EYES ON YOU, I

Everybody wants to walk on water. Everybody wants to walk on water, but walking on water metaphorically, requires the same amount of extraordinary strength and coordination it would require literally. If we want to have the type of extraordinary blessings that "walking on water" implies, we need to build the spiritual muscle and coordination skills to do it. In part 1 of this 2-part sermon, we explore Matthew 8:23-27 and Matthew 14:22-33 to understand what it takes to walk on water into miraculous blessing.

• WALKING ON WATER 

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 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. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

In the fourth watch of the night, water sloshed in darkness against the disciples' boat in the middle of the sea. Quietly, Jesus walked across those waters to meet them. When the disciples noticed the figure approach, they were astonished to the point of fear. They had never witnessed power so strong it could defy the laws of nature. 

Jesus announced His presence, but before they would allow themselves to be mollified, indeed before the fear would dissipate, Peter responded: "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." For Peter knew from his recent and intensive course with Jesus that only He was capable of such power; if it was Jesus, Peter knew that he would be made able to walk on the water. Such an expression of faith it was! Peter knew that he could identify his Lord by the power He held. He knew that only Jesus was capable of answering affirmatively to impossible requests. Jesus answered simply: "Come." And Peter climbed down from the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. 

Most of us make it to this stage of the desire to walk on water; that is, we all ask God to help us to do that seemingly impossible thing we have been praying and striving for. We are all willing to take that first step of simply asking. And it is not a small thing, that first step. Truly it is an accomplishment in faith to direct a prayer to God rather to some other thing. We could be asking any other source to help us, like the secular world does, but we have chosen to ask God. Unfortunately, most of us then make the same mistake Peter then made.

• BOISTEROUS WIND

The faith was short lived... for when he noticed the wind was boisterous, Peter became afraid and then began to sink. Like Peter, we all put our first, faithful foot forward, but before the second foot lands, our faith falters. Instead of keeping his eyes on Jesus, Peter looked at the tumult the wind caused. He looked at the bobbing boat, the stirred up waters. He looked at the chaos and the chaos got its grip on him; suddenly he was wet, subject to the whim of the tumultuous wind. 

Why don't we realize that extraordinary blessing will require extraordinary faith? How can we expect to walk steadily toward a blessing if we are not walking steadfastly in faith? If we want to walk on water, we need to make that request to God; if we want to keep walking on water, we need to develop the faith to do it. As we work, wait, and pray toward blessing, we need to keep our eyes on God. We need to burrow deep in scripture in order to receive the guidance and reassurance, instruction and discipline from God required to obtain the blessing.

It's easy to become distracted by the boisterous wind. There are constant and fierce and fearsome distractions in life. We must choose to look at the Creator rather than the destroyer. Why should destruction hold our attention when our God's strength is mightier than its? Circumstances, relationships, opportunities and so much more in life might falter, fail or even end but with eyes on God, we are directed away from becoming the debris of those storms.

Peter was fine, firm on the water when he looked toward Jesus in order to meet up with him. Realize this crucial detail: the wind did not start when Peter began to walk. The wind had already been blowing destructively... but it did not matter, it did not effect Peter until Peter took his eyes off of Jesus. He did not even notice the wind while he was engaged in conversation with Jesus! We do not get wet in the storm when we stand with Jesus in the center of it. When we give the winds our fear, they suck out our faith. We become so focused on the turmoil that we neglect to use the tools God built in us to endure the storm. 

How could we ever endure it, if in giving our attention to the storm, we neglect to remember to use the arsenal of spiritual weapons which enable us to survive it? Strength and discipline, prayer and hope, wisdom and faith... righteousness and compassion, two actions which reap what they sow! 

• LORD, SAVE ME

But as he sank into the dark waters, Peter remembered Jesus' presence and power and willingness to save and cried out: "Lord, save me!" And through Peter's faith, Jesus swooped in to support: "And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him..."  We need to remember that our God is present and powerful... and willing to save. Our Father in heaven knows us so well; He knows that we will break our gaze of faith and falter in fear. Therefore He has made Himself receptive to our calls for help. When we call to God in earnest faith, there is no delay in His answer. Scripture uses the word "immediately" to describe the speed in which Jesus reached out to catch Peter. We need to train ourselves in faith to automatically call out to God as soon as we lose our balance on the water, as soon as we lose Him in our line of sight.

When they climbed into the boat, Jesus asked Peter: "...why did you doubt?" He was genuinely curious. Why don't we believe, though many of us say that we do, that God is capable of keeping us afloat? Is it because we start to sink and instead of blaming our brittle faith we blame God?

Faith is a mighty thing. A small but compact word, dense with spiritual tools we build and sharpen throughout our lives. Faith is the comprehensive tool we need to wield throughout life if we plan to walk on water. There will be wind on the water and it will not always be easier to keep our eyes trained on God. In order to actually do it, to keep our eyes on God, we need to develop a relationship of familiarity and trust in God. We need to know (soul-deep) Who He is, what He has promised, and what He is capable of in order to rely on those things while on the sea in the storm. 

• YOU OF LITTLE FAITH 

"Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” Matthew 14:23-25

We are not always aware of God's consciousness, even true believers. As beautiful and unique and indescribable as those moments of awareness of His presence are... they are also intermittent, sometimes even rare. There would be no need for faith if we sailed our little ship with a conscious Jesus at the helm and in sight. Let 2 Corinthians 5:7 remind us that we walk by faith, not by sight. It might appear sometimes that God is sleeping...if we allow ourselves to believe that lie, our own anxiety will stir the storm up several more degrees in severity.

But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

It is ludicrous to us that the disciples actually thought that they could sink while in the presence of Jesus, right? Well since Jesus told us in Matthew 28:20 that He is always with us... since Jesus told us in John 14:17 that the Holy Spirit will be with us and in us, it would be ridiculous for us to think that we could possibly sink.

Eyes on God is faith. We look past the mess, through the chaos, to our Light and Guide and source of strength. We place our attention on His direction, rather than on the boisterous wind. We are not subject to the dangers of the sea when we are walking on it toward Jesus. In part 2 of this 2-part sermon, we will explore what "Eyes on You" means from the battlefield. 

EUROCLYDON

"When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon." Acts 27:13-14

It began a difficult journey: a ship bound for Rome, and the apostle Paul bound in chains. Paul had been apprehended for preaching God's word. Paul's scripture-based preaching infuriated the Pharisees and Sadducees, two sects which denied the resurrection of Jesus. Fearful of their loss in power, as Paul's preaching was converting many away from their doctrine, they sought to capture and kill Paul. They accused him of sedition (noun. conduct or speech inciting or causing people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch). 

Paul's Roman citizenship meant that his captors had to hold his trial in Rome (Acts 25:10-11). Not only did this preserve Paul's life, his supposed crimes might have gotten him killed in Jerusalem, but would not qualify for death in Rome, but it also fit neatly into God's plan. God had previously informed him that He intended Paul to be in Rome: "the Lord stood by him and said, 'Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome'" (Acts 23:11).

And so they set out for Rome, but the waters were tumultuous and dangerous. It was immediately apparent to Paul that the voyage would result in disaster: the loss of the cargo and possibly the lives of those on the ship. But the centurion (commander) decided to take the advice of the helmsman rather than that of Paul.

They sailed right into the Euroclydon winds, a cyclical, tempestuous wind. Control of the ship was lost as it tossed in the sea; the crew did all they could to keep it afloat. Days passed of the fight to stay alive. Storm clouds blocked the sun and stars and stifled the hope of the men on the ship. As the winds and waters continued to beat down on them and their ship, no longer did they believe they would survive.

Meanwhile, Paul appealed to God through abstinence. If the journey was to be survived, Paul knew that it would be by the Hand of God. Paul's fast allowed him to review the situation, reflect on the decisions made that led to it, and hear with clarity God's plan of restoration out from it. From here, the journey documented in scripture helps us to survive the Euroclydon winds in our own lives.

• NEITHER SUN NOR STARS

Hopelessness and defeat are perhaps the most able to extinguish a person's faith. Sometimes the darkness of the storms in our lives are so comprehensive that we lose sight and even remembrance of the light. The crew on the ship were not like Paul. They followed the advice of men rather than the plan of God. Their rejection of God's plan may have been inadvertent but the result was the same. 

Sometimes our desire to do something or for something to be done is so fierce that we ignore common sense in favor of impatience. Like the men on the ship, we have it in our minds that we must be certain places at certain times. Things to do. People to meet. Money to make. Prospects to take. We want all of it to occur on a timely schedule, a schedule in accordance with our impatience rather than God's plan.

Paul presented the men on the ship with a choice: wait and have a smooth voyage, go and possibly lose your life to a difficult one. They chose difficult, and so often do we. But that sort of thinking propels us directly into cyclical winds too. We go around and around making the same mistakes, beating back the same fierce seas, desperate to stay afloat until we finally lose the hope that its even possible anymore.

The absence of sun and stars made it impossible for the crew to navigate the ship. They were tossed, lost and without hope. Which is a place many of us find ourselves to be in at times. Distress causes us to lose all ability to navigate the sometimes-rough waters of circumstance and emotion. Feelings of rejection, hopelessness, isolation, fear, anger, and impatience cause to behave erratically. That erratic behavior directly contradicts God's promises to us:

Rather than rejected we are chosen by Him, Ephesians 1:4. There is no such thing as hopelessness for a child of God, within the kingdom of God, hope is in constant supply, Malachi 3:10. We cannot be isolated from the presence or promise of God, Matthew 28:20. 

That erratic behavior directly contradicts God's instruction given to us: 

Do not fear, John 14:27. Do not be angry, Ephesians 4:26-27. Wait on the Lord, Psalm 27:14.

Extraordinarily, God has provided the emotional and practical instructions on how to survive the storm. Sometimes, in order to actually apply them to our behavior, we need to lighten the ship.

• LIGHTENING THE SHIP

Paul knew what to do in that darkness. Paul knew that he would make it to Rome because God had told him he would. Paul's advice and prayer and fasting was for the purpose of the preservation of the people with him. They were sinking. What do we do when we are sinking? We toss out the things that are causing us to sink. We remove from our ship, life, the things causing the water to weight us down. Paul did this through a fast. Sometimes a fast is about food, but other times a fast is the jettison of distractions. Secular distractions: attitudes, activities and other things that have no religious or spiritual basis. 

The world is full of secular distractions. The attainment of power and celebrity are cultivated by cultures around the world. The desire for control and admiration distracts us from giving and humility. The abundance and attainability of material wealth induces a desperate want of things. Our value of the material causes us to undervalue the actual substance of life. We corrupt the even the biosphere we rely on to exist in order to make and buy and have and use things. We neglect others' basic human rights and needs to pursue our own agendas, secure our own borders, protect our own reputation, clear our own day, have our own fun, claim our own rights and needs.

And so sometimes we need to jettison the things that perpetuate in our lives the distractions of our culture: the social media and music, biased news sources, commercialism and celebrity. We need to clear our lives of the distractions which cause the cloud coverage that blocks the sun and stars. The hope and the lighthouse that is God. We need to learn to be more aware of our susceptibility to the things our world says we should want. 

God is able to strengthen us. His love and instruction render us less vulnerable to the desperate desire of filling our bodies, souls and lives with those corrosive distractions. We need to clear the space, we need to jettison those things.

• TO TAKE NOURISHMENT

And then we need to be filled in. Once we have thrown overboard the distractions, we need to fill ourselves with something ordered and solid. We need meat and bread, that is: the deep and thorough word of God. Paul encouraged the crew to eat: "Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival..." Indeed this is for your survival. God urges us to stop ingesting empty calories. To stop taking in the secular world as though it could ever possible sustain us. 

Our souls need actual, spiritual nourishment. Things and fame and vanity are empty. The fruit of impatience is unsatisfactory and insufficient. Like Paul, fast the distractions and then take the bread. Live with gratitude for the One who pointed out the problem and then solved it. 

Paul cautioned that only those who remained on the ship would survive. The people who decided to solve their problems on their own would fail. God has capabilities that we do not; the impossible for us is possible for Him, Luke 18:27. The meaning of this is that we cannot leave  the kingdom of God and expect to thrive or even survive. It is God's path that leads to life and safety and blessing. We cannot just abandon ship (pun definitely intended) and expect to be nourished. All along God's path are the fruit and meat that nourish us. Away from from God's path, we might sustain ourselves but God has bigger plans than for us to be merely sustained. He has plans for us to live, thrive and survive. 

We must throw the junk out and fill ourselves with love and patience, humility and compassion. Easy as it is to give in to our cravings and binge on our temptations, we have to train, spiritually, until we are stronger than that impulse. The impulse to let loose our anger, feed our desire, act on our impatience. It is the nourishment that God provides which grows within us the muscle subdue the things, people and emotions that have power over us. 

God will get you to where you need to be. The storms become irrelevant when you choose God as your helmsman, the One to navigate your ship. Your life. You may not, at times, see the sun or stars. You may feel hopeless, but you must remember that God is the light. God provides the hope. Jettison the distractions and the clouds with dissipate, the sun and stars will be visible once again.