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Trinity 12/Proper 14 : Matthew 14:22-33

14:22 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. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 During the fourth watch of the night 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."

"It's got to be the sandals" cartoon.

Raises the questions, "Did it happen?" And "How did it happen?"

"Did it happen?"

Ring of truth. Couldn't make it up because, if you did, it wouldn't be so personal. If you were making it up, would you admit to being scared thinking Jesus was a ghost?

Would you admit to walking towards Jesus then sinking and being admonished by Him?

"How did it happen?"

I am sure that part of that answer is that Jesus prayed. We have records of him praying before important events. For example, in last week's gospel we had the prayer of thanksgiving for the food before he fed the 5,000.

If we want God to work supernaturally, perhaps we need to seek him together in prayer, more. Perhaps we could have a monthly corporate prayer meeting, perhaps on one of the Sunday evenings when we have no service.

It also happened because God, in Christ wanted it to happen. God is in control of everything including his creation. Although there are observed norms God is free to break them. So, he can feed over 5,000 people with a boy's packed lunch. And he can walk on water. Not just on any water. After all, it might be too easy on a still calm lake, so Jesus walks on choppy seas! Then, once he gets in the boat, the wind subsided.

The disciples realise that God is among them for they worshipped him and acknowledged that He is the Son of God.

God has come to this earth as a man, Jesus. This should lead to our worship. We need to bow in praise, thanks and adoration. For who He is, and for what He has done. That He loved us so much He came to earth as a human being, went through all that it means to be human apart from sinning, and went to the cross for us.

We should come here to offer all that we have to God in humility and utter dependence upon His grace and mercy. He delights in the worship of His people.

I think that Jesus also walked on the water because He had faith, He trusted in God. The fact that Peter's trust wavered leads me to suggest this.

Peter was walking on the water until when? He began to focus on the wind and waves and not on Jesus. Then he began to sink, and called on Jesus who saved him.

Do you ever feel like you are drowning?

Drowning under the pressures of life - your job, family, your finances, people's unrealistic expectations of you or whatever.

What should we do in response? Look to Jesus.

Hebrew 12; 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

It is easy to lose heart. To feel like we are sinking. The answer is to keep going, focussing on Jesus. He has the power to walk on water, to feed over five thousand, to save us, to prepare a place for us with God.

Pray.

Worship Jesus.

Look to Jesus, put your trust in Him. Rely on His power.

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Everybody in the hospital was awaiting a visit from Pope John Paul II. A doctor with a handful of paperwork took a seat in a wheelchair and busied himself with his notes. The Pope swept in, and blessed the doctor, who immediately stood up and walked forward. The devout in the Pope's entourage crossed themselves and rolled their eyes upward.

Last week we saw how Jesus healed the sick and fed five thousand men as well as women and children. This week we will be looking at the miracles in this passage to discover the power of Jesus. How this power is linked to revelation of who he is. And the responses to this revelation.

The power of Jesus.

We read of the power of Jesus over nature, the water and the storm.

Walking on water is impossible because there is nothing there to support the weight of a human body. This was outside the normal experience of the disciples so they think they are seeing something supernatural, a ghost. They thought, human beings cannot walk on water, therefore we must be seeing a spirit being. They did see something supernatural because supernatural means something that defies what normally happens. True you do not normally observe ghosts, but you do not usually observe a person walking on water.

This power of Jesus over the created order shows that he is someone special. He must be to defy the order that God has built in to the Universe

The power of Jesus is also seen when Peter first walks towards him, concentrating upon Jesus. For this trust enables Peter to walk on water, too. Jesus has the power over nature to enable Peter to walk on water. If Peter been 100% convinced that Jesus could help him to walk on water, but if Jesus did not possess that power no amount of false belief or positive thinking by Peter would have kept his hair dry !

There is a belief among many people today that if you believe confidently in something it will happen. The power of positive thinking. But what is really important and effective is to truly believe in the one who has power to change the created order. Jesus does this by walking on water, by helping Peter top walk on water, and by stilling the storm.

The Sea of Galilee is relatively shallow so storms arise there suddenly. In Jesus day it was believed that the waters were chaotic and evil. Jesus calmed the storm as he got into the boat. In Genesis 1 the spirit of God hovered over the waters before creation. Then God brought light and created order into the world.

Jesus is God's agent of renewal, or restoration. He restores the calm. Stilling the waters. Stilling the worries of the disciples.

Later we observe that Jesus has the power to renew. To undo the efffects of disease when he heals the sick, verses 35 and 36.

This power is linked to revelation about who he is.

Who is able to walk on water ? Help another to do the same ? Still a storm ? Heal the sick ? Feed over 5,000 people from a packed lunch ?

Jesus. This points to who he is. The Messiah, the Christ, anointed one from God. God who has come to earth as a man. Who wants to reveal himself to people so that we can know what God is like. So we can know how God wants us to be. And so we can be reconciled to God.

Verse 33, Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Worshipping is referring to a giving of honour to one who is seen as superior, rather than acknowledging that the one being worshipped is divine. Whilst the disciples use the term 'Son of God' they would not have had a full understanding of the true meaning of this title. At this time they certainly would not have admitted that Jesus was God and would not have expected him to die on a cross and rise on the third day. They probably used this phrase as an alternative to Messiah, and would have expected Jesus to lead Israel to military victory over Rome and to oversee a prosperous earthly kingdom.

So Jesus' revelation was misunderstood. People didn't have a full grasp of who Jesus is. This is true today. Many people may use the right words to describe Jesus, such as Christ, or 'Son of God', without realising what this really means. We who do understand have the responsibility and joy of telling others about Jesus. Who he is, what he has done for us.

Verse 27, But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Jesus said to the disciples, 'It is I'. These are the words that God about himself said from the burning bush. This points to the divinity of Jesus.

William Temple former Archbishop of Canterbury defined worship: "For worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose -- and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin."

It is only when we fully realise who Jesus is that we can give him the honour, the devotion, the trust and the commitment that he deserves.

This leads us to...

The response to this revelation.

Last week the feeding of the five thousand gave the disciples a lesson in faith. Jesus asked them to provide food, they could only come up with a few loaves and fish. Jesus looked to God who provides more than enough for everyone. In today's reading Peter learns about trusting in Jesus.

Peter's response seems typically impulsive. Verse 28, "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."

Peter and the disciples had been following Jesus for some time and were used to performing miracles in the name of Jesus. Peter looks to Jesus to invite him, and Jesus says 'Come'. So there is no suggestion that Peter has asked for anything that is inappropriate. Whilst he has his eyes and concentration fixed solely upon Jesus Peter walked on the water.

Black Bart was a professional thief whose very name struck fear as he terrorised the Wells Fargo stage line. From San Francisco to New York, his name became synonymous with the danger of the frontier. Between 1875 and 1883 he robbed 29 different stagecoach crews. Amazingly, Bart did it all without firing a shot. Because a hood hid his face, no victim ever saw his face. He never took a hostage and was never trailed by a sheriff. Instead, Black Bart used fear to paralyze his victims. Sometimes the fear is disproportionate to the actual danger.

Verse 30 But when he ( Peter ) 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?"

The issue is not about the power of Jesus. Jesus saved Peter by stretching out his hand. The issue is that Peter failed to have a single minded trust that was focused on Jesus. He let his trust in Jesus be affected by the storm. The material facts compromised his trust in Jesus so he sank.

We can concentrate upon the facts; the storms of life, the difficulties, things that seem impossible to combat. Or we can trust in Jesus

When Jesus first came to the disciples in the boat he reassured them by affirming his presence with them.

Verse 27, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

Jesus did not indicate that there was no problem but tells them not to be afraid because he is with them. It would not be until he got into the boat that he calmed the storm.

Jesus will not always take us out of difficult situations immediately. However, we can be assured that he will be with us. We are never alone. Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is ours in Jesus.

Peter's lack of trust contrasts with the crowd in verse 36 who had such belief in his ability to heal that everyone of them were healed, and such was their faith some were healed just by touching Jesus' cloak.

Today Jesus still heals people. He still draws alongside his followers when they are going through difficult times. He calls us all to steadfastly fix all our trust in him and him alone. To ignore the things that distract us and dilute our faith in Him.

PRAY

Introductory Talk:

From 1016 there was a king of England named Canute, which is not such an odd name when you compare it to his father's name, which was Splitbeard, or his grandfather's name, which was Bluetooth, or his great-grandfather's name, which was Gorm. I guess young Canute had had enough of such odd names, so he married a woman named Emma.

Anyway, Canute was a pretty good king of not only England but also Scotland, Denmark, Norway and part of Sweden. Under his reign Christianity flourished, helped by his generosity in building churches. He kept the peace and protected the farmers and the fishermen and the traders, and looked after the people in every way he could. He was so good at his job that a lot of people stopped fussing about the things they should have been fussing about.

Not enough rain for the crops? Farmers would shrug and say, "Our King Canute is so powerful, he can take care of it. He'll make it rain."
Not many fish in the nets? Fishermen would grin and say, "Hey, what's one bad catch? Our King Canute will get fish for us next time."
All of this praise made Canute feel pretty good, but it also worried him. He knew he wasn't anywhere near as powerful as the people thought. He knew there were a whole lot of things�in fact, most things�that no one, king or commoner, could do much about.

He tried to argue with his followers. "Hey, I kinda like being king and I think I'm a pretty good king, but there's a bunch of things I can't do. I can't make it rain on a cloudless day. I can't make the mice stay out of the grain. I can't make the fish swim into your nets. I can't make you feel full when you are hungry, or well when you are sick."
"Oh yes you can," his followers chorused. "You're the King! You're all powerful, the best, the greatest, the only King Canute!"

What really worried Canute was that if the people thought he could solve every problem, they would do little or nothing to look after themselves.
They would not draw water from the river to make their corn grow.
They would not look for new places to drop their fishing nets.
They would not turn their cats loose on the mice in the grain shed.
They would only shrug and praise Canute, and what was once a happy kingdom would soon be starving.

So one day King Canute told his followers to carry him and his throne to the seashore at low tide. "Set me down right there at the water's edge," he said. "And I will command the sea to stay away. I will order the tide not to rise." "Oh wow!" said his followers as they obeyed the King. "This ought to be something to see!"

King Canute sat. He shouted: "Sea, stay away! Tide, do not rise!" But slowly, slowly, the tide came in and the sea rose, over his feet, past his knees, up to his waist. The crowd of followers pulled back a little to keep their own feet dry. They were puzzled. Why did the sea not obey the King?
The water rose higher and higher, up to the King's shoulders, over his chin. "Loyal glug subjects!" he gurgled. "Now you see that glug some things no man, be he glug king or commoner, can glug do! Now pull me glug out of here!"
The crowd splashed into the sea to pull Canute and his throne back to high ground.

In today's gospel we read of the true and the greatest King who did have power over the elements...

PRAY

The power of Jesus.

We read of the power of Jesus over nature, the water and the storm.

This power of Jesus over the created order shows that he is someone special. He must be to defy the order that God has built in to the Universe

Jesus is God's agent of renewal, or restoration. He restores the calm. Stilling the waters. Stilling the worries of the disciples.

Later we observe that Jesus has the power to renew. To undo the efffects of disease when he heals the sick, verses 35 and 36.

This power is linked to revelation about who he is.

Who is able to walk on water ? Help another to do the same ? Still a storm ? Heal the sick ? Feed over 5,000 people from a packed lunch ?

Verse 33, Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Verse 27, But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Jesus said to the disciples, 'It is I'. These are the words that God about himself Ssaid from the burning bush. This points to the divinity of Jesus.

It is only when we fully realise who Jesus is that we can give him the honour, the devotion, the trust and the commitment that he deserves.

This leads us to...

The response to this revelation.

Peter's response seems typically impulsive. Verse 28, "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."

We can concentrate upon the facts; the storms of life, the difficulties, things that seem impossible to combat. Or we can trust in Jesus

When Jesus first came to the disciples in the boat he reassured them by affirming his presence with them.

Verse 27, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

Jesus did not indicate that there was no problem but tells them not to be afraid because he is with them. It would not be until he got into the boat that he calmed the storm.

George Muller (1805-1898) built many orphanages at Ashley Down, England. Without a personal salary, he relied only on God to supply the money and food needed to support the hundreds of homeless children he befriended in the name of Christ. A man of radiant faith, he kept a motto on his desk for many years that brought comfort, strength, and uplifting confidence to his heart. It read, "It matters to Him about you." Muller believed that those words captured the meaning of 1 Peter 5:7, and he rested his claim for divine help on that truth. He testified at the end of his life that the Lord had never failed to supply all his needs.

PRAY