Making life count - Part 2
- Stephen Phelan
- Sep 20, 2009
- Series: Making Life Count
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Making Life Count (Part 2 of Peter): Mt. 14: 22-32
Mid-City Sept. 20, 2009
We’re in a series where we are thinking about how we can make our lives count and we’re looking at men and women who made their lives count. We started to look at Peter last week, but there is quite a bit of gold that we couldn’t mine from the passage last week, so we’re going to go back to that well this week.
As I mentioned last week, John Ortberg, in his great little book, If You Want to Walk on Water, Get Out of the Boat, pointed out this 5 fold pattern that is repeated in Scripture of great men & women who made their lives count. (1) The Call, (2) Fear, (3) Reassurance, (4) Decision, (5) Result: Changed Life.
Now we talked at length last week about Peter’s call to get out of the boat last week so we’ll move on to the other things that you will face if you want to make your life count.
Now remember from the story. Jesus put them in the boat, He went off to pray, and somewhere between 3 & 6 AM He comes walking across the water in the middle of a raging storm. They see a shadowy figure through the wind and water and waves and v26 tells us they cry out in
fear, “It’s a ghost.”
Now there are 2 things that you will learn about fear from our story and the way it impacts the call of Jesus on your life:
(1) Fear causes you to doubt the presence of Jesus.
“Ortberg had a really interesting reflection on the disciples inability to recognize the guy that they had been spending so much time following. He said, “In hindsight, we may wonder how they could have failed to know it was Jesus. Who else could it be? But Matthew wants us to know that sometimes it takes eyes of faith to recognize when Jesus is around. Often in the middle of the storm, tormented by waves of disappointment and doubt, we are no better at recognizing his presence than they were.” Right. When rent is due and there is no money in your account—where is Jesus. When you’re single and alone and depressed—where is Jesus. Hey, when you’re married and depressed—where is Jesus. When your diagnosed with cancer—where is Jesus. When the storms of life rage, Ortberg is right—we’re often no better than the disciples at discerning the presence, much less the call, of Jesus in our lives.
See it takes eyes of faith to see Jesus when the storms of life rage and fear begins terrorizing your heart & mind. So, for those of you who are followers of Jesus, when fear causes you to doubt the presence of Jesus, the first thing I would encourage you to do is pray. “Jesus, gives me eyes of faith to see you.” We have not, b/c we ask not. That is what Peter does here. He prays, “Jesus, help me identify that it is you by letting me hear your voice.”
(2) Fear causes you to forsake the call of Jesus
What is it that threatens to keep Peter from obeying the call of Jesus to come. Fear. And such is the case with us. Ortberg pointed this out to me--Do you know what the number one command in the Bible is? Hint: it isn’t steal not. It is fear not. Lloyd Ogilvie put it this way, “there are 366 “fear not” verses in the Bible—one for every day of the year, including leap year.
You would think God would choose something more deadly to emphasize more than anything else. Murder not. But he chooses fear. Why? B/c fear is the number one thing that keeps us from following Jesus and there is nothing more deadly. Dave Matthews wrote song about how deadly fear is, called You Might Die Trying.
Bradford and I recently went to his concert courtesy of suffering through a 90 minute time share presentation that they somehow stretched into 3 pressure-cooking hours. Bradford & I are the biggest suckers when it comes to those things. Really, so let me get this straight—you’ll give us a free house on the beach in Hawaii, if we just come to this 90 minute presentation. And so down we go. And I thought for sure when I told them, “Listen, I am a pastor, and I only make X, then they would say, “Oh, yes, you can’t afford to buy a time share, so here is your gift of a free house on the beach on Hawaii.” No. They said, “Oh, we have a great option for you. It is called debt.” But, after 3 hours of pressure-cooking pain, we did get concert tickets that worked. At the concert, Dave Matthews played this song about changing the world and how fear keeps us from doing so. Listen to it.
To change the world,
Start with one step.
However small,
The first step is hardest of all.
Once you get your gate,
You will walk in tall.
You said you never did,
Cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying.
Cause you---
If you close your eyes,
Cause the house is on fire.
And think you couldn't move,
Until the fire dies.
The things you never did,
Oh, cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying.
You'd be as good as dead,
Cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying. (1:35)
The things you never did,
Cause you might die trying;
You'd be as good as dead.
You never did.
Now I have no idea where Dave Matthews is spiritually. Yet, he sings about what Jesus calls his followers to do—that is, to change the world. And in v1 he says start with one step. He is right on—you gotta get out of the boat, and he rightly points out the first step is always the hardest.
But then he accurately portrays what keeps us from changing the world, whether we are followers of Jesus or not. Fear. We might die trying. We might get hurt. And look at the very last verse. I didn’t play this for you b/c, as is characteristic for Dave Matthews, they go off on a beautiful instrumental jam session in the middle of the song. So they end it this way. The things you never did, cause you might die trying. This is the guy I talked about last week—80, in the rockin’ chair, with a life of regrets. The reality is that all of us—whether you’re a follower of Jesus or not—deal with fear.
(3) Reassurance
So, the question is what do you do about your fear. If you’re not in relationship with Jesus, then, well, you resort to one of the books on self-help at Barnes & Noble on overcoming fears. If you are in relationship with Jesus, then here is how it works. When Jesus calls you to something and fear sets in, you need to be reassured of His presence. This is you, right. You are with me, right?
Let’s look at the story with Peter. First, Jesus comes walking to them on the water and then in v27 he says, “Take courage. It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Dale Bruner, a commentator, helped open my eyes to what is going on here. When Jesus says, “It is I,” Bruner says, “Jesus is not identifying himself (It’s me); this is a revelation that the God “I AM” is in their midst. These are the words of Isaiah 43 come to life, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you…For I AM the Lord your God…your Savior.” See Jesus was saying to the disciples and specifically to Peter, remember, “I AM.” The same I AM that has power over the nature that your ancestors have worshipped is in your midst. I AM is with you; I AM is here. And when you pass through the raging waters of this storm, I AM with you and they will not overwhelm you.
Note:. Jesus isn’t giving you reassurance that whatever he is calling you to will prosper and that you will be safe & happy. No. Think about it. In v22, it says Jesus “made them get into the boat.” He is omniscient—he knows full well that he is sending them into a storm. And he is OK with that. Why? B/c He will be there with them. Jesus never guarantees you that his call will be safe in the way we think of safety or even successful in the way we define success.
Let me give you an example. Bradford and I had to go through this week long assessment to determine if we were ready to plant this church. During this time, they mentioned a stat that roughly 90% of church plants fail. I whispered to Bradford—I feel so encouraged, do you? Now, does that mean that 9 out of 10 church planters heard God wrong and weren’t called to plant a church? No, it doesn’t mean that, b/c the call of Jesus doesn’t guarantee the success of the work. He may be putting you into a boat just like he did with his disciples, knowing that there is a storm ahead. But he’ll be with you, for He knows the only way you can grow is through the storm.
Some of you are thinking, “Is there something I need to know about this church? Is he trying to tell us it is about to implode? No, I am not, I am just trying to give you an example that most would probably say, “A pastor was probably called to plant a church.” Not always, but most of time.
Think about it in another context. Jesus may legitimately call you to start a business…that, from your perspective, fails miserably. One option is that you weren’t called. The other is that Jesus put you into the boat, just like he did his disciples, knowing full well that a storm was a brewing. And in that storm you would meet Him and learn to trust Him in ways that only the crucible of that storm could produce. CS Lewis puts it this way, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Sometimes pain, the storm of life, is the only thing that will break through our spiritually deaf ears.
(4) A Decision
Recap: So, you sense the call, fear sets in, Jesus reassures you with His presence, and then you still have a decision to make. Am I going to get out of the boat or not.
Think about Peter’s decision. If this were the Olympics and Peter were doing platform diving, the degree of difficulty here would without question be a 10. Middle of the night, pitch black, raging storm, and, moreover, Peter has read the research—in case study after case study, scientists have all found the same thing: humans sink. 100 out of 100 people sink when their feet hit water
Such is often the decision to follow the call of Jesus. It will be difficult and you will not have the resources to pull it off. That is where faith factors into the decision. Faith calls you to trust Jesus to do something that He is calling you to do for which you have absolutely no hope of accomplishing if he doesn’t do it.
Caveat: I am not saying throw reason out the window. I am a lawyer for crying out loud. You don’t go into law unless you like reason and logic. So, not surprisingly, I think faith in Jesus is reasonable. It is logical. It requires thinking hard and well and doesn’t ask you to check your brain at the door. But, this is important—faith calls you to take a step that reason encourages you to make.” Reason leads you to the door, faith allows you to enter. At some point you reach the end of reason and logic and you must walk by faith in a person that you can’t see and in a voice that you can’t hear. Reason leads you to know that this person exists; reason helps you hear his voice. Faith calls you to make the decision to trust him.
The best illustration I know of what it is like to put your faith in Jesus for the 1st time & then each time he calls you out of the boat is in the film Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade. Ortberg put me on to this film. It has been awhile since I watched Indiana Jones and I went back and watched it—brilliant film. In the film, Indiana Jones must pass 3 tests to reach the Holy Grail & save his dying father. Each require reasoning, thinking through clues, and all of his skills. He gets to the 3rd and most challenging test, which is called, “The Path of God,” which is Let’s watch this section.
First, Indiana Jones meets an impossible test. Then you hear him come to the conclusion, “It is a leap of faith.” Now let me apply this to 2 different groups of people who are here this morning. First, to those of you who are followers of Jesus. You here his father in the background saying, “You have got to believe, boy.” If you think about it, that seems quite Biblical. We, as sons of God, come up against things all the time that require leaps of faith. Things that we can’t do or accomplish without Jesus. And just as Indiana Jones father is longing for him to believe, so is our Heavenly Father. “Son, you have got to believe.” You have done it before, you’ve walked on this invisible bridge, fallen, and he picks you up again. Again.
But there are also those of you who are here this morning who have never trusted Jesus. This morning, Jesus says the same thing to you that he said to Peter in v29—“COME.”
You have a decision. Will you take a step of faith? Just as Dave Matthews said earlier, the first step is the hardest step. See before you take that step of faith and trust Jesus, the Bible actually says there is an impasse between you and God caused by your sin and, like Indiana Jones, you can’t jump it. Experientially, you know this to be true b/c you have sensed a spiritual deadness in your life. That deadness comes from being separated from God. You weren’t meant to live this way. .
But here is the gospel. On the cross, Jesus formed a bridge for us to get reconnected to God. Picture the dark abyss of Indiana Jones. Jesus went there, he descended into the abyss, and 3 days later rose victorious over the darkness so that he could be this bridge for us. In Christ, you’re no longer spiritually disconnected from God. But to get connected, you must take the first step of faith in Jesus. But the amazing thing is that when you do, all of a sudden a bridge appears that wasn’t there before, just like it did for Indiana Jones.
