I Want to Believe Amidst the Storms

I Want to Believe Amidst the Storms
Sycamore Creek Church
January 24/25, 2016
Tom Arthur

Peace friends!

In 2016 Sarah and I will celebrate nineteen years of marriage. It’s been a great nineteen years, but the first couple of years were really fully of storms. I never thought we wouldn’t make it, but we argued a lot. Sarah and I are two leaders and no followers. We are two oldest children. One of us grew up in an intact family and the other in a divorced family. Sarah is an extrovert, and I’m an introvert. Sarah thinks out loud, and I think to myself. The first year of marriage I was constantly finding myself having to tune Sarah out to do any reading. This has unfortunate consequences. One day she was doing the dishes and she exclaimed out loud, “I cut my finger. I think I need to go to the ER.” I don’t think I even heard her. She said stuff like this all the time. But then she said it again, LOUDER. I probably responded, “It’ll be OK.” I was used to her crying wolf. But then she got in my face and said “I NEED TO GO TO THE ER.” Turns out she had cut her finger all the way down to the knuckle and had to get several stitches. At one point the surgeon looked at me and said, “You better sit down. It looks like you’re about to pass out.” Yep…That was the first year of our marriage. Add to this the storm of working together at the same church. You know how you’re usually polite to your fellow staff at your job, even if you don’t like them or what they’re doing. Well, when you work with your spouse, most of that politeness goes out the door in favor of the familiar blunt shorthand you use with one another in your home. One time we were in staff meeting, and Sarah and I were disagreeing with one another when the pastor said, “I think we’re in a marital moment here. We’ll let you two figure it out and we’ll all come back in a moment.”

Well, not everything was bad those first couple of years. When we moved into our first apartment, we found that the cable company forgot to turn off the cable from the previous renter. So we got free cable for a year. Every night we’d sit down in front of my little fifteen-inch TV and watch old episodes of The X-Files. I don’t know why we began watching the X-Files. We just did. But soon we were caught up in the whole thing. The X-Files is a show about storms. Science vs. the paranormal. Skepticism vs. faith. Good vs. evil. Two lone FBI agents vs. the grand governmental conspiracy. Truth vs. deception. Trust vs. distrust. Belief vs. unbelief. And the chemistry of FBI special agents, Mulder and Scully who it took until season seven for them to finally kiss!

We became huge fans of the X-Files. It was our nightly ritual amidst the storms of learning to be married. My dad, who collects Barbie dolls—yes, you heard me right…my dad collects Barbie dolls—saw his opportunity to get his son on board with Barbie doll collecting. He bought me the collectors’ Mulder and Scully Barbie dolls, which I love, but alas, I did not dive headlong into my dad’s Barbie doll hobby.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the X-Files, let me give you the brief plot rundown. The X-Files is about two FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who are assigned to the X-Files, unsolved paranormal cases. Scully is the doctor, scientist, and skeptic who is initially assigned to debunk Mulder the unorthodox brilliant believer. On Fox’s office wall is the iconic UFO poster with the words, “I want to believe.” The X-Files was compelling on one level because gender roles were reversed. The female lead was the skeptic and the male was the believer. The X-Files was for a long time the longest running Sci-Fi television show in U.S. History. It ran for nine seasons and two-hundred and two episodes (compare that to the original Star Trek which only ran three seasons). Add to those nine seasons two summer movies. And this weekend, the original actors are all back for an X-Files six episode miniseries! Thus, this three-week X-Files themed series. The X-Files left TV Legacy in the following shows: Lost, Fringe, Bones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and more.

So in a nod to the X-Files exploration of the paranormal, the mysterious, and belief vs. skepticism, we’re going to spend the next three weeks looking at a paranormal story in the Bible that is full of mystery and skepticism. One mysterious paranormal story. Three different witnesses. Three weeks.

There are four books in the Bible that tell the story of Jesus. Three of those books all tell the story of Jesus walking on water. So here’s how these three weeks will unfold:

Matthew: I want to believe amidst the storms of life.
Mark: I want to believe amidst the questions I have.
John: I want to believe but I’m afraid.

Three witness tell the same story, but their details are different. We’ll dive into those differences, but why are there differences to begin with? Is it a conspiracy? Or is there some other explanation? There’s a scene in the X-Files episode, Bad Blood, where Scully first tells the story. The sheriff who shows up to help solve the X-File, played by Luke Wilson, is a handsome heartthrob. But when Mulder tells the story, he’s a buck-toothed red neck. Who’s right? Which of the details is correct? Amidst these kinds of questions, it’s easy to miss the big picture. Both agree that a local sheriff showed up to help them solve the X-File. The details are a little different but the big story is in agreement.

The Gospels work in a similar fashion to the way that Scully tells the story with some details while Mulder tells it with other details. The Gospels aren’t “journalistic history.” They’re artistic biography

They’re like painted portraits (not like photographs). The details between each Gospel are a little different, but the big storyline is still the same. Jesus was a Jew born amidst unusual circumstances, he grew up and got a lot of attention with his teachings and lifestyle. The authorities of the day were threatened by him and had him executed and his followers scattered. But three days later the tomb was empty and his followers were claiming that he had been resurrected.

One of those followers was a fisherman named Matthew. Matthew tells the story of Jesus walking on water, and it’s probably the version you know best. Let’s dive in and read the story.

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
~Matthew 14:22 NRSV

Jesus makes his disciples go out on the water and into the eventual storm. The Greek word for “made” is Anagkazō which is a really strong word. Jesus compelled, drove, entreated them to get into the boat and go. There’s no gentle prodding. Their life depends on getting in the boat and going.

Early Christians read this story and immediately understood the boat as a symbol of the church. It’s a place of refuge amidst the water for a community of friends. It keeps them afloat amidst a world of wind and waves.

And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
~Matthew 14:23 NRSV

Jesus is “alone” and the disciples are “alone” without Jesus for the first time. But while they are not with Jesus, they are not really alone. They are together, in the boat, the community of faith.

but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.
~Matthew 14:24 NRSV

While the disciples are in the boat together without Jesus, they end up in a storm. A big storm. A life-threatening storm. Jesus compelled them to get into the boat and go, and he’s not with them, and now there’s this really big storm threatening to sink the whole endeavor.

We all wrestle with storms. I think there are at least three kinds of storms: individual storms, community storms, and mission storms. Individual storms might be a health crisis. I get the diagnosis I most feared. Or a financial storm. I lost my job and don’t have money for rent. Some of us might be in a family crisis, stuck in a dead and lifeless marriage. Or maybe you’re facing a parenting storm. My kids constantly do [fill in the blank], and I don’t know what to do. Or maybe you find yourself in a faith storm. You don’t know what you believe anymore. All of these things can add up to an identity storm: Who am I? These are the individual and personal storms we all face from time to time and maybe you’re facing one even today. The wind of life is against you and you are far from land and battered by the waves.

A second kind of storm we can face when we’re part of a church is an internal church storm. These are not pretty storms.   There’s the storm of mission drift when a church becomes internally focused rather than externally focused. There’s the lukewarm faith storm. Our own fervor for reaching new people for Jesus cools to lukewarm at best. Then there’s all too often storms of church scandal, immoral or unethical behavior. There’s the storm that ensues when a church lacks any kind of discipline. Anything and everything goes. Or maybe there’s the church financial storm due to a lack of faithful stewardship. A church can experience a storm when there’s leadership transition or disunity and even schism. And churches face storms when they don’t agree on the basics of belief (unity in essentials, liberty in non-essentials, and love in all things). These kinds of storms tend to pull a church further and further away from its purpose for existence.

The third kind of storm a church can face are mission storms.   Mission storms are the challenges and obstacles of the rescue mission of Jesus into enemy occupied territory. Stanley Hauerwas, an ethics professor of mine at Duke who was at one time named by Time Magazine as the “Best Theologian” says of this story:

“The church is an ark of the kingdom, but often the church finds herself far from shore and threatened by strong winds and waves. Those in the boat often fail to understand that they are meant to be far from the shore and that to be threatened by a storm is not unusual. If the church is faithful she will always be far from the shore. Some, moreover, will be commanded to leave even the safety of the boat to walk on water.”

There’s a fallacy we all wrestle with. We are tempted to hope and think that following Jesus means smooth sailing. But the opposite is actually true: following Jesus means going into the storm! Following Jesus means getting out of your comfort zone into the storms of those around you. Following Jesus means that the harvest is great but the workers are few. One of my mentors says that if you have enough money and enough people, your mission and vision are too small! Then there’s the storms of trying to discern what is the best strategy, method, systems, and partnerships to accomplish your mission. And unfortunately a church is made up of humans who don’t always get the right strategy, the right method or systems or partnerships. Another mission storm is the stress rest storm. We grow best when we’re stressed for a period of time and then rest for a period of time. And lastly, there’s the spiritual resistance storm. The evil side of creation doesn’t want the church to accomplish its mission. Here’s the basic point, if a church is living into its mission, it is going to face storms because of that mission!

Here’s the basic problem that we all share: we face storms of many kinds. What storms are you facing right now? Into these storms comes Jesus…

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.
~Matthew 14:25-26 NRSV

Jesus shows up in the midst of the storm that his followers find themselves in, but they think he’s a ghost! I asked my Facebook friends if they’ve ever seen a ghost and twenty-two of them said they had! I’ve never seen a ghost, but the closest I’ve come was working one summer at a church in Richmond, Virginia that was built on a plantation. The offices were the old historic plantation house. The front steps up to that house were treacherously steep. The story was told of the young girl who intended to elope one night.   Her fiancé pulled up in a carriage and she rushed out the front door to get away before her parents could stop her. Sounds like a Jane Austen novel so far. But then in her haste she trips down the stairs and breaks her neck falling down those treacherously steep steps. She was said to still haunt the house today. I never saw her or heard her, but one night I was in that big house all by myself and I kinda spooked myself out thinking about it all!

So who is this Jesus? Who walks on water? To the modern mind Jesus walking on water is a miracle of defying gravity or a symbol of “doing the impossible.” But to the ancient mind, Jesus walking on water was an example of divinity conquering chaos. Only the gods could conquer chaos and walk on water. The ancient mind would read this story and see a claim to divinity. Jesus confirms that claim in what he says next:

But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
~Matthew 14:27 NRSV

Jesus confirms his identity saying, “It is I.” But he actually says even more than you probably notice at this point. The Greek is literally translated, “I am.” Jesus sees their fear and apprehension that he is a ghost, and he says, “I am.” I am what?   A ghost? No. Jesus is actually referencing the great name of God in the book of Exodus:

But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”  God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
~Exodus 3:13-14 NRSV

“I am” is literally the name of God. Jesus claims in this moment to be “I Am.” But Peter isn’t buying it.

Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
~Matthew 14:28 NRSV

Peter says, “If…” Peter seems to be doubting. Actually, he might be doing more. Peter’s doubt is reminiscent of Satan’s tempting of Jesus. When Satan tempts Jesus he says, “If you are the Son of God, then command these stones to become bread. If you are the Son of God then throw yourself down from the temple heights so the angels can save you.” Satan not only tempts Jesus but he tests Jesus. At Jesus’ crucifixion the crowds do the same thing: “If you are the Son of God…come down from the cross.” In each instance the accusers command Jesus do something and tempt and test him. Is that what Peter’s doing? Well, not quite.

He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.
~Matthew 14:29 NRSV

Why does Jesus command him? Why give into Peter’s “if” test? Why not say, “Get behind me Satan!” Unlike Satan, Peter asks to be commanded by Jesus, to submit to Jesus’ command! Command me to do your will. Command me to follow you. Command me to accomplish that which I can only do with you! Peter actually doesn’t command Jesus but he asks Jesus to command him. He says in essence, “If you are I AM then command me to obey you.” And Jesus responds saying, “Come.” In doing so, Peter does what he cannot do alone. Peter begins to overcome the forces of chaos just like Jesus!

Here’s the whole point of this message: Ask Jesus to command you, and when you obey you will overcome any storm you face. When you are doing what Jesus wants you to do, when you are obeying Jesus’ command, there’s no storm that can ever swamp you. Let me flesh this out a little bit more.

I have a tendency to command Jesus to help me succeed. I find myself saying, “Jesus, I’ve done a bunch of work on this. Please…please…please! Help it succeed.” This has the whole command thing backwards. Instead of asking Jesus what he would have me do, I tell Jesus what I want him to do for me. Help me be successful.

One area where our family has allowed Jesus to command us is in the practice of hospitality. Sarah and I have practiced hospitality in our home for most of our married life. For most of these nineteen years, we’ve had someone not in our immediately family living with us. A couple of years ago we were wrestling with whether we could continue this practice with me being a pastor. One day after we were done talking about it, we sat down for lunch. We picked up the prayer cube on our table and here’s the prayer we prayed that day: “Lord Jesus Christ, help us to share everything we have with those who are in hunger and need. Amen.” Well, Jesus, can you be any more explicit about what you’re commanding us to do?! So we invited someone to share our home with us. When Jesus commands you and you obey, there are no storms that can swamp you. And yet the storm may still rage.

 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
~Matthew 14:30 NRSV

Stanley Hauerwas points out that “Peter does not begin to sink and then become frightened, but he becomes frightened and so he begins to sink.” Overcoming the forces of chaos is chaotic and scary! Facing the mission storms in life can be frightful, even if Jesus was the one commanding you into the eye of the storm. But Peter isn’t alone.

Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
~Matthew 14:31 NRSV

I feel the sting of Jesus’ rebuke of Peter: You of little faith.” I feel that sting until I notice that it doesn’t keep Jesus from acting immediately. I see this in Jesus all the time. He calls it like he sees it, but it doesn’t keep him from immediately coming to help us. Jesus is full of truth and grace. Thank you God!

When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
~Matthew 14:32-33 NRSV

Not everyone is in the boat. Not everyone worships Jesus. Not everyone asks Jesus to command them. But for those who are in the boat who Jesus does command, what’s left but to confess that Jesus is “I Am”, the Son of God? And Jesus followers do what is only appropriate to do with God: they worship Jesus. And if Jesus is the Son of God, then we are his brothers and sisters, adopted into the family of God, together in the boat of the church battered by the storms of life asking Jesus to command us and looking to Jesus to hold us when we begin to fear and sink amidst the storms of life.

So there’s four actions I want you to do in the midst of the storms you find yourself in.

1. Get in a boat.
   Do you have a church family? Do you worship regularly? Every week? Are you in a small group? Get in a boat. Don’t do the storms of life alone. January is our Group LINK month for our spring semester. You can sign up for one of forty-three small groups this next semester. There’s a boat for everyone. Boats for men, for women, for couples, for co-ed. Boats that go out in the morning, afternoon, or evening. Boats that meet during the week and boats that meet on the weekend. Don’t wait for a storm to get in a boat. Find a boat before the storm hits.

2. Ask Jesus to command you, and then obey.
   Where are you neglecting to invite Jesus to command you to come? Jesus, command me to come but not in my finances. Jesus command me to come but not in my commitment to stay married. Jesus command me to come but not in my commitment to save sex for marriage. Jesus command me to come but not in my time commitments or in loving the people around me I don’t like. Where is Jesus commanding you to come and you’re not obeying? Get in a small group. Worship regularly. Serve and volunteer. Join as a partner in the mission of Sycamore Creek.

3. Worship through the storm.
   Where are you becoming frightened by the wind and the waves around you? You can worry about the storm or you can get in the boat with other followers of Jesus and worship through the storm. One storm brewing in our family is my dad’s recent diagnosis of Lewy Body Disease. LBD is a disease very closely related to Parkinson’s. It leads to a slow steady degeneration and eventually death. In this instance we felt like Jesus’ command to us was to offer hospitality to my dad and step-mom. So after much thought and prayer, we offered to my dad and step-mom the option of moving in with us. They haven’t taken us up on the offer so far, but they appreciated that this was an option for the future. If they do take us upon this offer, will it cause our household storms? Absolutely. But they’re storms we’ve been practicing for for nineteen years. We won’t be facing those storms alone. We’ve got a boat full of followers of Jesus who will worship Jesus right along with us through the calm and the storm.

4. Build another boat.
   What does it look like when we ask Jesus to command us together? We build another boat! This fall our church will launch a third venue that meets in another place on another day of the week. We’ll be building a boat for another group of people. That will require building a launch team. It will require apprenticing people. It will require a group of “critical mass missionaries.” We’ll have to secure a venue, find a venue coordinator, fundraise for it and then invite, invite, invite. Alongside of this we’re developing a teaching team. I’m not preaching three days a week fifty-two weeks a year. Sounds like some storms are ahead for us.

 

Lord, if it is you, command me to come!