6/24/07 Two Amazing Days Pt. 2

Our study of the Gospel of John

brought us last week to the 6^th chapter.

And it also brought us to the beginning of two remarkable days in the life of our Lord.

They were two days in which He performed

what are certainly two of the best known miracles He ever performed.

We looked at the first of those last week,

the miracle of His taking one tiny lunch

and transforming it into a feast for thousands upon thousands of people.

There was a lot going on in that event,

a lot that our Lord was telling us about Himself,

and a lot that He was telling us about ourselves as well,

about what He wants from us

and what He does not.

What He wants is simply that we rest in His perfect, unique design for each of us,

trusting Him to live through our unique personalities

in the way that miraculously mingles the truth about Himself

with our own special identities,

while choosing to leave the results to Him.

I spent way too much time in the early years of my Christian life

trying to imitate those around me whom I thoughT were successful Christians,

or trying to learn some form or system

that I thought would then equip me to communicate Christ to the world.

It took me many years to finally realize

that all He wanted me to do

was to learn how to love the people around me

and then trust Him to live through me

in the ways that best shows them the living reality of my Lord.

When I first discovered Paul’s comments in II Corinthians 2:14

it was one of the most freeing discoveries of my early Christian life.

He says,

2CO 2:14-15, 17 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing... For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.

He’s trying to create a mental image for us

that will help us to better appreciate

the kind of commitment our Lord has made to us

and the kind of work He accomplishes through us.

And he tells us that it’s just as if we carry with us

the scent of Christ Himself,

that wherever we go,

whatever we do,

we bring with us

and leave behind us

a little bit of the living reality of God in our lives.

Most of the time we are completely unaware of it ourselves.

But it is a huge part of God’s communication of Himself to our world.

Whenever we are able to

Sandee and I pick up a mid-morning cup of Starbucks coffee at Safeway

and then use it as an excuse to share a few minutes together.

A few weeks ago we were waiting for a fresh pot to finish brewing

and as we were standing there

one of the clerks came out from behind the counter to talk with us.

She was late high school or college age.

(Everyone seems so young to me now days, it’s hard for me to tell.)

She said she just wanted to thank us

because whenever we come in it gives her hope for marriage.

She said that we so obviously love each other so very much after so many years

and it gave her hope for her own future.

Now, what she said was certainly true about Sandee and me -

we do love each other so much after so many years,

but there was something else going on there too.

It wasn’t just us,

it was His presence within us.

It was the sweet aroma of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As we looked at this remarkable account last week in the first few verses of John 6

we saw several people just being the people God designed them to be

and doing the things God had equipped them to do -

Andrew,

that little boy,

the mom who packed that lunch for her son...

And then we saw what the Lord chose to do with what they did.

And what he chose to do in that situation was really impressive.

But that was all His sovereign choices,

and completely out of the control of the people involved.

I don’t want to get too far away from our passage here,

but I can’t get near this whole idea

without saying just a little bit more.

You see, sometimes this whole business

of trusting God to live through us in the way that He knows is best

is really hard stuff for us in the Christian world.

When I finally made peace with the fact that my Lord really did want me to be a Bible teacher,

during the whole first part of that process

I lived with two worlds warring against each other in my life.

On one side there were all of the things that the religious culture around me

told me I should be doing because of my position in organized religion.

And then there were the few things

that my Lord had really equipped me to do,

the things that were an honest expression of His design of me

and His life in and through me.

And wouldn’t you know it!

So often I discovered that the greatest enemies of those things that He’d truly equipped me to do

were the things that were handed to me by the religious structure around me -

the expectations of others,

the job description given to me by our religious culture,

and the requirements I placed upon myself in my efforts to be a “good pastor”.

And it wasn’t until I began to set all of those aside

and then started listening closely to what my Lord seemed to have equipped me to do

that I began to find a real, deep sense of fulfillment in my life.

I’ve been the guy up front long enough to know how this works.

I know that my being up here

creates expectations of me in the minds of some who hear me.

I know, too, that if you watch me long enough

there will be some areas where I fall far short of your expectations.

But I decided a long time ago

that the greatest gift

and the greatest example I could ever offer you

is to live a life before you in which, to the best of my ability,

I learn to hear and follow the voice of my Lord

no matter what the voices around me may be saying.

There is no form,

no religious system in existence

that can ever define for you the unique life our Lord has called you to live.

The world has never before seen the life of Christ

as it can be expressed through your life.

If your walk with your Lord doesn’t look like the life of the person next to you

then you are very likely doing something right.

But let me get us back to these two remarkable days.

Following that amazing feast of fish and bread

John tells us that Jesus sent His disciples back to the boat

and told them to return to Capernaum.

He didn’t join them, though,

and John tells us in 6:15 that the Master escaped the crowds

and went up into the mountain alone.

Then, in 6:16-21,

John gives us a brief account of the events that took place that night.

He says,

JOH 6:17-21 and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

At first glance we might wonder why he says so little

about such a remarkable event.

But we need to keep in mind

that he knew that there were already extensive, reliable accounts of this event in circulation.

He wanted to offer enough information

so that he accurately created for us the framework of these days,

but his real goal becomes clear with the three words that begin verse 22.

“The next day...”

That’s where he really wants to take us.

And where he takes us that next day

gives us content that none of the other Gospel writers included,

content that he knew must be preserved for those who were to follow.

But, even though we need to turn to the other Gospel accounts,

and especially Matthew’s account,

in order to get the full picture of the events that took place on the water that night,

it’s well worth our doing so

because what took place is simply too good to pass over.

And here again,

the easiest way for me to do this

is to once again allow my imagined Peter in The Fisherman

to share his memories of that night.

So let me share with you

what I believe Peter might have said about that night.

“Our return trip was nothing like our leisurely escape from Capernaum that morning.

The sky remained clear,

with nearly a full moon for light,

but we no longer bobbed contentedly along in a gentle breeze.

The wind, now blowing straight into our bow,

increased in intensity throughout the night

until our only hope of forward progress meant pulling at the oars with all our strength.

After three or four hours of this agony,

we were all exhausted and still several miles from Capernaum.

I wasn’t really concerned about our safety;

I was just tired and wanted to get where we were going.

Whitecaps broke on top of rolling swells

as we rose and fell with each new wave sweeping under us.

Then I saw something, two swells over,

moving our direction.

The human mind does not adjust easily to the impossible.

We were in a boat,

several miles from land,

at three o’clock in the morning.

Something tall and thin was protruding from the sea

about fifty feet from our boat.

It couldn’t be a rock,

because it rose and fell with the waves.

I thought it must be a log of some sort.

But then why was it floating on end? . . .

And why was it wrapped in a robe? . . .

And why did it appear to be walking? . . .

And why did it have arms . . . and a head . . . and a face?

I dropped my oar and stood up for a better look.

As soon as I rose, the others followed my gaze.

I heard James put into words what everyone was thinking,

“What is that thing?”

Then, as the “thing” rose high onto the churning swell directly across from us,

we all recognized him at the same time.

It was Jesus

. . . walking toward our boat

. . . on the top of the water.

Someone behind me muttered, “It’s a ghost! It has to be his ghost.”

As soon as the word “ghost” was mentioned,

we all pulled back from the side of the boat.

Even in the full moon it was difficult to see clearly whatever was coming toward us,

and no one was volunteering to be official greeter.

It looked like Jesus,

but with the waves splashing up against him

and his hair and clothing whipping about in the wind,

it was the most frightening Jesus we’d ever seen.

Then he spoke. “Take courage, it is I; don’t be afraid.”

Even in this wind I knew that voice.

Rarely have I troubled to think before I speak,

and that night was certainly no exception.

I took a step forward,

leaned over the side of the boat,

and bellowed back, “Lord, if it’s you, command me to come to you on the water.”

It all took place so fast,

I didn’t realize what was happening until after it was all over.

As he looked at me,

clutching the side of the boat,

I saw that incredible, contagious smile spread across his face

and heard him speak just one word, “Come!”

And I did!

To this day I don’t know what got into me,

apart from just being my normal, unthinking, impetuous self,

but as soon as he said the word,

I sprang over the side of the boat and dropped to the water below.

I remember hearing my feet hit.

They hit with a thud rather than a splash.

It was the strangest sensation.

The water gave firm, solid support,

and yet the surface on which I stood

kept moving up and down with each new wave passing under me.

Even with the sea providing firm footing,

I should have been flung off balance immediately by the violent movement of the churning breakers.

But my muscles seemed to know instantly how to flex and bend with the fluid chaos under my feet.

Jesus stood waiting for me about thirty feet away.

I let go of the side of the boat and took a step toward him . . . then another . . . and another.

I was doing fine until I took my eyes off of where I was going

and looked back at where I’d come from.

I saw eleven anxious faces staring at me in concerned disbelief.

No one else was following me.

If anything, they appeared to be clinging to the boat even more tightly,

obviously glad I was out on the water and not them.

Faith by majority vote is never a safe path for the child of God.

Rarely does our Lord give others faith

for the work he seeks to do through us.

In looking back I allowed the others

to vote on the wisdom of my trust in the Master.

The vote was eleven against one.

When I turned back to Jesus, I no longer saw him;

I saw the storm.

I no longer heard his voice saying, “Come!”

I heard the wind blasting around my ears.

I no longer felt the solid footing under my feet.

I felt the spray of the sea soaking my face and legs and arms and hands.

And a great wave of terror flooded over me.

My muscles went rigid.

The waves that just a few seconds earlier

had been rolling harmlessly under my feet

now smashed against my legs causing me to lose my balance.

I knew I was going down and reached out instinctively to break my fall.

As I went down

I caught a breaking wave full in the face,

and my arms plunged deep into the churning caldron around me.

I couldn’t breathe,

I couldn’t see,

and my waterlogged clothing

wrapped itself around me in a sort of cocoon that made swimming impossible.

I was going under—I knew it!

At the top of my voice I let out one great, terrifying wail.

“Lord! Save me!”

Immediately I felt his strong grip on my right forearm.

I closed my fingers around his arm in response

as he lifted me effortlessly back up on top of the waves.

He wrapped his left arm around my back,

and together we walked to the boat.

Until my left hand touched wood

I didn’t realize how tightly I was gripping the Master’s arm.

I flopped onto the deck, still spluttering the water I’d inhaled.

Then Jesus climbed in next to me.

As I lay there on the deck,

feeling foolish and relieved,

he knelt beside me and said, “O Little Faith, why did you doubt?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the wind stopped,

and the violence around us ceased,

leaving a small fishing boat bobbing gently under a full moon shining down on the night sea.

On deck, eleven men grouped around a twelfth man lying on his back

with his Savior kneeling beside him.

Perhaps to you, not hearing his tone or seeing the expression on his face,

the words Jesus spoke to me on our boat that night

might seem like words of condemnation.

They were not.

Jesus knew I would doubt before he ever called me onto the water.

The title he gave me as I lay there before him, “Little Faith”, was accurate;

I was a man of little faith.

It was not a condemnation; it was a statement of truth.

The great gift he gave me that night

was not the thrill of accomplishing the impossible.

It was not the honor of being the only man other than himself to have ever walked on water.

The great gift he gave me

was that single question with which the episode ended:

“Why did you doubt?”

It was this question that Jesus wanted me to ask myself,

and keep asking until I knew the answer.

Why did I doubt?

He had already given me proof of his faithfulness.

I was already walking on the water.

The storm had not intensified.

The waves were not increasing in size.

My circumstances had not changed.

And yet one minute I was walking on the sea,

and the next I was being destroyed by it.

The twofold answer to the question was obvious.

I took my eyes off my Master,

and I focused instead on where I was coming from

and what was going on around me.

The illustration of that night

has become a lifelong part of my walk with the King.

I now know where doubt comes from.

I know where fear comes from.

It does not come from seeing the storm around me;

it comes from not seeing who stands beside me.

I have certainly not lived a life of flawless faith since that night on the water.

In fact, all of my greatest blunders were yet to come.

But the principle Jesus gave me through our water walk together

is now a solid anchor for my life.

When I fear,

when I doubt,

when I allow my past to define my future

and feel the stress and anxiety it brings,

whenever I feel myself sinking once again,

I know I am not seeing my Lord correctly.

Why did I doubt?

I doubted because I took my eyes off the only true source of hope and security in this world.

I took my eyes off my Lord Jesus Christ.”

Well, I let Peter say most of what I wanted to say,

but I can’t end this morning

without adding just a few more words.

You see, the problem with what I’ve just done

is that it may lock the truth within that special place in our minds

that we have reserved especially for Bible stories.

It’s not that we don’t believe it.

It’s just that we may find it hard to transition between Peter and the boat

and the storm he faced

into the storms raging around us.

This past week,

right during the time when I was writing up these notes for this morning,

several times events took place in my life

that caused me to take my eyes off my Master

and focus them directly on the pain, and confusion, and chaos, and questions around me.

And I want you to know

that I have no illusions about this whole thing.

I know all too well

the kind of turmoil that fills our lives each day,

the kind of attacks that instantly take our focus off of the truth

and fill us once again with the fears the grow out of the lies we so easily believe.

As you’ve sat here this morning,

listening to my voice,

several times your mind has drifted onto one of your own private storms.

There’s something you’re worried about,

something you can’t fix,

something that keeps your life in churning chaos.

And I’m certainly not asking you to try to deny the reality of that storm.

But I am suggesting,

that, when you feel the storm within you,

you make a conscious choice to once again reach out to your Lord.

It helps me to remember my history with Him,

to remember what He’s done already in my life

and in the lives of those I love.

And it helps me, too, to tell Him the truth I know.

“You, Lord, are my only hope.

You’ve always been my only hope.

Either You’re with me, and You love me, or there is nothing.

Thank you for being my Lord, my Savior, and my King once again this day.

Thank you for Your promise that you will never ever let go of my hand. Amen.”