“Going Overboard”
Scripture Lesson: Matthew 14: 22-33
Sermon Transcript for August 10, 2008
By Pastor Dr. Andy Kinsey
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
O Lord, may we come to Jesus Christ, your Word, with open hearts and minds as we place our trust and hope in your gracious presence. Amen.
Perhaps you heard or read the story by Mark Twain, where he recalls a visit to the Holy Land and Capernaum, the town where Jesus lived and taught. It was a moonlit night, and Mark Twain wanted to take his wife on a romantic boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Twain asked a man in a rowboat how much he would charge to take them out on the water. The man in the boat saw Twain’s white suit, white shoes, and white hat and assumed he was a rich Texan; and so, wanting to make a little extra money, the man told Twain that it would cost twenty-five dollars for a boat ride. Twain shook his head in disbelief and said under his breath, “Now I know why Jesus walked on the water!”
Jesus walking on water has always had a way of capturing our imaginations. It is a familiar story that has inspired playwrights and poets, and preachers and artists throughout the centuries.
Perhaps you will remember the famous line from the rock opera Jesus Christ, Superstar, where a cynical and buffoonish King Herod sings – “The great Jesus Christ, Prove to me that you’re no fool, Walk across my swimming pool.” And the audience in Herod’s presence breaks out in laughter.
Over the years, even the church has shared a few laughs about walking on water, especially with respect to new pastors and youth directors! For example, I cannot begin to tell you how many ads I have seen from congregations searching for persons who can “walk on water” or who are NOT expected to “walk on water”! Do you follow? Either way, there is consensus: “Walking on water” is special!
As a new pastor here, I can only share with you the secret that I have walked on water, and that, as one of your pastors, I have divine aspirations of walking on water again! (Some of your eyes have just glazed over!)
No, no! The closest I have ever come to walking on water is when I learned to ski. And then I walked on water several times, only to hit the water hard and sink like a rock! (I could have said ice skating, but that’s too easy!)
Believe me: I do NOT walk on water! Rather, like all human beings, I have a way of sinking! That’s my specialty – sinking like a rock and taking in large amounts of water!
Over the centuries, the story of Jesus walking on the water has captured our imaginations and inspired all kinds of jokes, partly because there is so much truth to what it communicates!
In fact, it’s a story that “preachers love to preach.” And as my professor of preaching in seminary, Fred Craddock used to say: when preaching on a wonderful Bible story, there is always the temptation, as a preacher, to want to say too much. Preachers, as you know, are notorious for saying too much. On the other hand, there is also the temptation of saying too little, of not saying enough.
Therefore, as we approach this story, we need to understand that one of the obstacles we face off the bat is the familiar: Many of us have heard, or have some acquaintance with, this story. We have heard it in Sunday School, in VBS, in sermons, in Bible Study. What else can we say about it?
And yet, what I want to share this morning is that the reason (I believe) this story is so powerful is precisely because it is so familiar! We don’t need to find something “new” in it as much as we simply need to listen to the truth it communicates.
And the truth it communicates is that Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, despite the waves of fear, is with us in the storms of life!
As Pastor Bob shared last week, this story comes after the Feeding of the Five Thousand. It comes after the crowds want to make Jesus a king. As Matthew tells the story, John the Baptist has just been beheaded. The people are nervous, and political situation has gotten volatile. There is confusion as to who Jesus is.
But it’s also at this point in the story that Jesus and the disciples – exhausted – try to withdraw from the crowds. They try to get away, only to see the crowds follow them. Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand, then, is done knowing that the people don’t fully understand who he is or what he is about.
And it is here that, as Matthew writes, Jesus makes the disciples
get into a boat and go to the other side of the lake: “You go fishing,”
he says, “And let me pray.” And it’s during prayer time that
the winds come and begin to rock the boat!
(Now, if you have ever been to the Sea of Galilee, you know that it is surrounded
by mountains and that the storms can literally come out of nowhere, with sudden
gusts of winds. The Sea of Galilee is not very big, but it is known for rough
waters.)
And it’s during this storm that the disciples in this boat, full of fear, begin to cry out for help. And it’s during this storm that the disciples, full of anxiety, see a ghost coming to them from across the water. Twelve grown men, hardened by life, afraid!
In fact, our passage says that not only are the disciples “afraid” but that they are also being “battered by the wind” (v. 23). It’s the wind that throws them off course.
It is also, by the way, dark – the “fourth watch of the
night” (v. 25), or about 2 o’clock in the morning.
The perfect storm! Darkness, winds, waves, boat rocking, fear! It’s all
there. Or, is it?
Did we forget anything, or anyone? Jesus! The storm is not a perfect storm until Jesus comes! And it is Jesus who comes and says: “Take heart. Don’t be afraid!”
A great story: storm, fearful disciples, and now Jesus!
Who’s next? Peter! Of all the disciples, which one was going to go overboard? Peter! What does he do? He gets out of the boat and begins walking on the water toward Jesus.
The story continues: perfect storm, fearful disciples, Jesus, and now, Peter walking on water!
Next frame: what happens? Peter begins to sink! In his coming to Jesus he begins to take his eyes off Jesus! In fact, the passage says “When Peter saw the wind, he was afraid, and he began to sink, crying out, ‘Lord, save me!’” (v. 30). Interesting! It wasn’t the water that got Peter: It was the wind!
Perfect storm, fearful disciples, Jesus, and now Peter sinking!
One more frame: perfect storm, fearful disciples, Peter sinking, and Jesus coming and saying, “Don’t be afraid,” asking Peter, “Why do you doubt”?
One more time: perfect storm, fear-ridden disciples, Peter taking his eyes off Jesus and sinking, and Jesus rescuing Peter! That’ll preach!
What’s the song we sang a moment ago?
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look into his wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Or, as the prophet Isaiah put it, “God will keep in perfect peace, the one whose mind is steadfast” (Is. 26:3).
Translation: the best way to go through the storms of life, the best way to deal with fear is to keep our minds, our hearts fixed on God. The best way to go through the storm is to focus on Jesus!
Not easy, is it? I can say it! I can preach it! In fact, I know it!
But I
also know how hard it is to stay focused on God’s promises and presence
amidst the storms. It’s tough!
Perhaps you remember the Peanuts Cartoon where Peppermint Patty is giving a report in school. She says to the class, “This is my report on daytime and nighttime. Daytime is so you can see where you are going. Nighttime is so you can lie in bed and worry.”
Have you ever had those nights? No sleep! Tossing, turning! Worry! Your mind is a battlefield, struggling, not knowing, asking, “What’s next?” Fearful of the future…
Anyone here have fear? Anyone here going through transitions in life? Death of a loved-one? Midlife crisis? Divorce? Job loss? Kids going to school? Kids going off to college? Empty-ness? House damage from the flood? Fear? Worry? (You all are perfect! Bob, I don’t think they need us!)
Can I tell you another secret? I try not to share this with churches early on because I really do want them to think I can walk on water, but I do want to know that I am human and that I have fear. Don’t tell anyone!
I am afraid of heights! My family can tell you about that one! But there’s more! Fear of failure! That’s a big one! Fear of rejection! Fear of success! Success brings new expectations! If I succeed, people will have new expectations, and that means I may have to change; but if I don’t succeed, folks may not expect too much, and if people won’t expect too much, then maybe I won’t have to work as hard to meet their expectations. Therefore, I won’t have to worry about succeeding! Do you follow? I know a number of pastors and churches that have adopted that philosophy!
Let me ask you: Do you have fear? Have you gone through any storms
lately? If you haven’t, you will; at some point you will go through a
storm.
Does June 7th ring a bell to anyone? That date on the calendar won’t be
the same, will it?
I was driving back from Annual Conference in Bloomington on June 7th. I was driving down State Road 67 heading toward Vincennes when I saw the storm clouds heading east. I thought to myself, “This is bad! Not good!” And few hours later! You know the story! Storm!
I am a slow learner, but what I have learned as a preacher is that it is much easier to tell someone to not be afraid than it is to walk with them when they are afraid. I can stand up here and tell people to not be afraid, but I know they will still have fear.
No, what I have learned is that when storms come, when the waves of fear hit, people want to know if “Will you be with me?” They want to know, “Will you walk with me!” Because if people know you will be with them, they can make it! In fact, they can walk on water!
It’s the presence, it’s the knowing-you-are-there, it’s the knowing that someone cares that is the difference between sinking and walking.
Yesterday, as I was helping at Custer-Baker School with the Fast Track
Program distributing school supplies, I was deeply moved when a grandmother
walked by with tears in her eyes. She looked at me and said,
“You don’t know how much this helps.” And I thought to myself:
I have seen those tears before. They were tears that knew life wasn’t
going to be easy; in fact, they were tears that were a little ashamed. But here
was a person who knew she and her grandchildren were going to make it, and the
reason she knew they were going to “make it” was because she knew
somebody cared!
What people want to know from the church is, from you as a Christian is, “Are you with me?” Are you going to hang in there with me when I walk through the valley, when I go through the storm, when I get out of the boat?
Don’t tell me about Jesus unless you are going to walk with Jesus in the storm. Because what folks want to know is, “Are you going to be there?!”
The same with God! How did David put it in Psalm 23? “Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art
with me.”
I can make it when I know God is with me!
When Jesus tells the disciples to have no fear, he is getting at the truth that says, “I will be with you no matter what! When you come and when you go, when you get out of the boat, when get your feet wet, when you go overboard – I’ll be with you!”
We can run and not be weary. We can fall down and get up because we know Christ will catch us and pick us up – amidst the storms, in the fear, Jesus Christ will be there, with us,
Hence, the invitation Joe sang: Come to Jesus! Come to Jesus and live! Trust Jesus and step out of the boat! Go overboard, and get your feet wet, and know that Jesus’ amazing love will not only catch you when you fall but sustain you when you walk, even on the water!
Amen.
E-mail Comments to: Pastor Andy Linsey