid things, it keeps most people off of cliff walls and away from the edge of tall buildings. The Disciples are afraid, not a big deal, and perhaps pretty normal.
But Jesus calls out to them. Matt 14:27, “But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid." Have you ever noticed the number of times Jesus is telling the disciples not to be afraid. It seems that the disciples are always either scared or asleep. Now this is where we come to the part I like. Peter is going to ask to come out and walk on the water to Jesus.
He is asking to do something he knows is impossible. HE has been around water all his life. He has probably never seen the lake frozen over and people walking on it. He wants to be close to Jesus and he asked the impossible.
It seems that when people read this scripture they forget the request and the first step and they remember that he sank.
Folks we need to applaud Peter because, in this passage, Peter did something that the other 11 disciples didn’t do. Peter got out of the boat. Peter took a risk of doing something that he had never done before, something that even you and I personally know is impossible for us. Peter does this because he wants to get to Jesus. He takes a risk, just to get close to Jesus.
Now I’ve asked myself many times why the other 11 didn’t try to walk on water as well and I’ve found that the two main reasons that I came up with are similar to the reasons why we fail to take steps of faith in our lives today. The first is that they were fearful. The winds were blowing, the waves were no doubt crashing, they thought Jesus was a ghost and the waves were too big! I think the greatest fear they had was that they would fail. They might step out and sink to the bottom. But let me say, I would rather be a failed water walker then a dry boat potato any day.
And many of you might be afraid to take risk in your life because you are afraid you might fail. But the good things in life come only when we are willing to go out on a limb and take that risk. I remember how scared I was when I first asked Renee if I could kiss her. We had been dating for a while, and I had debated it for a while and I was terrified. What if she said no, what if she smacks me, what if, what if.
I leaned over and asked, “Renee, can I kiss you?” She said, “Have you brushed your teeth!” No just kidding, she said “ you don’t ask you just do it.” I did not know if that was a yes or a no. What ever it was, it seemed to have spoiled the mood. While I did not get slapped, I did not get kissed right away either. However, I did take the risk and was later rewarded.
Now many of you are so fearful of taking risk that you never get to experience many of life’s wonders and joys. And there is no telling what God can do through us if we can just overcome our fears and step out on faith for Him. Maybe you have a wonderful testimony of what God has done in your life, but your so afraid of speaking that you keep it to yourself. Think of how many people are missing out on that blessing because of your fear. We all grow when we share the stories of what God has done in our lives.
So the first reason why they didn’t take the risk is that they were afraid and maybe that is where you are at today. The second reason why they didn’t take a risk is that they preferred the safety and certainty of the floating boat to the uncertainty of the water. They were content with the safety of the boat, but look at what they were missing. A chance to walk on the water with Jesus!
When a church holds back and stays in the boat so to speak is it for the same reasons? Is it fear or comfort? Is it uncertainty as to the response?
When is the reward big enough for us to want to take a risk? When will the potential result be worth our efforts?
Will the chance to join Jesus where he is working ever be enough?
Eileen Guder once remarked that “You can live on bland food so as to avoid an ulcer; drink no tea or coffee or other stimulants, in the name of health; go to bed early and stay away from night life; avoid all controversial subjects so as never to give offense; mind your own business and avoid involvement in other people’s problems; spend money only on necessities and save all you can. You can still break your neck in the bathtub, and it will serve you right."
Peter took a risk getting out of a boat, but it wasn’t a rash decision, it was a calculated risk. God doesn’t want us to take unnecessary risk, but steps of faith that is based on wisdom and understanding. Now I want you to notice a few things Peter did here. First, Peter sought the will of Christ first. Matt 14:28 “Lord, if it’s you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
Peter didn’t just hop out of the boat; he sought Christ out first and said You tell me to do it. Whenever you take a risk, the first thing you do even before you do it and not something you think you want to do.
He did not make a rash decision; it was a calculated step of faith.
Now the second thing that Peter did is that he wasn’t going out there alone. He said Jesus; tell me to come to You! He wanted to make sure Jesus was going to be right there with him. You know, risks are always easier to make when you have someone with you. It somehow helps us to know that we are not alone.
When my kids were much smaller, James and Jason had very little fear of the water, they would jump in and bob around. Keylee on the other hand was pretty scared. She finally agreed to jump into my arms and go back to the side of the pool. And Jump in again. I slowly moved farther from the edge making her jump farther (which was pretty painful to me, boney knees and elbows and claws that grabbed me in fear) and swim the few feet to get out.
Slowly her confidence was strengthened. She never would have done it if I had not been there to catch her. She quickly started enjoying the water
When you take a risk that you have prayed about and you know this is God’s will for you, and then you know that God will not leave you alone.
He will be with you every step of the way.
Then you can also be assured of success.
You are assured of a reward.
And the final thing I want you to see here is that Peter knew that reward was worth the risk. Peter might sink, he might drown, yes, but he had the chance to walk on the water with Jesus. Who could pass that up? Peter knew the rewards were great, even if it meant falling to the bottom of the lake.
I have a lot of ministry friends that have left long standing careers with comfortable salaries, because Jesus called them to get out of the boat. They saw Jesus on the waters of their life and decided to take a risk. Each one has been rewarded with the closer walk with Jesus. They have received the short term encouragement to have the courage to take additional risk. Each step has led them to step up to more. Each step had rewards although they were rarely tangible. In fact the world could probably not measure or value them at all. My friends feel something. They find a personal satisfaction.
What more can we really receive here that a feeling of satisfaction, the feeling of doing something good.
Now what is God calling you to do today. Is He asking that you risk possible embarrassment of talking to that neighbor? Is He asking you to risk rejection by telling your boyfriend or girlfriend that you are going to be faithful to God above all else no matter what? Is He calling you to volunteer for some form of ministry within the church? Is He calling you to give or to commit your life today? What ever He is calling you to do, remember that if you want to walk on the water, you have to get out of the boat. And you may sink, Peter did. But Christ picked him up and boy did he have a story to tell his grandchildren. The story of how with the Help of Jesus he did something impossible.
What risk will you take this morning?
All Glory be to God!
