Sermon -- Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost (A)
Sermon-Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost (A)
August 7, 2005
Sink or Swim
Matthew 14:22-33
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel lesson appointed for today. Hear again these verses:
Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side . . . but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Thus far our text.
A famous historian of the Reformation period relates that he had been seriously bothered by doubts about the Christian religion in his student days. He recited his troubles to a minister, but the minister told him, "If I were to rid you of your doubts and difficulties, others would soon arise. There is a simple way of getting rid of your concerns. Let Jesus Christ really be the Son of God and the divine Savior to you, and no doubts will be able to disturb the serenity of your mind."
Do you ever have doubts like that? Do you always firmly trust that Jesus is the Son of God, your Savior? By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Matthew wrote God's Word to Greek-speaking Jews. He wanted to convince them that this Jesus of whom he wrote is the Messiah, the long-awaited Savior. Sadly, not everyone who reads Matthew's Gospel is convinced of that fact. Many reject the gift of faith in Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world. But you are not that kind of people. You have received the gift of faith which trusts in Jesus as the Christ, the only Son of God. But do you always trust in Him as the Son of God?
Peter and the other disciples didn't. Last Sunday, the Twelve did not fully trust in the power and goodness of Jesus for them or for the crowd He fed with five loaves of bread and two fish. In our text today, Peter finds his faith wavering. Jesus was walking on the Sea of Galilee in a storm. The God who made the seas, now incarnate in human flesh, used it as His walkway to the Twelve. Jesus declared to the frightened disciples that He was no ghost, and He commanded them to stop being afraid. Then we see Peter, who is sure that it’s Jesus say, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." Jesus said, "Come." But the wind and the waves were also coming; and when Peter saw them, he doubted and began to sink. Out in the waves, Peter's faith wavered. His trust in Jesus was shaken.
And isn’t that true of us, too? We know who Jesus is. We know His power and goodness are for us. He is the Son of God and our Savior, yet our faith in Him wavers. Everyday things shake the foundations of our faith in Jesus. Someone tells us that Jesus was simply another prophet and not the Son of God. We begin to doubt. The devil tempts us, and we lose our firm trust in Christ as God's Son and our Savior. This is because we are sinful human beings, and our sinful flesh is weak. We easily succumb to the temptations of the devil and the lies of the world. Satan comes to us in various disguises and says, just like he said to Adam and Even in the Garden, "Did God really say? Go on-do it! You will be like God." And we like the idea of being like God. We begin to trust in ourselves. We start living for ourselves and doing things that please us and our sinful nature and not the Lord. We trust in our own abilities to take us through the troubles of this world. We falsely believe that we can save ourselves by our own works. Our faith in Jesus wavers; and then we sink.
Sink? We fall flat on our faces as the sinful flesh, the world, and Satan walk all over us. Sin pushes us down, burying us in the mire of guilt. Lies burden us. Not getting ahead in the world bothers us. We think we are doing okay, and then all of the sudden the bottom drops out. Our friends can't be trusted. Our family doesn't help and support us. We're lost and alone. And our wavering faith produces fear.
But a figure comes walking to us in the night of sin, despair, and fear. "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." He who had restored Peter on the water by reaching out His hand and taking hold of Him then reached out His hands and had them nailed to a cross. Jesus, the one who multiplied bread and fish, who healed the sick, who walked on the water-this Jesus rescued you from sin, guilt, and all your fears, so that He might restore you to God by faith in Him, comfort you with His love and forgiveness, and enable you by His Spirit to live in a faith that always recognizes and trusts in Jesus as God's Son, your Savior. The faith that wavers, Jesus will restore.
Jesus Christ, by His death and resurrection, removes all fear. It’s just what He says to the women who had been to the tomb on Easter morning: "Do not be afraid." It's the same message that God gave at His birth of His Son in Bethlehem through the angels: "Fear not!" Jesus takes away all fear. He comforts us with complete forgiveness and life. He gives us faith in Him, a faith that He enables to grow and not to doubt. You see, like Peter and the disciples, it is in the middle of life's most devastating storms, in the midst of fear and guilt and worry and trouble, that God accomplishes some of His greatest work through His Son, Jesus the Savior.
St. Augustine wrote, “When all good advice fails and the rudder is useless and the spread of the sail presents more of a danger than an advantage, when all human help and strength have been abandoned, the only recourse left for the sailors is to cry out to God.” When you are in the deep water of doubt and all you can do for yourself is continue to sink, call out to Jesus. He will lift you out of that doubt and bring you back into the boat with your fellow believers. Then we can all proclaim, “Truly Jesus is the Son of God.” This is most certainly true. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.