Church Sermon - August 7, 2005

Rev. Bernt P. Tweit

Epistle Lesson; Romans 9:1-5
Old Testament Lesson; 1 Kings 19:9-18
Sermon Text; Matthew 14:22-33

If you have been following the news on TV, or the radio, or in the newspaper, this last week, you will remember a very remarkable feat that was accomplished. It was accomplished by a man whose name was Jim Dryer. He completed his fifty-five mile swim across Lake Superior in less than sixty hours. It made him the first person to swim across all five of the Great Lakes.

This was his sixth attempt. On the first five, he did not make it across. He had someone in a boat beside him, helping him out. On his final and sixth attempt, he said, "I am going to do it alone. I have to change things up."

If you saw the picture in the newspaper, or saw it on the news, you saw Jim Dryer, with an eight-foot, inflatable boat pulled behind him. Inside of that boat he had his supplies - his food, his water, he even had a GPS, (a global positioning system), to help him know exactly where he was.

He was only about four miles away from crossing Lake Superior, when his GPS stopped working. That is also when a storm started rolling through. And, according to his reports, the swells were ten to fifteen feet high. He lost track of where he was. Since his GPS was not working, he went back to his life raft to get a flashlight, to look at his unlit compass, to see exactly where he was. When he did that, he untied himself from his life raft for a moment. He found his bearings, hooked himself back up to that life raft, and began his swim again.

Sometime later, he realized that his life raft was not behind him, anymore. Somehow it became unraveled from him. He looked about the horizon, as the waves were splashing all about him. He saw it about 200 yards away. (That is about two football field lengths.)

Now, I am not sure if Jim Dryer is a religious man or not, but as I was reading that account in the newspaper, I could imagine him praying the simple, little, prayer that Peter prays in our text for today, "Lord, save me!"

Well, we know what happened. He reached the boat. He finished his swim. Somebody came out to accompany him in another boat, and he became the first person to swim across all five of the Great Lakes. An amazing feat!

In our text for today, we have an even more amazing feat, than the one accomplished by Jim Dryer swimming across any of the Great Lakes. That is, Jesus and Peter walking on top of the water. Simply an amazing feat!

Today, we are going to see a simple little prayer that Peter prayed, "Lord, save me!" As we look at our text for today, there are three things that I want to focus on, three things to bring to our attention.

The very first word in our text for today is "immediately". Three out of the four gospel writers place Jesus walking on the water right after the account of Jesus feeding the five thousand. Immediately, Jesus told his disciples to get into a boat. And immediately, Jesus told the crowd to disperse. The reason Jesus did that is because the disciples, the crowd, and Himself were being lead into temptation. Jesus had just done a really remarkable and miraculous thing, by feeding five thousand men, (and you add in women and children and we are probably close to 18 - 20,000 people) with five loaves of bread and two fish!

From the gospel of John, we know what the people wanted to do to Jesus. They wanted to make Him king, by force. They thought, "If Jesus can always provide us with physical food, let’s make Him our bread king." Jesus knew that is not why He came to this earth. He didn’t come to be our bread king; rather He came to be our Savior King. So, He dismisses the disciples from that temptation, and dismisses the crowd from that temptation.

Oftentimes we may think that Jesus was only tempted during those forty days and nights right after His public ministry began, when the devil came to Him and tempted Him. And yet, we know it is also true that Jesus was also tempted during the course of His entire life. How comforting it is to know from scripture that in Jesus we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, and yet, is without sin.

As we see Jesus telling His disciples to flee from temptation, we also see in this section of scripture how Jesus tells us to flee from temptation. Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, that is one of the things we ask for.

"And lead us not into temptation."

Lead us not into temptation. To this the sixth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Martin Luther had this to say about asking God to lead us not into temptation. He said, "God certainly tempts no one to sin. But, we pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh may not deceive us or lead us into misbelief, despair, or other shameful sin and vice. And though we be thus tempted that we in the end may overcome and retain the victory."

There we have two promises from Jesus. First He dismisses us from temptation and secondly, if we are in the midst of temptation, He gives us His Word and Sacraments to help us overcome those temptations. A great example of this in scripture would be that of Joseph. Potifer’s wife wanted to lay with Joseph, but God gave Joseph the strength to flee from that temptation.

Not only does Jesus help us flee from temptation, but Jesus also prays for us. After Jesus dismissed the disciples and the crowd, we see what it was that Jesus did. He went up onto a mountainside, to pray by Himself. We can imagine what Jesus was including in His life of prayer, here. The Garden of Gethsemane maybe helps us to understand what Jesus was praying on that mountaintop.

The same is for us. Jesus also is praying for us. The scriptures to that regard are very comforting. In the book of Romans it says about Christ Jesus that He is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Who is it that Jesus is interceding for? He is interceding for us. He is interceding for you and for me.

Who are we? Well, earlier in our service, we admitted to God who we are. We said, "Oh Lord, our God! We come before you as poor sinful beings, and are without excuse in that we have sinned against You by thought, word, and deed."

Yes, it is Jesus who is interceding for us, who are sinners. Every time we pray, it is Jesus who is taking those prayers to God the Father on our behalf. Every time God answers a prayer, Jesus is returning those prayers to us on God’s behalf.

In the book of 1 John, we are reminded again about what it is that Jesus is doing for us, as He prays for us and as He intercedes for us. In the book of 1 John it starts out by saying,

"If anyone does sin,

(If anyone does sin, that is talking about me.)

(If anyone does sin and that is talking about you.)

we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense,

Jesus Christ the righteous one.

He is the atoning sacrifice

not only for our sins,

but also for the sins of the whole world."

Yes, not only is Jesus dismissing us from temptation, not only is Jesus interceding for us and praying for us, but Jesus is rescuing us from all danger! In our text, we see how Jesus rescued the disciples, and also Peter, from danger. As that storm, the wind and the waves were buffeting the disciples around in their little boat, Jesus came out to them on the water. Bold and impetuous Peter wanted to walk out to Jesus. And, he was walking on the water, because his faith and his trust were in Jesus. Then, Peter began to sink, as he heard the wind and he saw the waves. Peter was going down. That is when Peter said that short, little, simple prayer, "Lord, save me!"

That is the image that is captured on the front of our bulletin, this morning, as we see Jesus reaching out to Peter. It is a wonderful picture, because here, Jesus is reaching out with His hand and He is saving Peter from sinking. I want you to hold onto that picture, because it is an awesome image of what Jesus also has done for us. Just as Jesus reached out His arm to save Peter from sinking, (you double Jesus’ arms there), and it was Jesus who reached out His hands for you

And that, my dear Christian Friends, is an amazing feat! Yes, in our newspapers this last week, we read about an amazing feat - Jim Dryer to be the first person (supposedly) to swim across all five Great Lakes. But, our text for today captures an even more amazing feat of Jesus and Peter walking on the water, that short, little, simple prayer that Peter prayed, "Lord, save me," and the promise that we have too, as we say that short, little, simple prayer, the Lord will also reach out His hand and save us from sin, and bring us to our home in Heaven.

This morning I just want to close with a short, little section that Martin Luther wrote on this section of scripture, before we sing our next hymn. Here Luther said, "A Christian modestly says to God, ‘Dear Lord, although I am sure of my position, I am unable to sustain it without you. Help me, or I am lost.’ He is indeed certain of his position, as Peter was on the water. Peter could not be more certain than he was. The water was supporting him. He could see no obstacle in his way. But when the wind came rushing on, he saw what was lacking in him. This must be taken well to heart. For although we are sure of our position, have scripture, and are covered and armed with clear passages in the very best way, yet our security depends upon the power, the will, and the might of God, who protects us and defends us against the devil, our adversary, and greatest enemy. This happens that God may make us determined and keep us fearful, so that we are always filled with concern and cry to Him, Lord, save me, and increase our faith. For without You, we are undone. At heart we should always feel as if we are just beginning to believe today. And everyday we should feel as if we had never heard the Gospel before. We must believe anew every day."

And so we pray, Lord, save us!

Amen.

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