“Truly You are the Son of God.”
Matthew 14:22-36
November 5, 2006
NOTE: this sermon format is different from my normal style. I’m experimenting with some things, and this format is according to that suggested in "Communicating for a Change," by Andy Stanly. I can tell you that the book was great, and that people seemed to actually "get it" when I preached this message and my wife felt that I was "in my element," feeling comfortable preaching again.
I can’t suggest highly enough that all pastors read this book! Brian
In the summer of 1982, I was living by myself in a trailer house after graduating from high school, biding my time until leaving for college.
One day after getting home from work, I decided to take a quick nap before catching that day’s "Lone Ranger" episode. During that nap I was awakened by voices outside my trailer, and got up to see a couple guys sipping beers and pointing to the sky. I had earlier noticed that the sky to the west was looking like it would rain or storm, but it now looked like something serious was heading our way.
So I went to the TV to watch for weather bulletins during my show as I sat in my overstuffed chair. The bulletins went from "tornado watch" to "tornado warning" in a short period of time.
Did I mention I was in a trailer house?
Soon the winds picked up and the rain came pouring down, and the trailer began to shake. I literally though, "I’m going to die. This trailer is going to go flying and I’ll end up in Kansas or something (I lived in south central South Dakota)."
During the height of the storm, I thought I heard a faint honking. I looked out my door, and there was my dad in his government-issued SUV. He was less than 10 feet from my door, but could barely hear the horn due to the noise of the storm. He knew that I would be a bit scared (okay, REALLY scared) and came to bring me from what I thought to be certain death. My first thought was, "I’m saved!!" And bounded out to his vehicle.
As certain as I was that I was going to die, I was now just as certain that I was safe. Until I figured out what Dad was really doing.
You see, he’s a trained tornado spotter. He had no intention of going home and hunkering down in the basement like a sensible person would do. Uh-uh. He was going to FIND THE TORNADO.
I tried to tell him that gowing TOWARD a tornado wasn’t the smartest move, but it fell on deaf ears.
Folks, I was scared spitless.
And don’t even get me started about spiders…
I think a couple of things that scared me the most about storms, and even today to some degree are that (1) You can’t control them, and (2), you can’t always accurately predict their direction.
Anyone else noticed that? And so we’re alternately doing what those guys outside my trailer were doing and going inside to hear the latest bulletin on the radio ot TV.
The bottom line is that all we can do is look at the sky and hope that it doesn’t destroy us, because we’re helpless to do anything to stop it. And if we see it coming directly at us, it can bring a fear that is overwhelming.
There are other things in life that can create fear or create the same feeling of helplessness that can come when looking at a tornado heading your way:
> A health crisis that threatens to take your life or the life of someone you love. Or maybe you’re entering a new phase of development like puberty, menopause, or the simply the realization that you’re not as young as you used to be!
> A financial crisis that threatens to wipe you out.
> A relationship crisis that threatens to tear you apart – maybe a divorce or a shattered relationship between a parent and a child.
> A parenting crisis where you see one of your children transition from one phase of life to another, bringing less dependence on you. You were comfortable with their need for you, and now it’s obvious that need isn’t so big anymore.
> A sin crisis where you find yourself threatened with the consequences of something you’ve done that you knew was sin and now it’s bearing the ugly fruit it always does.
> Even a spiritual crisis that threatens to take the legs out from everything you’ve ever believed before.
These are tense things, and everyone is susceptible to them. Maybe you’re sitting in here today and you’re facing these one or more of these things right now and you’re scared to death.
I mentioned my fear of that storm back in that summer of 1982, but let me tell you, I’ve faced some of these other storms as well.
Well, the good news is that none of those are new. Even Jesus’ closest followers knew the fear of being in imminent danger and unable to do anything about it.
I want us to look at a passage of Scripture that illustrates the kind of fear a lot of us have faced at one time or another.
They didn’t face a financial crisis or a sin crisis or a life-change crisis in this passage, but it was a crisis that threatened to take their very lives.
And it was Jesus that pulled them through, and that’s what I want you to catch as we go through this passage.
It’s Matthew 14:22-37 –
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It’s a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
This is now the second time the disciples had been in a boat in a storm with Jesus involved.
The first time Jesus was in the boat when the storm came up, this time the storm came then Jesus came, and both times they were scared spitless.
You would think by now that they would have been able think, “Hey, Jesus is coming – He’ll have it under control in no time. He’ll show this storm a thing or two.”
But like most of us in this room, they didn’t always get the lesson the first time.
And it didn’t help that it was the middle of the night, sometime between 3 and 6 AM. They were exhausted from rowing all night against this wind trying to get to the other side.
And then they thought a ghost was coming at them on the water. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking that if I was in that boat, I’d either be passed out in fear or throwing up.
Wouldn’t you be? Let’s keep going:
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid."
28 "Lord, if it’s you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
29 "Come," he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
34 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.
I want to step back a little bit and look at Jesus’ words in verse 27, because it’s key to understanding where I’m going with this:
Jesus said, as He was approaching the boat –
"Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid."
Now if I was conscious at this point, I’d say, “Easy for You to say, Jesus!”
But think with me for a minute. Where are we supposed to get that courage?
This courage doesn’t spring from:
> Our “having it all together”
> Our ability to “laugh in the face of danger” (which is often foolish)
> Our material resources to meet the need. (What could the disciples offer in this situation? Nothing. They couldn’t buy calm weather.)
So where do we get this courage? From Jesus.
Jesus said to take courage. Why? Because He was there.
Just like before, He could and He did take care of the situation. And why could He do that?
The disciples answered that in verse 33 –
"Truly you are the Son of God."
Not, “Truly you are a nice teacher.” Not, “Truly you are prophet.” Not, “Truly you are an enlightened guru.” And not, “Truly you are magician who can manipulate the weather.”
Folks, none of these types of people can help you the way Jesus can. Because truly He is the Son of God.
Go back to Peter here, because I think there’s something we can learn.
First, let me say that I think that Peter, for all his faults, was a real gutsy guy.
I can tell you that if Jesus would have said something like, “Anyone here want to volunteer to come out to me?” I would have done what most people do when they’re asked to volunteer for something they don’t want to do:
They look around pretending to not have heard, desperately hoping someone else says something.
But not Peter. He’s like, “If that’s You, Jesus, then invite me to come out there with you.”
I think he said that because He figured Jesus could really make it happen and take care of him.
So Jesus say, “Come on out, big guy.” Peter gets out takes a few steps.
But then what happens? He takes his eyes off Jesus and begins to focus on the wind and the waves. And that’s when things go sour for Peter and he begins to sink.
And Peter cries out, “Lord, save me!”
And before we beat up on Peter for having so little faith, let me remind you that while we don’t know how many steps he took on the water, it was more than you or I ever have!
My guess is that as I was going through the list of storms we go through in life, one or more of those resonated with you, and it’s just possible that many of you are going through some storms right now.
You’re looking at Monday and you’re going, “Lord, I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the week. All I see is this storm and if it hits, I’m going down faster than Peter, and if You don’t grab me, I’m sunk.”
So here’s what I want you to do this week…
Memorize this sentence: “When the storms come, look to Jesus first.”
Too often when we face a crisis we do everything we can to solve the problem ourselves, and then we ask God to get involved when we run out of options.
Or we don’t pray first because we’re pretty self-sufficient people, and maybe we think that God’s either too busy or doesn’t care, neither of which is true, by the way.
I suggest going to Him first.
“When the storms come, look to Jesus first.”
That’s not to say that we don’t do what we can, but I’m of the opinion (due to personal experience) that if we ask Jesus to get involved in the first place, then we won’t spin our wheels as much, and our thinking can become clearer, and we might even find solutions that we didn’t know existed because we wouldn’t have thought of them on our own.
Don’t put Him last in the process, put Him first.
So (say it with me) “when the storms come, look to Jesus first.”
“Truly You are the Son of God.”
“Truly You can bring me through this.”
Folks, I wonder if you noticed something about this story that’s real similar to the storm Jesus calmed in chapter 8.
In both episodes, Jesus says, “You of little faith…”
Folks, we use the word “faith” a lot in Christian circles. We talk about how our faith is important to us, and how it should impact our lives.
But I want you to think for a moment to yourself: just where is my faith?
Is it in my own abilities or cleverness?
Is it in my financial situation?
Is it in my job?
If it’s in any of these, or really, anything else like it, then what happens if all that is taken away from you?
Then you have nothing to base your faith on.
But if your faith is in Jesus, then all these things can be taken away, and you still have the one about whom we can say, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
Can you imagine what it would mean in your life if you were to develop the habit of always looking to Jesus first when the storms hit? Let me tell you that as I have developed that habit in my own life, there is a peace that comes that you don’t get any other way.
It’s that peace that passes all understanding that Paul talks about for those who call on Jesus.
What about how it could impact your family? If they could see your faith in action when it really counted during a crisis, what do you think that would do for them when they face the same kind of thing?
And can you imagine what it would be like for this community and county to see a church full of people who really trust in Jesus when the tough times come?
They’ll see that Jesus is more than just a painting on a wall. They’ll see something that will cause them to say, “Truly Jesus is the Son of God.” And what an impact that would have for those who are without hope and really need the hand of Jesus to take hold of them and bring them to safety.
Before we pray, join me in saying it one more time: When the storms come, look first to Jesus.
Let’s pray.
