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Rev. Dr. Sandra Stevens Poirel - "Eyes Up, Feet Down" · Belin Memorial UMC

• Belin Memorial UMC: As we hear the scripture, I invite you to listen specifically for a couple words that you will hear at least twice or repeatedly, and hear the context. You knew it was coming, so there it is. The word is fear, and the other is immediately. The text comes to us from Matthew. Chapter 14, verses 22 through 33, and the subtitle is Jesus Walks on the Water. Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the crowds. After he had dismissed the crowds, he went up to the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. But by this time The boat battered by the waves was far from the land, for the wind was against them, and early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified, saying, It is a ghost, and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid. 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, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and called him, saying to him, You of little faith, why did you doubt? When they got into the boat the wind ceased, and those in the boat worshiped him, saying, Truly you are the Son of God. This is the word of God for the people of God. You may be seated. First of all, I just want you to know that I absolutely love this story. Thank you for scheduling me today. I don't know that you knew that, but I love this story. It my love of this story was actually nurtured by my gospels professor in seminary. He was also the New Testament professor. He was also the Greek professor. I'll go ahead and just go, You had to pass the Greek to get To this. But he had such a love of the New Testament and the stories in the New Testament, and I still believe this was one of his favorites. And he nurtured that just in his teaching style. I did not so much enjoy the declension of all the Greek nouns and verbs, but I love the teaching of the story, and especially this one, because it truly is the story of the revelation of who Jesus is. To the disciples and to us. Now you're going to look at me a little strange when I say this, but just bear with me. There are basically only three characters in the story. One character is the disciples as a group. Then the second is Peter, who is actually named. And then we have the primary primary actor, which is Jesus. Now fear. And Jesus' immediate response is the theme throughout this entire story. It takes place pretty quickly. Now, fear is a powerful emotion. All of us have experienced it. It puts us in a vulnerable state. And when people are truly fearful, it can lead them to acting, thinking, and sometimes even speaking in ways. That are not characteristic to them. But sooner or later, fear grips everyone, whether it's logical, illogical, rational, or irrational. But do not try to convince someone that their fear is illogical or irrational when they're in the throes of it. Just give it some time. My mother, I'm gonna share a story about her, and she gave me permission to do so. has a fear of bridges and especially bridges over deep water. Now most of you know that I spent eight years living in Charleston and serving there. And if you know anything about Charleston, you know that you don't go anywhere without going over a bridge and it's usually over at least water of some depth. Well I would go to Columbia and pick her up and bring her back to Charleston with me. And about the time we hit Orangeburg, I could see the change. She started dreading that bridge, the Ravenel Bridge. And then when we reached Mount Pleasant, she started looking for those two diamond-shaped towers. Actually, they support the whole weight of the bridge, but I did not dare tell her that. She didn't, that was just a detail we left out. So when those diamond shaped images came into view as we are riding through Mount Pleasant, this was her posture. Looking at the floorboard wasn't enough. And the clo and she would just peep up every now and then. And she, it's getting closer. Well, of course it is. But I didn't say that. So one day we're about midway across the bridge. And she said, How long is this bridge? Remember, we're midway. I'm driving. We're up in the air. I'm not a swimmer. I did not need to be overboard. So what I said was. ⁓ it's just long enough to connect Mount Pleasant to Charleston. I did not say it's two and a half miles long, and I didn't dare tell her how high up in the air we were, or that it was the third longest cable bridge now in the Western Hemisphere. You know, some details just don't need to be shared. So then we would drive a little bit further and she would start peeping up a little bit and finally would say, Are we on land yet? And as soon as I could say confidently, yes, we are, good. So we made it across the bridge. Now I will tell you I am not a fan of heights at all. I get dizzy changing a light bulb. But bridges and bridges over deep water were never an issue and have not been an issue for me, but I didn't tell her that either. You just have to be sensitive to whatever it is. Well, the gospel picks up right where we left off last week, and all three gospel writers place this particular event immediately following the feeding of the five thousand. Now, Jesus has just fed the crowds, he has sent the disciples on ahead of him, and he goes up the mountain to pray alone. He is grieving the horrific events that have just taken place, specifically the violent death of his cousin John the Baptist. And when Jesus prays, he's praying, he is praying into the night, and this version of the story told by Matthew is the only one that actually names Peter. But what is interesting about this, and it's very unusual, is that this miracle, unlike the one that we shared last week, unlike that one that was in front of twenty thousand plus people by an estimation, this one is for the disciples only. It is the first time in Matthew that That Jesus sends his disciples out without him. And things got pretty tough pretty quickly. They are at sea. And that's significant. It's the middle of the night. We're told it's around fourth watch, which means we're around three or four in the morning that things really picked up. There's no one else around. Sometime before dawn, they find themselves far from the shore. The wind was against them. And they find themselves on this tumultuous boat ride in the midst of a scary storm and a fragile boat on the sea. They're terrified. They cry out. Their inner state is reflecting their outer circumstance. Now it's interesting that Matthew gives us a lot of detail about where they are and when they are there. It's one thing to be on the sea when it's pretty rough. I've been there, it wasn't my favorite place to be. But there was daylight, and you could see that things were going to calm down. This is the middle of the night. And that's about what the sea would have looked like. And the ancient understanding of sea was that it was the home of chaos. This is where demonic forces were housed. So the more accurate title for this passage might have been that Jesus walks on the sea. Jesus did walk on the water, but this water happened to be the sea. Where all of that is housed. So of course, I mean they're in the middle of a storm, they're in a fragile boat, that's it. The wind is against them. That's enough to make you terrified and cry out. But they know what they believe to be underneath them. Powerful forces. So what do they do? They did what we would do. They cry out for help. And Jesus walks across this. He strolls across the stormy sea as though he's taking a walk on a garden path in the middle of spring with what they believe to be demonic forces and Satan underneath his feet. Now they don't know who it is yet. And the dangers of all of this are being held back only by the power of God. And even the elements obey him, and he didn't speak a word. to them. They obey him even in his silence. So he is heading toward the disciples who are terrified and calling for help. Jesus Himself, Lord of earth, wind, fire, and sea, is approaching them, headed straight for them. And their fear was not dispelled. They were not feeling any better. In fact, it increased. Because now they've got all of this chaos going on, they've got the wind, they're in a fragile boat, they look up and now they see a water walking ghost coming to them. So in addition to all of this other beneath them, now they have a phantom appearance coming to them across and on top of the water. So now they are beyond terrified. It's important for us to note in the story: Jesus does get there, but he does not calm the storm before going to them. He went to them in the middle of all of the chaos. They had as much chaos as they could have possibly had. Within them, they're looking at each other, they know what's below them. Now they have chaos, what they believe to be chaos in front of them, and he went to them right in the middle of it. And there's good news for us. They didn't recognize him, but that did not deter him. And the same is true for us, whether they recognized who he was or whether we recognize his presence. Christ is right there in the middle of it with us, no matter how chaotic it is. He is there. It's not required that we recognize His oppress his presence immediately. So he greeted them. He strolls up to them and greeted them with his famous threefold invitation. First of all, take heart. It's the greeting. He's letting them know everything is going to be okay. The second part is really interesting. He said it is I who Ego and me, it is I. It is exactly the same phrase that was used for God's name with Moses at the burning bush. They would have recognized that immediately. So take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid. And then Matthew introduces Peter into the mix by name. Now you know Peter, I love Peter. We can all at some point identify with Peter. He was impetuous, impulsive, brash, outspoken, but very passionate, quick to act before thinking things through, and often saying what probably everybody else was thinking, but dared not to, but wanting to be faithful at the same time, and this time he just blurted out, now imagine this. Lord, if it is you, and I looked this up just to be sure. The if here is I E I. It is the Greek conditional. Lord, if it is you, but I believe it to be true, I believe it is indeed you. So Lord, if it is you, and listen to the word he used. It's it you almost have to chuckle. Lord, you command me to come to you on the water. So he's sort of just telling Jesus of. This is what I want you to do. And Jesus responds, Okay, well, the Peter, start walking. Come on. And Peter then threw his legs overboard. Right now he's still eyes up, feet down, which is good because when eyes are down and feet are up, it's a whole different story. So he's got his eyes on Jesus, eyes up, feet down, legs overboard, and he did just that. He stood up and he started walking. Until now we know what happened, but listen carefully to how this happened. The scripture tells us he became frightened. Now he's walking. He he he did it for a little short time. Eyes up and feet down. He was doing it. But then he became frightened. He lost his confidence. And then the word that we hear in Scripture tells the story. This is where the miracle really comes in. He became frightened and beginning to sink, he cried out. Now he is beginning to sink and he cries out, Lord, save me. I don't know if you've ever tried to walk or stand on water, but if you do, and it's deep, I'm not going to do this in deep water because one of you will have to fish me out. But if you try to stand on deep water and he's in the middle of a sea, far from shore, obviously, okay, and it's there's a storm. Beginning to sink, he cried out, he had time between beginning to sink and actually get a full sentence out. It's notable. Try standing on the water. Not literally, just think about it. And see how much time you have between placing your feet on the surface and being under the water. See how much time you have to do that and actually cry out. Peter beginning to sink called out yet again. The first time it was, Lord, if it is you. I know it is, but if it's you, command me to come to you. This time there was no confidence. Lord save me. Very direct. And yet again, Jesus has already responded immediately to the disciples who were in the boat. And immediately Jesus responded, no delay, no hesitation, no lecture, no rebuke, and absolutely no rejection. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand with compassion, has said nothing that we know of at this point. Lord save me and he reached out and he sinking caught him by the hand. Yanked him out of the water, hauled him back into the boat, probably with Peter spitting and sputtering seawater everywhere. And then we hear the famous question that's often quoted. You of little faith. Why did you doubt? And there it is, that statement has so often been heard and sometimes portrayed as a rebuke. But if you look at the original language, the tone is much more tender. Remember who it's being spoken by. Jesus is speaking this to Peter. whom he loved, he knew him. He knew exactly all of the faults but all of his graces. While his hand is still being held by Jesus, he asked the question, Peter You have little faith, why did you doubt? Jesus never said to him If your faith had been bigger, Peter. I would have yanked you up and hauled you into the boat. He simply responded immediately, hauled him into the boat, and asked the question, You of little faith, you know I love you. Why do you doubt? And Peter was immediately gripped by the hand and in the arms of grace. No rejection. That is a good word there. There is the miracle in this story. Jesus knew Peter. He knew Peter always wanted to serve well. He also knew that he was often simultaneously full of faith and full of doubt. Some of us can identify with that. Sometimes he was confident and very quickly scared to death. He had his got it moments. And then he had his moments when he not just let Jesus down, he really let him down. He was one that fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane while Jesus was praying just before he was arrested and would be crucified. Pray with me, stay awake with me. And he fell asleep. He denied him three times. Why? Because he was scared to death. Peter knew he deserved judgment, but he received grace, never rejection. And so do we. There's the miracle. Never rejected. Grace was always extended, and Jesus responded immediately and never left him and never leaves us. All of the disciples ended back in the boat together. Thank you, that was a great introduction. They were all in the boat together. You know we're all in the boat together, right? Good. Okay. And then the wind ceased, and those in the boat, those previously scared to death, frightened disciples, recognized finally who was right in front of them. God's own son. It's the revelation of who Jesus is. was then and is now. And they made for the first time in the Gospel of Matthew, they made their confession. Truly, truly you are the Son of God. Now like those disciples, we find ourselves in storms of life. We find ourselves in difficult circumstances, scary situations. carrying heavy burdens and lured to distractions all around us. We start off eyes up, feet down, and then something pulls our attention away. But the truth is even when we're upside down, right side up somewhere in between, beginning to sink or walking confidently, there is absolutely no distance to cross to reach God's love. Nothing can separate us. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. The Jesus who strolled across the raging sea of chaos and the home of demonic forces, so they believed, is the same Jesus who held on to Peter and is the same one who holds on to us with grace. with compassion, never rejection, reaches out and with our hands still firmly gripped, hauls us back into the boat so that together we come together. We worship him and we confess with eyes up and feet down in gratitude and confidence. Truly Truly you are the Son of God. Amen. Thank you, Sandra. Let us pray. Lord Jesus, since it is you Command us to come. Give us faith to overcome whatever fears we have and to step out in whatever directions you call. Give us a faith community to walk alongside. And give us grace to save us whenever fear or distraction or encumbrances limit our progress. Keep our eyes on you. Be merciful when we look away. We know that you are present when we recognize you and when we do not. Truly you are the Son of God. So just as you calmed raging seas, we call on you to bring peace and healing in raging wars and raging hearts. Be a great comfort to the grieving, give hope to the despairing, sustain the faithfully convinced, and empower all who follow you that we can know the joy of being part of your great good work. We praise you today for that great good work, including the gift of new starts, lasting love, deep commitments, time with family and friends, church friends who you make into family, Sunday school classes and other groups that you use to make that happen. Beautiful creation, joyful obedience, liberating redemption, faith in you. very one who taught us to say when we pray, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and and the glory forever. Amen.