Just Keep Walking
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
Finding Nemo video clip, “Just keep swimming.”
In the Disney Pixar movie “Finding Nemo,” the main character—a clown fish named Marlin—loses his son, Nemo. Nemo gets caught by a scuba diving researcher and taken off in a boat. His father spends the movie trying to track down Nemo, and has quite an adventure in the process.
Marlin meets a very forgetful, goofy fish named Dory, and the two of them team up to try to find Nemo. At one point, they happen upon the goggles of the scuba diver, which have an address in Sydney, Australia written on them. But, as you see in the clip, they get lost into the abyss of the ocean.
Marlin is frustrated. He has all but given up hope. It seems like he’ll never find his son, and he doesn’t know what to do. The movie is all about overcoming fear and persisting in doing what you know is right, even when it feels hopeless.
Much of the time, Dory seems to be more of a hindrance than a help. But, when Marlin is paralyzed with fear, it’s Dory’s reminder to “just keep swimming” that helps Marlin to keep going when he might have otherwise given up.
We’re in Matthew chapter 14 this morning, in a very familiar, well-known passage. We’re going to see the Disciples in a similar spot—paralyzed with fear, in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. This story reminds us that when we find ourselves in such a spot, sometimes what we need to do is just keep walking, and keep our focus on the prize.
Text: Matthew 14:22-36
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Prayer
Jesus sends us into the storms.
Jesus sends us into the storms.
The storms aren’t by chance or happenstance
The Greek word translated as “he made” in v. 22 is stronger than the English implies.
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
ἀναγκάζω
① to compel someone to act in a particular manner, compel, force, of inner and outer compulsion; (
Jesus didn’t just “ask” them or even “command” them, he “compelled” them to go across the Sea of Galilee.
This implies that the disciples didn’t want to go for some reason. We might ask, “Why?” Perhaps they wanted to stay with Jesus and help dismiss the crowds. Or, perhaps, as experienced fishermen, they could see that the weather was not favorable to be out on the Sea that night. Maybe they saw the storm clouds rolling in, or felt the wind picking up, or heard the low rumble of thunder in the distance.
So, this raises another question, “Why did Jesus compel them anyhow?” Maybe Jesus wanted alone time. But, if that’s true, he could have still gotten alone time without having to send away the disciples. We see Jesus praying alone in the Garden of Gethsemane with his disciples nearby.
But, we do know a few things
Jesus knew that the storm would arise that night.
Jesus knew that he needed to get across the Sea to the other side.
And Jesus compelled his disciples to go on across anyhow.
There’s really only one logical conclusion...
Jesus knowingly sent his disciples into the storm.
Jesus knowingly sent his disciples into the storm.
The storm was not a surprise to Jesus.
He knew that he had to get to the other side of the Sea of Galilee and he sent the boat on ahead because he didn’t plan on using a boat.
This was all part of his plan.
John had just been beheaded, leaving Jesus and the disciples grieving his loss. Jesus had just been rejected in his hometown of Nazareth (13:53-58). The Pharisees and religious rulers were growing more and more impatient with Jesus with each passing parable (Mt. 15:12).
12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
And in the middle of this, Jesus knowingly sends his disciples out into a storm that could have easily capsized their boat and drowned them all. And he sat there and waited for hours.
Jesus allowed his disciples to struggle with the storm for a while.
Jesus allowed his disciples to struggle with the storm for a while.
23 ...When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.
The fourth watch of the night was from 3-6am! Jesus sent them out in the boat sometime before “the evening,” probably before dark. We don’t know exactly what time the storm hit, but chances are good that they struggled against the storm for several hours before Jesus came.
But, none of this was by accident or chance. The disciples had not been abandoned or forgotten. It was all part of the plan.
Sometimes, Jesus sends us into the storms as well.
The storms in your life—sickness, death, financial troubles, broken relationships, depression, anxiety—are not a surprise to God. Even those storms that come to us because of our own sins—nothing comes to us without passing through the Father’s hand.
Not one of us
Will get through life unscarred
If no wounds upon our body
Then our hearts
Lord, You work
All things by Your plan
And nothing comes without
Passing through Your hand
—Newsong, “Between the Cross and Crown”
Now, maybe this isn’t incredibly comforting to you yet. You’re wondering, “If God knowingly sends these terrible things into my life—sickness, disease, pain, suffering—how can I trust him?”
But, we need to keep reading, because there’s more to this story. Yes, Jesus sends us into the storms of life, but...
Jesus comes to us in the storms.
Jesus comes to us in the storms.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.
There was already a time appointed for their rescue. Before they ever set foot in that boat, Jesus knew when and how he would come rescue them.
We can trust him because...
His timing is always perfect.
His timing is always perfect.
In the Gospel of John, there’s a story about a friend of Jesus named Lazarus. Lazarus gets sick and word is sent to Jesus asking him to come heal Lazarus. But look what Jesus does and says!
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
Jesus delayed his trip long enough for Lazarus to die. That doesn’t seem very loving! By the time Jesus arrived, everyone was saying:
21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
Jesus gives a kind of cryptic reply about the resurrection, and then Jesus gets to the tomb and commands them to move away the stone.
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”
It seemed to everyone standing there like it was too late! Jesus had delayed too long. All hope was lost! But, Jesus knew what he was going to do.
In fact, this had been his plan all along. When they first told him about Lazarus’ illness, this is what Jesus said:
3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
So, here he is standing at Lazarus’ tomb, with everyone thinking that he’s waited too late. The opportunity for healing has come and gone. All hope is lost. And now Jesus wants them to move away the stone?!?!
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
See, everyone there thought it would have been better for Jesus to have arrived sooner and prevented the tragedy of Lazarus’ death. But Jesus had bigger and better plans.
He has a purpose for the storms.
He has a purpose for the storms.
Jesus allowed Lazarus to die for the same reason that he sent the disciples into that storm—to demonstrate the glory of God in a way that we could not have understood otherwise.
If not for the storm, the disciples would not have had this story. They would not have seen the glory of God revealed in Christ.
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Do you think that Peter ever forgot that moment? Not a chance! Jesus was preparing Peter for the awesome responsibility of being the leader of the apostles and the Church.
Jesus needed Peter to have not just a head knowledge but a heart knowledge of who he was. He needed him to have zero doubt about his identity and sovereignty. But that kind of faith doesn’t come without enduring some storms.
Do you know how muscle is built? According to Medical News Today:
Muscle size increases when a person continually challenges the muscles to deal with higher levels of resistance or weight. This process is known as muscle hypertrophy.
Muscle hypertrophy occurs when the fibers of the muscles sustain damage or injury. The body repairs damaged fibers by fusing them, which increases the mass and size of the muscles.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319151#how-does-muscle-grow-in-the-body
We recognize that in order to get stronger and healthier, you have to put your body through some unpleasantness and discomfort. In fact, you actually have to cause microtears and small amounts of damage to your muscles to prompt your muscles to repair themselves and grow.
But, when it comes to our faith, many times we subconsciously expect our faith to just magically increase without any discomfort or pain! That’s not the way it works! You show me someone with strong faith, and I’ll show you someone who has been through some storms in life.
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
We often say that we believe, but true faith blossoms when you step out of that boat.
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
The storms of life force us to make a decision. When the waves and wind hit and life is all out of whack and nothing makes sense, you have two options. You can sit in the boat questioning God: “Why have you allowed this storm into my life? If you’re so good and if you’re all-powerful, why haven’t you stopped this storm yet?” Or, you can sieze the opportunity to train your soul, step out of the boat, and let God display his power through you.
Do you believe? Do you believe that God will provide for all your needs? Do you believe that he can provide healing? Do you believe that he can restore your marriage or your relationships? Do you believe that he is good, that his timing is perfect, and that he has a purpose?
True faith is when you see the wind and the waves and you know the danger is real, but then you look at Jesus and you know that he is all that matters and you say, “Use me and glorify yourself through me.”
Jesus casts the fear out of the storms.
Jesus casts the fear out of the storms.
This passage is all about who Jesus is. It’s not about Peter and his courage, and it’s not about us and our courage. It’s about who Jesus is.
Jesus is Lord over Creation.
Jesus is Lord over Creation.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.
As Matthew tells this story, I can’t help but think of the Creation account in Genesis:
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Here, Jesus is almost hovering over the face of the waters. And then, when he gets into the boat...
32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
If Jesus is the Creator God, if everything was created through him and everything is held together by him, then why would we be afraid of the wind and the waves?
It’s tornado season right now. Some folks have some severe storm anxiety; some of you have good reason for that, you’ve been through those storms before. But the same God who created the winds is in charge of the tornadoes. And not a lightning bolt or gust of wind strikes except where God ordains.
I’m not talking about the naive faith that says, “As long as I believe in God, he won’t let anything bad happen to me.” No, that’s not faith, that’s just naievity. True faith is trusting that every day, every moment is a gift from God. It’s believing in your heart that “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord...that to live is for Christ, and to die is gain.” True faith is knowing that whatever God allows in our lives is ultimately for our good and his glory, and desiring that more than anything else in this life.
Jesus is the Great “I AM”.
Jesus is the Great “I AM”.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
The Greek New Testament Chapter 14
ἐγώ (“1Per. Sg.”) εἰμι (“am” 1Per. Sg.)
ego eimi
In Greek, the person and number are inflected in the verb. So, simply saying εἰμι would have been sufficient to correctly say, “It is I.” Adding “I” (ego) at the beginning adds emphasis.
A good example in English is how we can drop the “you” for command sentences. So, if I want a cup of water, I can just say “Go get me a cup of water.” If I say, “You go get me a cup of water,” it changes the emphasis a little.
Jesus does this in a few instances in the gospels, especially in John, when he’s trying to make a point. The clearest example of this, which almost got him stoned, was in John 8.
57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
The reason that they got so upset was because Jesus unambiguously called himself the “I AM”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
So, when Jesus appears, almost hovering over the face of the waters, in the middle of a storm, the disciples realize something supernatural is happening. Then, if we translate what Jesus says literally out of the Greek, what we have is this:
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be courageous. I AM. Do not be afraid.”
The same God who spoke to Moses in the burning bush, the same God who brought down the plagues on Egypt, the same God who split the sea and led his people to freedom on dry ground, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is walking on the waves of the storms in your life.
Why are we afraid?!?!
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
We fear because we forget who he is! We forget that he is in control. We forget that he is good, loving, and compassionate. We forget all the miracles he has performed in our lives time and time again. We fear because we forget that he was, is, and always will be.
We take our eyes off of Jesus and we start looking at the wind and the waves
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid...”
The fact is that for most of you in this room, this is a familiar story. It’s kind of difficult to preach such stories because you’ve heard them so many times. We have a tendency to say, “Yeah, yeah, the storms come, the disciples are terrified, Peter walks to Jesus on the water, Jesus calms the storm...yawn...”
The problem isn’t that we don’t know these things, the problem is that we have the attention span of a toddler with ADHD in the middle of a toy store. We can’t keep our focus on our Father to save our lives.
The key to casting out fear is knowing who Jesus is and fighting to keep our focus on him. The spiritual walk of a believer is all about keeping our eyes on Jesus so that he grows larger in our minds and the waves grow smaller.
Earlier, I read a passage from Hebrews 12 about the Lord’s discipline. Look at what the author says just before that to encourage us to endure trials:
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
The key to endurance in the Christian life is the same as that in a race: Keep your focus on the prize that awaits you at the finish line. For Christians, that’s Jesus himself.
If you focus on the waves, Jesus will appear very small to you. But if you keep your focus on Jesus, the waves will get smaller and smaller.
But, unfortunately, we’re sinners, and we lose focus sometimes. But, thankfully...
Jesus is a compassionate Savior
Jesus is a compassionate Savior
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
With all that the disciples had seen, you’d think they could have faith and keep their focus. But, they couldn’t.
But I’m no better! We have seen God do miracles, time and again. We’ve seen God part the waters when we had to raise insane amounts of money to do our mission work overseas (just a one-way flight for our family of five costs $6-10,000!). I’ve seen God provide healing when it looked impossible. I’ve seen God transform people who were violent, drunks who beat their wives and ran around trying to murder people into powerful preachers and Bible translators. I’ve seen a woman miraculously healed from a double brain aneurysm. I’ve seen people’s hearts changed overnight.
But then a major expense pops up and I start to get nervous. A conflict arises and I don’t know how I’m going to solve it. Health issues arise and I get depressed. The tornado sirens go off and the anxiety spikes.
We ought to know better, but sometimes we take our eyes off Jesus and we start to sink.
But, isn’t it wonderful to know that when we start to sink...
31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
Conclusion:
Maybe you’re sinking this morning into a pile of bills, or the anxiety of a broken relationship. Maybe you feel like your health issue is the wave that’s going to take you under.
Jesus doesn’t promise there won’t be storms—in fact, he promises there will be storms. He doesn’t promise that you won’t get wet, or that your health issue will be solved when and how you’d like.
But, no storm comes outside of his permission. And, he will be with you in the midst of the storm. He will use it in ways that you can’t see yet, to strengthen your faith and to bring glory to God and his kingdom.
Those who are saved he will not allow to perish or lose faith completely. He will preserve those who trust in him, and he will catch your hand when you stumble.
Our job is simple. Trust that he is God and he knows best. Step out of the boat, and keep your eyes fixed firmly on Jesus. Ignore the wind and the waves and trust him, and just keep walking.
