Latest / Andy Stanley Sermons / Andy Stanley- Youre Not The Boss Of Me Part 5 Fear

Transcript

Andy Stanley- Youre Not The Boss Of Me Part 5 Fear · Andy Stanley Sermons

0:01
Speaker 1: So we are in part five of our series You're
0:03
Speaker 1: not the Boss of Me, And the subtitle kind of
0:05
Speaker 1: says it all. This is kind of a how to series,
0:08
Speaker 1: how to say no to the emotions that compete for control,
0:12
Speaker 1: because all of us have emotions that compete for control
0:14
Speaker 1: of our lives. They compete for control of our mood,
0:16
Speaker 1: and they compete for control of our mouth. Our mood
0:19
Speaker 1: and our mouth and our mood and our mouth can
0:21
Speaker 1: get us in trouble and certainly undermine the relationships that
0:23
Speaker 1: are most valuable and most important to us. So in
0:26
Speaker 1: this series so far, we've talked about guilt. We've said, guilt,
0:29
Speaker 1: you're not the boss of me. We talked about envy,
0:31
Speaker 1: we said, envy, you're not the boss of me. And
0:34
Speaker 1: today I want to talk about something that Jesus actually
0:37
Speaker 1: talked a lot about. I want us to talk about
0:39
Speaker 1: how to keep fear from becoming the boss of us.
0:43
Speaker 1: None of us want fear, or worry, or even anxiety
0:47
Speaker 1: to be the boss of us. And for many of you,
0:50
Speaker 1: fear has never been the boss of you. In fact,
0:52
Speaker 1: for some of you, the people closest to you are
0:55
Speaker 1: like you could use a little fear, Okay, you could
0:58
Speaker 1: use a little worry. You're just so optimic, you just
1:00
Speaker 1: kind of blaze the trail. And you know, but for
1:02
Speaker 1: most people, there is an element of fear or worry
1:06
Speaker 1: that plagues us. And from time to time, relationship to relationship,
1:09
Speaker 1: or in some specific environments or in some particular area
1:12
Speaker 1: of our life, fear easily becomes the boss of us. Fear,
1:15
Speaker 1: as you know, it robs us of opportunities. Fear interferes
1:18
Speaker 1: in our relationships, It impacts how we parent, it impacts
1:21
Speaker 1: our marriage, it keeps us up at night. But the
1:24
Speaker 1: interesting thing about fear before we jump into how to
1:27
Speaker 1: keep it from being the boss of us, And this
1:28
Speaker 1: is so important. Fear is obviously not always a bad thing.
1:31
Speaker 1: You already knew that. But here's here's the cool thing
1:33
Speaker 1: about fear. Fear is actually a byproduct. Fear is actually
1:38
Speaker 1: a byproduct of something that is so important that none
1:40
Speaker 1: of us would want to give up. What creates fear.
1:43
Speaker 1: Fear is the byproduct of our ability as human beings
1:47
Speaker 1: to accumulate knowledge and project that knowledge into the future.
1:50
Speaker 1: That's what allows us to fear. But this is this
1:53
Speaker 1: is one of the greatest gifts that God has given
1:55
Speaker 1: humanity and this fact and this is what in fact
1:57
Speaker 1: sets us apart, and in some ways, this is what
2:00
Speaker 1: makes us human. That we are able to collect information
2:03
Speaker 1: and pass it along generation to generation to generation so
2:07
Speaker 1: that this information and knowledge based builds and builds and builds,
2:10
Speaker 1: so that we're able to make progress. We are where
2:12
Speaker 1: we are today because the human race has been able
2:14
Speaker 1: to accumulate knowledge, build on that knowledge, build on that things,
2:18
Speaker 1: build on things according to that knowledge, and then project
2:21
Speaker 1: into the future. This is this ability. The ability that
2:24
Speaker 1: sort of underscores or allows us to fear, is also
2:27
Speaker 1: the ability that allows us to imagine. Right It's the
2:31
Speaker 1: ability that gives it gives us the ability to hope,
2:33
Speaker 1: it gives us the ability to dream. Without it, you
2:37
Speaker 1: couldn't look forward to anything. You would never say without
2:40
Speaker 1: this ability, you would never say, well, I can't wait
2:43
Speaker 1: because I can't wait as you're anticipating something good based
2:46
Speaker 1: on what you know right now. And I don't think
2:49
Speaker 1: any of us would be willing to give up that
2:52
Speaker 1: ability if that's what it took to get rid of
2:54
Speaker 1: all fear. Our ability to imagine has more upside, has
2:58
Speaker 1: way more upside than downside because this thing that God
3:01
Speaker 1: has given us, has allowed us to invent, It's allowed
3:04
Speaker 1: us to make the world a better place. It's allowed
3:06
Speaker 1: us to improve our lives. It's allowed us to improve
3:09
Speaker 1: our world. But it also creates the potential for fear
3:14
Speaker 1: because it creates an endless series of what ifs, Because
3:19
Speaker 1: what if is what about the future based on what
3:21
Speaker 1: I know about the present now. As you know as well,
3:24
Speaker 1: sometimes fear is a good thing. Sometimes fear is a
3:27
Speaker 1: parenting strategy. I'm not recommending that, but you know every
3:29
Speaker 1: parent has used a little fear from time to time. Right,
3:32
Speaker 1: But you don't want and I don't want fear to
3:35
Speaker 1: be the boss of me, right. I mean, there's a
3:37
Speaker 1: place for fear, but we don't want it to run
3:39
Speaker 1: or ruin our lives. That always puts us off balance.
3:42
Speaker 1: In fact, whenever we allow any of these emotions to
3:45
Speaker 1: take control of our lives, we are immediately off balance,
3:48
Speaker 1: which means we're always distracted, we're overly protective, and fear
3:52
Speaker 1: in particular causes us to become very, very self absorbed. Now,
3:59
Speaker 1: what's so fascinating to me, and I hope to make
4:01
Speaker 1: this fascinating to you, is Jesus said so much about fear.
4:06
Speaker 1: But what Jesus said about fear seems so naive if
4:11
Speaker 1: you listen to what Jesus said about fear and isolation.
4:14
Speaker 1: And one of the problems with how the Bible has
4:16
Speaker 1: been presented to many of us, and this isn't anybody's fault,
4:19
Speaker 1: this is just the way of the world is that
4:21
Speaker 1: we drop in into isolated events from the life of
4:24
Speaker 1: Jesus and we sort of look at them, we kind
4:26
Speaker 1: of bookend them like once upon a time the end.
4:28
Speaker 1: But in fact, Jesus' entire ministry, especially with his twelve apostles,
4:33
Speaker 1: part of the journey, was to teach them how not
4:36
Speaker 1: to be afraid, because the bottom line for Jesus teaching
4:40
Speaker 1: when it came to fear, Like, Jesus, just give us
4:42
Speaker 1: the bottom line when it comes to fear. Here it
4:44
Speaker 1: is all right, fear not stop at just quit being afraid.
4:49
Speaker 1: Thank you, Jesus. That's so helpful. I hadn't even thought
4:52
Speaker 1: about that. I'll just stop it. In other words, to
4:55
Speaker 1: use our terminology, he would say, don't let fear or
4:58
Speaker 1: stop allowing fear to the boss of you, right, I mean,
5:01
Speaker 1: this is his message, stop stop being afraid, which of
5:04
Speaker 1: course is easy to say, but virtually impossible to do.
5:09
Speaker 1: And his first this is what's so interesting, his first
5:12
Speaker 1: century followers, especially the twelve Apostles, they felt the same
5:16
Speaker 1: way because Jesus would say, fear not, don't be afraid,
5:18
Speaker 1: fear not, don't be afraid. And they were, you know,
5:21
Speaker 1: during their time with Jesus, they believed him. But what
5:24
Speaker 1: does that mean? How do you do that? And isn't
5:27
Speaker 1: that doesn't that seem a little bit naive? Right? So
5:30
Speaker 1: on one occasion, Jesus has just identified his twelve Apostles.
5:34
Speaker 1: You know, there's all these Again, if you've been with us,
5:36
Speaker 1: everywhere Jesus went, there was a crowd, there was a crowd,
5:39
Speaker 1: and then there was a smaller group in the crowd
5:41
Speaker 1: called disciples. John calls this group the disciples, And this
5:44
Speaker 1: is the smaller crowd that went everywhere Jesus went. And
5:47
Speaker 1: then within the disciples there were the Apostles, the men
5:49
Speaker 1: that Jesus chose specifically to be his closest group. So
5:52
Speaker 1: Jesus has just finished choosing the Apostles. I mean, how
5:55
Speaker 1: amazing is that you got to be one of jesus
5:57
Speaker 1: inner circle. And so we get them together and he says, Okay,
6:01
Speaker 1: let me tell you what's going to happen. Okay, here's
6:02
Speaker 1: the big picture, here's the whole narrative. Here's what's gonna happen. Okay,
6:06
Speaker 1: I'm gonna send you out like sheep among wolves. Now,
6:12
Speaker 1: to us, that's just a figure of speech. In that
6:14
Speaker 1: day and age, they had seen that this does not
6:16
Speaker 1: end well. When you send the sheep out among the wolves.
6:19
Speaker 1: That is a bloody, gory mess. All that's left are
6:23
Speaker 1: hoofs and a little bit of mess, and everything else
6:25
Speaker 1: is devoured. Okay, So Jesus said, here's the good news.
6:28
Speaker 1: Now that you've signed on, let me tell you what
6:29
Speaker 1: the contract reads. I'm going to send you out like
6:33
Speaker 1: sheep among wolves, and you're going to be arrested and
6:36
Speaker 1: you're going to be beaten. And then he says, don't
6:41
Speaker 1: be afraid. And they're looking at each other're like, okay,
6:45
Speaker 1: did we miss part of the message. I mean, is
6:47
Speaker 1: there anything between that. It's like, you're gonna send this out.
6:50
Speaker 1: We're gonna And eventually they were sent out, and eventually
6:52
Speaker 1: they were all arrested, and eventually they were all beaten
6:54
Speaker 1: in many of them were executed. But just saying at
6:58
Speaker 1: the end of that therefore, doesn't be don't afraid. Not
7:00
Speaker 1: only did it not take away their fear, that doesn't
7:02
Speaker 1: even make any sense. So Jesus, and this is the
7:04
Speaker 1: part we miss. Jesus took them on a field trip.
7:07
Speaker 1: Now you are very familiar with this field trip. But
7:11
Speaker 1: when you read about the field trip, you didn't think
7:12
Speaker 1: it was a field trip. You just read it as
7:14
Speaker 1: an isolated incident in the life of Jesus and his disciples.
7:17
Speaker 1: But Jesus, everything Jesus did was so purposeful. It was
7:20
Speaker 1: all going somewhere, It was all connected. And this was
7:23
Speaker 1: the field trip Jesus set up to teach them a
7:26
Speaker 1: lesson about fear. And you, as soon as I start
7:29
Speaker 1: this story, many of you will rush to the end
7:30
Speaker 1: because you grew up hearing this story. Then, the text says,
7:34
Speaker 1: Matthew tells us that Jesus got into a boat and
7:37
Speaker 1: his disciples followed him because they're his followers. He gets
7:40
Speaker 1: in the boat. They do what Jesus did. Jesus in
7:41
Speaker 1: the boat. They get in the boat, they row out
7:43
Speaker 1: to the middle of the Sea of Galilee. They were
7:45
Speaker 1: heading across not the whole sea, but down across a
7:47
Speaker 1: part of the sea, and the text tells us Matthew
7:50
Speaker 1: tells us that suddenly, because this was not unusual for
7:53
Speaker 1: the Sea of Galilee, suddenly not a storm, not just
7:57
Speaker 1: a wind, a furious storm. And this is people. These
8:00
Speaker 1: are people who are very familiar with this region of
8:02
Speaker 1: the world. So that this wasn't hyperbole, this was an exaggeration.
8:05
Speaker 1: This was an unusually furious storm. Suddenly appears out of nowhere.
8:10
Speaker 1: It came up on the lake, so that the waves
8:12
Speaker 1: swept over the boat. Now, these are not very large boats, okay,
8:16
Speaker 1: and so this this is everybody. And again, don't don't
8:20
Speaker 1: picture flannel graph and don't picture Sunday school. Let's just
8:23
Speaker 1: picture reality. They're on a very small boat. They can't
8:25
Speaker 1: see land in either direction because of the cloud, and
8:27
Speaker 1: the rain is sideways, and they are soaking wet. They're
8:30
Speaker 1: not pretty. This isn't rockstar Jesus, nobody's pretty, okay. All
8:34
Speaker 1: their hair is matted and wet to their face. Okay.
8:37
Speaker 1: And it's loud. Many of you have been out on
8:39
Speaker 1: boats and storms. It is loud. To talk to anyone,
8:42
Speaker 1: you get to get it, got to get right up
8:44
Speaker 1: in their face, or you have to yell and then
8:46
Speaker 1: Matthew says, and you know Peter would come along later
8:50
Speaker 1: and you know, basically say yeah, this is exactly how
8:53
Speaker 1: it happened. Jesus was sleeping, which is almost impossible. I
8:58
Speaker 1: think maybe he was faking. I don't know how how
9:00
Speaker 1: in the world, but they thought he was sleeping. How
9:02
Speaker 1: do you sleep in a situation like this. Jesus is
9:04
Speaker 1: laying down, soaking wet, probably, and as this roaring wind
9:10
Speaker 1: and all of this storm goes on, and the disciples
9:12
Speaker 1: went to him, and again they didn't wake him up,
9:14
Speaker 1: like Jesus. You know how you wake up your children. No, no, no,
9:18
Speaker 1: And that's not like that. It's like Jesus, Remember, I
9:21
Speaker 1: don't want to yell all of this. Everyone is yelling.
9:24
Speaker 1: You can't be heard on this boat unless you're yelling.
9:26
Speaker 1: They said they went and woke him up, and they said,
9:29
Speaker 1: Lord save us, we're going to drown, Lord save us,
9:33
Speaker 1: We're going to drown, Lord save us. We're going to
9:36
Speaker 1: wake up. And Jesus props up on one elbow. He
9:38
Speaker 1: doesn't even get up, and he says loudly, you of
9:43
Speaker 1: little faith, you and they're like, what you of? There's
9:47
Speaker 1: hair in our face? No, you of little faith. He's
9:50
Speaker 1: having to yell. This is so loud, and I think
9:52
Speaker 1: he's grinning because they are panicked. Okay with Jesus the boat,
9:56
Speaker 1: you of little faith. And then here's this ridiculous question.
9:59
Speaker 1: No one would make this up. Why are you so afraid? What?
10:05
Speaker 1: Why are you so afraid? We're afraid because a furious
10:11
Speaker 1: storm just came up on the sea and the boat
10:13
Speaker 1: is sinking and water is flooding the boat and we
10:16
Speaker 1: may drown. And when you may drown, you are afraid.
10:20
Speaker 1: What a silly question. That's why we are afraid. But
10:24
Speaker 1: this isn't a miracle story to show that Jesus had
10:27
Speaker 1: the power over nature. He's teaching them about fear, and
10:33
Speaker 1: look what it says. When then this is the best part.
10:36
Speaker 1: Then when he finally got up, he didn't panic. God
10:43
Speaker 1: doesn't panic, Your Savior doesn't panic, Your heavenly Father doesn't panic.
10:52
Speaker 1: Isn't that good to know? We panic? We panic because
10:56
Speaker 1: we project on the future into the future based on
10:58
Speaker 1: what we know and what we've seen and what we've experience.
11:00
Speaker 1: But God, who created time, doesn't panic. This is what
11:05
Speaker 1: Jesus wants them to see. Perhaps this is what Jesus
11:08
Speaker 1: wants you to see and me to see. This is
11:11
Speaker 1: so powerful. Then he got up and he rebuked the
11:14
Speaker 1: winds and the waves. He spoke to them, and it
11:17
Speaker 1: was completely calm. Now, it's not unusual for this region
11:22
Speaker 1: of the world for these storms to come barreling down
11:25
Speaker 1: through the valley and just you know, create havoc them
11:27
Speaker 1: to see a galley, and then after a few minutes
11:30
Speaker 1: or in a little while, the storms move on through.
11:33
Speaker 1: But for whatever the reason, as soon as Jesus started talking,
11:36
Speaker 1: the storm moved on through. And what happens next is
11:40
Speaker 1: the point of this whole incident. And the men on
11:42
Speaker 1: the boat with Jesus were amazed, of course they were,
11:46
Speaker 1: and they asked the perfect question. In fact, this is
11:50
Speaker 1: the most important question anyone can ever ask. They ask
11:54
Speaker 1: the perfect question. This is the question that if you're
11:56
Speaker 1: not a believer it used to be or used to
11:57
Speaker 1: be a church person, or you went away, or you've
11:59
Speaker 1: never considered Chris ristanity, this is the question. I mean,
12:02
Speaker 1: you know, how did God create the world? And is
12:04
Speaker 1: their creator? And how big is the universe? And is
12:06
Speaker 1: it you know, how many billion? I mean, those are
12:07
Speaker 1: fun things to talk about. This is the question, what
12:10
Speaker 1: kind of man is this? It was a superman, obviously, right,
12:15
Speaker 1: what kind of man is this? Even the winds in
12:17
Speaker 1: the waves obey him. They were amazed Mark who gave
12:21
Speaker 1: who got his information from Peter? We think Peter was
12:24
Speaker 1: probably illiterate, and so when he told his story about
12:26
Speaker 1: his time with Jesus, he told it to Mark, and
12:28
Speaker 1: Mark wrote it down. That's why it's called the Gospel
12:30
Speaker 1: of Mark. With the information probably came from Peter and Peter.
12:34
Speaker 1: When Peter told Mark this story, he said, and we
12:38
Speaker 1: feared a great fear. This was this was Mark's verson.
12:42
Speaker 1: And we used this same Greek word twice in the sentence,
12:45
Speaker 1: and this is this sounds like somebody who's trying to
12:47
Speaker 1: I don't know how to put this into words. It's
12:49
Speaker 1: like we were afraid, and then we were really afraid.
12:53
Speaker 1: We were afraid of the storm, and then we realized
12:56
Speaker 1: who we were in the boat with and we couldn't
12:58
Speaker 1: get much distance. We feared a great fear. This is
13:02
Speaker 1: so important for some of somebody here today are watching
13:04
Speaker 1: or listening. Their latter fear was greater than their former fear,
13:10
Speaker 1: their fear of what had just happened, their fear of
13:12
Speaker 1: whose presence they were in was greater than their fear
13:15
Speaker 1: of the storm. And for a fleeting moment, this is
13:17
Speaker 1: so important, And for a fleeting moment, their confidence in
13:20
Speaker 1: Jesus overwhelmed their fear. But just for a moment, for
13:23
Speaker 1: just a moment, in this moment, standing there in the boat,
13:25
Speaker 1: their confidence in Jesus and what Jesus was capable of,
13:30
Speaker 1: overwhelmed their fear. In other words, the lesson that Jesus
13:34
Speaker 1: was trying to teach them was simply this that you
13:37
Speaker 1: do not have to allow fear to be the boss
13:39
Speaker 1: of you. You do not have to allow fear to
13:41
Speaker 1: overwhelm you because there's something more overwhelming. You don't have
13:47
Speaker 1: to allow fear to become the centerpiece of your life,
13:49
Speaker 1: the centerpiece of my life, because there's something more capable
13:52
Speaker 1: and more powerful than fear. So then, while it was
13:56
Speaker 1: still fresh on their minds, you know, they get back
13:58
Speaker 1: and they kind of get back to business, and you know,
14:00
Speaker 1: a few days later, Jesus comes back around to this
14:02
Speaker 1: topic and he's like, okay, let me talk about this.
14:03
Speaker 1: We had a field trip. It did not go so well.
14:06
Speaker 1: Everybody failed. But now you know now that it's fresh
14:08
Speaker 1: on your mind. Let me let me give you an
14:10
Speaker 1: illustration from nature. And so here's what he says to
14:12
Speaker 1: the guys. Look, don't be afraid, like, yes, we heard that,
14:17
Speaker 1: we got that. Do not be afraid of those who
14:20
Speaker 1: kill the body. Can I kind of tease this out
14:24
Speaker 1: a little bit? I think what Jesus would say. I
14:26
Speaker 1: don't want to put words in Jesus' mouth. He doesn't
14:28
Speaker 1: need my help. Don't be afraid of anything that can
14:32
Speaker 1: kill your body. Don't be afraid of those who kill
14:35
Speaker 1: the body. Don't be afraid of things that threaten your
14:38
Speaker 1: body but cannot kill your soul. In this moment, Jesus
14:45
Speaker 1: underscores what many of us grew up believing that there
14:48
Speaker 1: is more to you than meets the eye, and there
14:52
Speaker 1: is more to you than your body, and there is
14:55
Speaker 1: a you that goes beyond the you that we can see.
15:00
Speaker 1: Jesus believe that, don't be afraid of those who can
15:05
Speaker 1: only kill the body and can't do anything of the soul.
15:07
Speaker 1: If you're gonna fear something, if you're gonna play something
15:10
Speaker 1: at the center of your heart and your emotions, you
15:12
Speaker 1: should be afraid of the one who can destroy both
15:14
Speaker 1: soul and body in hell. It's like hyperbole. It's like
15:17
Speaker 1: he's like, hey, you know, if you're gonna fear something,
15:20
Speaker 1: you should fear God. If you want to fear somebody,
15:23
Speaker 1: you should fear the one that controls your soul, not
15:25
Speaker 1: just your body. And then it's like he was saying, look,
15:27
Speaker 1: don't you remember that boat ride. Let's review the boat ride.
15:29
Speaker 1: Remember what happened. You were afraid of the wrong thing.
15:32
Speaker 1: You were fearing for your life. You were fearing a storm.
15:35
Speaker 1: And it wasn't that there wasn't anything to be afraid of.
15:37
Speaker 1: There was something to be afraid of. But there was
15:39
Speaker 1: something or somebody you should have been more afraid of.
15:42
Speaker 1: You should have been more dialed into. That's the point.
15:45
Speaker 1: Then he says, this are not too and this is
15:47
Speaker 1: so personal, so personal. He says, guys, aren't two sparrows
15:51
Speaker 1: sold for a penny to which were like, I don't know,
15:54
Speaker 1: and they're like yeah, I mean this is just their
15:55
Speaker 1: world they lived in. Sure they are, yet not one
15:58
Speaker 1: of them, the sparrow that are basically worthless. Yet not
16:02
Speaker 1: one of these sparrows will fall to the ground outside
16:05
Speaker 1: your father's care. Wait, wait, so God cares about nature.
16:10
Speaker 1: Jesus like, of course he did. He created it. It's his.
16:13
Speaker 1: And even he says, but lay, let's not talk about sparrows.
16:16
Speaker 1: Let's talk about you for a minute. And even the
16:18
Speaker 1: very hairs he's talking to his guys on your head
16:22
Speaker 1: are all numbered. So don't be afraid you, this is it.
16:27
Speaker 1: Don't be afraid why because you are worth more than
16:30
Speaker 1: many sparrows. Don't be afraid you are worth more than
16:34
Speaker 1: many sparrows. Don't be afraid. God considers you extraordinarily valuable.
16:39
Speaker 1: And this was Jesus' way of saying, Yes, God is
16:42
Speaker 1: a personal god. God knows your name, God knows your circumstances.
16:47
Speaker 1: He is concerned about your personal lives. He knows what's
16:51
Speaker 1: going on, and he cares. And for many of us
16:54
Speaker 1: in the deepest valley, for many of us facing the
16:57
Speaker 1: thing that just overwhelms us with fear, to know with
17:00
Speaker 1: confidence that God knows what you're going through, To know
17:03
Speaker 1: with confidence that God knows you, and many times that's
17:07
Speaker 1: all we need. And Jesus says, rest assured. God knows
17:11
Speaker 1: and God cares. Even when bad things are happening, even
17:15
Speaker 1: when your prayers go unanswered, you can trust him he
17:19
Speaker 1: knows and he cares. Wow. So finally they're starting to
17:26
Speaker 1: get it. It's like, Okay, I think we got it.
17:28
Speaker 1: So we were afraid because there's something to be afraid of,
17:31
Speaker 1: but we got our eyes off what we should really fear.
17:33
Speaker 1: And you're with us and you know our names, and
17:35
Speaker 1: you're tracking with us through the circumstances of life. And
17:38
Speaker 1: Jesus like, okay, I think you're getting it. How about
17:40
Speaker 1: another field trip? So they have another field trip. This
17:42
Speaker 1: time it starts off really well, another story that you're
17:45
Speaker 1: very familiar with. This time they're out in the middle
17:47
Speaker 1: of nowhere. Jesus has preached too long. Maybe that's where
17:50
Speaker 1: we get that. And anyway, the sun's starting to go down,
17:54
Speaker 1: and these people are hungry. You know this story, and Jesus. Somebody,
17:57
Speaker 1: one of the disciples or Possis comes to Jesus and said,
18:00
Speaker 1: we need to send these folks home. They're going to starve.
18:02
Speaker 1: They've been out here all day. And you went, you
18:04
Speaker 1: went a little bit long, and Jesus like, hey, hey,
18:06
Speaker 1: I got an idea. You feed them, Like right, okay,
18:10
Speaker 1: we need to send these people. Jesus like, no, no, no,
18:12
Speaker 1: you guys feed them like we can't feed them. I mean,
18:15
Speaker 1: do you know how much money it would cost. In fact,
18:16
Speaker 1: there's not even enough food in this region to feed
18:18
Speaker 1: all these people. Jesus like, no, you do it. You
18:20
Speaker 1: feed them. Then Jesus finds the little boy's lunch, remember that,
18:24
Speaker 1: and he prays over it. And then Matthew says, guys,
18:27
Speaker 1: I was there. Jesus actually gave broke up the little
18:30
Speaker 1: boy's lunch and split it up between us twelve and said, okay,
18:32
Speaker 1: feed them. And I don't know how to say it
18:35
Speaker 1: any other way, but we performed a miracle. It was amazing.
18:40
Speaker 1: We actually started distributing this food and then all these
18:42
Speaker 1: people were fed, and it was like, oh my goodness.
18:45
Speaker 1: And now the apostles they're at their confidence is at
18:49
Speaker 1: an all time high. Look what Jesus did. Look what
18:52
Speaker 1: Jesus did through us. Who is this man? This is amazing.
18:56
Speaker 1: And then you may remember this and then this is
18:58
Speaker 1: there again, these are This isn't a coincidence, This isn't
19:00
Speaker 1: just hey, this is what happened next. Because they couldn't
19:02
Speaker 1: think of anything else to say. The text says immediately
19:05
Speaker 1: as in as soon as every it dawned on everybody
19:08
Speaker 1: what had to happen. Immediately, Jesus made the twelve at
19:12
Speaker 1: the disciples get into the boat. Now, it's a really
19:15
Speaker 1: interesting little Greek word on a codso on a conso
19:18
Speaker 1: it means he coerced them, He forced them. This was
19:21
Speaker 1: not an invitation, like, hey, maybe we should get in
19:24
Speaker 1: the boat. No, he said, guys, come here. No, no, no, no,
19:26
Speaker 1: come here. Leave them. I don't pay attention to the crowd.
19:28
Speaker 1: Do you pay attention to that crowd. There's gonna your
19:29
Speaker 1: head's gonna get too big. Come here, you guys. He
19:32
Speaker 1: forced them, you get into the boat. Now, why did
19:35
Speaker 1: he have to coerce them and force them to get
19:37
Speaker 1: into the boat, because they remember the last boat rides, like, no,
19:41
Speaker 1: we're not getting any more boats with you. You get in
19:43
Speaker 1: the boat, Peter, you I'm not getting in the boat.
19:45
Speaker 1: You remember what happened last time. I had to wake
19:47
Speaker 1: him up. We almost drowned. I tell you what, Jesus
19:49
Speaker 1: will just walk. But the text says he had to
19:52
Speaker 1: force them to get and some of these guys were fishermen. Now,
19:56
Speaker 1: when I was studying this, I couldn't help but think
19:59
Speaker 1: about a story that happened. You ago and my family.
20:01
Speaker 1: I'll tell you real quick, has nothing to do with
20:03
Speaker 1: the message, but it just I don't know. I just
20:05
Speaker 1: think maybe there's a parallel. I'll let you decide. Years ago,
20:08
Speaker 1: Sandra's grandfather, his name was Walter. He's since passed away.
20:11
Speaker 1: He was about eighty nine years old. He was at
20:13
Speaker 1: Sandra's family's house in Dublin, Georgia, and Sandra's mom and
20:16
Speaker 1: some other family were talking about Aunt Nanny Lou. Now
20:20
Speaker 1: Aunt Nanny Lou was Walter's brother's wife, so it was
20:24
Speaker 1: his sister in law. But Walter's brother had since passed away,
20:28
Speaker 1: and Aunt Nanny Lou was like ninety four. She was
20:30
Speaker 1: still living by herself and her house, but her memory
20:33
Speaker 1: wasn't good. Things weren't going well, and so the family
20:36
Speaker 1: is trying to decide how do we talk Aunt Nanny
20:39
Speaker 1: Lou into leaving her home and go into an assisted
20:42
Speaker 1: living facility. Basically, they're trying to figure out how to
20:45
Speaker 1: get her there because she didn't want to go. Of course,
20:47
Speaker 1: you know, nobody wants to go. None of us are
20:49
Speaker 1: going to want to go. So they're having this conversation
20:51
Speaker 1: in front of Walter, who's, you know, almost ninety years old.
20:54
Speaker 1: And they're not even sure he's paying attention. And so
20:56
Speaker 1: one of the ladies said, well, I got an idea.
20:58
Speaker 1: Maybe we just go over and get Aunt Nanny Leeu
21:01
Speaker 1: and say, aunt Nanny Lou, we want to take you
21:02
Speaker 1: to lunch, bring your purse. Yeah, and then after lunch
21:08
Speaker 1: we just take her over to the assisted living care
21:10
Speaker 1: place and we just drop her off and leave her.
21:12
Speaker 1: Of course, they're kind of laughing, you know, they're trying
21:15
Speaker 1: to figure this out. And all of a sudden, Walter
21:18
Speaker 1: pipes up. He says, well, I tell you something, ladies.
21:21
Speaker 1: You invite me to lunch, I'm not going. Yeah. It's like,
21:27
Speaker 1: now I know what you're up to. Well, now the
21:30
Speaker 1: apostles know what Jesus is up to. It is like, no, no,
21:33
Speaker 1: we're good. We feared not. In fact, we're feared not,
21:35
Speaker 1: and we're smarter than that. We're not going to get
21:37
Speaker 1: in the boat. And Jesus literally coerces them into getting
21:41
Speaker 1: into the boat. Immediately, Jesus made the disciples get into
21:44
Speaker 1: the boat and he said, look, I'm not even going
21:46
Speaker 1: with you. They're like, oh, this is not going to
21:48
Speaker 1: go well. So he's helping push the boat off, you know,
21:51
Speaker 1: off the sand into the sea and he waves. He says,
21:53
Speaker 1: you go on ahead of me to the other side,
21:55
Speaker 1: and I'm going to go dismiss the crowd. So he
21:59
Speaker 1: pushes them off. They start rowing over to where he's
22:01
Speaker 1: supposed to meet them. The sun goes down. Next thing
22:04
Speaker 1: you know, hours and hours have gone by and they
22:07
Speaker 1: are stuck in the middle of the seat of Galilee
22:10
Speaker 1: and they're rowing into a head wind and they're rowing
22:12
Speaker 1: against the wind. They're rowing against the wind. They were
22:15
Speaker 1: young and strong, but they were still rowing. Oh, come
22:20
Speaker 1: on against the wind. Right, So they're out there, I mean,
22:24
Speaker 1: they're just they're just committed. We're gonna do it. But
22:26
Speaker 1: they I mean, they're they're on a rowing machine. They
22:28
Speaker 1: are standing, they're sitting still. And then shortly before dawn,
22:33
Speaker 1: which means they've been out there for hours. We're gonna
22:35
Speaker 1: do this, you know, shortly before dawn, the text tells
22:38
Speaker 1: us that Jesus went out to them walking on the lake. Now,
22:42
Speaker 1: if you're not a Christian or it used to be,
22:44
Speaker 1: I understand what maybe goes through your mind at this point.
22:47
Speaker 1: It's like, okay, calming the storm. Maybe maybe not, maybe
22:50
Speaker 1: the storm was just over. But see Andy this is
22:52
Speaker 1: why I can't be a Christian, all right, So now
22:54
Speaker 1: you're gonna tell me I have to believe that Jesus
22:56
Speaker 1: walked on water. So let me just say something about
22:59
Speaker 1: this real quick. Christians don't believe Jesus walked on the
23:02
Speaker 1: water because the Bible tells us so. It is way
23:06
Speaker 1: better than that. Matthew, who was there, told us so, Mark,
23:12
Speaker 1: who got his story from Peter who was there, told
23:15
Speaker 1: us so. And John, who was with Jesus throughout his
23:18
Speaker 1: ministry from the days of the Jordan River all the
23:20
Speaker 1: way through the crucifixion and resurrection, he told us so.
23:23
Speaker 1: They were all three eyewitnesses, and they were all three there,
23:26
Speaker 1: and they're like, look, I know, I'm just telling you,
23:29
Speaker 1: this is what happened. And not only do they tell
23:32
Speaker 1: us this is what happened, they tell us something else.
23:34
Speaker 1: They tell us in their embarrassing response to what happened.
23:39
Speaker 1: And here's why that's important. I've told you that talked
23:41
Speaker 1: about this before, but I'll bring it up again, I promise,
23:43
Speaker 1: because this is a big deal. Literary critics. Literary critics
23:47
Speaker 1: use a device referred to as the criteria of embarrassment.
23:51
Speaker 1: The criteria of embarrassment goes like this. If somebody is
23:56
Speaker 1: writing the story about a revered or respected person, they
24:00
Speaker 1: are not going to invent stories that make that person
24:03
Speaker 1: look bad. So if there is an account in a
24:05
Speaker 1: story that makes the person who's revered look bad, it's
24:08
Speaker 1: probably authentic because no one would have made that up.
24:10
Speaker 1: Not only would they not have made it up, they
24:12
Speaker 1: would probably, if it was true, have left it out.
24:16
Speaker 1: And one of the things one of the reasons that
24:17
Speaker 1: people who projected the Gospels that rejected Christianity because they
24:21
Speaker 1: just stayed thirty thousand feet away. The reason so many
24:24
Speaker 1: of them have become Jesus followers once they begin to
24:26
Speaker 1: actually engage with the details of the text is they
24:29
Speaker 1: bump into this and they realize, wait a minute, these
24:32
Speaker 1: accounts of the life of Jesus don't make the heroes
24:35
Speaker 1: of the story look like heroes. They make them look
24:38
Speaker 1: they make them look normal, They make them look sometimes
24:41
Speaker 1: less than normal. They're just they're just as much afraid
24:44
Speaker 1: and just as much a doubters as everybody else. And
24:47
Speaker 1: so sure enough, not only do they tell us that
24:49
Speaker 1: Jesus walked on the water, the men who were there
24:51
Speaker 1: also tell us how they responded, and no one would
24:55
Speaker 1: have invented this. And here's why, because when the Gospels
24:58
Speaker 1: were written. When the Gospels were written, these men were
25:01
Speaker 1: still alive, and they were still ministering in Judea and
25:04
Speaker 1: in different parts of the world, and then coming back
25:06
Speaker 1: to jude and Jerusalem. They were within the Christian community.
25:08
Speaker 1: They were the rock stars. John who was with Jesus,
25:11
Speaker 1: Peter who was with Jesus, Andrew who was with Jesus. Matthew, Oh,
25:15
Speaker 1: my goodness, Matthew, the famous task. I mean, these guys
25:17
Speaker 1: were the guys. No one, I mean, if anything, they
25:20
Speaker 1: would have left these embarrassing details out. Nobody would have
25:24
Speaker 1: invented a detail that would undermine the credibility of these guys.
25:29
Speaker 1: So why would they include their embarrassing response to what
25:33
Speaker 1: Jesus was doing, especially after Jesus has told him over
25:36
Speaker 1: and over and over fear not. So here's what happened.
25:42
Speaker 1: Here's what we're told, because here's what happened. And you
25:46
Speaker 1: know who could blame him? When the disciples saw him
25:48
Speaker 1: walking on the lake, fail, they're terrified, they're terrified, and
25:54
Speaker 1: they said it's a ghost, and they cried out in fear.
25:58
Speaker 1: It's like Matthew, is that what happened? And yeah, I
26:00
Speaker 1: was there, we were we just freaked out. It's like,
26:02
Speaker 1: you know, Peter, I mean, you spent your whole life
26:05
Speaker 1: on the water. I know, I know. It's so embarrassing.
26:07
Speaker 1: You sure marks going you sure you want me to
26:10
Speaker 1: include this, Peter, Yeah, I put it in there. That's
26:11
Speaker 1: what happened. Nobody make this up. And then you know
26:14
Speaker 1: what happened. Jesus says, Ah, Jesus says, take courage. It
26:20
Speaker 1: is I guys, don't be afraid. How okay, how many
26:26
Speaker 1: times we've done field trips, we've done sermons, we've done miracles.
26:30
Speaker 1: Stop being afraid. As long as I'm here, there's no
26:33
Speaker 1: need to fear. As long as I'm with you, there's
26:35
Speaker 1: no need to fear. As long as I know what's
26:38
Speaker 1: going on in your life and you know that I
26:40
Speaker 1: love and care for you, there is no need to fear. Listen,
26:44
Speaker 1: even when there's something to be afraid of, you do
26:47
Speaker 1: not have to allow fear to be the boss of you.
26:52
Speaker 1: But once again, it didn't stick. This is encouraging to me.
26:57
Speaker 1: It didn't stick. They feared right up till the very end,
27:03
Speaker 1: at the end of Jesus ministry. You know this part
27:05
Speaker 1: of hope. He's on his way to Jerusalem. They're going
27:08
Speaker 1: with him. They've just raised Lazarus from the dead. They're thinking,
27:11
Speaker 1: this is it. This is the moment we've been waiting for.
27:13
Speaker 1: They get to Jerusalem, they are welcomed by the crowds
27:15
Speaker 1: chanting his name. Hosanna turns political. He's going to be
27:19
Speaker 1: the king. They hang around in Jerusalem for about a week.
27:22
Speaker 1: Then they have a passover meal together and Jesus says, Okay,
27:25
Speaker 1: listen carefully, guys, John, write this down. I am establishing
27:28
Speaker 1: I'm inaugurating a brand new covenant, brand new relationship between
27:31
Speaker 1: God and me. And they're thinking, this is it. I've
27:33
Speaker 1: already told you, guys, that we're starting a brand new movement,
27:36
Speaker 1: my ecclecia, my assembly, my congregation. I've already told you
27:39
Speaker 1: that nothing's going to stop it. They're thinking, oh, my goodness,
27:41
Speaker 1: this is it. I'm glad we didn't leave early. And
27:43
Speaker 1: he said, and I'm going to step into the law.
27:45
Speaker 1: I'm going to step into the role of Moses here,
27:47
Speaker 1: and I'm going to give you a new law, a
27:48
Speaker 1: new command. This was it. This is what they've been
27:50
Speaker 1: waiting for I mean they were, I mean feeding the
27:53
Speaker 1: five thousand. That was one thing. This was the moment
27:55
Speaker 1: they dreamed of. This was the moment their parents had
27:58
Speaker 1: told them may one day happen, but they didn't dream
28:01
Speaker 1: that it would happen in their lifetime, that the Messiah,
28:04
Speaker 1: God's Messiah would show up and re establish the nation
28:07
Speaker 1: of Israel and the kingdom and throw the Romans out.
28:12
Speaker 1: And then later that night he's arrested. And what did
28:15
Speaker 1: they do stand by their man? No, they panicked, They hide,
28:21
Speaker 1: they lie, they deny. Then they watched him drive to
28:26
Speaker 1: Gaugatha and he's crucified. And when they knew that Jesus
28:34
Speaker 1: was dead, boom, it's over. We don't know who he was.
28:39
Speaker 1: We thought we did. This was so exciting, but it's over.
28:44
Speaker 1: And along with everything else Jesus taught, it's over because
28:47
Speaker 1: Jesus said too much about himself. We can't keep this
28:49
Speaker 1: dream alive. We can't tell these stories because nobody's gonna
28:52
Speaker 1: take them seriously, because no one can take Jesus seriously.
28:54
Speaker 1: Remember on the boat that day, guys, when we said,
28:56
Speaker 1: what kind of man is this? What kind of man
28:58
Speaker 1: is this? And we were convinced that this was a
29:00
Speaker 1: man that had to be from God, but clearly wrong.
29:02
Speaker 1: Can't you know, crucify God's Messiah. We were wrong everything
29:08
Speaker 1: about him, everything we believed was wrong. Everything he said
29:12
Speaker 1: about himself either we misunderstood or he lied. And then
29:20
Speaker 1: they peered into an empty tumbe. And then they met
29:29
Speaker 1: their living friend, and they were back in business. Because listen,
29:38
Speaker 1: the resurrection punctuated every single thing Jesus taught and everything
29:44
Speaker 1: he said about himself. And when Jesus rose from the dead,
29:47
Speaker 1: suddenly for the first time, this is why reading the
29:49
Speaker 1: Gospels can be so confusing. Suddenly, for the first time,
29:52
Speaker 1: it all made perfect sense, especially what Jesus had to
29:56
Speaker 1: say about fear. Don't miss this. For us, the the
30:00
Speaker 1: resurrection is about Easter. For them, the resurrection was about everything.
30:05
Speaker 1: For us, sometimes resurrection is just an Easter Sunday. For them,
30:09
Speaker 1: it was every single day. It was the source of
30:12
Speaker 1: their confidence, It was the source of their boldness, it
30:14
Speaker 1: was the source of their strength. Jesus resurrection validated everything
30:18
Speaker 1: he had taught, especially what he said about fear. The
30:21
Speaker 1: world would continue for these guys to be a very
30:23
Speaker 1: scary place, but they didn't have to be a scared
30:28
Speaker 1: because they feared. They had the greater fear. They finally
30:32
Speaker 1: got the lesson of the boat rides, they finally got
30:35
Speaker 1: the lesson of the sparrows. They finally got fear not.
30:38
Speaker 1: Fear not, I am with you, and they feared not,
30:44
Speaker 1: and they came out of hiding. This is amazing. We
30:46
Speaker 1: can't imagine this, We can't imagine that there's no parallel
30:49
Speaker 1: in our lives. And they willingly faced down the very
30:54
Speaker 1: men that had Jesus arrested, beaten, and crucified, and then
31:00
Speaker 1: they went on to change the world, because fear not
31:05
Speaker 1: is what changed the world. A generation of men and women,
31:11
Speaker 1: the first generation of Christians, lost their fear of death.
31:16
Speaker 1: And when someone has lost their fear of death, it
31:20
Speaker 1: is very difficult to threaten them. Years later, second century
31:27
Speaker 1: medical writer Claudius Galinus or Galenis writes in a journal
31:32
Speaker 1: he had the opportunity to go out into the arena
31:34
Speaker 1: and examine the bodies of dying Christians during the reign
31:37
Speaker 1: of Marcus Aurelius, and back in those days it was
31:40
Speaker 1: illegal for doctors to examine dead bodies. Once a body
31:43
Speaker 1: was dead, you had to buried immediately. You couldn't do autopsis.
31:45
Speaker 1: It was illegal to open up a dead body to
31:47
Speaker 1: learn anything about how the body worked. It's one of
31:49
Speaker 1: the reasons it took so long for medicine to advance,
31:52
Speaker 1: especially during a period of time when you couldn't examine
31:54
Speaker 1: a dead body. So their best hope it would wait
31:57
Speaker 1: on the side this is so gross. It would wait
31:59
Speaker 1: on the sideline of the arena. And once the animals
32:01
Speaker 1: were taken out of the arena, and once the gladiatorial
32:03
Speaker 1: games were over, these doctors could go out and examine
32:06
Speaker 1: dying bodies. That was their only opportunity. But once the
32:09
Speaker 1: body died, they couldn't touch the body anymore. And this
32:12
Speaker 1: particular medical writer had that opportunity. Here's what he said
32:18
Speaker 1: about Christians for fearlessness. This is his observation for fearlessness
32:25
Speaker 1: of death and the hereafter is something we witness in
32:28
Speaker 1: them every day. And what changed this was the resurrection
32:38
Speaker 1: of Jesus. Because when you worship a risen lord, when
32:43
Speaker 1: you worship someone who has mastered life and conquered death,
32:47
Speaker 1: and when he says to you, fear not, you realize
32:51
Speaker 1: I can fear not not because there's nothing to be
32:53
Speaker 1: afraid of But because I have fastened my affection and
32:57
Speaker 1: my attention on the one who deserves whole much trust
33:01
Speaker 1: and all my reverence and all my fear. Now, fear
33:06
Speaker 1: is a permanent part of the human experience. It just is.
33:10
Speaker 1: And there are lots of ways to cope. But none
33:14
Speaker 1: of us want fear to be the boss of us.
33:18
Speaker 1: And Peter, Peter, this is so amazing. Peter who failed
33:22
Speaker 1: both boat rides, Peter who denied he even knew Jesus
33:27
Speaker 1: after that passover meal, Peter who basically did everything, who
33:32
Speaker 1: panicked during jesus arrest, That very same Peter who lied
33:37
Speaker 1: when questioned, who hid years after the resurrection, he would
33:40
Speaker 1: dictate a letter to Christians, the first century Christians, those
33:44
Speaker 1: like us who have believed but have not seen Jesus.
33:48
Speaker 1: And here's what he says to you, and here's what
33:51
Speaker 1: he says to me, based on his experience with Jesus.
33:54
Speaker 1: He said, let me tell you what to do. Let
33:56
Speaker 1: me tell you what you have been invited to do. Cast, throw, hurl,
34:02
Speaker 1: heave all of your cares on him. Why is that
34:06
Speaker 1: gonna help us, Peter, Because let me tell you what
34:08
Speaker 1: I know that he wants you to know, because he
34:12
Speaker 1: cares for you, cast all your cares on him. Why
34:18
Speaker 1: because I can speak with authority, Peter would say, because
34:22
Speaker 1: he cares for you. Literally, transfer all of your worry,
34:28
Speaker 1: transfer all of your fretting, transfer all of your anxiety,
34:32
Speaker 1: transfer all of your fears to him, because he cares
34:35
Speaker 1: for you. And Peter should know, because he faced things
34:38
Speaker 1: we can't even imagine. He eventually died in Nero's Rome,
34:44
Speaker 1: but he was confident that the promise Jesus made him.
34:47
Speaker 1: He was confident that the promise Jesus made the disciples
34:50
Speaker 1: and the apostles was a promise that he's made you
34:54
Speaker 1: as well. That he would say with the Psalmist, though
34:58
Speaker 1: you walk through the of the shadow of death, fear
35:04
Speaker 1: you are not the boss of me. I already have
35:08
Speaker 1: a boss who conquered life, who conquered death. He is
35:13
Speaker 1: who he claimed to be. He is worthy of my followship,
35:16
Speaker 1: and he is worthy of my worship. And in this way,
35:20
Speaker 1: my friends, the life of Jesus it's an invitation, and
35:25
Speaker 1: it's a promise. It's an invitation to follow, and it's
35:28
Speaker 1: a promise that you can follow without fear. Follow me,
35:34
Speaker 1: fear not, fear not even when there's something to be
35:38
Speaker 1: afraid of, because I am with you and I care
35:44
Speaker 1: for you, fear not