“What Do We Do with Our Fear?”
Matthew 14:22-33 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. 24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. 25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." 28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." 29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."
Introduction
Brian Simo is a race car driver, and most of you have probably never heard of him. However, there is one thing about him with which you are probably familiar. In 1985 he created the “No Fear” clothing line and found an idea that appealed to many Americans. We have a lot of respect for bravery and for those who are willing to take challenging risks. But this “No Fear” attitude often crumbles when it has no real foundation, when that foundation is simply ourselves rather than our Savior. Today’s Gospel lesson teaches us that “No Fear” is not just a decal or a T-shirt. It is not just a spirited hope of getting lucky. It is not at all about taking foolish risks. The real “No Fear” lifestyle is found in those, who like the Apostle Peter have the faith to cry out to Jesus, “Lord, Save me!”
Jesus Prayed
We start our thinking about the problem of fear by noticing Jesus’ focus on prayer. After the feeding of the five thousand, He wanted to be by Himself to pray. Jesus prayed often and for significant lengths of time. Why did Jesus pray? Jesus prayed because although He is completely and fully the Son of God, He is also completely and fully a human being. This is the mystery of the Two Natures in Christ. Jesus’ prayer life is one of the ways He faithfully obeyed God’s Law for us. His prayer life is an example for us to follow, but it is also the edge of an axe that splits the chains of the Law that condemn us because of our failure to keep the Law and to pray constantly as we should.
Trouble
We also notice that Jesus sends His disciples on in the boat knowing that they would run into trouble. Trouble is everywhere in this world because of sin. God knows that, and His promises to us are not that we will be exempt from trouble, but that we will survive it and thrive in spite of it. A friend of mine, Pastor Sam Boda, who passed away some years ago, had a small banana grove in his backyard. Bananas will grow in our hot and humid summers. But the season isn’t long enough for them to produce fruit. Some people tried to overcome this by starting their banana trees in a green house earlier in the spring. But, according to Pastor Boda, banana leaves have to be exposed to the wind as they are growing. If they grow in a quiet greenhouse, and are then are put outside, those big beautiful leaves will be shredded by the first summer windstorm. So too, we are exposed to troubles of all kinds as we grow as Christians just like anyone else. But God uses those troubles, mixed with faith, to strengthen us. Job said, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” (ESV Job 23.10). Peter said it this way: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1.6-8). (See additional passages at the end of the sermon.)
Three Words
Now Jesus comes out to the disciples walking on the water. This must have been a fantastic sight. Matthew actually uses the word phantasma, which is often translated “ghost.” Peter, the leader of the twelve, rises to the rescue. “If it is You... command me to come...” Peter is commanded, and incredibly, he also steps out onto the water. But the ordeal is not over. As Peter came close to Jesus, a strong wave frightened him, and he began to sink. It is then that Peter prayed one of the simplest prayers, “Lord, Save me.” This is a beautiful prayer which God answered by a beautiful and amazing miracle. “Immediately” Jesus reached out to grab hold of his arm and saved him.
Three words… Three little words that make all the difference. Let’s examine them closely. First of all, consider the word, “Lord.” This is not the “lord” of your imagination. This is not some vague higher power. This is not Muhammed’s rule giving Allah, Buddha’s Supreme Being, or even the modern woke Jesus, who the world only believes when they cross out almost everything He said. The world screams “All gods are the same.” Look carefully at the gods of this world before you seek their help. They are not Saviors. They are idols, mirror images of their makers. They are the gods that people want… gods who will reward them for their own goodness in the end. But Scripture says, “I, I am the LORD, and besides Me there is no Savior” (Isaiah 43.11). Jesus is truly that Savior, the Son of God, who came down from heaven and gave His life for ours. His blood, and His blood alone wipes away the guilt of our sin and makes us God’s people.
This leads right to the second word of this simple prayer, the word “save.” “Save” does not mean that we merely receive some help from God. When a person drowns and is resuscitated by a lifeguard, the first words they say when they are conscious are not: “Thanks for helping me. It’s good thing I’m in pretty good health, swam halfway to the beach, and I was easy to resuscitate.” No, they would simply say: “Thank you. You saved me.” To be saved means we didn’t help. It means we were helpless.
Finally, there is that little word “me.” “Lord, Save me.” The world cannot handle large numbers of people. Therefore it always focuses on groups. The government helps categories of people. Corporations cannot afford to treat everyone individually. This is just a fact of life. But with God it is different. He does look at each one of us as an individual. When His friend Lazarus died the Jewish people said, “See how He loved him” (John 11.33). Jesus regularly took time to meet one to one with individual people. Their names will be remembered forever: Nicodemus, Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene. Jesus said that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God caring about it. “Do not fear therefore. You are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10.31). God saves you, personally. In Revelation 3.5 Jesus said, “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” Imagine that, Jesus calling out your name before God the Father and His angels! This is why you can confidently pray: Lord save me. He has promised to do just that.
Truly the Son of God
After Jesus saved Peter and calmed the storm, He urged the disciples not to be afraid but instead to have faith. They responded by worshiping Him as the Son of God. Now this last part is most important. Matthew chapters 11 to 16 form a unit in which Jesus repeated demonstrates that He is the Son of God. It will conclude with Peter’s great confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Notice that I said Jesus “demonstrates.” Doubters and skeptics love to point out that Jesus Himself rarely “said” He was the Son of God. These fools are willfully blind. Jesus showed Himself to be the Son of God by walking on the water and stilling the storm. Who defies the Laws of Nature unless He is the Lord of Nature? Jesus also accepts the worship of the disciples which is another way of saying, “I am God.”
What Is Your Fear?
What kind of fear have you been dealing with? Is it the fear of the unknown... what will happen with the economy, my job, my retirement? Is it the fear of change... your freshman year in high school, college or relocating? Is it the fear of difficult relationships? Are you being bullied in a bad divorce or pressured to endure a bad marriage? Are you worried about spiritually wayward children? Have you been hurt by former friends who now disregard you? Are you worried about what lies ahead with your health? Pain? Suffering? Perhaps it is the most basic fear of all: The fear of God’s judgment, the fear of how I stand before God? This world is full of the strong and fearful winds of trouble. Even those who stand side by side with Jesus will end up, at times, like Peter sinking in fear.
If this miracle of Jesus walking on the water teaches us anything, it teaches us that all human beings have their moments when fear will overwhelm us. All of us are weak by nature. What we should not do is to try to rely only on ourselves to overcome the troubles of this world. “No Fear” is not a slogan. Real “No Fear” is much more than that… It is staying close to Jesus and crying out to Him, “Lord, Save me.”
Conclusion
At our Vacation Bible School in June, we sang the Christian hymn: “Jesus, Loves Me.” This hymn was originally a poem that was included in a novel titled, Say & Seal. The poem was spoken by a teacher to a dying child to bring them comfort. A musician later added the music, and since 1860 it has become one of the most well-known Christian hymns today: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.” That hymn has brought comfort to many fearful Christians over the years. Why? Because it captures the important truth that “we are weak, but He is strong, and therefore we can always and at any time say with Peter, “Lord, Save me.” Amen.
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