SPEAKER_00: Good morning and welcome to Trinity.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Mike, and I'm one of the pastors here, and I'd like to invite you this morning to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 14.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't have a Bible, please don't hesitate to hop up and you can grab one from the stack in the back.
SPEAKER_00: You can find Matthew 14 on page 770 in your church Bibles.
SPEAKER_00: This morning we're picking up Jesus' story right from where we left off last week.
SPEAKER_00: John the wilderness had been executed at Herod's feast.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus withdraws into the wilderness to be alone.
SPEAKER_00: It seems the crowd had the same idea, however, and Jesus finds 5,000 men, plus women and children, waiting for him.
SPEAKER_00: Rather than send them away so that he could have his alone time, Jesus is moved with compassion, as we saw last week, and he heals the sick among them, eventually meeting them in their hunger by miraculously feeding the huge crowd with the little his disciples brought him.
SPEAKER_00: This week, we'll see what happens next.
SPEAKER_00: But first let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Gracious God, thank you for this morning for the chance to gather, to worship, to pray, to hear from your scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: I pray now that as my words line up with your words, that they would fall on ears and hearts ready to receive them and respond.
SPEAKER_00: And gracious God, if I say anything that isn't from you, I pray that those words would quickly be forgotten.
SPEAKER_00: And I pray all these things through Jesus Christ our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: If you've got a Bible open, look at verse 22.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 22 sets the scene for the whole episode.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what Matthew writes immediately, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
SPEAKER_00: And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever wondered why Jesus, after feeding the crowds, immediately sends his disciples away?
SPEAKER_00: Matthew says, he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side.
SPEAKER_00: Why do you think that is?
SPEAKER_00: I came up with three reasons.
SPEAKER_00: First, so that he can deal with the crowds.
SPEAKER_00: We're talking thousands of people.
SPEAKER_00: But instead of Jesus bolting or delegating the act of dismissing the people, he keeps that job to himself.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, did you notice this?
SPEAKER_00: Matthew makes the point twice in both verse 22 and 23.
SPEAKER_00: He says that Jesus remained behind to dismiss the crowds.
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like this.
SPEAKER_00: It'd be like if after church, Pastor Matt or myself ducked out a side door, like escaped out that way because we were tired and spent and the job was done.
SPEAKER_00: I suppose that would be understandable, but it would feel a little bit weird, wouldn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Impersonal.
SPEAKER_00: And so instead, again, sometimes we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's personal, relational, because we're pastors.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus sends his disciples ahead of him so that he can do the work of saying goodbye.
SPEAKER_00: Second, he does it so that he can clearly in verse 23.
SPEAKER_00: After he dismissed the crowds, this is why he'd gone into the disciples on ahead to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Spent, confused, or rushed, or non-existent, may be the evening.
SPEAKER_00: And then lastly, Jesus sends his disciples away to them in a new way.
SPEAKER_00: Put on a boat to pray.
SPEAKER_00: When evening came, Matthew tells us Jesus was there alone.
SPEAKER_00: It was exactly where he needed to be, praying by himself in the wilderness.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples, on the other hand, if you look at verse 24, the boat by this time was a long way from land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.
SPEAKER_00: Next slide, this is a picture of my canoe Fernveh.
SPEAKER_00: Fernveh, by the way, is German word for longing for faraway places.
SPEAKER_00: I have spent many, many hours in the wilderness in the stern of a canoe over the last 25 years.
SPEAKER_00: It is quiet most of the time.
SPEAKER_00: And I can remember two times when I was stuck in a headwind.
SPEAKER_00: Like, not just like, oh, there's a breeze.
SPEAKER_00: I might be going a little bit off course, but like, this is a headwind.
SPEAKER_00: I have to really work, and I still am not sure I'm making any progress.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, the wind is coming so strongly, I'm actually going backwards.
SPEAKER_00: Wasn't a fun experience.
SPEAKER_00: It was a bit harrowing.
SPEAKER_00: It was certainly exhausting and exceptionally frustrating.
SPEAKER_00: Like, here's the thing I feel like I'm pretty competent at, and I can't make any progress.
SPEAKER_00: Felt completely helpless.
SPEAKER_00: No matter how much experience I had, I didn't stand a chance against the wind.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the situation here.
SPEAKER_00: They're beaten, helpless.
SPEAKER_00: There's not much they can do.
SPEAKER_00: They even have fishermen on the boat who'd spent a lifetime on this sea.
SPEAKER_00: And yet here they are, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.
SPEAKER_00: Do you think at this moment that any of them might have said to themselves or each other, why on earth did Jesus put us in this boat if we were just gonna get stuck out here in the middle of the sea, making zero headway?
SPEAKER_00: Do you think any of them at this point wondered?
SPEAKER_00: Like, it was the end of the day, it was getting dark, Jesus made us get in the boat, and here we are in the middle of the sea, making zero progress.
SPEAKER_00: Really, really, Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: There's a lesson for us here, to be sure.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus had put them in the boat.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples, in this moment, in the middle of the sea, harrowed by the winds and the waves, were within the scope of Jesus' will.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, that's right, will, and yet there is still wind and waves and darkness.
SPEAKER_00: Just because you are in the Lord's will does not mean everything will be smooth sailing.
SPEAKER_00: Literally, in this case.
SPEAKER_00: I had a mentor who used to say that everything in life provides either a lesson, a blessing, or an opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you have heard me say this before.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes more than one of those things.
SPEAKER_00: Of course, when it's the middle of the night and you're stuck in a headwind, it can be hard to see.
SPEAKER_00: It can be awfully hard to see.
SPEAKER_00: When you're dealing with chronic illness, or a baby who won't sleep, it can be hard to see the blessing, the lesson, the opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: When work is a mess, or you're battling depression, or you've hit a rough spot in your marriage, or the dollars aren't quite adding up, it can be hard to see, can't it?
SPEAKER_00: It can feel a bit like you're in a boat in the middle of the night, making little to no headway.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever felt like that?
SPEAKER_00: And you might find yourself wondering, Jesus, was it you who put me in this boat?
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: And where are you?
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever felt like that?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you feel like that this morning.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 25, Matthew tells us that it was the fourth watch of the night.
SPEAKER_00: That is, between 3 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: and 6 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: It's just before dawn, when the night is the darkest.
SPEAKER_00: And it was in that moment, the darkest moment, after they'd been stuck in the headwinds for hours, making seemingly no progress at all.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 25, Matthew tells us that he came to them.
SPEAKER_00: If you've got a Bible open in your lap, underline those words, he came to them.
SPEAKER_00: In the darkest moment of the night, Jesus came to them.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is always finding people in the moments that seem darkest.
SPEAKER_00: A lesson, a blessing, or an opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus came to them walking on the sea.
SPEAKER_00: Who does that?
SPEAKER_00: Seriously.
SPEAKER_00: This part of the story is crazy.
SPEAKER_00: And it's worth noting, Jesus didn't have to do this.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, the wind and the waves were against them to be sure, and the night was dark, no doubt, but they weren't in mortal danger.
SPEAKER_00: There's no crazy storm, no threat of capsizing.
SPEAKER_00: It's not like the storm back in, I think it was Matthew 6, when water, the waves were coming in over the boat and the boat was filling up, and they thought they were going to die, and Jesus was taking a nap in the back, and they said, Jesus, do you care that we're gonna die?
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus stands up, you remember the story, and he says, Be still.
SPEAKER_00: The storm is still.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't one of those situations.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't say anything in there about them almost dying, or the boat filling up with waves, right?
SPEAKER_00: They're tired, they're discouraged, they're harrowed, but they're not in mortal danger.
SPEAKER_00: It's just dark.
SPEAKER_00: They're anxious and overwhelmed.
SPEAKER_00: And still, Jesus comes to them in a way that they couldn't possibly imagine.
SPEAKER_00: This is worth noting.
SPEAKER_00: How do we know that they couldn't imagine Jesus doing this?
SPEAKER_00: Well, my I'd venture to guess they'd never seen anybody walk on water before.
SPEAKER_00: We also know, because verse 26 tells us the disciples saw him walking in the sea, they were terrified.
SPEAKER_00: Not the word used to describe the storm.
SPEAKER_00: New word, terrified.
SPEAKER_00: And they said, It's a ghost.
SPEAKER_00: And they cried out in fear, which, to be honest, seems to me to be a reasonable response.
SPEAKER_00: And it's worth noting that Jesus doesn't yet calm the storm.
SPEAKER_00: He does, however, meet them in it.
SPEAKER_00: You notice that?
SPEAKER_00: Before the calm is stormed, before the storm or the waves, the wind are calmed, Jesus meets them in it.
SPEAKER_00: In a way that they couldn't see coming.
SPEAKER_00: And they can't even recognize him.
SPEAKER_00: They think he's a ghost.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, Jesus often finds us in ways that are unexpected.
SPEAKER_00: We can't see coming.
SPEAKER_00: We're we may not even recognize him in it at first.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what he does.
SPEAKER_00: This is the crux of the whole passage.
SPEAKER_00: Immediately, Jesus spoke to them, saying, Take heart.
SPEAKER_00: It is I, do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: Immediately, Jesus doesn't delay here.
SPEAKER_00: He meets them in their fear.
SPEAKER_00: Take heart.
SPEAKER_00: One commentator translates this phrase, courage.
SPEAKER_00: It is I.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, that's I am.
SPEAKER_00: And it's right in the exact center of the story.
SPEAKER_00: I am.
SPEAKER_00: It's Jesus' definitive declaration to his fearful disciples.
SPEAKER_00: It's a statement that ties him fundamentally to God.
SPEAKER_00: It's a declaration of divinity, of the sort that Pharisees found blasphemous.
SPEAKER_00: It's a loaded term, and it's one that we're actually going to spend the whole fall unpacking this year in the Gospel of John.
SPEAKER_00: But for now, know this.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' definitive declaration here for the disciples: courage! I am.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: It's also a definitive declaration for us.
SPEAKER_00: No matter the circumstances or situation.
SPEAKER_00: It's a definitive declaration for us too.
SPEAKER_00: Take heart.
SPEAKER_00: I am.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: In this instance, as in most every instance of divine utterance I can think of, the word provides exactly what it commands.
SPEAKER_00: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_00: In this instance, as in most every instance of divine utterance I can think of, this word provides exactly what it commands.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, take heart.
SPEAKER_00: He utters the word, and how does Peter respond?
SPEAKER_00: He takes heart.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I am, do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter, full of courage, fixes his eyes on Jesus and puts aside his fear.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 28.
SPEAKER_00: Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.
SPEAKER_00: Now, do you notice that Peter asks for a command here?
SPEAKER_00: I didn't notice that until this last week as I was studying this.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't ask for a promise of safety.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't ask for permission.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, if it's you, can I come?
SPEAKER_00: If you have a Bible open in your lap, it's worth circling the word command.
SPEAKER_00: We live in a culture that prizes or prioritizes freedom or choice above just about everything, right?
SPEAKER_00: We as a culture want to keep our options open.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven forbid, we want to make our own way.
SPEAKER_00: The thing that I'm most trying to provide for my children is the freedom to choose their own life, right?
SPEAKER_00: And yet, in a world of culture that prizes freedom over everything else, Peter looks to Jesus for a command.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what New Testament scholar Dale Bruner has to say about that.
SPEAKER_00: The commands of Jesus are enabling grace rather than forbidding law.
SPEAKER_00: Peter asks for a command because he knows that when we act in obedience to a command of God, he always seems to give us everything that we need to obey.
SPEAKER_00: When we act in obedience to a command of God, he always gives us everything that we need to obey.
SPEAKER_00: I've seen it in my own life over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: When I'm responding to God's command to give generously, he always seems to meet my financial needs.
SPEAKER_00: When I respond in obedience to his command to share my faith with others, he always meets me in those conversations.
SPEAKER_00: When we were obedient to his command to plant a new church in Burke, as terrifying as that was for me.
SPEAKER_00: Well, look at what he's done.
SPEAKER_00: And for just a moment, as Bruner puts it, a believing disciple and an enabling Lord do the impossible and master the elements.
SPEAKER_00: And for a brief moment give the church a glimpse of her unearthly possibilities in the world.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, there is grace and freedom in obeying the commands of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And all that he asks of us, he always provides.
SPEAKER_00: So Peter asks him, Lord, command me.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, Come.
SPEAKER_00: Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It is always a good idea to come to Jesus regardless of circumstance.
SPEAKER_00: And as John Ortberg famously wrote, if you want to walk on water, you've got to get out of the boat.
SPEAKER_00: Peter, in obedience to his Lord command, gets out of the boat and walks on water.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, but Peter is so like us.
SPEAKER_00: Commentators throughout the centuries have noted that Peter here is representative of Christ's church, capable of the most extraordinary things when done in response to the commands of Jesus, and then in the very next instant, distracted by the noise around us, or the cares of the world, or the wind and the waves sinking.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 30, when Peter saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me.
SPEAKER_00: First, let's state the obvious.
SPEAKER_00: When did Peter begin to sink?
SPEAKER_00: Somebody tell me.
SPEAKER_00: When he took his eyes off Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Peter began to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus, when he looked at the wind and the waves instead.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, but I love Peter's response in the midst of his fear.
SPEAKER_00: It's the cry of both the strong, faith-filled disciple who walked on water and the most miserable of sinners, all wrapped up in one, walking on water one moment, sinking in fear the next, before crying out in prayer for salvation.
SPEAKER_00: And isn't this how we live?
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: It's how I live.
SPEAKER_00: Faith and fear, hope and doubt all mixed up, miraculous fruit, one moment, defeat the next.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, in Christ we can do great things.
SPEAKER_00: When the can comes in response to the command of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But we are also so prone to wandering, to getting caught up in the cares of this world.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, it won't be the last time for Peter, will it?
SPEAKER_00: He takes his eyes off of Jesus either.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, as Matthew Henry notes, Christ bid him come, but that he might sink, and so know his own weakness.
SPEAKER_00: For as he would encourage his faith, so Jesus would check baptismal prayer we pray every time we baptize someone, that they may persevere in resisting and return to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: In the same way, cry here is the most important.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever we find ourselves in when we find ourselves where we ought to pray when we find ourselves and the cry of Peter yet cries out to the Lord even as he takes his eyes.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 31 saying to him, Oh you of little faith, thanks, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Immediately who are in need, cry out to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And not always in the way storms and anxieties, but that doesn't mean that he's not there, grabbing us even as we Now, do you notice what Jesus says as he pulls Peter out of the water?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, you of little faith.
SPEAKER_00: Why did you doubt?
SPEAKER_00: Let me say a couple things here first.
SPEAKER_00: Little faith.
SPEAKER_00: Peter just walked on water.
SPEAKER_00: If that's what a little faith looks like, give me a little faith.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, still, in this moment, there's a gentle reprimand, isn't there?
SPEAKER_00: It's gentle.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a sharp correction, but it is a reprimand all the same.
SPEAKER_00: It's not cheap grace.
SPEAKER_00: But do you notice where it comes?
SPEAKER_00: It comes only after he has saved Peter.
SPEAKER_00: The reprimand, the correction, comes after the saving.
SPEAKER_00: While he's holding him, is when the reprimand comes.
SPEAKER_00: And even then, its purpose is clear, at least it's clear to me.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt?
SPEAKER_00: It's a phrase.
SPEAKER_00: It's meant to draw Peter's eyes back to him.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord's discipline is so good and so gracious.
SPEAKER_00: And its purpose is always to draw our eyes back to him.
SPEAKER_00: And when they, that is Jesus and Peter, verse 32, got into the boat, the wind ceased.
SPEAKER_00: Who is this with such authority?
SPEAKER_00: Even the wind and the waves obey him.
SPEAKER_00: And in this instance, the wind and the waves had done their job.
SPEAKER_00: It created enough friction that Jesus could teach them a lesson about faith and failure.
SPEAKER_00: It gave Peter an opportunity to step out in faith in response to Jesus' command.
SPEAKER_00: And had blessed all in the boat with greater insight into the identity of Jesus, the great I am.
SPEAKER_00: And so, verse 33, those in the boat worshiped him, saying, Truly you are the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: It's the first such declaration in Matthew's gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Overwhelmed, they worship and declare, Truly, you are the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: This is the point of Jesus' commands and the point of Jesus' discipline, that we might look at him and worship.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so what?
SPEAKER_00: We'll keep it simple this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If you're stuck in the headwinds of life, cry out to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to participate in a miracle, listen to the commands of Jesus, especially when they terrify you, and then get out of the boat.
SPEAKER_00: Fix your eyes on Jesus over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: Repent and cry out for salvation when you find yourself drowning.
SPEAKER_00: It's usually because you've become distracted by the waves and you should have been looking at Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Remember that he comes to find us even when the night seems darkest.
SPEAKER_00: And remember, take heart.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: Will you stand and pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: Oh gracious God, I need your help.
SPEAKER_00: And so I pray, would you give me, would you give us courage to fix our eyes on you, to step out in faith?
SPEAKER_00: Would you give us courage to change direction where we've misstepped?
SPEAKER_00: To fix our eyes on you once again, where we've been distracted by the winds and waves of life?
SPEAKER_00: Would you give us courage to cry out to you in those places where we're sinking?
SPEAKER_00: Oh and gracious God, thank you that you meet us in these moments.
SPEAKER_00: Would you give us eyes to see and courage to ask for your command through Jesus Christ our Lord?
SPEAKER_00: We pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.