Jesus: Walking on Water

Series Review

continuing the series on water; vbs Rolling River Rampage;

wind surfing; getting frustrated because he couldn’t get it to go where he wanted it to go; finally surenndured to the wind; learned to navigate with it; couldn’t go straight to his destination; had to go in a zig zag fashion

this is not a series on wind; but I thought that was interesting and related enough to a series on water (wind surfing does take place on the water)

the same with water: you can’t fight against it, you sense where it’s going and you navigate accordingly; same with God; you can’t fight God - that can be a painful, frustrating experience; God, why am I struggling, having these problems? you’re going against God’s direction, rather than sensing where God who is lord over the winds and the waves wants to go and navigating your life accordingly;

(thus endeth sermon #1)

water stands for so many things in the Bible: judgment (Noah); victory (Moses crossing the Red Sea); cleansing (baptism); you have to look for symbolism in the Bible

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this is a story where the water doesn’t seem to symbolize anything, at least the symbolism isn’t as obvious;

but this is a popular story; so interesting to me how the Bible influences the English language, even for people who have no knowledge of the Bible: today’s story is one example: She is so great she can walk on water! As if that’s the greatest miracle - no one says “she is so great she can raise herself from the dead!”

Sermon Introduction

But that’s the water story for the day:

If I were to say to you, this story is about how to deal with your problems; that wouldn’t put you on the edge of your seats: how many sermons are about solving problems; Didn’t Jesus say we would have problems? Don’t we all have problems?

life need: pain is a reality; hardship, grief, mental, physical, emotional illness are a reality; finances; big and little hardships

this message is not about how to solve our problems, but I want us to examine how we too often try to approach our problems in the wrong way:

- 6 million dollar man - we have the technology, we can fix it; us: we have the resources (or at least we can get the resources), we can do it:

marriage if fixed by counseling; unhappiness with job: get reeducated and find a new job, emotional issues, anxiety; money management problems; depression; let’s not list too many problems - but do we ever consider that at the root of these might be a spiritual issue? getting a new job may not satisfy us; marital counseling might not bring to light that you need more of God in your marriage; financial counseling might not help you see that Jesus is not Lord of your finances:

all good things, but where does God fit into all of this? Are we so busy trying to fix things, trying to live in denial of these, that we don’t ask the question, what does God want to do? what is God’s solution? how is God at work in this situation? Is God trying to teach me something (teaches through miracles, but also through

For the rest of the sermon, we’re going to look at how we should approach problems, barriers, frustrations, limits us:

Expository Outlines from Matthew 8. The Miracle-Working Christ (Matthew 14:1–36)

A. Prayer—vv. 22–23. Jesus took time to pray alone. Do we?

B. Problem—v. 24. A storm arose on the sea.

C. Power—vv. 25–26. Jesus came walking on the sea. The “fourth watch” was from 3:00 to 6:00 A.M.

D. Peace—v. 27. Note three words, “Be not afraid.”

E. Practice—vv. 28–29. Peter practiced his faith—he walked on the sea.

F. Plight—vv. 30–33. Peter took his eyes off Christ—and he sank. The Lord said, “Oh, ye of little faith.” The winds ceased. All became calm.

we need to understand what Jesus tells us about

prayer (start before the problem presents itself) , problems; faith; focus - there is a logical progression there: one builds upon another

Prayer

Matthew 14:

Matthew 14:23 NIV

After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,

Don’t worry about anything. No matter what happens, tell God about everything. The Message

Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane Don't know when I'll be back again

War song, that one phrase touched the hearts of soldiers in Vietnam even though the song wasn’t about war;

my point: let this phrase at the beginning of the story touch your imagination; don’t gloss over it like a “once upon a time”

Jesus did this at least 12 times in the Bible: it’s not just a beginning to a cool story; it’s something Jesus did over and over again:

How often do we do this?

What needs to change in our lives to do this? (no time)

Why?

e.g. 40 day silent retreat?

Jesus did it, and he was pretty busy. It inconvenienced and disappointed people. He needed it: if Jesus needed it for his life and ministry, why can’t see the importance of it? why try to grow a church, sustain a minstry; sustain our own passion for Jesus without it?

e.g. excitement turns to dullness, faithfulness to occassional; an excited student to just auditing the class

pray: end of sermon @2; it’s enough for a stand alone; but I’m not finished

Look at the disciples - this always puzzled me: why send the disciples into a storm? this brings me to the next point:

Jesus did it, and he was pretty busy. It inconvenienced and disappointed people. Look at the disciples - this always puzzled me: why send the disciples into a storm? this brings me to the next point:

This story teaches us something about our problems.

Problems

One interesting detail you might miss is at the beginning of the story:

The New International Version Chapter 14

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.

You could compare it to giving someone bad directions. “I know a short cut.” “You should be able to find my house with no problem.” “Traffic isn’t so bad.” “Hire this person, he’s great.” Move is great! Ride the Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth - it’s great.

Did Jesus not know that a dangerous, scary storm was coming?

Did Jesus not know that a dangerous storm was coming?

Matthew 14:24 NIV

and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Matthew 14:

Jesus did say we would have problems: what we don’t realize is that Jesus knows about these problems, knows the pain and danger that comes with them, but doesn’t warn us in advance:

John 16:33 NIV

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

First of all, we have to make sure we understand what a real problem is. I’ve been using the words “first world problem” alot lately. The AC is broken and it’s 90 degrees outside. This restaurant has no wifi. Not enough leg space on this airplane. I hate the traffic.

How about, the school we worked on in Nicaragua was burned to the ground. There are snipers on my roof. I’m wondering where my next meal will come from.

I don’t mean to dismiss our problems: our lives are easy compared to third world countries, so maybe when we face problems, stop and pray for those with greater misery than ours.

but our pain is very real: our problems are very real: this is where faith comes in; this is where our faith is seen for what it really is.

Jesus might send us into the storm, but the good news is that he walks into the storm with us

irony of praying for safety

Faith

Faith

Matthew 14:28–29 NIV

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

content, yes

content

Can we call ourselves disciples of Jesus, but reject the reality of miracles? doubts, yes. questions, yes. suspicions of miraculous claims; but do we believe that God, whenever he chooses, suspends natural law - healing, opening doors for ministry; giving stories: God rewards our generosity by meeting financial needs

we can’t say we have faith in Christ, but deny that Jesus still works miracles today;

the disciples did not immediately conclude that Jesus was walking on water: thought they were seeing a ghost;

God does not rescue; does not make the winds stop; brings even more risk and danger: we can’t always come up with the right tool to fix things or heal our pain, but we can ask, what is God up to right now?

Jesus might send us into the storm, but the good news is that he walks into the storm with us

notice that Peter believes in the miracle, but the problem is still there: the miracle isn’t always God taking away the problem; sometimes the miracle happens during the problem;

hospital ministry out of caring for a dying loved one; financial hardship learning to rely on Jesus more - give more and see the miracles; redemption in prison;

the key to experiencing miracles during our pain is...

Focus (on Jesus, not on our fear)

Matthew 14:30 NIV

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Matthew 14:

Hebrews 12:2 NIV

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Fear of Wasted Life

Ray Stedman told the story of a time when, after a Billy Graham crusade meeting, he slipped into a seat on a bus beside a young man who had gone forward in the meeting that night and given his heart to Christ. Pastor Stedman spoke to him of what his new life would mean, and mentioned that he could now be free from all fear of death. The young man turned and looked the older man in the eye and said, “I have never been much afraid of death. But I’ll tell you what I am afraid of—I’m afraid I’ll waste my life.”

Pastor Stedman then commented, “I believe that fear is deep within each of us. It has been put there by our Creator. No one wishes to waste his life.”

That’s a good fear. A fear that God has so much in store for us, and we’ve spent our lives distracted

buy television, smart phones, entertainment, extra hours at work, making and spending money, focusing on our problems - anxiety. We miss hours of time with our children; we miss opportunities to study God’s wordserve ChristWe miss our calling.

But most of our fear, and our lack of focus is based on the temporary

But most of our fear is based on the temporary

how do we stay focused on Jesus? What does that look like in practice? Pentecost - I experienced God, would have tears running down my face because I had experienced God. But I found myself going through extreme peaks and valleys: emotional highs, but faith dissolving when problems came; sustained through God’s word, prayer, worship, accountable fellowship

can’t be satisfied with seeing a miracle; that will excite us for a while, but we don’t need an occassional visit with Jesus: we need a relationship; we don’t need a “what have you done for me lately” relationship, we need a let’s talk, let’s take a walk together - just you and me; I want to talk to you about some stuff;

Conclusion

What’s our take home? Lot’s I hope. Go home, carve out some time and pray; forget about the job for a while; turn off the technology; take a walk with family, but more importantly Jesus.

Think differently about your problems: you might feel alone, you might feel agony, bitterness; don’t just nurse your wounds during your pain: look for miracles while you are in pain: Jesus is walking on water in our storms, and he wants us to step out of that boat;

stay focused: every day: focused on the most important thing: following Jesus; pray, develop a reading plan; sign up for service at HUMC, join or start a group that studies God’s word: all of these help us keep us focused in the storm