The Church that Makes a Difference (Matthew 16:13-20)

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When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. (New International Version)

A lot of research studies have come out in the past 20 years demonstrating that legions of adults, especially between the ages of 18-29, are leaving the Church in droves. This confirms my own anecdotal evidence over the years that about 80% of twenty-somethings drop out of church altogether. So, why are people leaving? Can anything be done about it?

Most of the studies can be boiled down to three major reasons:

The Church is irrelevant to my life and doesn’t talk about things important to me
The Church is judgmental toward others not like themselves
The Church is hypocritical by saying one thing and yet living another way

A good, right, and real confession of Jesus will speak a relevant word into the culture and into various generations, will proclaim the gospel of grace (not judgment), and will live what it believes.

The church that makes a difference is made up of people who confess Jesus

In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus and his disciples are in the Gentile (non-Jewish) territory of Caesarea Philippi, a city 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. Up to this point, the disciples encountered a lot of people and heard a lot of things said. So, Jesus asked them two questions:

Who do people say the Son of Man is?

The disciples gave a variety of answers, which is to be expected, with some of them being a bit esoteric. John the Baptist raised from the dead is a stretch. Elijah was a man who never died, but was just taken to heaven; maybe he’s back. Maybe Jeremiah or one of the other prophets got sent back.

When asking this question to folks today, you will also get a variety of answers as to whom Jesus is – a good teacher, a model humanitarian, a myth or a legend who didn’t really exist. A few times I have been told that Jesus was an alien from another planet. My personal favorite when I asked who Jesus, a guy answered that he was a nudist, and that if we all just took off our clothes, there would be peace in the world.

**Who do you say I am?**

Peter acted as the spokesperson for the group. Given the disciples’ track record of scratching their heads over nearly everything Jesus said or did, one might expect to hear another crazy answer. But Peter got it right by confessing, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

“Christ” is another way of saying “Messiah,” or “Savior.” It literally means, in the Greek language, “Answer.” Peter confessed Jesus as being The Answer, the person for whom everything comes down to. Peter may not have fully understood what he was saying, but he said it.

The church that makes a difference is made up of people who have been called by God

The reason that craziness didn’t come out of Peter’s mouth is that “The Answer” was divinely revealed to him. Faith in Jesus Christ is a gift given to us by God.

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Jesus (Matthew 11:27, NIV)

Peter was blessed – not necessarily because of sincerity, openness, or deserving it – but because of God’s grace which revealed to him that Jesus is the “Answer.”

The Apostle Peter put himself in a position to know by obeying the voice of Jesus to follow him. It took him and the other disciples a while to “get it,” but eventually they did. And if it took years of being with Jesus for the disciples to make a right and good confession of faith, then it’s important that we have a great deal of patience for our friends and relatives.

The church that makes a difference is made up of people who call others to confess Jesus

Jesus proclaimed Peter (which means “rock”) the immovable object from which the Church would be built. The Apostle Paul framed it this way:

You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. (Ephesians 2:19-21, NIV)

Christ is the one who builds the Church – and not me, nor you. This reality is encouraging and comforting to me. If it was up to me to build the Church, I would screw it up so badly that it would actually be overcome by hell. But I can’t screw it up, because it’s Christ’s Church, not mine.

So, we can move forward and storm the gates of hell, we can move and work and act and call others to confess, all with the confidence and security of knowing that Jesus is building his Church. There’s no need to worry whether we’re getting it right, or not, because we aren’t the ones in control of the project.

However, I admit what Jesus says next isn’t very comforting to me. Christ told Peter that he will give him the “keys of the kingdom of heaven,” and that whatever he binds on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever he lets loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Giving Peter the keys of the kingdom seems akin to giving an 8 year old the keys to the car and saying, “Go ahead, take it for a spin, you can drive it!”

What are the keys of the kingdom?

The preaching of the holy gospel and Christian discipline toward repentance. Both preaching and discipline open the kingdom of heaven to believers and close it to unbelievers.

How does the preaching of the gospel open and close the kingdom of heaven?

The kingdom of heaven is opened by proclaiming and publicly declaring to all believers, each and every one, that, as often as they accept the gospel promise in true faith, God, because of what Christ has done, truly forgives all their sins. The kingdom of heaven is closed, however, by proclaiming and publicly declaring to unbelievers and hypocrites that, as long as they do not repent, the anger of God and eternal condemnation rest on them. (The Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 83, 84 )

The Church is true to its mission when it proclaims the good news of God’s grace in Christ. We possess the keys of the kingdom. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing, that is, the risks and the problems of letting people do the task of proclaiming the gospel. Yet, Christ still tossed us the keys to his Mercedes.

Conclusion

A Church that makes a difference is made up of people who confess Jesus, are called by God, and call others to confess Jesus, too. The de-churched and the disaffected want to see a Church that seeks to understand the world, to provide relevant ministry to others, and to tackle the injustice that exists everywhere.

We must use the power given us with the keys of the kingdom to bestow mercy to the weak, the oppressed, and the lost. We need to live what we believe with a passionate heart and an unashamed faith.

Together, as God’s people, we can extend the hospitality and the kindness to make a difference in the church and the world.

May our confession of Christ shape our words and our actions. And may it give us the confidence and boldness to live as Jesus did, and to enjoy him forever. Amen.

Healing the Outsiders (Matthew 8:1-13)

On August 23, 2023July 23, 2023 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment. (New International Version)

On a few occasions, my computer picked up a nasty virus that hijacked every file and function I have. The most frustrating thing about those events is that there was nothing I could do by myself to fix it or make it better.

I had to humble myself and ask a computer geek to get into my system and take care of the problem. It’s a weird feeling to look at my screen and have a stranger work inside my personal computer. But if I failed to get help, my computer was worthless – unless I let someone with authority fix the blasted thing.

Kingdom Values

Jesus is Lord of all. Since Christ has authority over everything, we are to live our lives in submission to his will and way. Only through humble resignation to Christ can we experience the healing and deliverance we seek.

Jesus preached his famous Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and taught the people as one who had authority. In that Sermon, Jesus laid out the values of God’s kingdom: humility, sorrow over sin, meekness, purity, mercy, and peacemaking. In today’s Gospel lesson, we see the power of those values evidenced and expressed in two stories of healing and deliverance.

The world needs saving, and that’s exactly what Jesus is up to. Christ’s authority is total – coming from his moral authority – as the very embodiment of the Beatitudes he taught. Grace always has the last word, as Jesus healed showing neither favoritism nor discrimination.

Healing a Leper

In the first story, Jesus used his authority to heal and transform a leper. Leprosy was a feared disease in the ancient world. There was no known cure, and lepers were forced to live apart from everyone else. The Old Testament book of Leviticus says that a leper must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out “unclean! unclean!” (Leviticus 13:45-46). Lepers were the ultimate outsiders.

A leper came to Jesus with a humble profession of faith: “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.” It was a clear case of genuine need, and poverty of spirit. Jesus responded by doing the unthinkable: He touched him. In a great and wonderful reversal, Jesus did not become unclean by touching the leper; but instead, the leper was made clean.

Still today, the world needs to be touched. It’s an important way of following Jesus and changing the world. This requires us, God’s people, to get up-close and personal with outsiders and marginalized persons and groups. Christian service requires Christian touch.

Authentic Christian ministry communicates love through contact and identification with others. A thousand years after Christ’s earthly ministry, St. Francis of Assisi met a leper on the road:

“Though the leper caused him no small disgust and horror, he nonetheless, got off the horse and prepared to kiss the leper. But when the leper put out his hand as though to receive something, he received money along with a kiss”
Life of St. Francis, by Thomas of Celano

Francis did what seemed humanly impossible because he was filled with the love and compassion of Christ. The love of Jesus allows us to touch others with compassionate care, especially to those who have been rejected and mistreated.

Healing a Roman Officer’s Servant

*Fresco of* *Jesus healing the Centurion’s servant, Dionysiou Monastery,* *Mount Athos, Greece*

The second story was equally eye-popping and unbelievable to the people in Christ’s day. Jesus used his authority to heal and transform a Gentile – and what’s more – a hated Roman army officer.

We see the values of the Beatitudes expressed in a Roman Centurion who felt unworthy to even have the Lord Jesus come into his house. The Centurion’s profession of faith amazed even Jesus: “Just say the word,” he said in recognition of Christ’s authority, which is big enough to heal without even being present.

Although Centurions were the backbone of the Roman military machine and hated by the Jews, yet Jesus responded to the Centurion’s request, and he also affirmed his faith as greater than any Jew.

Grace answers to need, and not to smug self-confidence.

The Roman Centurion requested healing. Jesus listened and answered. The Centurion did not use his position to order Jesus or demand healing; he came in a spirit of humility and asked with confidence that Jesus could heal his servant if he wanted to. The Centurion threw himself on God’s mercy. So, Jesus upheld the Centurion as a model of faith for us all.

Healing Doesn’t Happen with the Independent

In affirming the Roman officer’s faith, Jesus also gave a solemn warning to the self-righteous: Their lack of humility and genuine faith would land them outside the kingdom. In another great reversal, the insiders will become the outsiders, and the outsiders become the insiders.

Independently proud folk do not experience healing and transformation because they don’t even know they are sin sick. They see no need for an intervention by Jesus because they already have their righteous deeds to boast about. Such persons are more concerned about looking good and saving face, than perceiving their own unworthiness.

The self-righteous and self-sufficient approach to handling problems and difficult situations is to come up with good ideas and clever strategies, relying on sheer personal effort and willpower. Prayer may or may not happen; there is no honest beseeching of God.

Delusional thoughts of personal autonomy only separate us from the grace of God that we so desperately need.

There is a spiritual dimension to every situation and trouble we face – including sickness. If we only examine the medical and biological end of physical problems, we may be dealing with symptoms instead of the root issue that plagues us.

Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you have sinned, you will be forgiven—healed inside and out. Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. (James 5:13-16, MSG)

Conclusion

Jesus healed and transformed outsiders. Followers of Christ, dependent upon God, ask themselves:

Who are the outsiders among us?
Where are the strangers?
How can we get close enough to touch aliens and immigrants?
Will you help us intercede in prayer for foreigners?
When can we search for and pursue those on the periphery of society?

Believe that the risen and ascended Jesus can and will heal, deliver, and transform people of all kinds.

Jesus cannot be domesticated into some figurehead that suits our desires and conforms to our ideas about how things ought to be. Jesus is portrayed in these stories as eager to heal, wanting to show grace to the least and the lowly among society.

So, let us participate in the world’s healing, beginning with the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,
    may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
    as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
    as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
    but rescue us from the evil one. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13, NLT)

Inclusion vs. Exclusion (Acts 15:1-21)

On August 21, 2023July 22, 2023 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Exploring Church Ministry Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

The apostles and elders met to consider this question. After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. The words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written:

“‘After this I will return
    and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
    and I will restore it,
that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
    even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’—
    things known from long ago.

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” (New International Version)

*The Council of Jerusalem, by Franz Mayer of Munich, 1883*

What happens when new people come into a group who are different? How does any church or faith community deal with long time members alongside new ones? Is there a way to work through differences without becoming like the Borg, trying to make others to be just like me? (“Prepare to be assimilated. Resistance is futile.”)

Differences of thought, opinion, and practice are inevitable. Conflict cannot (and should not) always be avoided. Anyplace there’s people, conflict eventually happens. Put a bunch of sinners together in one place (like in a church), add a few grumpy old people, a few know-it-alls, then sit back and watch the fireworks.

It seems to me that every church is about one or two good fights away from being non-existent. It’s a miracle that more congregations don’t call it quits every year, especially after their annual congregational meetings! I myself have a long resume of handling ornery folks, family squabbles, and cantankerous curmudgeons that could make your head swim – or just get you downright angry.

What is the source of conflict among you? What is the source of your disputes? Don’t they come from your cravings that are at war in your own lives? You long for something you don’t have, so you commit murder. You are jealous for something you can’t get, so you struggle and fight. You don’t have because you don’t ask. You ask and don’t have because you ask with evil intentions, to waste it on your own cravings. (James 4:1-3, CEB)

Within the church there are expectations, whether they are reasonable or not. If those expectations are not fulfilled, people feel unfulfilled. So, they look to put unnecessary burdens on those entering the faith – to make them pay their dues by observing rules that they themselves aren’t even able to keep.

Conflict begins with some kind of desire. If unmet, it becomes a demand. And demanding something usually leads to judging other people. After all, if you really care about me and my group, you will meet these demands (desires). If left unchecked and unresolved, the progression ends in trying to punish others by simply withdrawing from a relationship with the intent of hurting another.

A focus on reaching out, on rebuilding and restoring lives, puts our efforts where they need to be – and puts us on the same page together, acting out of a sense of purpose, not preservation.

Today’s New Testament lesson deals with the conflict and debate surrounding gentile inclusion into the family of God. The success of Paul’s missionary journeys in reaching non-Jewish peoples and establishing churches, created tension as to whether these new believers ought to become Jewish in order to be Christian.

This question was at the heart of why the Council at Jerusalem was convened. Those who believed that Gentiles need to become Jews, demanded that the they be circumcised and observe the Law of Moses. Others, including Paul and Barnabas, believed that sort of thinking and approach was contrary to the gospel.

The Apostle Peter was there and gave his own experience of observing God work among Cornelius, a Gentile. Peter’s story was more than personal testimony; it was a powerful theological argument about what God was doing and what God is up to with all people, not just the Jews.

Peter’s story demonstrated that God (and not Paul or anybody else) is responsible for including Gentiles among God’s people without making them Jewish. It was God who called and cleansed Gentiles – making no distinction between them and Jews.

People are justified and made right by God’s grace, and not by human judgments of who can be in or out. The upshot of the whole thing is this: We believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, both Jew and Gentile. Period.

The only thing needed from Gentiles is to believe, because salvation is an act of God’s grace, and not the result of human effort.

What’s more, the inclusion of non-Jewish persons as the people of God is nothing new; it has always been there in the Old Testament Scriptures. And they were never called to become just like Jews in order to be the people of God. (Amos 9:11-12)

This is instructive for all contemporary faith communities. Our mission is not to make followers of me or you or of a particular faith tradition, but to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Grace brings us in, grace keeps us in, and grace will lead us home.

Our focus is to be on openness, connection, and inclusion, and not in seeking to be closed-minded and closed-hearted – separating from those different from us and practicing exclusion. The following ways may be helpful in fostering a more generous gospel:

Talk less, listen more. Don’t interrupt. Do give focused attention. Use respectful language. Ask how others prefer to be addressed and how they refer to themselves. Asking is a sign of care and respect for the person you are talking to, and is also a way to help them feel safe and comfortable.

Be open. Don’t stereotype. One person doesn’t represent an entire group of people. There are different Christian traditions throughout the world. And there are also different traditions and ways within all major religions, as well as within all people groups, institutions, organizations, communities, races, ethnicities, and genders. Seek to learn, rather than superimpose what you think onto someone else.

Become self-aware. Understand that, although all persons are created in the image of God and are equal before the Lord, there is not equity in human organizations and systems. Being aware of our own privileges is a crucial first step to adopting a more inclusive attitude.

Stay curious. To remain curious means to seek people and situations that allow us to challenge (both in a positive and negative way) our beliefs and our cultural and personal patterns of thinking, worshiping, working, and living.

Generally speaking, exclusion creates conflict, whereas inclusion gives space for others to explore and discover what it means to live into their faith and spirituality.

Loving Lord, give us strength so that we can build places of belonging: To create a community for all to share their gifts, to know that each of us is loved, to help us to see the light of Christ in all that we serve. Help us remember that each of us is loved and important. Amen.

Walk on Water? Why? (Matthew 14:22-33)

On August 13, 2023July 13, 2023 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

*Jesus Walks on Water, by Konstantin Alexejewitsch Korowin, 1890*

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (New International Version)

In the New Testament Gospels, we see Jesus for who he is – Son of God and true Sovereign of the universe – seeking to reconcile people to God through his life, miracles, and teaching. In the Gospels we also see Christ’s disciples for who they are – a rag-tag bunch who express both belief and doubt, and experience both faith and failure.

The reality of the Christian life is that it is a sort of three-steps-forward and two-steps-backward kind of experience. The expectation that we will “succeed” and have everything go hunky-dory each time we step out in faith, is far from how things actually work in both the world and in God’s kingdom. Doubt and failure are important experiences for the believer in Jesus.

Without failure, there is no Christian life. Why? Because it means we are still in the boat.

It’s evidence that we never left the safety of established routines and responded to God’s command to step out of our comfort zone, and boldly go where we’ve never gone before.

Our failures may, like Peter, be colossal bellyflops. Yet, Jesus is there – extending grace to Peter and helping him, even in his failure of faith. Failure does not define us; it isn’t our identity. Jesus is Lord over everything, including storms, hardship, and trouble.

Yes, there are a lot of scary things in life. Learning to ride a bike was scary. Driving for the first time on an icy road was scary. Getting married and having kids was scary. Admitting a fault, mistake, or weakness is scary. Being vulnerable with another person is scary.

It can even be scary to be at church. Why? Because we might fail, and it may crush us.

The fear of failure, however, need not control our lives. Why? Because grace overcomes everything.

We all find ourselves, at times, caught midway between faith and doubt. But to know this situation is to experience grace. If the worst scenario you worry about in your head would actually come to pass, it will still never change the reality that God loves you! And it will not stop Jesus from extending his hand to you in a life-saving grip of grace.

Fear melts away when we keep our eyes on Jesus. So, we must focus on Christ, instead of fixating on the waves around us. The truth sets us free. Therefore, let’s notice five truths about Jesus that help us overcome the fear of failure and embrace a life of faith.

1. Jesus is a person of prayer

Jesus was deeply dependent on his heavenly Father. His life exhibited the necessities of simple prayer and obedience. If Jesus found the need for solitude and prayer for his life and ministry, how much more to we need it!?

The Lord had his disciples get into the boat and go out on the lake. Jesus knew they were about to face a storm. The boat ended up getting thrown around by the waves. Even though the disciples were doing God’s will by going out on the lake, they were not spared from adversity.

Jesus wanted his disciples to experience the storm. Why? Because it is through the storm that we learn faith.

Faith is developed through experience and adversity. Faith that never endures distress, never grows and matures. Faith must be exercised – and if it isn’t, it atrophies and becomes useless.

Show me a person with great faith, and I’ll show you a person that has gone through a boatload of adversity and hurt, having allowed Jesus to grace them with healing.

2. Jesus is present with us, and this presence brings an end to fear

Being in the middle of a lake during a storm did not prevent Jesus from being present with the disciples – he just walked on the water to be with them. Even though the disciples had just participated in the miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand, another miracle was not on their radar – which is why they did not recognize Jesus and were afraid when they saw him.

While afraid, we don’t see Jesus, even when he’s right in front of our faces. Why? Because we don’t expect him to be there and mistake him for a ghost.

When the disciples cried out in fear, Jesus responded. I used to have a factory job, training workers. When the training was completed, I had the trainees evaluate our time together. The top response I received is that my presence helped them to learn their job – the freedom to fail time and time again without judgment. Having me there to rescue them, when things got too much, built confidence that they could do it on their own.

3. Jesus desires those who follow him to imitate him

Jesus walked on water. Jesus invited Peter to walk on water. Peter was not chided by Jesus for getting out of the boat, but for doubting that he could continue in the miracle that was happening.

Jesus isn’t merely interested in disciples being able to regurgitate his teaching. Why? Because he wants us to exercise our learning through actual deeds of faith.

Once the command of Jesus was given to Peter, “Come”, then walking on water became only a matter of trust.

“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”
G.K. Chesterton

We understandably get nervous when a crazy Jesus and an unpredictable Holy Spirit call us to change by getting out of the friendly confines of the boat. Why? After all, we might fail.

However, it is at those times that we bank on God’s Word and promises. The Apostle James said that if we find ourselves lacking wisdom to deal with the unpredictable and unknowable, we are to ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and will be given to us. (James 1:5)

*Christ Walking on the Sea, by Natali Fedorova*

Peter responded to his predicament by crying out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out and saved Peter from his own doubt and lack of faith. Jesus called Peter a “little-faith.”

Many people have lived too long with the notion that God is some stern angry deity who is constantly displeased with sinful people, and that only through perfection will God ever be happy with us. The truth is that Jesus wants us to imitate him; and, when we fail, he is there to pick us up.

4. Jesus has the authority to settle the storm when he is ready to do it

Jesus is King. Christ is Sovereign of the world. He will bring the crisis to an end according to his own good pleasure and good timing. Rather than spending all our emotional capital by worrying or conniving to get out of a situation, we can trust God and keep our eyes on Jesus. Our job is to believe; God’s job is everything else.

5. Jesus’ power led the disciples to acknowledge who he is

Worship happens when we see Jesus as he really is, the Son of God. Flat, dull, boring worship comes from flat, dull, boring Christians who are unable to see the power of Jesus in their lives. We discover the power of God when we are in a situation which requires God’s strength to deliver us. Grasping Jesus as the Son of God is more than a verbal confession of faith; it is being able to trust him, like getting out of a boat in the middle of a lake.

We are to live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us (Galatians 2:20). It doesn’t require much faith to pray that Aunt Mable’s bunions will feel better. It only requires a little faith to give a dollar when you have ten dollars. It takes no faith to discuss the weather and steer clear of hard conversations.

But it does require faith:

to pray for a miraculous healing every day without giving up for a little boy who is racked by epilepsy, and trust God to spare his life
to write a check for $100 to someone in need when you have exactly $100 in your checking account, and trust God to provide for you own necessities.
to go off the grid of the routine schedule to have a difficult discussion about social justice, and trust God to act on Christ’s teachings.
to live as though the mission of God in this world is the most important thing we could ever do, and trust God to step out and do it.

It would be great if we could pray and act without ever doubting or failing, yet the only way to do that is to never step out of the boat. Instead, live life. Trust God. And see what happens.

Holy God, help us, your people, to embrace the life that is truly life by stepping out of the boat. May Jesus define our lives instead of letting failure define us. May we accept the grace that is ours in Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we are bold to pray. Amen.

Rev. Tim Ehrhardt

Tag: christian discipleship

The Church that Makes a Difference (Matthew 16:13-20)