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Marilyn told me that on Sunday, there was a guest speaker who talked about the power of Luke's contribution to the church. I reminded me of a sermon I wrote on several individuals who had a single-handed impact. I wanted to share it.

TAKING A WALK

One day, three pastors from a local town went fishing together. One was Lutheran, one was Pentecostal, and one was Baptist. They all arrived at their favorite fishing lake, got in the boat together, and went out into the lake.

As the day progressed and the heat rose, the Lutheran reached for the cooler and exclaimed, “We left the cooler in the truck!” They didn’t want to leave their spot because they had been pulling in fish all morning. “Not a problem,” said the Lutheran pastor. He then stepped out of the boat, walked across the water to the shore, and brought back drinks for the three men. The Baptist was astounded.

A few hours later, they began to get thirsty again. “I’ll get some drinks this time,” said the Pentecostal. He then stepped out of the boat, walked across the water to the shore, and brought back drinks for the three men. The Baptist was flabbergasted!

The day wore on and the men began to get thirsty again. The Baptist said to himself, “I’m at least as holy as these other two men,” so he decided to get the drinks himself this time. He stood up, boldly stepped out of the boat…and went straight down. He came up, spluttering and spewing, climbed back in the boat, whispered a prayer, and stepped back out onto the water. Again, he went straight down. He came up again, got back in the boat, and a third time stepped out and went straight to the bottom.

As he came up, the Lutheran turned to the Pentecostal and said, “Do you think we should tell him where the rocks are?”

Connect

That is one of my favorite jokes of all time. Of course, Jesus didn’t have rocks when He walked on the water. 

Look @ The Book

Matthew 14:22-36, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:16-21 

Solitude

Getting away is something that Jesus values and something we should do as well. In this case, He actually sends His disciples way so He can get away by Himself. He needs time alone with God after such an exhausting time of ministry. If Jesus needs to get away, how much more do we?

Taking a stroll

This event is a little different than the one where Jesus calmed the storm. The disciples are struggling in the boat, but this seems more like the normal type of storm they had on the Sea of Galilee. It was still dangerous, but not as much. One of the things that strikes me about this particular event is that it seems clear that Jesus intended on walking across the water from the very beginning. It makes me wonder if this was something He did often. Regardless, He’s doing it. The other thing that strikes me about this event is that it says Jesus was planning on walking right past the disciples! He didn’t think they needed help and He was going to let them work their way across. The only reason He stopped was because of their fear.

So why did they think He was a ghost? The obvious reason was because He was walking on top of the water. But remember also that the Jews believed that the Sea of Galilee was the entrance to Hell. Seeing one of the undead walking across the sea in their general direction must have been terrifying indeed.

A True Follower

In order to understand what happens next, you need to understand something about being a talmid, a follower. Any true follower wanted to do EXACTLY what their rabbi did. If He picked up a rock, they would pick up a rick from the same place. If He went into a house, they would enter the house as well.  If He sang a song, they would sing it as well. So…if their Rabbi walked on water, then the obvious thing would be for them to walk on the water as well. The truly amazing thing in this event isn’t that Peter got out of the boat and walked on water. The amazing thing is that the other 11 disciples DIDN’T get out of the boat!

Peter sinks, Jesus saves him, and then Jesus says, “You still have so little faith. Why did you doubt me?” To whom was He talking? We always assume it’s Peter, but here’s the thing…PETER IS THE ONLY ONE WHO GOT OUT OF THE BOAT! Peter is the one who actually showed faith. I believe Jesus’ words are directed to the disciples who just sat there.

As Jesus gets in the boat, the storm stops immediately and for the first time, the disciples worship Jesus as God’s Son. This is a stunning leap in their belief. This is more than Jesus being the Messiah. Nowhere in the Old Testament does it say that the Messiah would be the Son of God, but in this moment, the disciples recognize it.

The Real Miracle

Now we come to the real miracle! Jesus had told the disciples to go to “the other side”, which I’m sure you remember was a reference to the pagan cities across the Sea of Galilee. It was there that Jesus had cast out the legion of demons from the two men into pigs, who had then thrown themselves into the sea. Do you remember what happened after that?

The people from the surrounding villages came and BEGGED Jesus to leave. He had cost them a lot of money, He had shown His power over their gods, and quite frankly, He terrified them. He left, but before leaving He told one of the men He had freed to tell people what had happened to him. It’s the first time Jesus told anyone to do it. This man had no training, no background, no understanding of the Bible. His whole message was, “I was the guy who lived in the tombs. I was possessed by a legion of demons. Then this man named Jesus came and set me free. I think He is God and I’ve chosen to follow Him.” That was just over a month ago.

Now Jesus shows up in the same area. Do they beg Him to leave? On the contrary, as soon as people recognize Him, they run all over the place telling people He is there, and they bring all their sick to be healed. This is the second time the Gospels mention people touching the fringes of His robe for healing, fulfilling the prophecy that the Son of righteousness would rise with healing in His wings.

Imagine the formerly demon-possessed man running down the hill, this time not to scream at Jesus, but to welcome Him. “Jesus, I did exactly what you said. I went and told everyone what you did for me! Look at all the people who believe…in You!” Imagine Jesus’ joy at seeing this great harvest of Gentiles coming into the Kingdom. Over the last month, Jesus had been rejected by religious leaders, rejected by His hometown, rejected by His family, and the people He had fed had completely misunderstood his reason for being there. He had been rejected in so many ways, and now to have this massive response…amazing!

And all of this because of the faithful work of one man telling his story.

Took

So what we have here today are three examples of faith. First, you have the 11 disciples who never got out of the boat. Jesus’ question to them, “Do you still have no faith?”, shows how shocked Jesus was at their lack. After seeing the healings, Jesus power over the storm, even the feeding of the thousands, they still didn’t believe.

As a reminder, let’s remember what belief is. In many churches, the word believe is seen as accepting a set of principles. As long as I acknowledge that Jesus is God’s Son, that He died on the cross and rose again, or whatever other things a church may think are important, I’m good. By contrast, the Bible is crystal clear that to believe means things that I KNOW that change the way I ACT. If what I know doesn’t come out in what I do, then I don’t really believe.

The disciples in the boat knew a lot of things about Jesus. They knew He could do miracles. They knew He was something other than just human. They even knew He was Messiah. But they didn’t believe because when it came time to step out of the boat, they just sat in fear. This is so often true of us. We are presented with a chance to demonstrate our faith, and we just sit. We’re afraid of failure, afraid of looking too religious, afraid of pain, or just afraid of the unknown. And we sit.

Did Jesus give up one them because of this? Did He cast them off as unworthy? No. He loved them and continued to lead them. And this wasn’t the last time they failed to put their knowledge into action…and Jesus still loved them and called them to follow. And I’m glad He does that with us as well. Jesus won’t give up on you when you fail. He’ll give you another chance to step out in faith. And you may fail again. And He’ll give you another chance.

But here’s the truth: the 11 disciples NEVER got another chance to walk on water with Jesus. As they moved through their lives and looked back at that moment, do you think they would have given almost anything to go back and step out of the boat? I would imagine so. Jesus will continue to love you, but if you don’t step when given the opportunity, you may never get that opportunity again.

Second, we see Peter put action to his knowledge. Peter steps out of the boat when Jesus calls. Imagine that moment…heart racing, muscles clenched, mouth dry, adrenaline pumping. It was probably better than any roller coaster you’ve ever ridden. Peter was given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and he took it!

We make a lot about Peter taking his eyes off Jesus and sinking in the water, but do you think he ever regretted stepping out of the boat? He did something no other human in the history of the world ever got to do, and it has never been repeated. To the end of his days, he could talk about walking on the water with Jesus.

In your walk with Jesus, you will be given the opportunity to do amazing things. You will be given a chance to take amazing steps of faith. In 2011, I felt called by God to start a ministry called Engage. My wife and I stepped out on faith and did it. A little over a year later, we had to close it and do something else. It failed for a lot of reasons, but here’s the thing…we tried. We stepped out, and I don’t regret it. I would rather follow Jesus and fail spectacularly than sit in safety and never experience the thrill of walking into the unknown!

So what is Jesus calling you to do? Is it scary? Good! It just means it’s going to be amazing!

Finally, we have the former madman in the Decapolis. You want to talk about faith! Here’s a man in a completely hostile environment. We don’t often think about this, but the people in the area hated and feared Jesus for what He had done and they worshipped other gods, especially Dionysus. They knew nothing about the God of Israel, so there was no foundation on which to build belief. This man was literally taking his life in his hands by talking about Jesus to these people. It’s more than likely that he was beaten, abused, mocked, and spit upon in his journey. The storms he faced were much more real and dangerous than the ones that distracted Peter, and he didn’t have Jesus right there with him, reaching out for him, but he still persevered.

And in the end, he singlehandedly brought a great harvest of people to Jesus. Imagine his joy in following someone he barely knew and fulfilling the mission he had been given. He walked in a place no one had walked before, did something no one had ever tried, and followed Jesus better than Jesus’ own disciples. He was the first true missionary!

This is the example we should follow. Throw caution to the wind and pursue Jesus’ call. With no hint of doubt, accomplish Jesus’ mission. In spite of all odds, stay faithful and in the end, experience the joy of being a good and faithful servant.

So what is Jesus calling you to do? Does it look stormy? Maybe. Is it dangerous? Probably. Will it cause you to go to uncomfortable places? Certainly. Will you regret it? Not even a little. At the end of your life, will you look back in regret, or will you celebrate with joy the way you pursued Jesus? My hope for you is that you will pursue Jesus so well that you will hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest!”

SONGS FOR SUNDAY

Raise A Hallelujah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2XtRuPfaAU&list=RDG2XtRuPfaAU&start_radio=1

Yes and Amen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuZ7PeN1TQ0&list=RDZuZ7PeN1TQ0&start_radio=1

Firm Foundation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9ndiD0_qNk&list=RDx9ndiD0_qNk&start_radio=1

Worthy of it All

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ0bV2t3tUw&list=RDkQ0bV2t3tUw&start_radio=1