August 9 2020 Matthew 14.22-33 “Jesus Said, ‘Be Encouraged’“ Pastor Jacqueline Hines

 

August 9 2020 Matthew 14.22-33 “Jesus Said, ‘Be Encouraged’“ Pastor Jacqueline Hines

By now, in this 19^th week of the pandemic, we realize that the myths surrounding the virus are just as contagious as the virus itself. It is also dawning on us that this too shall pass, just like the TB epidemic of the 30’s and the deadly flu of 1918.

A Facebook parent humorously pointed out that they sent a child to school with a batman mask and they came home with a Ninja Turtle mask…now the whole school is shut down.

One day we will have forgotten all about what we have lost. Hopefully, we will be thankful for anything we have gained during this unusual season.

Let’s begin with a musical selection, Lakeshore. 

Do you ever find yourself in need of encouragement? When disappointment comes, when a difficult situation presents itself at your doorstep. Perhaps you are going through something now and you cannot imagine how God’s going to fix it. You may even have something in your life that seems impossible even for God to solve.

From time to time, like a parent trying to get a sliver of wood out of our finger, they find us reluctant to extend our hand and trust that all will be well, for we know that what already hurts might bring a little more pain before it’s all said and done.

The television sitcom, Mom,

 is about a three-generation family struggling to survive against the many odds of addiction and poverty. Most of the time, the characters do not hesitate to steal money and anything else they want. They lie in order to save face and avoid consequences. They affirm sex without boundaries as if that is a ticket to some safe haven and riches without responsibility. In the midst of all those human complications, the drama – in a strange way - encourages viewers to keep watching by making us smile as the characters continue to have the highest hopes of being rich and famous or at least important. Like the rest of us, deep down, the characters only want to want for nothing and to be loved unconditionally, and they want to be encouraged in the hope that this will be true at the end of each day.

Every heart needs encouragement. Jesus was the great encourager. He goes before us, he’s always with us, he never leaves us….all so that we will be encouraged to keep going, to hold on, to take the next step toward a future filled with hope and the fulfillment of the wonderful promises of God.

Matthew 12 starting at verse 22 tells us 

²²Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 

If there were any boats out during the storm we had here last Tuesday, 

they too, were battered by the waves and driven by the winds. Being in the water with no solid place to rest your feet is a situation that can be quite scary as it had to have been for the disciples. The disciples were doing exactly what Jesus instructed them to do, but they were still caught in a storm. Don’t we all want to avoid getting caught in a storm? Sure we do. Still, isn’t it better to be in a storm where we have been called to be than to be caught up in a storm in a place that we know we are not supposed to be? That’s something to think about.

The disciples were in the boat all night and when morning finally came, Jesus appeared.

 Jesus appeared out of nowhere. Jesus appeared, walking on the water. Walking on water is incomprehensible. But, there are many things in life that are beyond our understanding.

When people say they don’t believe in God because God cannot be explained, I wonder how they understand all the wonderful and magnificent things in this world that go unexplained and unproven. For example, we accept water, we use it, we depend upon it and but we cannot create it.  We are born with bodies as intricate as computers and as functional as machines, but we cannot make ourselves. One of my favorite stories is about a group of scientists took extensive notes on the species of humans and decided they, too, could make a human being. They picked up a handful of dirt and God said, “No, no…get your own dirt.”

Verse 25 says,   ²⁵And early in the morning Jesus came walking toward them on the sea. ²⁶But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. ²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Despite the fact that they were seeing things they did not understand, Jesus wanted them to be encouraged. They thought he was a ghost. They were seeing something unexpected; they could not understand or explain it and they were afraid. But, Jesus understood their fear. He was right there to encourage them. “It’s me. Don’t be afraid. Take heart. I am here. I am for you, not against you. I love you.” That’s what we can expect to hear and understand when we have a personal relationship with Jesus and we are afraid. “It’s me. Don’t be afraid. Take heart. I am here. I am for you, I am not against you. I love you. You are the apple of my eye. You are precious in my sight. You are a dear one. Come close. Stay near.”

Peter believed it could be Jesus right there on the water. Verse 28 says   ²⁸Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 

³⁰But when Peter noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 

Would that we would all have sense enough to cry out to the Lord, “Save me!! Save me!! Sometime, though, we rather sin than be saved.  

³¹Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught Peter, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³²When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”  

Have you ever understood that you had very little faith in God’s willingness and ability to work something out for you? Maybe you thought, like a friend of mine, I can’t go back to school for 6 months and get the training I need to make more money on my job. Or, like the one I prayed with who thought, “I can’t stand to wash dishes in a restaurant until God reveals next steps to me.” Or another who said “I can’t tell the Department of Social Security that God healed me because they will stop my checks.

If we could read Peter’s mind we might hear, “I can’t keep my eyes on you Jesus as long as this wind is roaring like a lion and knocking my life around. It is too distracting.  Jesus, I don’t feel safe and sound when my feet are not on solid ground. Jesus, I don’t believe you are stronger than this wind or safer than the solid ground I am crying out for.  

Peter was learning, as we are learning, that Jesus is there to encourage us when we are most distracted by the winds of uncertainty, when evening comes and the unexpected and unexplained arrives on our horizon. When we need encouragement. 

If we are daring enough and still enough to see his face beyond the waves, then we can hear his affirming and encouraging voice confirming, “It’s me. Take heart. Don’t be afraid.” If we record those words in our heart or on our phone, the next time we are in a storm, we can play it or say it aloud. ‘I’m here beyond the waves. It’s me. I am for you, not against you no matter how scary it seems. I am with you. Don’t be afraid. Everything is going to be alright.’

I listened this week to Dr. Ron Archer tell about his unbelievable life with storm after storm that seemed like it would never end. 

The bottom line of his story is that Jesus encouraged him. His mother was lured as a 14 year old into prostitution. So he called himself a “trick baby” though he contends, the trick was on Satan because God had a purpose and a plan for his life. Babies get in the way of profits, so there were many attempts to abort him from his mother’s womb, seven attempts total. He was born premature, without a pancreas, could not function properly. At the age of ten he was put in the school boiler room with other children considered too dumb to learn. What made things worse was his many traumas made him a bed wetter and a stutterer. When he tried to talk, it was a show for others to laugh at. He was brutally molested by a sadistic Madame who was his babysitter. His three uncles, members of a gang called the Devil’s Disciples were addicted to heroin. His father was nowhere to be found. His German grandmother was sick with cancer. His Cuban grandfather was in put in the worst of jails after severely injuring a man who ridiculed their interracial relationship.

At the age of ten he held his mother’s gun to his head, 

thinking that if the next ten years of his life was like the first, he did not want any parts of life. The gun had a safety on it and he did not know how to dislodge it, so he lived.

A teacher shared the word of God with him and gave him hope. He heard that God loved him and had a future like he did for Jeremiah and for Moses who was also a stutterer. Dr. Archer learned that God would turn his pain into power, his wounds into wisdom, his scars into stars, and his tragedy into triumph.

He began feasting on God’s word, memorizing 2,000 verses.

 He says the word of God changed his heart, his head, his habits, his hands, his humanity, his habitat and he became the message of hope for his family until everyone in his family got saved! None of his pain and trouble was wasted. God used everything to create something good. He was healed of traumas and became a pastor and a businessman. His life is another reminder that there is a voice beyond the waves and the dark of night that tells us to take heart and be encouraged no matter how difficult our situation may seem. There will always, always be a hand reaching out to us to keep us from going under. God is good. Be encouraged. Amen.

Let us pray. Oh God, how we thank you for helping us to see you in spite of the roaring waves and the dark of night. Strengthen our voices that we might encourage each other, to be so filled with your life-changing word that our families, friends, and neighbors are changed in ways that fulfill your holy will satisfy our deepest needs and.

We pray as you taught us to pray:  Our father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Next week we go to the 15^th chapter of Matthew and the topic, “Jesus said, ‘Listen’” 

If you would like to make your contribution to the ministry and mission of Bethel, the website is Bethelumchurch.com 

Or you can send to 952 Bethel Church Road, Spring City, Pa. 19475. God bless you!