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Jesus Walks on the Sea of GalileeMatthew 14:22-36

Jesus had just fed a multitude with a little boy’s lunch. {Was it 10,000 or 20,000 people who were fed when the women and children are taken into consideration? We can only wonder}

But it was an incredible miracle no matter what the numbers were. Jesus had thrown a stunning banquet in the wilderness! And everyone who attended was satisfied, stuffed, filled to the brim. Everybody present had that Thanksgiving feeling. And what’s more, there were 12 baskets of leftovers.

It was such an incredible occasion that recipients of Jesus’ compassion that day couldn’t help but think that Jesus was the prophet whom Moses predicted back in Deuteronomy 18. John 6:14 says, When the people saw the sign that (Jesus) had done, they said “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world”1 “Surely”, the people thought, “just as Moses provided bread in the wilderness, this must be the special prophet that Moses had predicted would come as his replacement.”

But John’s gospel suggests that there may have been some other hysteria that day that went beyond, “Jesus is the great prophet.” And this unique information in John’s gospel may help us understand the first verse in our passage this morning, Matthew 14:22. Look at the first verse in our passage, again Matthew 14:22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side. Matthew uses a really strong word that’s beneath our English word ‘made’. More literally Jesus compelled his disciples, he forced them2, the verb signifies very strong action. We can almost hear Jesus saying to his disciples, “Let’s go, let’s go, everyone in the boat, Let’s go”

So what may have been going on? Well we know that Jesus needed a time of personal prayer with the Father; verse 23 in our passage tells us that. And we know he wanted to escape the crowd and get some rest; Mark 6:31-32 tells us that. But it’s John’s gospel that offers us a third 1 John 6:142 Handbook

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issue that may have influenced Jesus’ actions that day. Jesus perceived--and this is John 6:15-- that the people who ate and were satisfied were about to come by force and make him king.3 It may be that the feeding scene may have “turned into a political rally with revolutionary overtones,”4 so Jesus compelled his disciples to leave quickly.

{Why would he make them leave quickly? It wasn’t time for him to be king. And the road to kingship had to go through the cross.}

Well the disciples got into the boat and it may have been a boat like this:

“This (artist’s rendering) is based on the remains of a 2,000 year old fishing boat found on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was 26 ½ feet long ”5 and could hold 15 men.

Verse 23 tells us that after Jesus had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. And when evening came, He was still alone up on the mountain praying. He prayed along time.

And while Jesus was alone laboring in prayer, the boat went a long way from land, and was probably out ‘towards the middle of the lake’6

Let’s look at a map of the Sea of Galilee and try to piece together what was happening….

3 John 6:154 Chouinard, L (1997), College Press5 ESV Study Bible page 18516 Carson

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Mark 6:45 says that Jesus sent his disciples in the boat on ahead to Bethsaida. Do you see Bethsaida on the map at the north tip of the Sea of Galilee? It seems that the disciples were to wait there to join him when he came by foot after dismissing the crowds but he didn’t come in time and so the disciples headed across to Genesseret on the west bank of the Sea of Galilee. You can see Genesseret on the map and verse 34 of our passage says they landed there. 7 So by reconstructing the setting this way, the feeding of the 5000 was on the east shore of the sea of Galilee and the disciples went across the sea to the west.

So for several hours there were two scenes in this drama and I suppose if someone was making a film out of this story, the camera focus would alternate between the two--Jesus praying alone on the mountain and the disciples laboring against a head wind in the midst of a storm trying to get to the other side of the Sea of Galilee .8 Verse 24 tells us that the boat was being ‘beaten’ by the waves; more literally the boat was being ‘tormented’ by the waves a word that in other settings could portray demonic hostility.9

Verse 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea.

7 Carson: Mark 6:45 tells us that Jesus sent his disciples “on ahead of him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.” Bethsaida is on the north shore of Sea of Galilee. It seems they were to wait for him at Bethsaida for a certain amount of time before they proceeded across the Sea. Jesus was long in coming so they proceeded without him. They ended up at Genessaret (vs. 34} So they first went to Bethsaida and then headed ‘across the lake to Genessaret? The Handbook for Translators parses the facts completely opposite: “The other side of the lake is the traditional way of mentioning the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. ..that the movement of the of the boat was from west to east is further confirmed by verse 34, which has them landing at Genessaret (a town on the western shore) on their return. This further confirms that the feeding of the 5000 took place on the Western shore.” Carson admits the problem is knotty.8 Carson9 Blomberg

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The Romans observed 4 ‘Watches of the night’--6:00 pm to 9:00 pm, watch 1; 9:00 pm to 12:00 am, watch 2; 12:00 am to 3:00 am, watch 3, and 3:00 am to 6:00 am, watch 4.

Jesus showed up in the fourth watch, sometime between 3:00 am and 6:00 am

Let’s pull over and paint the setting once again. The disciples have been on the Sea of Galilee for more than nine hours? They’ve found themselves in the midst of a fierce storm and their boat is being hammered by the sea. They’re exhausted. They’re soaked to the bone. It’s dark. And they see the shape of a person walking on the water toward them.

They cried out in fear… “It’s a ghost!” “They were so terrified that they “began to scream in fear”10

{“Many pagans believed that the spirits of those drowned at sea never could descend to the realm of the dead, but wandered aimlessly above the waters”11 Did some of Jesus’ disciples believe that? We don’t know)

But immediately, verse 25, Jesus spoke to them saying “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid”

Let’s look at Jesus’s calming words on the screen…

You can see I’ve bracketed “It is I” on the slide. Although the Greek ‘ego eimi’ ( translated ‘it is I’ or ‘I AM’) can have no more force than that--just a simple “it is I” or a simple “I am”--any Christian living after the resurrection and ascension, Don Carson says, would also detect echoes of “I AM,” the decisive self-disclosure of God to Moses in Exodus 3:14 at the burning bush12

10 A suggested rendition from the Handbook for translators. The TEV says “screamed in fear’11 Keener, The Gospel of Matthew quoting Ach.Tat.5.15.1-212 Carson

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If so what this could mean is that just as God revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush as the great I AM in Exodus; so Jesus could possibly be revealing himself as the same great I AM as he comes to calm his screaming disciples. Take heart! I AM! Don’t be afraid! 13

Notice how the phrases ‘take heart’ and ‘don’t be afraid’ bracket, they bookend the central reason for Jesus’ calming exhortations.14 Why should his disciples take heart? Why should they not be afraid? Because God himself is present with them, the covenant keeping God is present with them. Why should you and I not be controlled by fear? Because God himself has declared that he is present with us.

By the way, and my timing gives you a hint here, “what would you guess is the most common command in scripture? It’s not for us to be more loving. It’s not for us to guard sexual purity or to walk with integrity, important as those qualities are. The single command in scripture that occurs more often than any other ….is formulated in two words…what are they?.... “Fear not!”15 ‘One author notes there are 366 ‘fear not’ verses in the bible--one for every day of the year, including one for leap year’16

Why does God command us not to fear so often? Because he knows that that will be our central issue.“Don’t you think fear is the number one reason why people avoid doing what God asks them to do? …. Don’t you think fear is the number one reason why people refuse to get out of the boat?”17

Do you struggle with fear like I do? Is your life circumscribed by your fears? How might our lives be different if we weren’t so frequently controlled by fear? What have we missed out on because we’ve been afraid? Aren’t you tired of being dominated by fear?

Jesus said,Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid. You see it’s his presence, his character, his competence, his commitment to us that ought to fill our minds and take away our fear.

I was talking with Jared Gillespie, one of our Letourneau students about this passage and he was reminded of a visit he made to his brother and sister-in-law’s home recently. The family has an in-the-ground pool and Jared was in the pool beckoning their 4-year old Russell to jump to him. Russell wouldn’t budge…there was no way he was going to jump to Jared.

Well Jared’s brother got into the pool and beckoned Russell to jump. “Come on Russell,” his dad said, “jump!” And Russell jumped immediately. Why? No offense to Jared but it’s different jumping to Dad instead of an uncle.

I wonder if the key challenge for you and me is getting to know the One who is in the water!

13 Carson14 Carson15 Ortberg, page 11716 Lloyd Ogilvie as quoted in Ortberg, page 11817 Ortberg, page 118

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The character and competence and commitment of the one who is in control of our lives makes all the difference. Let me share another story that illustrates that very point. It’s got some humor but it makes the point very well.

This is from the book, “If you Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat” “Some years ago my wife arranged for us to ride in a hot-air balloon as a birthday gift. { This story really captured my interest because the most terrifying moment I’ve ever experienced was the hot air balloon ride that Julia and I took on our honeymoon}

The author continues: We went to the field where the balloons ascended and got into a little basket with one other couple. We introduced ourselves and swapped vocational information. (The author of the book is a pastor so he shared that with the other couple.)

Then our pilot began the ascent…The view was scenic, inspiring, and majestic. But I also began to experience one emotion I had not anticipated. Want to guess? Fear. I had always thought those (hot air balloon)baskets were chest high, but this one only came up to our knees. One good lurch would be enough to throw someone over the side. So I held on with grim determination and white knuckles. I looked over at my wife, who does not care for heights at all, and relaxed a bit, knowing there was someone more tense in the basket than I was. I could tell, because she would not move--at all. During part of our flight there was a horse ranch on the ground directly behind her. I pointed it out because she loves horses, and, without turning around, or even pivoting her head, she simply rolled her eyes back as far as she could and said, “Yes its beautiful”

About this time I decided I’d like to get to know the kid who was flying the balloon…the truth was we had placed our lives and destinies in the hands of a (very young) pilot. Everything depended on his character and competence.

So the author is looking for reassurance by getting to know the pilot better right? He’s trying to get to know who is in the water.

I asked him what he did for a living and how he got started flying hot-air balloons. (I was hoping that he had left a former job as a neurosurgeon or astronaut--some position with lots of responsibilities.) But I knew we were in trouble when his response to me began, “Dude, it’s like this…”

(Our pilot, the one to whom we had entrusted our lives didn’t) even have a job. He mostly surfed. He said that the reason he got started flying hot air balloons was that he had been driving around in his pickup when he’d had too much to drink, crashed the truck, and badly injured his brother. His brother still couldn’t get around too well, so watching hot-air balloons gave him something to do.

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“By the way,” (our pilot interjected), “If things get a little choppy on the way down, don’t be surprised. I’ve never flown this particular balloon before and I’m not sure how it’s going to handle the descent.”

My wife looked over at me and said, ‘you mean to tell me we are a 1000 feet up in the air with an unemployed surfer who started flying hot air balloons because he got drunk, crashed a pickup, injured his brother, and (furthermore he) has never been in this balloon before and doesn’t know how to bring it down?

Then the wife of the other couple looked at me and spoke--the only words either of them were to utter throughout the entire flight.

You’re a pastor. Do something religious.So I took an offering.18

Let’s process that story briefly. So what made that flight so scary? Well, they were way up in the air! What else? The pilot was just a kid. The one who was in charge of their lives had never flown the balloon they were in. He seemed to have very little experience.

You see it’s way different with Jesus. He’s the great I AM. He’s the eternal God. He’s the one who is stunningly, powerfully and outlandishly in control. He knows the end from the beginning. If I ascend to heaven, He is there.19 If I dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea He is there.20 He’s dependable, responsible, reliable, faithful, trustworthy, competent, and good. And as he was committed to his disciples, he is committed to us.

So we ask, “Why this story?”…”Why the story of Jesus walking on the water?” Well Jesus wanted to show his disciples who he was in the midst of their raging storm. Who is Jesus in the midst of our raging storms? He is sufficient for every need we have!

There’s an interesting addition in Mark’s account of this miracle that drives home the idea that Jesus was out to show his disciples who he really was. Mark, in his rendition of this miracle, says that Jesus came to them walking on the sea. And he meant to pass by them.

Now what are we to do with that? Why would Jesus mean to pass by them? Not so they would fail to see him--that would be easy wouldn’t it? There was lots of sea to walk on so that he wouldn’t be seen, don’t you think? No it was not because he didn’t want to be seen, but so they would see him.

Let me put up a slide….

18 Ortberg, “If you want to walk on water you’ve got to get out of the boat”19 Psalm 139:820 Psalm 139:9

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Many students of scripture have come to believe that the phrase ‘to pass by’, the Greek verb “parechomai”, you can see that on the slide, is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament as a technical term for a theophany, a God appearance. In other words when we see ‘God passing by’ in the Old Testament it means that God is showing up on behalf of his people.

So in Exodus 34:6, The LORD passed before Moses…he appeared as God to MosesAnd in 2 Kings 19:11 The LORD passed by Elijah…he appeared as God to Elijah

And so when Mark says And (Jesus) meant to pass by them, its’ not that Jesus was trying to ignore them. Quite the contrary, he was revealing his divine presence and power. For only God the powerful creator can walk on water: “He alone …treads on the waves of the sea.21

The ESV study bible has a helpful comment here: “Walking on the water is not something Jesus did just to amaze the disciples, but rather it (was) the powerful, visible demonstration of Jesus’ sovereignty over the world he created (Hebrews 1:3). In the Old Testament God alone rules over the seas (Ps. 29:10-11; Psalm 89:9; Psalm 107:28-30)”22

Well if the story isn’t amazing already, it becomes almost unbelievable as Peter gets the hair brained idea to join Jesus on the water…

Lord if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. “Notice that Peter didn’t ask for a guarantee, just an opportunity. “23 I don’t need you to promise me anything Lord, I just want to walk with you! (And the ‘if’ in Peter’s request could better be translated ‘since’… Lord, since it’ you….)

We’re so familiar with this story that I think we’ve forgotten how crazy Peter’s request was. What was he thinking? Don’t you think the other disciples reacted to Peter’s request at least in

21 Ortberg, page 1522 ESV Study Bible23 Ortberg, page 33

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their mind: “Peter sit down, you’ve lost your mind!” “God walks on water, who do you think you are?” “Check his forehead guys; he must be sick!” “Peter….sit down”

What was Peter thinking? Did he have the special gene that scientists have identified as the ‘risk taking gene’?24

Was his response that of a kid seeing a new ride at Six Flags “I want to try that!”

The best I can do here is that Peter wanted to be where Jesus was. “I want to be where you are, I want to do what you’re doing. I want to be involved in the great things you’re accomplishing. I want to be part of the miracles you’re making happen….I don’t want to be ‘boat potato’25

Peter wanted all of Jesus he could have…He wanted to be involved in everything Jesus did….He had his own species of FOMO…have you heard that acronym?… Fear of Missing Out.

And quite frankly I think that’s the heart of a water-walker. I want all that God wants for me! Nothing more. Nothing less. And so I’m prepared to step out of the boat when Jesus beckons.

I’ve gotten away from that. Have you?

Was Jesus pleased at Peter’s request? I think so. Look at verse 29.

29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”

The secret to walking on the water is keeping our eyes on Jesus.

“When you and I become more focused on the overwhelming storms in our lives than the overwhelming presence of God, we get into trouble” 26

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Driving home the need to focus on Jesus, think about Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter. Everyone in Hebrews chapter 11 walked by faith and not by sight. By faith Abraham… by faith Moses… by faith Rahab…by faith Gideon…Barak and Samson…..I suppose we could say that all of those who have gone before us were water walkers…they walked by faith and not by sight.

24 Ortberg, page 5525 Ortberg uses this phrase26 Ortberg, page 157

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And how are we to live our faith journey out in light of those heroes of the faith? Listen to the

familiar verses that kick off Hebrews 12…. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us….what are the next words? 2 looking to Jesus,

The secret to walking on the water is keeping our eyes on Jesus. ___________

Look at Peter’s short prayer in verse 30…. Lord save me. Believe it or not Charles Spurgeon, the master preacher made an entire sermon out of those three words. The sermon was called “Peter’s Shortest Prayer”.

Spurgeon’s sermon had seven points…1. It was a very brief prayer2. It was wonderfully comprehensive, and adapted for use on many occasions.3. It was a very direct prayer.4. It was a very sound-doctrine prayer5. It was a very personal prayer6. It was a very urgent prayerLastly…7. It was a very effectual prayer

May I spend a moment on his second point…that the prayer is comprehensive and can be adapted for use on many occasions… and these are my words now reflecting on the full scope of our salvation--that we’ve been saved from the penalty of our sin, that we are being saved from the power of sin, and that one day we can anticipate being saved from the very presence of sin.

●When you and I are overwhelmed with our sin…do you ever get there?... we can pray Lord save me.

●When you and I are listening to someone talk about the utter brokenness of their family, we can pray, “Lord save them”

●When you and I think about the our friends who haven’t trusted Christ to be saved, we can pray, “Lord save them.”

●When we see how broken we really are, we can pray “Lord save me.”●When we find ourselves thinking terrible ungodly thoughts, we can pray “Lord save me”Peter’s shortest prayer is very comprehensive.

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But it’s also very personal. Listen as Spurgeon addressed his audience….

“I see some little girls over there; will not each one of you, my dear children, pray this prayer? I pray the Holy Spirit to move you to cry, “Lord, save little Annie,” or “Lord, save little Mary;” and may you boys be equally moved to pray, “Lord, save Tom,” or “Lord, save Harry.” Pray for yourself in just that simple way, and who knows what blessing may come to you? Then you mothers will surely not let your children pray for themselves, while you remain prayerless; will not each one of you cry, “Lord, save me”? And you working-men, whom I am so glad to see at a week-night service, do not go away without presenting your own personal petitions. The apostle Peter had to pray for himself, the most eminent servants of God had to pray for themselves, and you must pray for yourselves. If all the saints of God were to pray for you, with one united voice, as long as you live, you would not be saved unless you also cried to God for yourself. Religion is a personal matter, there is no such thing as religion by proxy. You must repent for yourselves, and pray for yourselves, and believe for yourselves if you would be saved. May God grant that you may do so!27

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Well look at verse 31…

31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

It’s easy for us to hear a reprimand in Jesus’ words “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” But I hear an invitation… “O you of little faith, get to know me!” Get to know that I am faithful, reliable, trustworthy, and good. Get to know that I am stunningly, powerfully and outlandishly in control. O you of little faith, get to know me.

Most of us wish we had more faith. But faith doesn’t come from trying harder. It comes from getting to know God better.28 And it grows when we begin to get our feet wet.

Verse 32….32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” This is the first time that Jesus has been addressed by his disciples with this full title, Son of God.29

27 Spurgeon, C. H. (1910). Peter’s Shortest Prayer. In The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons (Vol. 56, pp. 103–104). London: Passmore & Alabaster.28 Ortberg, page 8129 Carson

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When they got in the boat, the wind ceased and those in the boat declared Jesus’ great worth.Truly, most assuredly….most certainly.. you are the son of God!

For the next few minutes in closing let’s pursue the idea of water-walking. You’ll see a short 5-point outline on your sermon notes

________________

1. You and I were meant to walk on water (to walk by faith and not by sight)

You and I were meant to get out of the boat and walk by faith and not by sight. We were meant to display the gospel in its fullness. We were meant to take steps into uncertainty trusting God with what would happen. We were meant to dream things that only God could accomplish. We were meant to join God in the miracles that he would want to do. We were meant to join God in the mission that he is out to complete on earth.

Listen to this quote by Henry Blackaby:

“Some people say, “God will never ask me to do something I can’t do”. He writes…(But) I have come to the place in my life that, if the assignment I sense God is giving me is something that I know I can handle, I know it is probably not from God. The kind of assignments God gives in the bible are always God-sized. They are always beyond what people can do because he wants to demonstrate his nature, his strength, his provision, and his kindness to his people and to a watching world. This is the only way the world will come to know him.”30

You and I were meant to walk on water. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death. By faith Noah constructed an Ark….and on and on we could go. We were meant to walk by faith and not by sight.

2. Often our fears and desires for comfort keep us in the boat

Let’s talk about our desires for comfort. John Ortberg writes, “Would you like to guess the name of the best-selling chair in America? La-Z-boy. (not Walk on the Water boy). Not Risk-E-Boy. Not Work-R-Boy.”31 It’s easy to begin to live for ourselves. It’s easy to begin thinking that the goal in life is to make our lives as comfortable as possible. But you and I were saved for something much bigger than our comfort.

Now let’s talk about our fears. First of all, our fears are powerful. Dave Barry, a theologian in his own right, says as much: “All of us are born with a set of instinctive fears: of falling, of the dark, of lobsters, of falling on lobsters in the dark, of speaking before a Rotary club, and of the

30 As quoted by Ortberg, page 7031 Ortberg, page 21

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words: ‘some assembly required’32 Our fears are powerful and we all have them. Secondly, the way God has designed our bodies, we can react in fear before we have even had a chance to rationally process what is going on. We can get hijacked by our fears before we even understand what’s happening.

Thirdly I think we just get used to living with our fears. They move in and make themselves at home. We get used to them. We get use to saying: ‘I’ve been afraid of that forever.’…“I could never do that…that’s scary”… “I could never witness to my neighbor”… ‘I could never start a conversation on the topic with my spouse’ …’I could never take a mission trip’

And since we all have fears, we begin to think it’s natural to live with them. They begin to exist under the radar in our lives. We think to ourselves, “Everybody has fears” and we make a place for them. We don’t confesses fear in church. Nobody ever receives church discipline for fear. And fear isn’t one of the seven deadly sins. It’s one of the acceptable sins in church life. And so our fears become those crazy relatives that live in the guest room…..and the living room…..and everywhere in our lives. And we just live around them… in Jesus’ name. When was the last time someone challenged you about your fears? When was the last time someone asked you to hold them accountable regarding their fears?

I’ve come to wonder if what I will do in my ministry, what I will do for the Lord will ultimately be determined by my fears. My fears are these tall fences in my life that communicate: “Danger ahead” … That’s a terrible thought isn’t it? ..that my life could be determined by my fears,that who I become in the Lord, that what I accomplish for the Lord will be determined by my fears. What about you? Will the size of your life be determined by your fears?

We need to see that our fears are interlopers. We shouldn’t make a place for them. If you walked into your living room and there was this big ugly thing lounging all over your couch wouldn’t you make it leave? Wouldn’t you be indignant? Wouldn’t you point to the door and say, “Get out!” Well that’s our fears--big ugly things that don’t belong in our lives. We’ve got to not be such willing houseguests with our fears. When we find a fear we need to begin the eviction process.

I think God would have it that we would discover a fear in our life and we’d work to face that fear trusting God with the outcome. You know we’ll never grow unless we take steps of faith. We’ll never grow if we keep giving into our fears. And so every time our fears lead us to believe a certain thing or act a certain way, we’ve made a choice to live a stagnant life.

‘I wonder why ‘so and so’ is the same as he or she was twenty years ago?’ Well they never got out of the boat. You see it’s when we take little steps of faith we grow. God grows our faith y asking us to get out of the boat.33

Often our fears and desires for comfort keep us in the boat32 Ortberg, page 12233 Ortberg, page 27

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How about you…. Are there fears that keep you in the boat? Are there desires for comfort that keep you in the boat?

3. What is your boat anyway? Your ministry that you can do with your eyes closed? Your work in which you are chronically underemployed? Your spiritual life that’s in the doldrums?

“Your boat is whatever represents safety and security to you apart from God.”

“Your boat is whatever you are tempted to put your trust in, especially when life gets a little stormy.”

“Your boat is whatever keeps you so comfortable that you don’t want to give it up even if it’s keeping you from joining Jesus on the waves.”

“Your boat is whatever pulls you away from the high adventure of discipleship.”34

Think about your life. What’s your boat?

4. We need to recognize the high costs of being controlled by our fears.

In his book, Ortberg lists several costs of being a ‘boat potato’, living constrained by our fears. He first mentions the loss of self-esteem. Now self-esteem gets a bad rap in Christian circles --we’re not out to grow in self-esteem; we’re out to esteem the Lord. I agree completely.

But Ortberg makes this point, all research suggests that self-esteem largely boils down to one issue: When you face a difficult situation, do you approach it, take action, face it head on, or do you avoid it…and run and hide? If you take action--even if it doesn’t turn out perfectly-- you get the satisfaction of ‘doing a hard thing’ of ‘taking on a challenge’ and you grow.35

What are some other costs of living constrained by our fears? Loss of joy, loss of availability, and loss of authentic intimacy. Why did Adam hide from God in the garden? He was afraid. Why do you and I hide from each other? We’re afraid.

We need to recognize the high costs of giving in to our fears.

5. Perhaps it’s time to repent of our fears and step out of the boat.

I wonder if you might agree with God that you’ve been too kind to your fears, you’ve made a place for them as if they were meant to be a vital part of your life.

34 Ortberg, page 1735 Ortberg, page 124-125

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And then ask the Lord to begin to show you ways, little ways, to get your feet wet--movement toward unsaved neighbors or coworkers, having a conversation with someone you are terrified of, etc.

______________

There is a high cost of never getting out of the boat…

“unrealized potential, unfulfilled longings, boredom, what one writer calls the ‘common cold of the soul’. …sinful patterns of behavior never get confronted and changed, abilities and gifts that never get cultivated and deployed….

Weeks turn into months and months turn into years. And one day you’re looking back on a life of

deep intimate gut-wrenchingly honest conversations you never had; great bold prayers you never prayed, exhilarating risks you never took,sacrificial gifts you never offeredlives you never touched,

And your sitting in a recliner with a shriveled soul, And forgotten dreams,And you realize there was a world of desperate need, And a great God calling you to be part of something bigger than yourself--You see the person you could have become but did not; You never followed your calling.You never got out of the boat.36

There is no tragedy like that.

36 Ortberg, page 34-35

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