Hands of the Lord (Series)
Matthew 14:22-33
From the Depths!
At some point in time, everyone has to learn how to swim. Most people will be in and around water enough in their life that it’s a skill you need to know. I remember going to camp when I was younger and before we could officially go into the lake and swim, we had to pass a swimming test. We had to prove that we knew how to swim and keep ourselves afloat. And I mean, we wouldn’t even be allowed in the shallow end if we couldn’t pass the test. Now, I may not remember when I started swimming since I was very little. However, just this last summer, I had the joy of being able to teach Alex, with a life-vest of course. Up until this last summer, if we ever went into the water, one of us always had to hold Alex. He couldn’t go out on his own, he didn’t quite know how to keep himself upright. But as he’s gotten older, he’s also gotten a lot braver and has been learning to the point that he would let go! I’ll tell you; it was a strange moment for me. I was fighting the urge to grab on to him to make sure he wouldn’t go under the water, but also wanting to allow him the freedom to explore and learn himself. All the while he was swimming around that first time, I made sure that I was within a step of him just in case he needed me. I wanted to stay close so the moment he found himself in trouble, I could swoop in and pull him out of the water. And if this is true of our earthly fathers, how much more is this true for our Heavenly Father?
This week, we join Jesus and Peter out on the water as we either sink or swim. For we find that life is just like learning how to swim. One moment we may be doing just fine, and the next moment is a life-or-death scenario. This is why we should learn tonight:
THE HAND OF THE LORD SHALL PULL YOU UP FROM THE DEPTHS!
I.
Now, you don’t necessarily have to be in water to feel like you’re drowning. We use this term fairly liberally to mean that we’re overwhelmed, stressed, have too much on our plate at any one time. I remember being in high school and in one week, having two papers, three tests, a choir concert, and also working between thirty and forty hours that week. It felt like drowning. There are many such situations that we find ourselves in, suddenly and unexpectedly, at times, where we’ve been tossed into the deep end and the only way to get past it is to go through. So, we struggle; we try our best to stay afloat while the waves of work, home, school, family, friends, and every other responsibility crash down over top of us. But we also must realize as we look at Peter, that sometimes...not always... we’re not entirely innocent to our own drowning. Here you have the disciples in a boat, again in a storm, but this time, their fear is seeing a mysterious figure walking on the water! And then we read, “And Peter answered [Jesus], ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water,” Matthew 14:28. Peter puts himself out on the water, and when he takes his eyes off Jesus, he sinks and begins drowning.
There are many times where we’re just like Peter. We want to do things our own way. We want to be in control and have our own terms. And think about the swimming pool. God is a good and gracious Father that, to a certain extent, he’ll let us at times. He gives us the freedom to do some things on our own. But like a child, we often take that freedom and run wild. And so, when we seek to take control, we’ll run ourselves right into the sea of sin. When we make ourselves the master of our own lives, we’ll embrace our desires like sleeping in one Sunday for church, lying to our boss about what we’ve actually accomplished, cheating on a test, or embracing our sexual desires in every way that God has forbidden. And it doesn’t take too long of running our own show for the waves to start crashing down over us. Yes, when we take our eyes off of Jesus, we sink fast and hard into the ocean of sin and death and there’s little we can do to stay afloat.
II.
It’s in these moments when we’re drowning, being overwhelmed by the weight of this world that we come to realize, we’re not the ones in charge. We can’t control life anymore than we can decide what the whether will be tomorrow. Rather, it’s in these moments of drowning, that we must see the hand that has reached down to hold us! Consider Peter’s situation, “But when [Peter] saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased,” Matthew 14:30-31. Jesus was right there alongside Peter to pull him up from the depths. Jesus reached his hand out to save Peter from his watery fate. And you know, I realized something also, how did they get back in the boat? It doesn’t actually mention, does it? So, take this as you will, but I imagine Jesus pulled Peter all the way back up and together, they walked across the water back into the boat. Why do I say that? Well, as Jesus enters the boat, the wind ceases. Jesus is the one who’s in control, not just over our life, but over all of creation. God is the one who holds the whole world in his hands, and yet, also holds you!
The only thing we can do in those chaotic moments of life is to turn to God and cling to him. We need not brave the chaotic waters on our own but in full faith, lay everything in his hands. For like a Father in the swimming pool, he doesn’t want us to drown. He doesn’t want to see us flail. Rather, he’s right there, ready to reach down into the depths of our sins, of the chaos of our life, even into death, that he may pull us up out of them! I’ve learned this many times in my life, when the waves crash over top... we don’t get out of it by taking control, but by giving up control to the one who has control already! Jesus is the Lord over all creation, yet has reached down to save us by going to the cross. There on the cross, Jesus reaches out his hand to us that he may pull us out of the depths of sin, and up into forgiveness and new life. As Jesus holds us in his hands, he brings a calm to us even in the midst of storms. He quiets the waves by his forgiveness and peace. Then, we can say with the disciples in the boat, “Truly you are the Son of God,” Matthew 14:33.
For when life overwhelms you, when our sins crash down over us, see the hand that has plunged into the depths to hold you, to save you. Jesus stands near us with his forgiveness won on the cross that he may pull us up to new and eternal life! In Jesus’ name! Amen!