Get out the Boat!
All right, let me set the scene; Jews had legends about night spirits and believed these were a bad omen. It’s between three and six in the morning, and the wind has been prevailing against the boat most of the night, pushing it away from the shore. We find – in the book of Mark – that they had rowed three and a half miles and were still in the middle of the lake. They see Christ walking on the water, and don’t even believe it’s Him when He calls to them. Peter tells God to call to him personally, and then walks out to meet Him. How many times do we do this? We feel a tugging at our heart that – if we are quiet, in prayer, and honest with ourselves – we KNOW is God calling us to do a specific thing, but our fears get in the way and we “test” the Lord? I have a great example for you married men. You and your wife have had a disagreement, maybe it wasn’t even an animated one, and it is now getting toward evening. You feel like you should “say something”, being that you are to treat your wife gently, as a treasured and fine vessel, but boy did she get you going! You are almost unable to look at her let alone start a conversation with, “Sweetheart I’m sorry I was not gentle with you and I cherish you. Can we pray together before we go to bed”? You justify yourself with conversation in your own mind, before the Lord Himself, saying that “she started it”, or, “sometimes love is direct”, or, “none of my side of the conversation was untrue”. Guys, He is the Lord, and He justifies you, you don’t justify yourself in His eyes no matter how “right” you think you were.
So, Peter walks out to meet the Lord and as soon as something takes his focus off the Lord, he begins to sink. Peter notices the wind and waves, ignores the fact that he has been chosen by and is serving the Lord, and the waves overtake him and he cries for help. Again, how many times do we forget that we serve an Almighty God? How many times are we so taken up by things that are in the “here and now” and forget that we are strangers in a strange land? Some of you may have been in the study of Mark a couple of years ago. We talked about the disciples and how they were dense and never did “get it”. Well guys, some of us aren’t even disciples yet! We have to treat this life as though our every action has eternal consequence, because it does. Every step we take here moves the Kingdom ahead, or it moves it back. We have to remain focused on our calling and our King as we walk on the water.
So, Jesus feeds the five thousand with a boy’s lunch, has likely already raised the little girl, healed the bleeding woman, and turned water into wine. Not only is Peter afraid of Christ as He walks on the water, but as Peter walks to Him, he screams for help as he sinks! This guy never will get it, will he? Now, we sure do love to make fun of the redneck disciple, Peter, don’t we? He’s brash, angry, and does stuff we get to laugh at. He, quite frankly, makes us feel better about ourselves! Here’s the thing guys, put yourself in Peter’s shoes and look back at the boat for a second; there’s eleven guys sittin’ there! Peter might be messing up, but he was brave enough to get out the boat!
If we look at the first sin that a man committed on this earth, what do we find? Some will say, “Eating the apple”, but that wasn’t the first sin Adam committed. His first – and most grievous – sin was to stand idly by while Eve was tempted and took a bite of the apple. Passivity was Adam’s first sin, and man has been struck by a strong tendency to do nothing since then. When King David got in trouble with Bathsheba, it was because his men had gone off to war without him. He was not leading them, got bored, went to the rooftop and was tempted, all because he failed to be active in his life and leadership.
Action is rewarded by God, even if it isn’t perfect. This does not mean that we should be impetuous, but we should be prepared. If we look at the story of Abraham and Isaac we are tempted to think that God told Abraham to kill his son and Abraham said, “right on it”, and left for the mountain without thinking. The reason that Abraham could act so quickly was because he had already been tested by the Lord, had decided to follow him in all things, and then when confronted with a hard choice, acted quickly because he understood his values and the leading of the Lord. When the shepherd boy David heard the boasts and taunts of the giant, why did he offer to fight? It wasn’t impetuous and stupid, David knew that the Lord led Israel and that what the giant was doing was wrong! He didn’t think about the consequences because he knew he was in the right, he was doing the will of the Lord? Do each of us know that we are in the will of the Lord? Can we act with decisiveness and boldness because we are doing what is right? Have we taken the time with the Bible and in prayer to know our Lord’s leading in our lives?
I have a secular quote that I’ll share with you here. It is attributed to Teddy Roosevelt and is likely on one of those “Successories” posters, but I feel it’s relevant just the same.
“The credit belongs to those who are in the arena.. who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions to a worthy cause; who at best, know the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, fail while daring greatly.. so that their place will never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” – Teddy RooseveltMen, I think that sums up well the point of the message today. Don’t sit in the boat and laugh at the guy that’s brave enough to take the next step toward the Lord. Get out the boat!
