A couple of years ago, my daughter asked to go for a walk. We went outside, I reached down my hand to her, and she reached up her hand to mine. As I glanced down I was struck by this image. I thought, “What a picture of God and us!”
I pondered this image more and began to see how it was also a beautiful illustration of prayer. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 to pray to Our Father. His hand is always there reaching down to us and all we need to do is reach our hand up to him…and walk.
I love what Dallas Willard said in his great book, The Divine Conspiracy. “I believe the most adequate description of prayer is simply, Talking to God about what we are doing together. That immediately focuses the activity where are but at the same time drives the egotism out of it. Requests will naturally be made in the sharing with God my concerns about what he too is concerned about in my life. And of course he is concerned about my concerns and, in particular, that my concerns should coincide with his. This is our walk together. Out of it I pray.”
The scriptures say, “pray continuously.” In the rhythm of our life, as we go, all the time. Taking hold of our Father’s strong, yet loving hand, and walking, talking, asking, confessing, venting, and listening. A divine conversation so to speak.
Let me encourage you to take hold of your Father’s waiting hand and walk (pray).
In the Australian Outback, it is impractical to build fences around ranches because the distances are so vast. Since water is rare, however, it isn’t necessary to build fences. Instead, ranchers dig wells which provide water, a precious commodity in the desert or semi-desert. The sheep and cattle are therefore “contained” by their attraction to the center rather than by clearly established boundaries. In the same way, an incarnational approach to ministry is “centered-set,” with Jesus and the Gospel being central, rather than bounded-set, which seeks to define “Who’s in and who’s out.”
Would you describe your church as a fence or a well?
I was standing before my church community, teaching on the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, and came upon the phrase, “He saw the crowds.”
This small phrase is significant to understanding the Beatitudes and is repeated later in Matthew 9:36, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Jesus didn’t just talk to a crowd.
He saw them, stepped into their story, and spoke directly to them.
Then it hit me!
My eyes were opened.
And I finally saw the crowd.
Suddenly, the mass of humanity became a sea of faces.
Faces I knew the stories of.
Faces I really care about.
Some are exploring Jesus for the first time.
Some are prodigals.
Some have suffered great heartache and pain due to broken relationships.
Some are giving love another shot.
Some have no clue as to how they’re going to pay their bills.
Some will blow their excess on a shopping spree on things they don’t need.
Some are drowning in confusion about their future.
Some know full-well what they’re to do but lack to courage to go for it.
Some have been neglected by those they love.
Some are neglecting those they love.
Some are oblivious to their self-righteousness.
Some can only see their depravity.
Some are theological snobs who think they know it all.
Some have never studied the scriptures at all.
Some are recovering from their addictions.
Some are denying they have one.
Some feel overwhelmed by life.
Some feel their life is empty.
Some desperately need the gospel.
Some desperately need to remember it.
In a moment, God took me from talking to a crowd to seeing them.
From speaking to a general audience to preaching to a particular people.
Below is a transcript of a recent message I gave at Project Church. I hope it encourages you.
I love the television show Deadliest Catch.
The allure of a show like this is the possibility, no probability, of danger and excitement. If the show was about fishermen on quiet waters, trust me, there would be no show. Each episode features rugged crab fishermen who are battling a furious sea in the hopes of scoring a boatload of crabs. There’s drama, tension, humor, adventure, action, and heartache. It makes for good television because it reflects real life.
We can relate because our life is like a ship a sea. Some of us stay close to the marina and others of us crank it up and head full blast into the unknown waters. There are days where the sun shines bright, the breeze kisses our skin, and the waters are gentle. Then there are times when the storms hit causing colossal waves to crash into our ship and often wrecking our lives.
I know for a fact that right now, many of you are here feeling the sting of the storm. Some of you feel lost at sea. You sense that all hope is lost. You’re out of work, your relationships are strained or falling apart at the seams, there’s more bills than money, you or a loved ones health has taken a turn for the worse, or your own messiness has finally caught up with you and now you’re dealing with the consequences.
Others of you are picking up the pieces after the storm with one eye on the reconstruction of your lives and one eyes on the clouds. But for now, you’re enjoying life and everything is cool.
Then there are the rest of you who never left the shore. (We’ll get to you in a bit).
Your life is like a ship.
Some days are smooth sailing.
But inevitably, a storm will hit.
What will you do then?
How will you make it through?
Jesus is no stranger to the storms of life as we will discover in this scene from Matthew 14.
Prior to this scene Jesus and his disciples had experienced two dramatic events. One was the beheading of John the Baptizer. He was a cousin of Jesus and a prophet who had a unique role in preparing the way for Jesus.
Shortly after Jesus heard the news he got in a boat (it seems) to have some time alone. Remember, Jesus at this time was fully human and fully God. Meaning, he experienced the pain of loss and the storms of life. Eventually, the crowds (a size of a sports stadium) caught up to him and we’re told he had compassion on them and healed them. It’s during this moment that he turned the fives loaves of bread and two fish and fed over 5,000 men plus the women and children. It was a miracle of biblical proportions. The disciples and the crowd just witnessed something unexplainable- unless of course, Jesus was the Son of God.
The scene then cuts to the perhaps the most infamous moment in the life of Jesus outside his crucifixion and resurrection. Let’s pick it up in verse 22 and look at the whole passage and then walk back through it together.
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he 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 to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Wow! That’s a powerful story. Yes, Jesus walked on water! But there’s so much more for us. Let’s look at the beginning of this scene.
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.
Notice who put the disciples into the boat. It was Jesus! He sent them into danger. It’s early evening and Jesus goes with the disciples and puts them in a boat doesn’t get in with them. I wonder what they were thinking? “So, are we just supposed to hang out in the boat?” “Anyone bring a deck of cards?”
Jesus went to pray until their ship was about 3-4 miles away. This was not by accident and something we can learn from.
First, this is a picture of what Jesus does for his people in Heaven. He is our mediator with God (1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus knows the best teacher is experience and these 12 young men are about to experience something dramatic.
What Jesus wanted to teach them wasn’t on the safety of the shore but in the danger of the unknown waters.
He does the same with you and I. Have you ever felt like you were a ship a long way off from shore. Ever wondered if God was there? Ever felt alone? Hopeless? Confused? Ever think that perhaps God wants you to feel like that? To get to the end of yourself? To find yourself in situations that are uncomfortable and unsure?
Like the wind which was against the disciples, so it seems like everything is against you. Can you feel it? Fear creeps into the bottom of your gut and worry and anxiety fill your mind. WHERE IS JESUS NOW?!!!
I’ve been here. I’ve been here so many times in my life and I’ve shed angry tears wondering where God was. Whether it was the death of good friends or the heartbreak of love lost or the helpless feeling of being out of work. I have been there!
Storms are a great teacher and God uses them to teach us and to grow us. He’s like a parent who seeks to develop us into the people we’re meant to be. Sometimes, the storms are discipline, consequences of our actions. Other times, they are teachable moments in life that shape us. We often pray for God to get us around the storms but really he wants to get us through them. Growth comes by going through the storm, not by avoiding it.
Have you been there? Are you there right now? Do you feel like a small ship overwhelmed by a giant raging sea?
In moments like this, our view of Jesus is critical. If he is merely a good teacher or a prophet of old, then what good is he right now? The teacher and prophet is up in the safety of a mountain, probably under shelter, away from the fury of the storm.
But if you believe Jesus is who says he is. God become man who loves you and promises to never leave you. If you can hear his voice in Isaiah 43:1-2 where he says, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, YOU ARE MINE. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
Is this your Jesus? Only this Jesus, the real Jesus, can rescue you and I. Not just from the circumstances of our life but from the depravity of our own soul. Jesus cares about both your life and eternity. Without Jesus, your heart is a ship at sea and it will tip over and wreck unless you believe that Jesus indeed is God who came to rescue you from your sins. The good news is Jesus has come like a rescue-diver to save us. He never lets go. Check out this clip from the film, “The Guardian.”
Can you see Jesus in that? I hope so.
Jesus has left the comfort of heaven to the messiness of earth to save you. He is the Great Rescuer.
Let’s continue.
And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
The fourth watch is between 3am-6am. This storm has come at the darkest time of the night and the disciples have spent about 9 hours battling this storm. At sea, that feels like forever. But Jesus walks on water to them and he rose from death for us. He does the impossible and THIS IS FREAKY to the disciples in the boat!
The disciples try to use their limited human description to describe the indescribable. How would you feel if you saw what they’re seeing? Their fear has kicked into high gear and Jesus calms the sea of their heart by saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
As the storms rage in our lives, he says the same thing to us. “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” He’s calling you to a furious faith.
And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
Don’t you think Peter is being foolish here? Jesus is calling him to a furious faith. A faith so explosive it sees not the storms, but Jesus. Peter is walking on water! The same dude who will later deny Jesus three times when it mattered most. God has a habit of calling unlikely people to do unlikely things. This is one of them. Imagine the thrill.
For a moment in time, Peter experience something none of us will. He walked on water. To do that, he had to leave the boat of safety. What’s your boat? What’s your source for safety and security besides God? If you don’t know just look at what you’re afraid of. Your fears will tell you what your boat is.
The story takes a turn.
But when he 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 to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Peter saw the wind. To see the wind he had to take his eyes off Jesus. Peter doesn’t sink and become afraid. He becomes afraid and then sinks. There’s a big difference.
We could focus on Peter’s failure but perhaps there are 11 bigger failures sitting in the boat. Peter’s the only one with the guts to get out of the boat.
Some of you are sitting in the boat but Jesus is calling you outto him. Peter didn’t ask for a guarantee, just a chance. A chance to come after Jesus and get a taste for the life in full. God’s calling is not to survive- it’s to be faithful.
This is why some of us don’t even leave the shore. We’re scared.
Fear prevents many of us from doing what God has called us to do. I’ve heard it said that fear and faith cannot reside in the same heart. it’s true. We must choose to trust God or see the wind.
Is there anything in your life that you’re doing that you could not do without God? If not, dream bigger. God calls his people out of the boat.
Faith calls us into some crazy places I know. The Spirit of God leads us beyond what is normal. A raging storm in the middle of the night. Living on less so you can give more to those in need. Taking a new job. Staying where you’re at. Teaching in a dangerous place. Beginning a new business. Going back to school. Starting a church.
Why not put your faith in the one who can make the winds cease. The one who is not only above all, but in all. He’s right there with us calling us to a better story. Hope got Peter out of the boat and hope is calling you out too.
This is why he gave us the church. We need each other because together we’re called to do something far greater than any one of us can do alone. To bring good news and be good news to this world.
Churches are not called to safety, they are called to be far from shore. For churches, storms are not unusual, but expected. Jesus commands his church to leave the boat of safety and walk on water to him. He’s on a rescue mission in this world and has called us to join him in a journey of faith, hope, and love.
Are you a part of a church community? If not, let encourage you to connect with one that’s centered on Jesus, guided by scripture, driven by the gospel, and rooted in love.
Finally, if you’re in the midst of a storm, let me leave you with this: God’s love for you is more furious than the storm. He has promised to be with you. Nothing is beyond him. He is greater than we can ever imagine, better than we realize, and bigger than your storms.
The unchanging truth of the gospel is like a kaleidoscope. It can be viewed in many angles and can be seen in every aspect of life. It’s not just a historic act of yesterday but a living force that’s at work today. May we have eyes to see the gospel in all things.
Each Christmas we celebrate the incarnation. When God broke into human history and left heaven for the messiness of earth.
When we Christians become escapists from culture and divide everything by what’s good and bad, we forget the incarnation. We forget that he set an example of what we are to do. We forget the words of Jesus in John 17:15 when he prayed, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.”
Jesus entered our story in order to change the story. He has called us, his people, to do the same. How will anyone know what’s good news if we refuse to engage a world full of bad news? Our call is to be shaped by the gospel and then shape our culture with it.
In the everyday, we can see examples of the incarnation.
The friend who sits beside her friend in a waiting room while she awaits word on if the tumor is cancerous.
The big brother who plays toys with his baby sister in her room.
The dad who could easily stay late at the office but chooses to be at home with his children instead.
The teacher who could teach in a cushy private school but instead teaches in the troubled public school.
If you want to change a story you must enter it first. This is what Christ did by stepping into human history to redeem it and what we do by stepping into the stories around us.
Christopher Columbus is often credited with discovering North America. The only problem was, it was already inhabited with Native Americans who had made the discovery long before he did. In fact, he wasn’t even the first European to land in North America. Leif Ericson had done so about 500 years before him.
What Columbus did was stumble into a discovery of this discovered land, spread the story across Europe, and the rest is history.
Like Columbus, I made a discovery of something that was always there several years ago. Others had seen it before me but for some reason, I never saw it. When I did, I felt as if I found new land when really my eyes were opened to an already settled land.
What did I uncover?
The grand narrative of the Scriptures.
I had viewed the bible as information and at best, a collection of stories. That’s true, but it’s so much more than that. It’s all about Jesus. In fact, it’s these words from John 5:39-40 that led me to look at the common thread throughout the bible, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”
The Scriptures are a narrative of God’s epic story and it all points to Jesus as the hero of the Story and the plot is his passionate pursuit of his people. This is the heart of the gospel.
This has radically shifted my studying and teaching of the bible. Seeing how particular passages fit into the meta-narrative found in the scriptures has opened my eyes to things I had never seen before. I had been careful to quote verses in context but had neglected the context of the greater story that verses and passages are embedded in. Not to mention the context of the story of my life.
This has helped me better connect the Old Testament with the New Testament. It has opened my eyes to see Jesus in places I never expected in both the scriptures and in culture. It has shaped how I view the church in light of God’s great pursuit of his people. It has also helped me to gain perspective of my story and how I fit into the greater story.
Since this shift, I’ve sought to write, teach, and preach by storying the scriptures. I’m learning that stories work better at penetrating the heart and mind than mere information alone. Storying is our way of packaging information so that others can grab hold of its meaning. When our quest for truth treks through the frontier of our imagination it produces compelling stories.
Within each of us is a longing for a story. This is why we search and explore and why we tell others about our discoveries. History is full of amazing storyers and is how history has been passed along from generation to generation. This is why we consume books, films, and television. This why we have conversations over food and drinks. This is why we even ask others, “How are you doing?” That’s nothing more than a launchpad for a story (or in most cases, an odd way of saying, “hello.”)
Whimsical writer and thinker G.K. Chesterton wrote, “I had always felt life first as a story: and if there is a story there is a Story-teller.” I agree. Every tale has an author. Every story-casserole is baked in the oven of someone’s imagination. And God is the source of all stories.
His epic story is found in the Scriptures and the epic story he’s called us to live out is wrapped up in His.
This is my great re/discovery and it has awakened my soul, opened my eyes, and changed how I look at life.
For the record, the thoughts expressed here do not necessarily represent my family, my friends, my church, my employer, my dog, or the human race in general.
Thank you
