May 16 - Lesson: Matthew 14.22-33

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INTRODUCTION:

Walking Across Water ⁽¹⁾

A rabbi, a priest and a pastor were all in a boat together fishing.

The pastor said to the others, "I think I am going to go over to that shore and sit down." So, he gets out of the boat, walks across the water and sits down on the shore.

Then, the priest says to the rabbi, "I think I going to go over there to join him." So, he does the same as the pastor and sits next to him on the shore.

The rabbi thinks to himself, "Well, if they can do it, so can I!" So, he climbs out of the boat, but he falls in the water.

The pastor says to the priest, "Do you think we should of told him where the rocks were?"

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MAIN BODY:

1. How would you like to learn to walk on water?

1. Jesus encourages us to develop the skills necessary to walk on water.

2. This is one of the main purposes for telling this story.

2. First we look at the text itself to see what happened and why.

1. Matthew 14.22-33

1. Jesus has fed the five thousand

2. He is exhausted and in need of rest and spiritual nourishment.

3. ²²Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side,

4. while he dismissed the crowds.

5. ²³And after he had dismissed the crowds,

6. he went up the mountain by himself to pray.

7. When evening came, he was there alone,

8. ²⁴but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.

9. ²⁵And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea.

10. ²⁶But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!"

11. And they cried out in fear.

12. ²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."

13. ²⁸Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."

14. ²⁹He said, "Come."

15. So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.

16. ³⁰But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"

17. ³¹Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

18. ³²When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

19. ³³And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

2. The most important statement is by Jesus in verse 31, "you of little faith, why did you doubt.

3. Peter's doubt arises because of the wind and the waves.

1. The wind and the waves may represent the trials, tribulations, and difficulties that we face in life.

2. These are that which tests our resolve and purpose.

4. Peter's need is faith.

5. It is also our need.

6. We like the Rabbi need to know where the stones are.

3. Faith is often a very confusing subject.

1. This is because of the way in which it is approached or understood by differing authorities.

2. We need to learn so that we may avoid the ventriloquists. What?

1. I picked up this idea from the following story.

Money or Miracle ⁽²⁾

A mangy looking guy who goes into a restaurant and orders food. The waiter says, "No way. I don't think you can pay for it."

The guy says, "You're right. I don't have any money, but if I show you something you haven't seen before, will you give me the food?"

"Deal!" replies the waiter.

The guy reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a hamster. He puts the hamster on the counter and it runs to the end, across the room, up the piano, jumps on the keyboard, and starts playing Gershwin songs. And the hamster is really good.

The waiter says, "You're right. I've never seen anything like that before. That hamster is truly good on the piano."

The guy downs the hamburger he ordered and asks the waiter for another. "Money or another miracle," says the waiter.

The guy reaches into his coat again and pulls out a frog. He puts the frog on the counter, and the frog starts to sing. He has a marvelous voice and great pitch. A fine singer.

A stranger from the other end of the counter runs over to the guy and offers him $300 for the frog. The guy says, "It's a deal." He takes the three hundred and gives the stranger the frog. The stranger runs out of the restaurant.

The waiter says to the guy, "Are you crazy? You sold a singing frog for $300? It must have been worth millions."

"Not so", says the guy, "the hamster is also a ventriloquist."

2. It matters who you listen to and how that person is to be understood.

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4. So let's talk a little about faith, what it is and how to acquire enough of it to help us, as it were, to walk on water.

1. I have mentioned that on Sunday mornings I like to tune in to Dr. Frederick K. C. Price, and his program "Ever Increasing Faith" from the Crenshaw Christian Center in Los Angles, CA.

1. He opens his program by quoting from 2 Corinthians 5.7: "For we walk by faith, not by sight."

2. Faith is necessary for the present because we cannot see the future.

1. Faith is not a leap in the dark.

2. It is not trusting in something that cannot be seen.

3. Faith is sight, and insight created by hope and love.

2. Faith has to be more than belief.

1. As James has written: "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder," (James 2:19, NRSVA).

2. Belief, alone, sometimes creates shuddering, especially when belief is sorely tested and tried.

3. A very popular description of faith that is often used as a definition is found in Hebrews 11.1.

1. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1, NRSVA).

1. In my life I have often heard two concepts drawn from this passage.

1. Things hoped for.

2. Things not seen.

3. This may also be understood as walking by faith and not by sight.

2. There are two words that definitely ought to be emphasized.

1. Assurance (confidence).

2. Conviction (certainty).

2. Faith is not belief in something or someone that cannot be seen.

3. Faith is not the acceptance of what cannot be understood.

4. One of the best ways to understand faith is to study the way that the Apostle Paul attempts to help us grasp the process by which it is acquired.

1. He does this in Romans 10.17.

2. "So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ," (Romans 10:17 NRSVA)

3. Or what is heard comes through the preaching of Jesus Christ.

4. Or faith is acquired by becoming acquainted with Jesus Christ.

5. Faith is a substance that is achieved through relationship.

5. I could have written this out for you and put it in the bulletin, but it is better, if you are inclined, to write it out for yourself

1. It is an understanding of faith that I have quoted before.

A DEFINITION OF-CHRISTIAN FAITH: A. Graham Maxwell, PhD, Emeritus Professor of New Testament Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA

"'Faith' is a word we use to describe a relationship with God as with a person well known. The better we know him, the better the relationship may be.

"Faith implies an attitude toward God of love, trust, and deep admiration, It means having enough confidence in God, based upon the more than adequate evidence revealed, to be willing to believe whatever he says, to accept whatever he offers, and to do whatever he wishes-without reservation-for the rest of eternity.

"Anyone who has such faith is perfectly safe to save.

"This is why faith is the only requirement for heaven."

2. Now I believe we have a working definition.

1. Faith is dependent on knowing.

2. Knowing is dependent on proclamation.

3. Proclamation is in the Scriptures of the New Testament.

4. Faith is a relationship with Jesus as with a person well known.

5. Peter does not yet know Jesus sufficiently to stay above water.

6. He will learn.

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5. The next stage is to put it into practice.

1. This requires action.

2. It also requires taking a necessary risk.

3. But, then, why not.

4. From an anonymous Chicago teacher in the Treasury of Women's Quotations, by Carolyn Warner comes the following:

To Risk ⁽³⁾

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach for another is to risk involvement.
To expose your feelings is to risk exposing your true self
To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To believe is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.
Chained by their attitudes they are slaves; they have forfeited their freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.

5. But even in taking the risk we are not alone.

1. Peter wanted to walk on water.

2. Jesus said "Come."

3. Peter walked on water.

4. What he saw the danger, his faith faltered and he began to sink.

5. Did Jesus let him sink.

6. Jesus reached out and took him by the hand and led him to safety.

7. Does this also apply to us?

8. Of course it does!

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CONCLUSION

1. So now the test is to apply what we have learned so that we may walk on water.

2. But remember that there is danger and how to avoid it.

1. This is where the words to a song come to mind.

Put Your Hand In The Hand
Words and Music: Gene McLellan

Put your hand in the hand of the Man who stilled the water.
Put your hand in the hand of the Man who parted the sea.
Take a look at your life, and you will look at others differently,
By putting your hand in the hand of the Man from Galilee.

Every time I look into the Holy Book, I want to tremble,
When I read about the part where a carpenter cleared the temple.
For the buyers and the sellers were no different fellas that what I profess to be,
And it causes me pain to know I'm not the guy that I should be.

Put your hand in the hand of the Man who stilled the water.
Put your hand in the hand of the Man who parted the sea.
Take a look at your life, and you will look at others differently,
By putting your hand in the hand of the Man from Galilee.

Mama taught me how to pray before I reached the age of seven,
And when I'm do on my knees, that's when I'm closest to Heaven.
Daddy lived his life with two kids and a wife, and you do what you must do
But he showed me enough of what it takes to get you through.

Put your hand in the hand of the Man who stilled the water.
Put your hand in the hand of the Man who parted the sea.
Take a look at your life, and you will look at others differently,
By putting your hand in the hand of the Man from Galilee.

2. So, now, do you believe that you can walk on water?

1. Retrieved from: http://www.absolutelyjokes.com/religion/priests/walking-across-water.html

2. Mikey's Funnies [mikeys-funnies-owner@YouthSpecialties.com], [forwarded by Mike Hardy]

3. Anonymous Chicago Teacher: From Treasury of Women's Quotations, by Carolyn Warner (Prentice Hall, 1992); pages 78-79.

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