Step Out of the Boat

It is my pleasure to present the first of a two-day post featuring a message written by my husband, Neal.

This text was originally presented to a local congregation.

It seemed appropriate to me to share it with the larger congregation of my readers and visitors.

Step Out of the Boat

Trust and Trustworthiness (Faith) in These Troubled Times

by Wm. Neal Lewis

Potwin Christian Church
2009.11.22

My sermon today is about trust and trustworthiness, faith and faithfulness. Here is the main point of the sermon: You have to act faithfully before you can worship thankfully and, true thankfulness is worship.

Matthew 14:22-33 TEV
22 Then Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people away. 23 After sending the people away, he went up a hill by himself to pray. When evening came, Jesus was there alone; 24 and by this time the boat was far out in the lake, tossed about by the waves, because the wind was blowing against it.
25 Between three and six o’clock in the morning Jesus came to the disciples, walking on the water. 26 When they saw him walking on the water, they were terrified, “It’s a ghost!” they said, and screamed with fear.
27 Jesus spoke to them at once. ”Courage!” he said. “It is I. Don’t be afraid!”
28 Then Peter spoke up. “Lord, if it is really you, order me to come out on the water to you.”
29 ”Come!” answered Jesus. So Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water to Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he was afraid and started to sink down in the water. “Save me, Lord!” he cried.
31 At once Jesus reached out and grabbed hold of him and said, “What little faith you have! Why did you doubt?”
32 They both got in the boat, and the wind died down. 33 Then the disciples in the boat worshiped Jesus. “Truly you are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.

The story takes place just after the feeding of the five thousand and just before the healing of the people in Gennesaret.

Jesus and his disciples had been on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. The area around the lake was (and still is) very fertile. Many small towns dotted the shores of this lake.

The Sea lies 680 feet below sea level. The Jordan flows into it from the south end and goes out the north end.

The Sea teems with fresh water fish of all kinds. Peter and his companion fishermen know this Sea.

Due to its geography, the Sea is subject to sudden violent storms. This was one such storm. The disciples are doing their best to make it the seven or eight miles to the west side at Gennesaret and safety.

Not only are they in trouble that could cost them their lives, all of a sudden they see something that causes them to go into complete panic: A figure is on the lake. The figure is walking, and walking toward them.

You have all seen horror movies. This is not good. Whatever it is, IT is undoubtedly something evil coming to get them. Or at least that was probably the FIRST thing that popped into their minds. Does that seem to pop into our minds too when we think something is coming to get us?

The apparition replies to their screams with reassuring words. It is the voice of our Lord. Peter, the big fisherman, the impulsive, lovable Peter, says, “If it is you, ORDER me to step out of the boat and walk on the water with you.”

Jesus orders him to do so. Peter gets out and walks on the water. And then, all of a sudden, his doubting mind and “reality” kick back in. In an instant he panics, loses his focus on Jesus and starts to sink. Real panic sets in. My guess is that Peter could not swim and he knows he is in trouble.

By this point he is hardly thinking about Christ at all. And this shift from confidence to absolute panic has taken all of about 2 seconds. Sound familiar in your own life? Let’s look at this event in more detail.

This is a story about trusting and trustworthiness, about faith and faithfulness. Worry is the opposite of trust or faith and we seem to have a lot to worry about.

• We worry about our health.
• We worry about our church surviving.
• We worry about our families.
• We worry about our country.
• We worry about our jobs.
• We worry about paying the bills.
• We worry about making people mad or offending them.
• We worry about not making people mad and not offending them.

And we feel helpless and afraid. Does that sound familiar? Like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)

I believe the Bible because it paints a true picture of humanity, warts and all. Therefore I believe the picture it paints of God, Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Trust is taking the first step, no matter how small. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalms 119:105) All we need is the light of faith for the next step.

Jesus says, (Matthew 17:20) “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Are you and I being faithful even with the “little” we have been given?

We have been entrusted with talents. Are we wise servants who invest what we have to gain more? Or are we timid servants who hide the talent so no one can see or accuse us of making a mistake. And then the master comes back and we hear, (Matthew 25:26) ‘You wicked, lazy servant!’

Hopefully we are not like the Children of Israel who upon hearing the reports of the spies, sided with the nay sayers. Joshua and Caleb did not dispute the accuracy of their report. Joshua and Caleb said, (Numbers 14:9) “Only do not rebel against the LORD . And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

The LORD’s response to the Children of Israel was that all who had rebelled against him would die. To refuse to step out of the boat when God calls is rebellion against God.

Most of us are not the Centurion who said (Matthew 8:8) But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

Maybe we are more like the man with the demon possessed son who said, (Mark 9:24)“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Let us go back to the disciples in the boat. The waves are high. The wind blows strongly. It is not a nice night for boating. And they see a person coming toward them on the water.

They know what is possible; and this is not possible. Only God can do that, He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. (Job 9:8) Look it up. It’s in the book of Job.

People don’t walk on water. Therefore the only reasonable explanation is they are looking at a ghost, the spirit of a dead person wandering around where it shouldn’t be. Now I ask you, is that really logical?

We think, “Well they weren’t modern people like we are.” Oh, really? Dead was dead for them too. That is why so many people in Jesus’ day had trouble with the resurrection.

People don’t rise from the dead, therefore the Christian message must be a fairy tale.

The Bible paints an absolutely real picture of humanity. Therefore the picture of God must be real too. What does the Bible say about using your head, or is it all just feelings and nonsense?

In Isaiah 44:16-20 there is this passage:

16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.” 17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me; you are my god.” 18 They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. 19 No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

Isaiah is asking this question: “Aren’t you smart enough to understand how stupid that is, to burn one end of a log and bow down and worship the other end of it?” The Bible is logical. The Bible is NOT a pack of lies, myths and fables and ghosts walking on water.

Our society on the other hand is filled with just those sort of myths. Let me name a few.

• Evolution is how we came into being and God is not needed.
• Our society will work much better if we give up our outdated ideas about Adam and Even, get with the program and welcome Adam and Steve.
• Life is sacred, except when it is the life of an unborn child or an old person.
• “We’re living together. Everyone does it. You have to kick the tires and try before you buy.”
• “All religions will get you to heaven. The Shack tells us so.”
• “Why, you know we can learn a lot of good values from Harry Potter and witchcraft.”
• “There is no absolute truth. Absolutely.”

Those are the real myths and ghosts. If you hold those beliefs up to the light of the TRUTH in the Word of God, they dissolve into vapor. They are unclean wraiths straight from hell itself.

And yes, hell is real as is the last judgment, and a whole lot of other Biblical things that a lot of modern people are going to discover to their shock and dismay.

The TRUTH, not the facts, but the TRUTH is in the Word of God. Jesus said, (John 14:60) “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” That is the absolute TRUTH. Jesus claimed that for himself. He is either the Son of God or a madman. And he certainly wasn’t a good moral teacher who just wanted to get along.

Jesus did not question the teaching in the Old Testament. He said, (Matthew 12:40) “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Jesus knew Jonah as a real, live prophet, not an allegory or fable. We need to have that same level of belief and respect for what we read in the Bible. The places in the Bible are verifiable. The historical events have been corroborated by other accounts outside of the Bible.

The problem for us, as it was for the disciples and the others in Jesus day is this: It is not that he is a ghost, but that He is God and He is asking us to step out of our boat. And most of the time, you and I don’t want to do that.

So what do you do when you are struggling, your little boat is almost swamped and you see something walking toward you?

Do you yell and scream, “Oh no the ghost of another problem to haunt me. Or do you hear the voice of the Master calling you to step out of the boat and walk on water?

Maybe He comes disguised as a job layoff , and you hear Him saying, “Set up a business that will give people good jobs.”

Maybe He comes as financial troubles in the church, and He says, “Give joyfully so you can be freed up to receive My blessings.”

Maybe he comes disguised as a family crisis, and He says, “Listen to me. Love each other. Build this family on Me.”

Maybe he comes disguised as the need for a Sunday School teacher and you say, “But I don’t know enough to teach a class.”

I urge you to be like Peter. Ask God to order you to step out of the boat. Make sure the voice you hear is the Master’s and not the evil one trying to trick you. If it is the voice of God: Step out of the boat and start walking on water.

In order to step out of the boat we need a little bit of impetuousness, like Peter’s. Jesus did say count the cost. But he also faulted those who turned faith in God into a cold and calculated process like the Pharisees (Matthew 23:23) “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Parisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”

We read that the disciples were called by Jesus and left and followed Him immediately (Mark 1:20). Some of us probably need to loosen up and get a life. My wife says getting a life is highly overrated. She says that’s why she married me.

We have to trust Jesus enough to act in faith and step out of the boat.

Even if the wind hits you in the face and you get scared and have to say, “Help thou my unbelief,” keep walking, or at least lift up a hand so Jesus can grab you.

If we do step out of the boat, Satan is going to make sure we see the wind and take our eyes off Christ. Hear Christ’s answer in the Gospel of John 16:33 “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.”

Let’s switch for just a moment to Thanksgiving. Today is Thanksgiving Sunday. Let’s take a quick look at that first event.

We need to go back in time to Henry the VIII th King of England. Henry needed an heir. The Catholic Church refused to let him keep divorcing and killing wives so he set up the Church of England.

After Henry’s death, Protestants had to go into hiding. Queen Mary, a Catholic, tried to rid England of Protestants.

Upon Mary’s death, her half sister Elizabeth took the throne. Elizabeth instituted the book of common prayer, hoping to keep her country of Catholics and Protestants together in the face of a very hostile Pope.

When Elizabeth died James the VI King of Scotland became James the I King of England. He sponsored the King James Bible.

That sounds good, but in the intervening years, the Church of England had become just as intolerant of non conforming Christians as had been the Catholic Church.

Bigotry is a remarkably universal bad human trait. So when someone tells you that people are basically good, don’t believe it. It’s not scriptural.

A group of devout Christians left England and went to Leiden the Netherlands to find safety to worship in freedom. The Netherlands proved to be both safe and unsatisfactory. So in 1620 the Leiden Separatists chartered two small ships, the Speedwell and the Mayflower to take them to the New World.

In Southampton, England, they picked up a group of people called the Strangers. These were representatives of the group that had bankrolled the endeavor.

The two little ships set sail in July but had to turn back when the Speedwell proved to be un-seaworthy. Some of the people from the Speedwell transferred to the Mayflower.

They set sail again in late September on the Mayflower with 102 people. It was the middle of November when they reached the shores of the New World. They were miles off course. They had aimed for Virginia where they had a charter to settle.

The Strangers claimed they were no longer under the jurisdiction of the rules of the group since the charter was not for New England.
The Leiden Separatists brought everyone together. The group produced a document unlike anything that had been written prior to that event. The document was the Mayflower Compact. It was part English Common Law, but most of it came from the Bible. The unique aspect was that the people bound themselves to be governed by a document they had produced themselves. It was not imposed on them from above, or imposed by them on some one above (as the Magna Carta had been). This was a truly unique new document.

The people stepped off the boat in the middle of November in New England because they believed God wanted them to do that. Hardly a pleasant time of the year in that part of the country.

But so great was their desire to worship God and for freedom that they stayed and set about the task of making a small town in the dead of winter. Less than half of the able bodied men were well enough to do any work.

In three months’ time, almost half of the people died. Were they unreasonable fanatics? Is this sort of dedication to God an indication of mental instability? Let us hear what Saint Paul has to say on the matter in Hebrews 11:32-12:3:

32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated – 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 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.

When the Pilgrims who survived came to the end of the summer of the next year, they held a feast and honored God for being so gracious to them. These God fearing people, set a tone for this country that is unique in all the world. And for that alone we should give thanks at this time of year. Their thanksgiving was, and ours should be, centered on our God who so richly blesses all who call on his name, and honor Him. Even sitting at a table feasting on Turkey can be done to the honor of God.

Let us not forget, Jesus’ first miracle was at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee (John 2:1). When we celebrate with thanksgiving before the Lord that is true worship. That is what makes Thanksgiving so special and so unique. If we choose to honor God for his blessings to us today and on Thanksgiving we will be doing so in the spirit of true worship. Thanksgiving celebrates the fruition and harvesting of God’s great blessings to us.

Potwin Christian Church is in the middle of a field ripe for harvest. Many people have not heard the TRUTH. A lot of them don’t believe there is such a thing as TRUTH. They do not know how to trust. And for many of them, faith is just a silly idea for people who are not hard headed enough to go it alone.

They aren’t going to get the message of Christ’s salvation and love from me in one small dose each week on Sunday morning. And a lot of them won’t come through the doors until you invite them. You are going to have to help them learn that Jesus loves them.

Step out of the boat. Help your next door neighbor. And when they ask a question, something from deep inside, a problem, or why you seem to have joy, speak the TRUTH softly and in love. Invite them to meet Jesus.

A book I read said the two things that correlated most to church growth are: a minister who puts in 20 hours a week on his sermon and having Sunday School classes.

But I would have to say that even more important is a congregation that digs into the Word of God individually and corporately and prays to be used by God.

Step out of the boat. And may God richly bless you for that act of Faith.