Church Sermon - August 3, 2008

LORD, SAVE ME!

Rev. Mark F. Bartels

The Psalm; Psalm 73
The First Lesson; 1 Kings 19:9-18
The Second Lesson; Romans 9:1-5
Sermon Text; Matthew 14:22-33

The Sea of Galilee is a large body of water located in the northeastern section in the land of Israel. Just to its west there is, what I suppose we would call, a little range of mountains. If you would go over this range of mountains and then, look to the east, you would see the Sea of Galilee, down below. It is quite a long drop down to the Sea of Galilee. In fact, the Sea of Galilee is 600 feet below sea level. And so, because of the topography, and the way the land is, if a cold front sweeps across from the west, headed east it will go up over that little rise of mountains, crest at the top, and then it will start to drop down the other side quite rapidly, down toward the Sea of Galilee. It is a meteorological recipe for violent storms. And so, occasionally, there are quite violent storms on the Sea of Galilee.

Apparently, on the day that Jesus told His disciples to get in a boat and go over to the other side ahead of Him, there was a cold front that was starting to make its way up the side of those mountains. The disciples were unaware of this, but Christ, our Savior, was aware of it.

And so, late that afternoon, early evening, the disciples got in the boat and headed out toward the Sea of Galilee. It grew dark. The water was probably dark, inky dark. Clouds, by this time had probably started to roll in. The sky was dark. Off in the distance the disciples could look back toward the western shore of the Sea of Galilee and that mountain range. Probably, off in the distance they could see little flashes of lightening and maybe hear a little rumble of thunder.

As they progressed across toward the other side, the winds began to pick up, a little bit. That thunder and lightening started to grow a little closer. The waves probably started to go up and down. And soon, it probably began to rain. The winds began to pick up a little more and their sails probably started to whip. So, they probably took them down, as the ends of those sails were snapping in the wind. The lightening and thunder grew closer. The wind and waves began to toss. And the rain probably began to come down in sheets. And the Bible tells us, literally in Greek, that the ship was tested by torment.

And so, here they are in the midst of this raging storm, during the fourth watch of the night. That means it is after 3:00 in the morning. You can imagine, in the dark, the waters rushing over the ship. All of a sudden, as they are in the center of the storm, from top to bottom there is a flash of lightening, big bluish-white bolt of lightening, "Boom," lights up the sky. And just for an instant, brighter than day, they can see all of the wind and the waves. And then, it goes dark. And, they were terrified.

Then, all of sudden, imagine another bolt of lightening, "Boom," lights up the sky, just for a moment. One of the disciples, terrified, says to the others, "What was that?"

They ask him, "What do you mean?"

He says, "It looked like there was a human body standing in the water, just off of the boat."

They then ask, "Where?"

And then, just imagine another "Boom" bright, instantaneous flash of light! For a moment, they all see what appears to be a human body standing just a little bit away from the boat. They were terrified, as it went dark, again. They thought it was a ghost. (Wouldn't you have thought that?) And they cried out in fear.

Isn't that a picture of the storms that can come rolling into our lives? Oh, maybe you have had that pain in your shoulder and it has been there for a while. You start to think to yourself, "You know, this pain is not going away like it should. I wonder if I should go to the doctor." And the lightening flashes, just a little bit, in the distance.

So, you make an appointment with a doctor, two weeks later. The pain is still there, when you go to the doctor. The doctor looks at you and says, "You know, this does not seem normal. We probably should get this checked out a little more thoroughly." And so, he sets up a cat scan for you. Now the winds begin to blow a little stronger, the lightening come a little closer, and the waves are starting to heave a little bit.

Two weeks later you go in for the catscan. A couple of days later, the doctor calls and says, "There is something abnormal. I am going to have to have you go in for a biopsy." Now the winds and the waves are blowing. The lightening is flashing and the thunder is crashing.

Finally, you go in for the biopsy, and two days later comes the phone call. It is like a bolt of lightening. Just for an instant, it lights everything up and makes it all clear. In the phone call the doctor says, "It is cancer." And then, it goes dark again. Now you are in the midst of the storm. What do you do? What will happen? And, you may be fearful.

Maybe, mom and dad - it seems like something is not the same with them, anymore. It just seems a little different. And you can maybe notice a little lightening in the background.

It seems like they start to fight a little more than normal. Now, the winds start to blow and the waves start to heave a little bit.

One day, dad loses his temper, slams the door of the house, gets in the car, and drives off. He is gone for a couple of days. Now the wind is blowing and howling. The waves are tossing and turning.

And then, Dad comes back home, and like a flash of lightening that lights up the sky and makes it all clear, for just a moment, Dad says, "Kids, I have to tell you, Mom and Dad - we're not going to be together anymore." And then it goes dark. Now what? Now, where will we live? Now, what will do? The storms of life come on us like that.

Maybe it is finances. You have been working hard to pay those bills. It has been hard to keep up. And then, a couple of months ago, an unexpected bill comes along and you can't pay it. The thunder starts to rumble, just a little bit.

The next month you can't make a payment on a credit card, because of this past bill. And so, you have to skip a credit card payment. The winds begin to grow a little stronger.

The following month, you miss another credit card payment and a few other payments, as hard as you are working. Now you are beginning to be in the midst of the storm.

All of a sudden, like a flash of lightening that lights it all up clear to see, comes the letter in the mail announcing that your landlord is evicting you, because you have not made your payments. Just for a moment, it is clear as crystal and then it grows dark. Now what? Now where will we go? I am in the middle of the storm.

Well, that is what was happening to the disciples. They were in the middle of the storm. And the awesome thing is that our Savior did not forsake them. He did not leave them. What did our Savior do? The Bible tells us that He went to them, out on the water. He walked on the water. I love the words that our Savior said to His disciples. He said,

I want to look at that middle, little sentence that He said.

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. By the time of Jesus' day, the Old Testament had been translated from Hebrew into Greek, because that was the universal language at that time. And so, this New Testament translation of the Old Testament was called the Septuagint. You remember in the account in the Old Testament where Moses was being told by God that He should go lead the Children of Israel. Moses was trying to find all kinds of excuses why he should not lead the Children of Israel. Finally, Moses said to God, "I don’t even know your name. Who will I tell them sent me to lead you?" At which point, the LORD replied in Hebrew, "Tell them Yahweh sent you." The word "Yahweh" means, "Tell them, I am sent you." The Greek Septuagint translates that this way. "Tell them ego emi sent you." "Ego emi" means "I am." "Tell them I am sent you."

So, when Jesus was out on the lake, He said, (which is how we have it in our New Testament),

"Take courage. Ego emi."

"Take courage. I am."

What was He saying? "Take courage. I am."

I am the ancient of days.

I am the Lord God Almighty.

I am the beginning and the end.

I am the alpha and the omega.

I am the first and the last.

I am the ruler of the wind and the waves.

I am the Good Shepherd.

I am the bread of life.

I am the water of life.

I am the way, the truth and the life.

When you and I are going through our storms in life, what does Jesus say to us? He says to us the same thing. He says,

I am your God.

I am the controller of the wind and the waves.

I am the beginning and the end.

I am in control.

I am the One who loves you, with an everlasting love.

I am the One who has pursued you to the ends of the earth.

I am the One who died for you.

How that ought to comfort our hearts!

Well, Peter, recognizing his Lord and his Lord's voice said, "Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water."

To which our Savior simply responded with a single word. He said, "Come." There was an invitation from the great I Am. The great I Am said, "Come."

When the great I Am says, "Come," He is going to make it possible for you to come. By saying that, He was telling Peter, "Peter, I invite you to come. I am the controller of the winds and the waves. You will be able to walk on the water. The wind and the waves must obey me, because I am God."

Peter got out of the boat and he started to walk to his Savior, because Jesus is the great I Am. But, then what happened to Peter? You know, you and I are the same way. In the midst of our troubles, our Lord says,

"Come.

Come onto me

all you who are weary and burdened

and I will give you rest."

And, we heed His invitation. We come to Him and we trust that He is going to give us rest from our burdens. However, Peter did not stay walking on the water very long. The Bible tells us that when he saw the wind and the waves, he began to sink. He was afraid and he began to sink. Our Lord said to him, after He pulled him up,

"Why did you doubt?"

The Greek word ‘doubt’ there, is a word that means, "Why did you look two different ways?" Isn't that a good picture of doubt? He is saying to Peter, "Peter, why did you first look at me? You saw that I am the great I Am. You saw I was in control of the wind and the waves. But then, you looked the other way. You looked at the wind and saw the waves. Using your human reason, you began to ask yourself, 'How is this possible that I can walk on the water? Won't the wind and the waves engulf me?'" Looking both ways, Peter began to doubt and he began to sink down.

Doesn't that, on occasion, happen to us in the midst of our trials and our troubles? We may begin to doubt. Our faith may begin to grow weak, feeble, and flickering like Peter's did at that moment. Certainly, we look at our Savior's promises, but then, we look at the circumstances surrounding us - the financial problems, the health problems, the family problems, and we may begin to wonder, "Can the Lord Jesus really take care of me?" We may fall into doubt, and then, we may begin to ‘sink.’

I love what happened next, because it so clearly shows us that, thank God, we are not saved based on how strong our faith is. At this point, Peter was filled with doubts, and his faith was weak and flickering. And, in a moment of desperation, what did this weak faith, this flickering faith of Peter do? It cried out to Jesus,

Simple, little words, but by that what was Peter confessing? Peter was confessing to his Lord, "Jesus, I am a sinner. I have doubted. I didn't believe that you could bring me to you on the water. And here I am sinking. I don't deserve your help. All I am crying out for is your mercy, your kindness, your goodness." And the Lord Jesus, in His mercy, reached down and pulled Peter to safety.

You and I are the same way. We, in our weakness, in our doubts, with our flickering faith, as we go through the trials and the troubles of this world, in our own lives, we do begin to doubt, sometimes.

Thank God,

you are not saved

depending upon how strong your faith is.

Whether your faith is

strong or weak,

faith is saving faith.

We cry out to God in our weakness, "Lord, save me. Lord I know I am a sinner. Lord, I know I have had my doubts. Lord, I know, I know that I don't deserve to have you save me in anyway, whatsoever. But, Lord, save me."

And in His mercy, grace, goodness, and kindness, our Lord Jesus has reached out His hand to us. He did that two thousand years ago, when He died on the cross to pay for every one of your sins, no matter what it is. He has saved you. And, He continues to reach out His hand to you in His Word, and in the Lord's Supper. As you hear your sins are forgiven, He continues to reach out that hand to you. Alleluia!

There was a young woman who had fallen into a sinful life. She had fallen into drug use, alcohol abuse, and had found herself even involved in prostitution. Finally, in desperation one night, she walked into a church building. She had never been in a church building before. She sat down in the back, and listened to the sermon. It was a sermon about the grace of Jesus Christ. It was a sermon preaching the Word of God, declaring, no matter who we are, no matter what we have done, no matter how far we have fallen, no matter how many sins we have committed, Christ has paid for them all, and they are forgiven.

The Holy Spirit worked through that Word, and that young woman was brought to repentance over her sin and trust in Jesus, as her Savior. She had faith!

She was so happy for what had happened that she began to go back to church there, regularly. By the power of the Holy Spirit, working through the Word, she forsook her old way of life. She became a different person. She started to serve the members of that church, showing them love and kindness.

Well, the pastor's son was about her age. And, he saw her developing into a wonderful Christian lady. The pastor's son took a liking to her, and they fell in love. One day, he asked her to marry him and that is when the storms started. And, the winds began to blow in that congregation. Some of the members of that congregation said, "I don't know if that is a good idea for the pastor's son to marry that kind of woman."

As the wedding grew closer, the winds began to grow stronger and stronger. People began to say, "This probably is not a smart thing for the pastor to let happen."

Finally, the pastor called a meeting of the whole congregation. There was the congregation. There was his son. There was this young woman who the son was engaged to. The pastor laid it all out on the line. One of the congregation members stood up and said, "You know, this is not right. The pastor's son should not be marrying that type of woman." And then, some of the other members got up and they rehearsed her sins that she had been involved in.

She was in tears. She was sobbing.

Finally, the pastor's son stood up, looked out over the congregation and said, "You know, what is on trial here is not my fiancée’s sins. What is on trial here is the ability of the blood of Christ to cover her sins."

That happens in our conscious sometimes. Probably the biggest storm that can come into your life is when the devil tries to get you to doubt the ability of the blood of Christ to cover your own sins. Thank God, we are not saved on the basis of how strong our faith is.

Thank God

we are saved

on the basis of the promises of Christ!

When our faith is weak and flickering, we can turn to those sure and certain promises of Christ, and cry out, "Lord, save me!"

He promises, He promises, if we confess our sins, God is faith and just, and will forgive our sins, and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

Alleluia!

Praise the Lord!

We are saved by faith in Christ, as our Savior,

whether that faith is strong or weak.

"Lord, save me!"

Amen.

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