Job 38:4-18 Romans 10:5-17 Matthew 14:22-33
Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the words of Jesus, “Take Heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in Christ. It has been a long night for the disciples. Last week we learned how they spent the day with thousands of people coming to Jesus. When finally evening was coming, and a meal and rest seemed certain, Jesus had them pass out a miraculous meal of bread and fish to all the people gathered around. Finally, late into the night, Jesus finally gives them a break. He finally sends them across the sea of Galilee to the next place they are going. It should be a nice and easy boat ride across the lake.
But, it isn’t. The wind turns against them as they are in the middle of the lake. Suddenly the restful boat ride turns into a long night of straining on paddles against the wind. They had to be exhausted. They had to be worried. There weren’t life jackets if something happened. These were not fancy modern motor boats, these were rickety old fishing boats, made of wood, and very full with the 12 disciples weighing it down. And it seemed that luck was against them.
Just when it seems things can’t get any worse, they see something coming to them over the water. “Look,” they shout, “it’s a ghost!” It is easy for us to call the disciples stupid for seeing a “ghost” on the water. But put yourselves in their shoes, something walking to them on water. It must be a ghost; it must be something powerful, something dangerous, something out to get them.
But immediately they hear a familiar voice. “Take Courage! I am who I am. Do not be afraid.” The voice of God, the voice of Jesus calms their fears, it assures them that they are not in danger, but that they are in the presence of the living God, their creator. He is walking on the water toward them. It is a miracle! Jesus must be God. He can provide food in the wilderness, just as God provided manna. He can cross the sea safely, just as God divided the Red Sea during the exodus. And with a word, He can calm the troubled and afraid heart.
It is not just because he is obviously God that Jesus can calm the sinful humans heart, but because He is the God who comes to die on behalf of all sinners that he can do this. A God who loves his creation so much that even when they turn their backs on him, even when they don’t recognize him for who he is, that he would be willing to give up all he has on their behalf. Almighty God enters our tumultuous world, he humbles himself into human form, becoming man (homo factus est) so that he might speak these words to the disciples, “I am who I am, don’t be afraid any longer.”
Don’t be afraid even though your sins are as scarlet. Don’t be afraid even though the things you face are too big for you to handle. Yes, our world is not a happy one. We face floods and droughts, storms and famine. Our security is not assured. Our stock portfolios may tumble. Our world is faced with car crashes, with explosions with earthquakes and loss and death. Our world has only the certainty of death, of a punishment where our breath will cease and our bodies decay. And these things make us afraid. We are afraid of death, just as the disciples were afraid of the phantom, the ghost that they saw coming towards their boatload of tired disciples. We fear what we cannot understand, and we are ever inching closer to that inevitable day.
But Jesus says, “Be not afraid. I am who I am.” Jesus, the same God who told that name to Moses, I am who I am. Jesus who says, I have overcome sin death and the devil, and because of it you no longer need be afraid. I have gone to Calvary. I have spilt my blood. I have suffered for you. I have borne your sin, and destroyed it forever and ever. You no longer need fear the specter of death. Now you have life, and have it to the full.
As Jesus calms the fears each of us have, so too did he fear the fears of the disciples. Peter, no longer fearing a ghost but rather having his eyes firmly fixed by faith to the God who will redeem him, asks to walk out on the waves with his Lord. He takes a few bold steps out towards his Lord, before seeing the sea and the waves, and taking his eyes off Jesus, he begins to sink. But even then, even as Peter again returns to a life of sin and fear, his Lord grabs him by the arm and pulls him safely into the boat.
It is the same for you dear friends. Every week you come and hear what God has done on your behalf. You hear how you no longer need fear the world and its sorrow. You no longer need fear what happens when we die, because in Jesus you are victorious. But every week we walk out the door of this building, and seeing the struggles of this world and our own lives, we so often take our eyes off the promise. The words, “Do not fear” leave our ears, and we are afraid, very afraid.
But even then, your God will not abandon you. Even then he will not let you drown in your sin. Just as he grabbed Peter, so too will he grab even you of little faith. He grabs you again with nail scarred hands. He grabs you with outstretched arms, and leads you to the safety of His own eternal kingdom. And there we will bow before the God man, the one who formed the earth and who walked in the recesses of the deep, as our OT lesson says. We worship him, for he saves us. He rescues us from the ghost of death and gives us life in its place.
Your God is not a ghost, and never shall be. He is alive, and in him, you too are alive forever. Nothing can separate you from His love. Amen.
