Soggy Sandals
Words & Works of Jesus • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Test Time
Test Time
Still, there are times during the year I feel something. Thanksgiving, Xmas, Spring Break, and May.
Holidays prompt feelings. But, that’s not what I’m talking about.
When I went off to college, and I had my annual physical that summer, my doctor commented how small my tonsils were. I’d never had tonsillitis or strep.
But then, it started at the end of my first semester, every semester of college, I came down w/ strep throat. The stress. The lack of sleep. Cramming. All-nighters. I always went home after the semester sick. Every semester.
So, mid-terms before Tnxgvg and Spring break. Finals in Dec and May. Maybel it’s because I spent so many years in school. I finished when I was 30. I’m 63 now. I still feel it during those seasons.
Why is test-taking so stressful?
The point of the test is to find out if the students know the material w/out having to go to their notes or textbooks. Can you solve this problem off the top of your head?
Teachers mark progress and adjust according to where their students are. Students have to understand and apply the lessons in September so they can understand and do the problems in December.
Basics. We have to learn how to add and subtract before we can multiply and divide. Then, basic multiply and divide before we can get to more complicated formulas, like exponents. Calculus. Sine and cosine functions.
We have to be able to master Dick and Jane w/ their dog, Spot so that we can read and understand Homer’s Iliad.
We get to drop the Mentos into the 2-liter Coke bottle before we can dissect a frog or understand the properties of oil and water and why they don’t mix.
Whatever you studied in school, college, tech school, military, or grad school; it all started w/ Dick and Jane and Weekly Readers.
But, if you get the lessons, then the tests are a breeze. Where does the stress come from? Well, did we get the lessons? Will we get the grades? GPA matters b/c you have to have a good one to graduate and get into grad school.
But, then, it’s not just about more school, can you do your job? Did you get the lessons in school well-enough that now you can do your job w/out having to go back to your notes and textbooks?
Reading has become a huge issue. Being able to read manuals, in my case commentaries, lawyers read case studies, doctors read journals, business leaders read industry updates and the Wall Street Journal.
Did you know that over 70% of all incarcerated ppl cannot read? There is an obvious connection. If you can’t read the manuals, you can’t do the job. So, what’s left to make money? Steal it.
If you want to make a real difference in the lives of ppl, teach children to read. Volunteer in a school or after school program.
Beyond that. When you go to the doctor w/ shoulder pain, do you want him to pull out his undergrad anatomy book to try to figure out where your pain is coming from.
Start in the A’s. The ankle bone is connected to the shin bone...
He’ll get to your shoulder eventually.
Don’t you hope his med-school teachers taught him enough that off the top of his head and w/ a physical exam and a few pulls, pokes, and twists he can give you an idea of what you’re dealing w/?
When you go to the Pharmacy for your pain meds, do you want your Pharmacist to have to pull down off his shelf is high school chemistry book to try to figure out the different chemical reactions and what might kill you?
No. You want her to be able to tell you off the top of her head what cannot be taken together, what needs to be taken w/ a meal, and what will keep you awake at night.
Or, you take your taxes to your accountant. They pull out their 4th grade math book. Let’s see, borrow one from the 10s column, carry the 1...
No. Pull out the book w/ the new tax laws, but please be able to do complex math problems off the top of your head.
It’s for us, the clients and patients. But, it’s for them, too. The professionals want to do a good job. They want to help ppl. Improve their lives, keep them alive and out of jail paying the least amount on April 15 as allowed by law.
You did. You wanted to do your job. Whatever profession you had.
So, teachers tested us. Mid-terms, finals, research papers, essays, and the dreaded pop quizes. Do you know what you need to know and can you apply the right formula, plug the right numbers in, and pass the test?
Guess what? Jesus is our teacher. We are students. He gives us time to prepare sometimes. But occasionally comes a pop quiz.
So you know what you need to know to be able to do what you need to do? B/C, it’s not just for you. There are people counting on you and your faith to apply the right formula to the problem you are all facing.
What does God expect of you? What can you expect of God?
Is He Santa Claus? Will He do whatever you ask no matter what you ask if you ask the right way, right formula of words? If you’re a good boy or girl?
Have you asked for the mega-lotto numbers? I haven’t noticed any of you suddenly wealthy, yet. So, maybe not just anything, but only things He wants us to have.
Jesus is preparing all of us to successfully navigate what He knows is coming. And it involves tests we are capable of passing. Are you prepared? Do you know what you need to know to do what you need to do for yourself and everyone who’s counting on you?
Our teacher is teaching, and it’s not me. Are the learners, learning? And that includes me.
This morning we’re in Matt. 14 studying a miracle that we all know very well. Jesus can walk on water. I hope when we’re done you’ve learned something new, or been reminded of something old that you need for what’s coming at you soon.
Context
Context
As always, where we’ve been and where we’re going matters to where we are today.
The ppl were not willing to accept Jesus on His terms so He w/drew from them.
Remember, we started last week’s passage, “after some time.” This is a temporal marker in the bible that means we’ve started a new major section.
This one started w/ a lesson for the disciples about what Jesus can do when they make what little they have available to Him to use.
They faced a test that was impossible for them. But there was a way to pass it. 15,000 ppl were hungry, including them. They had 1 Happy Meal; a Filet-O-Fish and fries. Okay, 2 fish and 5 barley loaves from one kid.
Impossible. They had to learn what they could expect from Jesus and what He expected of them. They also had to learn to have faith that Jesus could do what He wanted to do. He hadn’t said anything about multiplying fish and loaves. So, they didn’t even have his word to consider.
And they certainly couldn’t imagine what was about to happen.
It’s not up to us to figure out, imagine, guess, what Jesus can do. We must learn to believe that Jesus is way smarter, stronger, better, than us. All we have to do is make our Happy Meal of abilities available to Him to use and He can do impossible things thru us and around us.
That requires great faith. If you don’t believe, why bother w/ Jesus. But we do believe. So, bother Him.
The lesson taught the discs that day was Jesus can do impossible things w/ our limited abilities and change lives permanently. But they had to have a strong faith to believe it was true.
Did they get it?
On to the next lesson and test.
Pop Quiz
Pop Quiz
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
First word? “Immediately”. Temporal marker. Right after they picked up their 12 baskets full of food, whatever they did w/ them, go get in the boat and head to the other side. Jesus will meet them there later. Among other things, this would give the discs the opp to consider and discuss among themselves what had just happened.
Study the words of Jesus, experience his power, now a small group discussion.
What they expected to be an easy, uneventful cruise across the sea would give them the perfect opportunity to internalize the lessons of the day.
Jesus stayed behind to disperse the crowd and pray. They would not remain dispersed. Remember from John 6, they wanted to make Him king of the land by force.
They remembered JB’s death and Herod was opposing Jesus as having any authority in his kingdom. They were tired of the harsh rule of the Romans and wanted to place this powerful miracle-worker, whom they recognized as the Prophet that Moses referred to in Deut. 18. But Jesus knew that since the leadership of the Jews had not accepted Him, it was not time for Him to be installed as King. So, He w/drew to a private place and prayed.
But, “Immediately.”
You walk into the classroom, sit down at your desk, and immediately the teacher says, “Clear off your desks, put away your books and notes.” what’s about to happen?
Pop quiz based on the material they had just studied.
Some synthesis is called for. I remember when it occured to me the first time that my English composition classes helped me in my history and business classes when I had to write papers and speeches. Lightbulb. Mind blown.
Synthesize 2 classes. Storm on the water and 15,000 hungry ppl.
For the discs, this wasn’t the first storm Jesus sent them into.
Not only were they tested on whether they would remember the lesson from that day. But would they remember the lesson from the storm on the same Sea from about a year earlier?
Do you remember that one? Jesus was asleep in the boat and the boat was sinking in the middle of the night due to a sudden squall that blew up. The discs rowed and bailed water for all they were worth, but were losing to the storm.
They woke Jesus up in a panic. “Don’t you care if we drowned?”
Jesus rebuked the storm and the disciples w/ the same words, “Peace. Be still”
He scolded the men, not for waking him up and and asking for help, but for panicking.
There is no fear in faith. A test and a lesson about faith, believing Jesus can do powerful things that we cannot even imagine anyone doing, if only we would ask.
That was then. The day before, a lesson about faith. Faith in Jesus to be able to do something we cannot even imagine anyone doing if only we would ask and give Him what little we have to offer.
So, similar to a year ago. Jesus sent them into a storm. Didn’t He know it was coming? He sent the storm, too. It was a test and an important follow-up to the lessons they just learned.
What should have been a 3-hour trip turned into an all-night ordeal. Experienced boatsmen, fishermen knew the Sea well and would not have been concerned about shoving off shore at night. If it was to be a calm night, it would be an easy cruise.
From one of the parallel passages we know the boat had only made it about halfway across by the 4rd watch, that was between 3 and 6 am. The discs had been struggling against the wind and waves all night long. All night and they’d only made it halfway. They must have been exhausted and frustrated.
Then, they saw something, or someone. Someone was out where ppl don’t belong. On the water, ppl belong in a boat. But, the boat was sinking.
They knew they were going to die if something miraculous didn’t happen. So, at first, when they saw the figure walking out by them, they thought it was the angel of death to usher them into the next life.
They were afraid they were going to die. But there is no fear in faith.
Pop quiz. Next lesson. Also about faith. Are they going to pass it?
A Ghost?
A Ghost?
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
The sun was not far from making an appearance. Fatigue makes cowards of us all. It had been a crazy couple of days.
Were they dreaming? Hallucinating? Who would be walking on top of the water in the middle of the sea during a violent wind storm?
They were heading right into the teeth of the wind struggling to make any headway.
The storm had prevented them from fulfilling Christ’s command. They did not turn back or give up even though they were stymied. They continued to exert all their own energy in an attempt to do what should have been easy to do.
They didn’t want to disappoint nor disobey Jesus. He said, go to the other side. So, they were doing all they could to do what He told them to do.
Sometimes Jesus tells us to do the impossible so we’ll ask for help. But, what if He’s not there? He was in the boat the first time. In about a year, He’ll be gone to heaven. What do they do then?
They needed to learn a few things. Like, Jesus is always close by even when He’s in heaven.
In the midst of the storm, Jesus came walking out to them. Casual stroll. It points out Jesus’ power and authority over the elements and the disc weakness in the same. Struggling for all they are worth and Jesus is casually, calmly strolling along like he’s enjoying a walk in the forest.
No trouble. His hair would not have been blowing in the wind. 12’ swells. He must have been walking above the water. There was not smooth surface, unless he created it as he walked.
They did not expect to meet anyone out there. They didn’t expect Him to feed the ppl either. When will they learn to expect the unexpected w/ Jesus?
Mk. 6 says He was about to pass them by. Not that he was going to bypass them. But he intended to pass beside them in the sense of an OT theophany to reassure them. He came along side them and called out, “Don’t be afraid. It’s Me.”
The familiar voice they heard must have been comforting. Imagine the great sigh of relief heard from the 12. He wasn’t in the boat asleep, but He was still right there.
The phrase, “It is I.” or “It’s Me.” Literally, translated, “I Am.” The great “I Am” was with them on the Sea in the storm. Jesus was telling them exactly Who He is and that He will always be close by.
How comforting is that!
So, impossible is a thing, right? Peter, what were you thinking! It’s one thing for Jesus to be out there where no man belonged. But He’s God.
Peter ended up w/ soggy sandals, too.
Peter’s Plunge
Peter’s Plunge
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
Peter called out to Jesus, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you on the water. Command that I come to you.
Peter knew it was Jesus, it could have been translated, “Since it’s you.”
Peter is showing signs of passing these tests w/ flying colors. Imagine Jesus doing something you can’t imagine. No one thought Jesus would feed 15K ppl. No one thought Jesus could walk on water, much less catch them on the Sea.
But Peter realizing, Jesus can do the impossible, and can command us to do impossible things, like pass baskets of bread and fish as they multiply, came up w/ the idea on his own for Jesus to call him out.
He could only do it if Jesus commanded it. He didn’t jump out of the boat on his own.
Jesus gave him a simple one-word reply, “Come” or come on down.
Peter demonstrated remarkable faith in the person of Jesus. He dared to believe that he could do anything that Christ could do if it was His will. He demonstrated remarkable faith in the power of Jesus to use Peter to defy physics, the very physics Jesus used to create the water and men in the first place.
Peter asked Jesus to do a miracle and allow him to walk on the water just like Jesus. And, he demonstrated faith that Christ could sustain him when he walked in obedience to His commands. The storm still raged. The waves still swelled. The wind still swirled. In the midst of it all, Peter obeyed Jesus’ command.
On water, ppl belong in a boat. On water, a boat is our comfort zone. But, the boat was sinking. In a storm, if ppl are in the water, they will die. But, if the ppl stayed in the boat, they would die. Peter understood the safest place to be was the most illogical and irrational place. Him, on the water, but close to Jesus.
The safest place for us all the time is closest to Christ.
Suddenly, the thing that had brought such fear to Peter no longer terrified him. Faith overcame his fear. Peter could face it w/ confidence because of the command of Christ.
Therefore, Peter stepped out of the boat and walked toward Jesus. He climbed out of his comfort zone that was not comforting in the storm and walked toward Jesus who comforts us in our storms.
It is impossible to tell exactly how far Peter walked or how long he was out of the boat. But at some point fear overwhelmed his faith. Maybe it was human logic or rational thought. But fear gripped him again b/c of the circumstance where his faith had placed him. At that moment, he began to sink.
As long as his eyes were on Jesus he stayed above the Sea. As soon as he took his eyes off Jesus and saw his situ, he sank.
Immediately Peter called out for help. He did not wait until he was submerged. And Jesus instantly responded to his cry. He reached out His hand and caught him and prevented him from sinking any lower and drowning.
Jesus explained why Peter began to sink. Doubt began to sink into him. Peter obeyed the command of Jesus and began to walk by faith. But the fact that he began his walk by exercising faith did not mean that he could stop walking by faith and finish where he hoped.
When Peter creased to walk by faith, even tho in obedience to Christ’s command and in the presence of Jesus, he began to sink.
Christ brought Peter back to the boat and then the wind and waves immediately calmed down.
Those in the boat had seen Jesus walking on the water, Peter walking on the water, Peter sinking into the water, and Jesus reaching out and saving Peter. Their response was to affirm the greatness of Jesus at that moment and it became clearer to them Who He really is.
Peter aced the first part of the test but bombed in the end. The other 11 had to take an incomplete. At some point the teacher would bring them back to a similar lesson giving them the opp to demonstrate their faith, too.
From the frying pan and into the fire. From the hillside w/ 15K hungry ppl to the Sea w/ a raging storm.
These episodes reveal that obedience to Christ does not remove all the obstacles to the completion of what He calls us to do. When the obstacles come, even tho Xians can work their hardest and do their darnedest, we still may not overcome the obstacles on our own.
But Jesus is aware of all our difficulties. he is present w/ us in our problems. Tests are both evaluations of how strong our faith is and opportunities for our faith to grow stronger.
Faith to begin is not necessarily faith to finish. The faith that prompts obedience must persist through to the finish.
Soon, Jesus would be gone. We’ve never had Him physically present in our tests and trials. But, the truth is, He’s never far away.
Just b/c it’s true, doesn’t mean we have to believe it. But, b/c it is true, it means if we do believe it, then Jesus has successfully prepared us for what’s coming.
The Teacher taught. We learners have learned. And our faith keeps our heads above the water when we face the inevitable storms in life.
Applications
Applications
Process
Process
Faith is a process. Once we have it, we’re saved. But we don’t have it in the depth and strength that will be necessary to navigate life until we get to heaven.
Embrace the process. Faith is strengthened thru trials, storms, and difficult situations. Many of these, Jesus sends us into on purpose. Some come simply as a result of living in a fallen world.
Embrace the process and know that you will come out of a difficult situation stronger than you were when you went in.
Next time, Peter won’t sink. Neither will you. Next time.
Close by
Close by
Jesus is always close by. You are never alone. You man feel alone, but that just means you can’t see Him. He’s there.
Never quit, never give up or give in b/c you think Jesus has abandoned you to the storm.
Faith is being confident in what you cannot see. Just b/c the clouds are too thick, the wind is too strong, the waves are too high; it does not mean Jesus is not close by.
Stay in the fray. Jesus is right there to grab your hand and pull you up when you feel like you’re sinking. Just ask. He’s there.
Comfort Zones
Comfort Zones
When on water, ppl belong in a boat. When in a storm, ppl do not belong on the water. But, when the storm is swamping the boat and the boat is going down, then we need to find a better place to be.
The boat may be your comfort zone, but of the boat is sinking then it’s not going to be very comfortable.
Jesus will stretch you beyond your comfort zone. When He is standing outside it, no matter where that may be, the safest and most comfortable place to be is w/ him.
Is there something you are resisting right now b/c it will take you too far outside your comfort zone? But, is that where Jesus is waiting for you, calling for you to join Him?
Then, go. Jesus will take your boat down to force you out. Otherwise, you sink w/ it.
Jesus is our teacher. We are students. He gives us time to prepare sometimes. But occasionally comes a pop quiz.
So do you know what you need to know to be able to do what you need to do? B/C, it’s not just for you. There are people counting on you and your faith to apply the right formula to the problem you are all facing.
Now’s not the time to go back to your elementary lessons to help you w/ graduate level problems.
What does God expect of you? What can you expect of God?
Jesus is preparing you to successfully navigate what He knows is coming. And it involves tests that you are capable of passing. Are you prepared?
Every test involves and evaluation of how strong your faith is and and opportunity for your faith to grow stronger.
Status quo is not an option w/ Jesus. He loves you just the way you are but he loves too much to leave you that way.