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Moore's
Chapel Home Pastors Reverend KyungMo Koo Audio Sermons
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Who do you look up to? - JesusMatthew 14:22-33 Aug. 7, 2005 This is what happened: When Jesus was alone, he went up into a mountain to pray; by this time the night had come. The disciples had set out back across the lake. One of the sudden storms, for which the lake was notorious, had come down, and they were struggling against the winds and the waves, and making little progress. As night went on, Jesus began to walk round the head of the lake to reach the other side. At 3 o'clock in the morning, Jesus walking on the high ground at the north of the lake, clearly saw the boat fighting with the waves, and came down to the shore to help. In rough weather on the lake in the hours before dawn, it is hardly surprising that the disciples' reaction to the sudden appearance of Jesus beside them was terror and the cry "it's a ghost." Today's Scripture, Jesus walking on the water, happened right after the incident of Jesus feeding the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish. Even after watching Jesus miraculously feed 5,000 people, the disciples still could not take the final step of faith and believe that he was God's son. If they had, they would not have been amazed that Jesus could walk on water. The disciples did not transfer the truth they already knew about Jesus to their own lives. Unlike other disciples, Peter showed a slightly different response about
Jesus walking on the water. Peter was not putting Jesus to the test,
something we are told not to do. Instead he was the only one in the boat to
react in faith. "Lord if it's you, tell me to come to you on the
water." His impulsive request led him to experience a rather unusual
demonstration of God's power. In today's Scripture, we can learn one of the most important lessons for faith in journey of life. When Peter focused his attention on Jesus, he was able to walk on the water. Then the strong wind and the storm around him diverted his attention away from Jesus. Fear gripped him; he lost confidence in himself and began to sink. When we look at the Christ's face, it is well in our soul. When we look at the circumstance around us, we begin to sink. When we maintain our faith in Christ, we are able to remain firm in the midst of a storm. When Peter looked away from Jesus' face, he began to sink. When Leonardo da Vinci finished painting, "The Last Supper." He invited a friend to view it. An excited exclamation greeted the artist. The friend was so drawn by the cup that he seemed to be ignore everything else. Leonardo reached for his brush, dipped it into paint, and, with one bold stroke, wiped out the cup! To the astonished friend, the artist exclaimed, "Fool, look at the Master's face!" The friend almost missed the glory of the painting by looking only at the cup. We need some painter of eternal truth to exclaim, "Look beyond the cup-look at the master's face! Peter started to sink because he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the high waves around him. His faith wavered when he realized what he was doing. Today's Scripture is not for Peter, but it is also for us. We may not walk on water, but we do walk through tough situations. If we focus on the waves of difficult circumstances around us without looking to Jesus for help, we too may despair and sink. To maintain your faith when situations are difficult, keep your eyes on Jesus' power rather than on your shortcomings. Today's gospel talks about faith and fear, and how the one enables us to overcome the other. The disciples were afraid, but Jesus' presence calmed their fears. There is no doubt that one of our greatest limitations in life is fear. We all experience fear. Whether it is about rejection or failure or dying, we are paralyzed by fear and left unable to function, as we should. When my son, Justin was little toddler, sometimes we had to go to the public bathroom, and I would go with him. I stand outside the door like a gatekeeper, but he always calls out, "Daddy? Are you there?" and I reply, "Yes, I am here son." Again, a few minutes later, he asks, "are you still there?" and I answer back, "Justin, don't worry, I'm here." Even though I stood outside faithfully, he did not see me, so he was always scared and he continually wanted to make sure that I was with him. This is an example of us in terms of relationship between faith and fear. What do you do when you feel fear? Scream? Keep your eyes closed? Or Run away from the fear? In times of trouble, who do you call on? In times of fear, who do you look up to? In times of fear, do we try to deal with it ourselves, or do we let Jesus deal with it? In times of trouble and uncertainty, it is calming to know that Christ is always with us. To recognize Christ' presence is the antidote for fear. Faith - we all wish we had more of it, especially when facing mountainous problems. Yet most of us are well practiced in faith. We sit down in chairs without checking them out; we use microwave ovens without analyzing how they work; we put keys in doors and expect them to open. We don't go around moaning, "if only I had more faith in chairs, in microwaves, in keys." We depend on these objects because we see them as reliable-not because we have worked up great feelings of confidence. Jesus did not say to His disciples "Have more faith in God." He simply said, "Have faith in God."(MK.11:22) Many Christians have faith in faith rather than faith in God. When facing trials, they agonize to attain mountain size faith. But Jesus taught that faith the size of a mustard seed is sufficient, if planted in the soil of God's greatness. As soon as you plant your mustard seed of faith in God, your mountain becomes His responsibility-and you can rest in His faithfulness. In an article for Campus Life magazine, Susan Smart describes her third-and nearly last-solo flight. She had been practicing a maneuver at 5,000 feet when she lost control and her Cessna 150 began spinning wildly toward earth. After several seconds of panic, she recalled her instructor's words: "If you ever go into a spin in a Cessna 150, just let go of the controls. It's built to fly on its own." Susan shouted to herself several times, "Let go!" Finally, she pulled her hands from the controls and covered her face. After some wild dipping and pitching, the plane returned to level flight. She had fallen more than half a mile, but she survived because she had the faith to let go. Her experience vividly illustrates what it means to trust God in a time of crisis. I know that's hard to do when it feels as if everything in our lives is spinning wildly out of control. Our feelings cry out for us to panic, to doubt His promises, to ignore or disobey His instructions, and to try to solve things without Him. But those responses are a waste of time. Though to your shortsighted vision no way of escape may appear, trust, for when you least expect it, the help of Christ is near. Is your life in trouble? Let go of the controls and just grab Christ's hand in trust! In life the wind is often against us. There are times when life is a desperate struggle with ourselves, with our circumstances, with our temptations, with our sorrows, with our decisions. At such a time no man need struggle alone, for Jesus comes to him across the storms of life, with hand stretched out to save, and with his calm clear voice bidding us take heart and-have no fear. Today, our Scripture finishes with another great and permanent truth. When Jesus got into the boat, the wind sank. The great truth is that, wherever Jesus Christ is, the wildest storm becomes calm. It is the simple fact of life, a fact which has been proved by countless thousands of men and women in every generation, that when Christ is there the storm becomes calmed, the chaos becomes peaceful, what cannot be done is done, the unbearable becomes bearable, and men and women pass the breaking point and do not break. To walk with Christ will be for us also the defeat of the storm. Although we start out with good intentions, sometimes our faith hesitates. This doesn't necessarily mean we have failed. When Peter's faith hesitated, he reached out to Christ, the only one who could help. He was afraid, but he still looked to Christ. When you are apprehensive about the troubles around you and doubt Christ's presence or ability to help, you must remember that he is the only one who can really help. The disciples were surprised to see Jesus walking beside them on the water. But they should have realized that Jesus would help them when they were in trouble. Though they had lost sight of Jesus, he had not lost sight of them. His concern for them overcame their lack of faith. The next time you are in "deep water," remember that Christ knows your struggle and cares for you. Bruce Larson shares the following anecdote in his book Wind and Fire. A few years ago I almost drowned in a storm at sea in the Gulf of Mexico when I found myself swimming far from shore, having tried to reach my drifting boat. I got into that bad situation through my own foolishness…I can remember saying, "Well, this is it." The waves were seven or eight feet high, and the sky was dark with gale force winds and lightening. I was drifting out to sea when the Word of the Lord came to me and saved my life. What I thought He said was, "I am here, Larson, and you are not coming home as soon as you think. Can you tread water?" He recalls, "God helped me to realize that if I had kept on trying to swim back to shore, I wouldn't have made it; rather, I went still, and stayed afloat on the water until a boat came to save me. He continues: In all sorts of situations we can make matters worse by our frantic efforts to save ourselves when Jesus Christ is trying to tell us, "Stand still. I am looking at you. I will take care of you. I will save you…" When life's storms threaten to overwhelm you, remember this - Keep your eyes on Jesus, when we maintain our faith in Christ, we are able to remain firm in the midst of the storm. When all seems lost and you don't know where to turn, let go of the situation and Christ will direct your way. Recognizing Christ's presence is the cure for fear. And most of all, remember that when we have lost sight of Jesus- he has not lost sight of us! What makes you feel fear? Are you in fear for an unclear future? Are you
in pain because of your health? Are you struggling with a broken
relationship? Are you having problems in your family? Are you sinking in a
financial problem? He has not lost sight of us. He knows what we need. A
Hymnal give us a clear answer, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in
his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the
light of his glory and grace." |
Audio
Link: Look Up To Jesus