Face to Face
The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (August 10, 2008)
Rev. Steven D. Spencer – Pastor Messiah Lutheran Church, Salem, Oregon
Matthew 14:22-33
Matthew 14:22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 28 "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." 29 "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
Have you ever had one of those days? How about one of those weeks? You know the type of week. The type of week where Murphy's Law seems to be working against you, (Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong). Maybe the week is even worse than that. It's a week where you need to apply O'Tooles Rule. You know that rule don't you? "Murphy was an optimist." The type of week I'm talking about is one of those weeks where it seems like you're required to do a bunch of extra things at work. On top of that, the boss has given you some extra people to help but none of them seem to know the job. It's your job to get it done but it's more like babysitting than work. To say you've been thrown outside of your comfort zone is a gross understatement. Or maybe you've been at home with the children or grandchildren all week. It feels like they have been pulling you in every which way. Extra kids in the house, extra activities to do, extra meals to prepare, what a week! But you make it though the week looking forward to the weekend. When you finally get to slow down, kick your feet up and catch your breath.
You finally get to slow down so you find your way to that favorite spot, maybe an over stuffed chair, a recliner, maybe just a spot on the sofa. You sit down with your favorite beverage, hot coffee, ice-tea or maybe a Lutheran beverage, whatever it is. As you sit there you finally begin to unwind (ahhhh!). But as you sit there you notice the chair begins to vibrate. That's surprising to you because it's not a vibrating chair. Slowly the ground begins to shake. The shaking gives way to the sensation of waves rolling under feet. The house begins to sway, pictures fall of the walls. And all of a sudden the sound of breaking glass, the windows explode as they are bent and twisted. The earthquake is so enormous that it throws you to the ground. And there on your knees you come face to face with your mortality, there as you pray you come face to face with God.
The disciples faced a very similar experience in our reading. It wasn't an earthquake but a storm. But before we get into that let's talk about what had been going on in their lives.
The disciples had just finished a massive evangelism campaign. Jesus had given them the power to preach, cast out demon and to heal (Luke 9:1-2). When this massive campaign was finished Jesus received news that His cousin John the baptizer had been murdered. So Jesus took them privately into a deserted place. Finally the disciples were going to be able to sit down and relax. Finally the disciples would be able to ponder over all that had happened. Talk about being thrown out of your comfort zone. During this campaign they did miraculous, healed the sick, cast out demons, preached to strangers, wow! They must have been worn out. But the people touched by the words the disciples shared didn't want it to stop. And when they heard where Jesus and His disciples had gone, they followed. Jesus had compassion on them; He welcomed them. He spoke about the Kingdom of God and healed those who needed healing (Luke 9:11).
The disciples thought this was going to be their time with Jesus, a time to relax, to catch up, to recuperate. As the day wore on, evening approached and the twelve came to Jesus encouraging Him to send away the 5000 and their women and their children. But Jesus didn't. He had compassion on the crowd. You know what happened, 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. He blesses them and feeds the crowd until they are filled. Jesus literally blesses the fish and loaves then gives them to the disciples to distribute to the crowd. These same tired and worn out disciples who thought they were finally going to relax were doing the job of waiters. I imagine their minds were filled with frustration and disappointment. Jesus finally sends the crowds away and that leads up to our verse for today.
Matthew 14:22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. What did most of the disciples do for a living before meeting Jesus? They were fishermen. They had been raised around the Sea of Galilee. They knew the waters, the skies, they knew sailing, and this was their comfort zone. All the preaching, all the miracles, all the serving of food, that was all strange to them, putting them way outside their comfort zones. But this was the thing they knew. They didn't need Jesus for this. On the seas they were the masters. After all, if this thing with Jesus didn't work out they could always go back to being fishermen.
So when Jesus tells them to get into the boat they must have been filled with joy. For them it was a leisurely sail to the other side, a time to catch-up, a time to relax and a time to soak up all that had happened. They didn't need Jesus to accomplish this. This was one area of their lives He couldn't help them with, or could He? Maybe they still had a lesson to learn.
As the disciples were sailing along everything seemed to go as planned. Two or three miles out the weather changed. This wasn't expected. They had examined the skies. They knew no storm was in sight. The Sea of Galilee is very shallow in spots; this can cause some great waves. In a boat that only drafts 2 or 3 feet of water it can sink you in a second. Here was a boat filled with men that were expert sailors and they were in peril. Throughout the night they had used all their skills and abilities but they were getting nowhere. Unless something changed they might be going down. The Sea of Galilee is full of sandbars and submerged rock spires, so the disciples' eyes would have been constantly scanning the area to avoid these hazards.
There in that lake, in the midst of all this peril and terrible weather was Jesus walking, not to them, but by them (Mark 6:48). But they didn't know who it was and they cried out in fear: "It's a ghost!" These men who just a week earlier were casting out demons, healing the sick, preaching the word now crying out, "it's a ghost." Where is the power, where is the authority? They were filled with fear.
I want you to hear what Jesus says. This is important please listen. Verse 27: "But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Sometimes our English translations don't give us what we need to understand what is going on, what is truly being said. The literal translation of the text is: "Immediately Jesus spoke and saying to them, be bold, take courage, I AM (evgw, eivmi), fear not." The disciples were Jewish. They were raised with certain theological understandings that we don't have. One of those I want to share with you. God commissioned Moses by speaking in a burning bush. I want you to hear that dialog God had with Moses. This was our Old Testament lesson so please listen once again. Exodus 3:11-15: 11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" 12 And He said, "Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain." 13 Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" 14 And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" 15 And God, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations. God instructs Moses to tell the sons of Israel that (egw eimi) I AM has sent him. This name I AM is the name God gave Himself. It is His name forever. Every good Jewish man, woman and child would know the name of the eternal God is I AM. As a Jew you would never utter those words for fear of blasphemy. But you see we use it commonly. We don't tend to understand the importance of it. In English to avoid using it we would have sentences like. I going to the store am. I Pastor Spencer am. That's the way it was done in the Greek also. I AM was used only as the name of the eternal God.
So when Jesus spoke out to the disciples saying: be bold, take courage, I AM (egw eimi), fear not" who were they expecting to see? Very likely the eternal God of the burning bush! Peter says: "Lord if that is You, command me to approach on the water." Notice Peter says Lord (kurie), not Jesus. If that is You, Peter says. Peter didn't know who that was; he couldn't see Him, if that is you. Who was Peter expecting to see? I believe Peter was expecting to see the God of the burning bush, the great I AM. As he approaches Him the wind causes him fear and he begins to sink. Is it possible that as Peter leaves the boat and starts to walk toward Jesus, he still doesn't know who's out there? As he gets closer and closer the wind is howling and Peter looks up and sees the face of Jesus. In that instant does he question, You are I AM? Peter begins to sink and in that moment he comes face to face with his mortality and he comes face to face with God. He yells out: "Lord save me!" And Jesus reaches down and pulls Peter out of the abyss and says "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
Another important thing about passage, "those in the boat worshiped Him." As faithful Jews, readers of the Torah, these men knew God's Law. God's Law says you shall worship The Lord your God and Him alone. They worshiped Jesus. And if Jesus, had been only a prophet then He would have stopped them from worshiping Him, because worship belongs only to God. But Jesus is more than a prophet; Jesus is God! Jesus deserves our worship, our praise and our adoration.
There in that boat, there on that sea the disciples came face to face with their mortality, they came face to face with God. That boat became a church that day because of God's presence and true worship.
We like the disciples, have areas of our life that we rarely invite Jesus into. We feel like we have everything under control, why bother praying about it, I can do on my own. Maybe we're like Peter, we want to walk toward the Lord by doing His will, but we seem to get hit in the face with the winds of the world. Or we find ourselves sinking in the abyss of our sin. In those moments when we face our sin and realize the consequences of sin, "for the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23)." In that moment we come face to face with our mortality, we come face to face with God. All we need to do is yell out like Peter, Lord save me. And the Lord will reach out His hand and touch you with His words of forgiveness. He will guide you gently back to the boat we call the church. Outside these doors the winds of the world may howl, the waves of sin may crash against it but Jesus is present. He calms the storm pronouncing the forgiveness of sins and fills you with His Word and His Sacrament, for He is present, face-to-face.
Regardless of the tempest in your life Jesus says: be bold, take courage, I AM, fear not." And Jesus is with you always, even to the end of the age (Matt 28:20).
In the name of Jesus the (egw eimi) the great I AM. Amen!