True Story: Jubilee of the Mind

Matthew 14:22–33

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.”

3 of the 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and John) record this exact sequence of.

Jesus feeds the 5000 and immediately after walks on the stormy waters of the Sea of Genesaret.

But, only Matthew give us Peter attempt

Mark and John mean to highlight Jesus’ mastery over the elements of nature

Matthew emphasizes Jesus’ ministry to the mind of Peter

The Mind:

The mind is the inner world of ideas and images

The mind determines how we interpret the things and events we experience in life.

It controls the meanings we assign to what we deal with.

If will is the CEO of the self, then the MIND is the COO

That’s why the MIND is primary focus of Satan’s efforts to defeat God’s purposes in your life and in human society.

The mind is the only means by which we can discern the lies of the enemy from the truth of God.

If the mind is crowded and confused or empty and listless or lost in fantasy…the devil has done his job

Our culture today is schizophrenic about the importance of ideas and stories.

On the one hand, we want to say that the stories we tell and the ideas we entertain have no impact on us

Listening to songs about sex, we say won’t make you more promiscuous.

Watching people get murdered on the big screen does not make us more violent.

Seeing thousands of ads each day cannot cause us to begin to embrace place unrealistic expectations on ourselves and others around us

And on the other hand

Corporations spend $390 billion a year on marketing. (75% of that on digital platforms)

In 1970 the average American saw or heard 500 marketing messages daily. In 2024, that number had jumped up to 5000 per day.

From 30 second YouTube spots to product placement in feature films, one of the biggest industries on earth is focused on pushing a narrative that if you can just get the right stuff, you can have success, comfort, love, power, convenience and everything good.

Sadly most Christians suffer the same schizophrenia, which for us is tinged with hypocrisy.

We claim to be saved through our embrace of a narrative.

But most of us have very little language about and very few tools for being truly vigilant about the ideas and images we pump into our minds or the bondage those ideas create when they get lodged there.

But the truth is that narratives matter. Ideas have consequences

And so I want to preach on the topic: A Jubilee for the Mind

PRAYER

Every Life Has Some Rough Conditions

Jesus sent them on this journey

The storm arose (bad weather conditions)

They were being tested by the waves (“Beat” = testing or proving through torture)

The progress of their assignment was being opposed by the wind

WE WILL ALL EXPERIENCE CONDITIONS THAT TEST OUR STRENGTH AND OPPOSE OUR PURPOSE.

They were in the storm and they were terrified

(“Being terrified” they said “it is a ghost”)

Terror is an emotion

We have to learn to distinguish between the conditions around us and feelings inside of us.

Conditions are measurable observable facts.

Feelings are hard to define, but feelings are not facts.

Feelings are not precise like conditions

$19.20 in the bank vs Feeling Lack

Emotions alert us that something is happening that we should pay attention to.

Feelings act as a smoke alarm.

Illustration: We called the fire department

Conditions and emotions can distort your perception of reality

Between the storm on the sea and the storm in their minds, they could not perceive that it was Jesus.

Emotions often miss important information

They somehow did not factor in that their teacher had less than 24 hours ago fed 5000 families with 2 fish and five loaves of bread.

What would prevent Him from walking on water?

When the conditions around you are rough and feelings inside you are intense, What You Need Is A Word

The mind’s job is to analyze the available information, assign meaning, and design a course of action

What does this mean? And what shall we do?

So the question becomes what information has been made available to you mind for the meaning-making process?

Conditions

Emotions

300 Commercials

10 Hours of Netflix

6 hours of social media scrolling

A 45-minute sermon and 6 verses of scripture on the bible app.

Over time, the mind weaves this meaning-making together into a consistent narrative

A Story

A schema

And now everything that happens begins to be interpreted through this narrative (WE KNOW WHAT LIFE IS)

Jesus inserted himself into Peter’s meaning making

Be bold in this storm

Don’t be afraid of this storm

Here’s the data your emotions missed (I AM HERE)

That’s why Peter wanted to get out of the boat…the safest place is with you, Lord!

If the reality of Jesus becomes the controlling narrative in your life, the devil is in big trouble. That’s why The Devil Deals in False Narratives

Pay close attention to the text…

Peter came walking on the to Jesus

But, when he SAW the wind…he was afraid and started to sink

Peter did not, in fact, see the wind.

This is about an internal image that Peter saw. Not what he saw with his eyes. When Peter “interpreted” the wind.

We don’t know what Peter saw, but we do know that Peter had fished these seas all his life.

Images…inner images…can trigger your emotional memory.

You experience the whole narrative in a rush of emotion.

A feeling of sufficient strength will block out everything else.

YOU WILL NOT MASTER YOUR EMOTIONS AT THE MOMENT OF DECISION AND ACTION.

Proverbs 25:28 - "Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls."

You can’t build city walls on the day of battle.

If you and I want to be free in our minds, we must recognize that our feelings do not have to be satisfied.

Our feelings must be confronted…they provide important information

Like my kids come and tell on each other

It’s not to be ignored, but they don’t get to dictate what I do with the information.

Heb 5:13–14: 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in concepts of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil

We have to train ourselves, think through and discern our emotions.

You have an identity beyond your feelings!

Most marketing does not aim to inspire, but to stir destructive feelings

Anger

Insufficiency

Lack

Loneliness

Greed

Sensuality

But, I don’t want you to leave here thinking that God is against emotions. He is not. The fact is that the narrative that God so desperate wants to write on the pages of your life…This Story Is A Love Story

Jesus does not want to see you go under

He wants you to come walking to Him on the water.

He wants you to get beyond your fear, if only for a moment.

He wants to know that even if you begin to sink, He will

reach out His hand…

and pull you out of the water…

And get you back the boat…

and calm the storm in your life…and the storm in your heart.

And that’s the structure of the narrative

He comes to you

You come to Him

And He reaches for you

And you reach for Him

THEY WORSHIPPED IN THE BOAT

proskunéō

A compound word

pros - to move toward

kuneo - adoration or kis

to move toward with adoration

to go in for a kiss

A feeling that is aligned with truth is a wonderful thing to give in to.

It’s the stories we embrace not the conditions that we face (that determine our experience of life)

A jubilee for the mind means that there is grace to begin a process of progressively replacing those destructive ideas and narratives that we’ve taken in from the enemy with the ideas and narrative that comes from Jesus.

There are some narratives that have you drowning. Jesus loves you and He wants to pull you up today.

As release it to God,

Ask God to release a new narrative to you.

God wants to release from Images so that won’t trigger you and torment you anymore.

MAKE AN INVITATION