Aug 9 - In Light of the Son
Scripture readings from this morning are from Matthew 14:22 through 33 and Revelation, 1:13, through 18.
Thank you, honey.
Good morning. Was reading from The Book of Matthew chapter 14. 462-2233. Immediately made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead to the other side. Why he dismissed the clouds? And after he had dismissed the crowd, he went up to the mountain by meself to pray when eating came, he was dead long or by the time the boat, by the way, we was far from the land for the womb was against then an early in the morning he came walking down. He came walking towards down on the sea but when he went, but when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. Say it, is it goes and they cry out and see it, or do you need anything? You just spoke to them and said, take hard. It is. I do not be afraid. BJ answer him law. If it is, you command me to come to you on the water. He said, so if you got out the Board Game of Thrones Jesus, but when he noticed the strong wind could begin Friday, and begin to sing, he cried out, Lord sends me Jesus and me to wish I was His hand and caught him saying to him, you are very fit. Why did you go where they all got into the book? The Wind. She's closing the bird Whisperer Whisperer ham.
1913 218 of the lampstand. I saw one like the Son of Man glove with the long Rule and within Gordon slash across his chest. His head and his head with white ice white rude white, as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. He see Butler burnished bronze, refer a friend as his voice was like the song, many Waters. His right hand, he held Seven Stars in from his mouth. Game is two edged sword. And his face was like the sun shining with full force. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead but he placed his right hand on me saying, do not be afraid. I am your voice and it louder in the living one. I was dead. and she I am alive forever and ever and have the keys of death. And yeah, I this is me.
And the Gospel reading.
Blessed. Be the word of the Lord.
This morning we we have two distinct passages this one from Matthew and which Jesus has this wonderful wonderful display. This manifestation of himself walking on water. Have the disciples have going out on the boat as they do as, you know, some of them are fishermen, they have the boat ready. They're going out on. The water is waiting for Jesus to come along.
And what did they say?
What do they see while? Most of what they see all around them, is the, the boat going up and down out of the water. They see the wind and the waves all around them as the boat moves in. And you know, what do you imagine the book going up or down like 10 or 15 feet and rocking back and forth In This Storm? Basically, that's this all around them and yet yet, even in those moments, they had to find the opportunity to look out on the waters and CC, something See something something through the Hayes. Something through the downpour, something through through. The Mists that are thrown up by the wind.
Disappearance of Jesus but they didn't didn't didn't know. It was Jesus.
All they can see, is this this form of a person. All they could see is a form of a person into this cloudiness in all this mess and spend in in darkness as it being super early.
And yet no necessarily that it was Jesus, except John does recognized. That is him somehow he puts it together. He he he sees the one that he loves, he puts it together. He sees him in and somehow
he has the courage. Just step out of the boat. Bet the safe place, even with the rocking, even with the storm, even the with the wind and the waters. He has the courage enough to step out of the boat. On to those Waters.
Cuz he saw the face. Of the one that loves him.
man, if this is this portrait is not arresting to you, if it is not inspiring to you, if it's not Majestic enough for you, let me let me, let me just just Exhort you as a brother in Christ. Maybe we've allowed our hearts to be a little bit jaded. And maybe we've seen enough of media. How old is fake things are presented to us? That they somehow we've allowed our hearts to be separated from the such a possible occurrence. And if you John didn't step out of the boat and onto that stormy sea with the wind and the waves, you know, I am. And, you know, today, I just want to pull together these, these two specific passages. This is Jesus walking out on the water. And this, this passage from Revelations, which is apocalyptic. Yes, it is brilliant. But remember what the word revelation means it is not mean the end of the world. It is not mean the end of the world, Revelation means a, revealing a, seeing a opening up of something. That's what Revelation means. That's with this encounter. That John later has seen this image of the manifestation of of Christ on high in the fullness of Christ, in his power and his Divine Authority. Because you know what? He's earned it
He's earned it and it sent I want to call us, still invite us to wonder, and amazement, and all the holy reverence.
That we should have.
as we look a fun upon the face, Of Our Savior and Lord.
Hey, this is our, our Sovereign, Lord, the Lord, who is chaos, who, who is, who is the Lord, The Sovereign Lord over all of our chaos, you know? And they keep her a thought, but the waters, especially the darkest Waters, especially the deepest Waters represents far more than the physical threat even though it is, if you can't swim but, but John is one who can swear. I'm right, being being fisherman. These guys know how to swim if they don't know how to swim. The, you know, they would probably die pretty quickly and their profession. Sounds like a keeper thought that these Waters work, but represent? Yes, the physical threat but also even more than that it's a metaphysical sense of of the weight of of the chaos of life. AC in the creative order and generations. When it talks about the waters over the waters. It's talking about that the chaos of of everything before God calls it in to order.
It brought God brings it into ordering Life. Starts the increase in Crow and he brings on this diversity of his creation. 2 in their thought, always in darkness in the waters. Is this chaos. In the Old Testament that conception is of, she'll represents the afterlife as a, as a singular destination, for all who have died, right? Not just, those were going to heaven or hell right there. There's it. Yet that could do the separation of those, concession, their conceptions. But their understanding of Steel is as the afterlife work, everyone goes right. In Hebrew term refers to the grade or the boat of the Dead. Rather than Heaven or Hell. The weather Your Righteous or Wicked. You were believed to go there. No one could do a void Shield which was thought to be located in the lowest. Parts of the Earth. And what, what would convey the lowest parts of the earth. More than the deep dark Waters of the sea.
Tell her, I hear Matthew ships. Our attention from from God is a farmer and a Shepherd who is sowing seeds and taking care of his flock to God's provision in the wilderness in the chaos.
Into Divine Deliverance, through the chaos. Is delivered through the waters. His delivered through the storms of Life, Deliverance. True that nasty dark place in our lives that we need. Need. desperately for something to rescue us out of
You know, in the end my sense of of rescue that the thought comes to mind the Coast Guard because in my family, we had members who are a part of the Coast Guard or related to him. So I have that sense of the Coast Guard and where you have the helicopters go out. As soon as there is an emergency call and they go out over the waters and and and the guy jumps in with some floats. And, you know, goes and finds that the people who were in trouble, maybe they're their ship is being battered by the waves in a storm and it's going down and the guy jumps out of the helicopter unit goes into the waters. Into the dark nasty Waters.
Has the courage. To jump in. Who is the training in the strength? Yes, but still meant has to make that final decision of jumping into the water.
To make sure that the person who's already there. Gets to live.
See this boat that the disciples and there are already three or four miles out from the shore being tormented by the wind and waves. It creates this. So horrifying sense that this encounter with nature and it has the supernatural overtones
something is going on in the spirit Realm.
Something's going on something nasty is happening. Lord, I have no idea what's going on. All I know that I am scared. I am going to die.
so different type of spirits is this horror from a horrible moment and you had the AC figure out on the water. Yeah. And immediately they had the reaction of, you know, it's a ghostly Apparition something's going on out there. We have no idea. No one is walked on the water and told them that they can do that, they had to have no understanding of that, we have no understanding of that. Truly if we were honest with ourselves have anybody seen anyone walk on top of the waters? Okay. Maybe with some floats attached to the bottom of their feet or something.
We have no understanding of the end yet.
Jesus Does.
See, Jesus walks on the water.
Because of his authority.
And his freedom. Exercised, because he knows he belongs to the father.
He knows he can walk on the waters because he's commanding them. Hold him up.
You know, and then Matthew here is, you know, in all of his writings, he's making the connection between the Hebrew understanding and see how leje, right? That you were all these things and so he's putting together. This idea of, of the chaos of the waters in that, only God can tame the chaos and bring it into line in all of creation to make everything Kool-Aid.
And it's Jesus who walks on the commanded Waters.
She, he walks on the command of waters, because he has any Authority that he is, the savior who has Authority. He is the, I am, as he declares hear the I am, it is I I am a eagle and me, He literally uses the words known for God in the Hebrew scriptures. I am it is. I I am he and it is I who walk on the water.
So obviously they would make these these connections, right? The echoing, his Divine name, the Divine, yet name of Yahweh, Reveal to Moses at his encounter and the burning bush. This the same name who is, who is invoked as, as the people were LED across the sea in the waters were split because of the command of God so that his people may be free. To live in The Promised Land.
Honestly, this passage is the clearest sense of Jesus self, revelation of his own Divinity to that date. And identifying, with God, as as Israel's Liberator his Redeemer in his victory, over the chaos. See his commands here to John, though. Is do not be afraid.
Do not. Be afraid.
John no longer has the courage to stand on the waters. He's looking around. Everything is happening in him and is starting to affect them, and he lets it. And what does Jesus do? He doesn't Shout.
He doesn't come in to do anything physical. It doesn't take swim to shore on your own. Pull yourself up out of the waters.
No. He says, do not be afraid. Do not be afraid because I'm here. Do not be afraid because I will lift you up. Do not be afraid because I will take you to the shore. Do not be afraid because I command the waters.
I will make it good.
See, this is the whole thing about faith and doubt that we can step out and create. Just ask her face from time to time, sometimes it's easier than other times. Is sometimes we just have so many things going on.
What is that difficulties in our relationships with our families?
Are struggling through things that work. That threaten our livelihood.
Or whether we feel like this life is worth living at all.
We have those fears and doubts and they do often overwhelm us and sometimes because of the difficulties, because we feel like we can't do the things we want to because our bodies won't let us.
those doubts, those troubles, the Devastator he might make our hearts move. From the one we initially trusted.
those things that surround us,
what does Jesus do when he doesn't Shout?
He doesn't immediately pulled Peter without even saying anything and yank him up for the service.
He says, do not be afraid and then he extends his hand to help.
Do you know? I did also take something else from Peters end. To reach out his hand, and grab onto Jesus hand.
To trust that he's going to take care of them.
Got the gray starts at working nice. And we have the courage, sometimes act, the strength to go through some of the things were going through the, the doubts, even in Greek. It's, it's the word. It's like, when we, when we doubt it will cause
Some sort of Devastation, it was called as some sort of harm to our relationship with God and others and internally in ourselves. We take our Focus off of him. And put it on other things and other people. We lose our faith in God.
Do you see the Divine image that comes to John and revelation?
You know, it points to the same one that he saw before. I write this vision of Christ on high as the exalted King because look, the stars and above this imagery of him being in this, Royal robe with a golden sash. Add with a golden lampstand home. It is a wonderful display of the royalty of God, but not just the royalty of God. I'm not just the royalty of Christ, not just his exalted Ness. But also his Priestly Venus, right? Because it's a reference to this this stash in in, in you know, of them, the Priestly order of of the Hebrew people, right? You have you have a distant breast plate with jewels and gold but then underneath of it, you have the golden sash who is pointing to Christ as the Royal priest and and King. Yes, baby points to his political and religious Authority in by politics. I mean he's the authority over all things. Right? He doesn't have to declare his authority. Doesn't have to make promises and doing 22in firm his authority. He doesn't have to, he doesn't have to do any of that. He has his authority, he's going to have his authority. So in this whole image that jhansi is, is it's a fern by all of this this imagery. His Royal robes. His golden sash. And what an amazing thing, it must have been for John to see.
The face of the person in the robe. Be the one who pulled him out of the water and walking back to the boat.
One amazing thing. It must have been for him. I hear his.
make that connection for the one who said, Do not be afraid.
And again, we look to Revelation when we think about it being apocalyptic, the end of the world instead of it being of pure fulfilling full of doubt. And destruction and Devastation, instead he's giving this image.
At the one who loves him. The has all the power to free him. For Eternal purpose. In eternity.
The Jesus here is presented as the one with white wool, in their hair, the, the one who is spotless and Purity, the one who has eyes, like flames of fire to be able to uncover the hidden things, revealing everything in our lives. The one who has irresistible strength, the bronze in the brass, that is refined in the fire and he has a powerful voice like rushing Roaring Waters. And out of his mouth. It comes this two-edged sword. Not For us to be fearful. Of death, but for us to understand his Justice, he is righteousness. Make all things. Good. By the words of his mouth.
And out behind him and moving through him and all around him. His face shines like this sign because the glory of God is on him and in him and all around them, and it is God's glory that freeze him in compassion's to give up himself entirely.
That he could have the authority to be able to give himself to be able to free everyone who calls on his name.
You have to find seen Christ and terrify and Glory John falls to his feet as though that overwhelmed by this glorious appearing of God. But I can imagine the same one who pulled him out of the wind and Waze has the same one. That would extend. Again, his right hand to pull John up, stand them on his feed and give him strength.
See friends. This is the one we love the one. Who is conquered, sin and death? The one who is Cher's us? That we do not need to be afraid. The one who declares order over our chaos, he is the first and the last living, when the beginning, and the end, all these titles, Are appropriate to the Holy One and living God?
It was only after his resurrection that he speaks. In such terms. He is the living one. He is the one who brings order to our chaos, he is the one who holds the keys of sin and death. So that we may be raised up and received his eternal life. This is the God we worship. This is the guy that we do not need to be afraid to bow down to This is the God. We we should understand that we are free.
We are free to worship.
We should have no shame in loving. Because he first loved us. Amen.
Let us worship Him. Sovereign over chaos are present and living savior. Exalted priest and King. Conqueror of death by giving his self in love, but it's free.
Holy God, we come before you here in and worship and yes, Lord, it is. What we do on Sunday morning? Lord. It's been part of our schedule for years and that's after year week after week. Lord, but we don't do it just because of its it's our honor schedule or because it's our wrote thing to do.
Lord, we come here to worship you.
Lord, you love us. You love the world. That you sent your son. To come and die for us.
Sword. How much more? Could you give to show us your love?
So God, we ask you. We asked you to call us out. We are asked you to call us out of the boat. How did they safe place and comfort zones? God. To stand out in the waves.
Seeing you going ahead before is stretching out your hand and pointing to those around us who need your love and grace and they're all might as well. Help us Lord to be a part of your mission to restore and reconcile this whole world to bring it into order of your love and grace. We ask this in Jesus holy name. Amen.
