Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed
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Read Luke 5:1-11
Jesus calms the storm
23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. 27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
Peter walks on the water
Matthew 14
Before we read it, here are some things that happened before it:
Water into Wine
Sermon on the Mount
Nicodemus
Samaritan Woman
Heals Official’s Son
Teaching in the Temple
Synagogue leader’s daughter who died
Woman with bleeding issue
Mission trip with power and authority to heal the sick, raise the dead, drive out demons
Man with shriveled hand in temple
Pool of Bethesda
Many Parables
Feeding of 5000
Now, let’s jump into the story:
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. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn 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. 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.”
So, let’s combine all that happened here:
Jesus calls Peter with the miraculous catch of fish...
Peter’s response is to fall at the feet of Jesus and says “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man”
He watches as Jesus teaches and heals many…turns the water into wine…feeds 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish...
He walks on the water, for crying in the night...
But, he still doubts....
his faith still waivers...
So, here is where I want to go with this today...
Take some pressure off!
Peter still doubted...
But, he got out of the boat....
You see, often times we make ourselves Peter in this story....
But here is the thing, one out of 12 got out of the boat!
The rest are still sitting in the boat!
Only 8.3% of the people in boat actually got out of the boat!
That means that roughly 91.7% of the people stayed in the boat!
The majority of us, are not Peter in the story, we are still in the boat...
We are watching God do things around us, but we aren’t seeing it in our lives...
Many of us aren’t followers of Jesus, we are acknowledgers, of Jesus!
We acknowledge who Jesus is…we give Him Lordship over our lives, but we still don’t actually follow Him...
Many of us are content to stay in the boat and watch the miracle happen…few of us step out of the boat....
As Benny Tate says “I’d rather be a wet water walker than a dry boat talker”
How many of us, today, are ready to get out of the boat?
As Brant Hansen says “we need you out here, man!”
The team needs you!
You know, when I look at this story, I typically think of Peter’s failure...
Anyone else’s mind ever go to that?
I don’t know, I am typically and optimist, but for some reason I always think “Peter walking on the water, yeah but he fell, he failed...”
That’s the wrong attitude...
Everyone else in the boat probably thought that he was crazy...
“What are you doing, man?”
“you can’t do that”
“That’s not possible”
But he does....and now, for all of eternity, he gets to brag about doing something that no one else, aside from Jesus, has ever done...
Peter walked on water....
It’s impossible
It’s crazy
You can’t do that…but he did...
And then, he gets distracted...
By what? The wind
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
What’s interesting is Peter already has experienced Jesus calming the storm in a boat…we read that chapter 8...
And, the disciples, while they were in the boat didn’t appear to be afraid until they saw Jesus coming to them on the water...
They probably weren’t worried as they already knew what Jesus could do...
But, you see, when Peter stepped out of the boat in faith…then he got worried....
That’s when the enemy comes…when you’re safe in the boat he might not attack as hard…but when we start walking out in faith…oh he’s going to come...
Peter is walking on the water…he begins to doubt…and begins to sink..
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
Why does Jesus reach out his hand?
He didn’t help Peter out of the boat with His hand...
He wouldn’t need to hold His hand....He chose to...
It became a personal action really quickly!
I think that Jesus was saying, I am right here with you!
I know you doubt, but I am here!
He tells Him
“you of little faith, why did you doubt...”
I believe it was Kelly K that pointed out that it wasn’t about the size of faith, it was about the duration...
Peter had enough faith to get out of the boat, it just wavered when he saw the wind...
Because that is when the enemy came!
The enemy doesn’t want us walking in faith, he wants us in the boat!
How many of us, today, are ready to get out of the boat?
So, I think there are a few issues...
Many of us are stuck in the boat...
We don’t even have enough faith to get out of the boat...
Or, some of us are on the water, but our faith wavers when the enemy comes....
This is likely a struggle for many of us...
Even the disciples said:
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
Jesus gives the answer in the following verse
6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
or
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
So, Lord, increase our faith!
How
Reading/listening to the Word!
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”
17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Prayer
Being with other believers
Stepping out in faith! Get some experience...
Roadblocks:
Stubbornness
Refusal to believe
Things that Bind us