Ready for the Journey?

Matthew 8:1-27

Summers growing up on a Northern California lake we spent a lot of time jumping into the boat. Our dock was off a steep hill filled with rocks - and to get out without floating into the rocks we used to have to have one person stand with one foot on the dock and the other on the side of the boat - then push off and jump in.

Sometimes that person had a difficult decision to make. As the boat pushed away from the dock someone would sometimes say "Oh, I forgot something." The "pusher" had to decide - do I jump back to the dock or go into the boat. The decision became harder as the space between the two widen, and as both legs split farther and farther apart - with the water looming underneath.

At some point you had to commit, or fall into the water. Let's just say that I did get wet a few times.

But that's kind of the position we find ourselves in sometimes in life - one foot in the comfortable world we know, and one foot on the boat that takes us into the unknown - the uncomfortable. We sometimes have a hard time deciding which way to go - and the more we hang on to the dock, the harder the choice is to make - because you only have so much time until you can't really get either way easily.

This is the place Jesus puts several people in - including His disciples as we practice "letting go."

18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.

Jesus, if you recall, has just finished several remarkable healings - the man suffering from leprosy, the centurion's servant, Peter's mother-in-law, and several demon possessed individuals.

We learned how important it is to reach out to Jesus - and that even when we are unable, Jesus will reach out to us. But now the question remains - what are we reaching out to and what are we letting go of in order to reach out to Jesus?

As He journey's across the Sea of Galilee we learn from several encounters that letting go is what Jesus is all about.

A little preview - we're going to look at letting go in three areas:

o Letting go of security
o Letting go of worldly ties
o Letting go of life itself

Are you willing to let go of security?

Apparently just as Jesus is about to leave from Capernaum, on the north - northwest side of the lake and travel to Gadara on the south - southeast side - a man comes up to Him.

19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

20 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

Be careful what you ask for. The teacher of the law, or scribe, said "I'll follow You wherever ?" When we offer, Jesus will take us up on it - "foxes have holes - but if you follow Me you won't have any security outside of Me."

What does following Jesus cost you? Friends, popularity, pastimes, or favorite hobbies? Think of the cost and the rewards - is it worth it to you?

This is, by the way, the first place where Jesus calls Himself "the son of man."

Are you willing to let go of worldly ties?

21 Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Jesus here isn't saying that the man couldn't go to his father's funeral. It's likely that what the man meant was: let me stay until my father dies. Perhaps he wanted an inheritance. Perhaps he was afraid to leave the family businesses, or afraid of the wrath of his family if he were to leave with this itinerant preacher.

Jesus phrase can also mean: let the dying bury the dead. In other words - let those who have not chosen to follow, and remain spiritually dead, stay home and tend to earthly responsibilities - ignoring their eternal responsibilities.

The question for us is: what conditions do you put on serving the Lord? Do you say: "I'll give my life to You but I want to keep doing this thing that I know is wrong, but I like doing it."? There are plenty of things in the world and in our old life that would love to hang on to us, dragging us down from being able to fully serve the Lord. It might be a hobby, a vocation, an attitude, a family tie - financial ties.

What's holding you back from going deeper, serving more? Make the cut.

Jesus will say in Matthew 10:37:
37 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; NIV

The more we are willing to give up, the more willing He is to pour into us His life. Speaking of life - Matthew next points to an event that takes this idea of relinquishing ourselves right to the brink.

Are you willing to let go of life?

23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat.

These kinds of storms were common on the Sea of Galilee. They usually took place in the afternoon. Mark tells us that the disciples probably left in the evening in Peter's boat and this would not have been unusual as they would not have expected a storm in the evening.

The Sea of Galilee is relatively small - 13 miles long and 7 miles wide. But it is deep - 150 feet - and located 680 feet below sea level. Wind can whip waves 20 feet high. If you've ever been in waves that big you know what danger they were in.

Notice three things here:


1. The disciples had no reason to think a storm would come.
Storms don't usually come up in the evening - and so with us, just because we don't think something bad is going to happen doesn't mean it can't - so we shouldn't be totally taken by surprise just because circumstances don't match our preconceived ideas of reality.

2. The storm came suddenly and without warning.
Isn't that often how trials come into our lives - with no advance warning? What would we do with advance warning if we had it - turn tail and run for the hills? Maybe that's why we rarely know in advance. And that leads us to the 3rd, and perhaps most disturbing thing.

3. Jesus got in the boat first.
He led the disciples on this perilous journey. Sometimes Jesus actually leads us into trouble - on purpose. That might seem pretty lousy and unfeeling of God to do that - but just the same - it is in the storms that faith is tested - and matured, not in the calm times.

Now, not only was Jesus leading them into a storm - He was sleeping during it!

But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"

Jesus probably fell asleep on a leather cushion on a low bench in the back of the boat where the helmsman usually sat. The fact that He could sleep through all the rocking and spray associated with a storm shows us just how drained physically Jesus was.

The disciples' response was incredulity. Here they were doing the Lord's work and suddenly they are in danger and the Lord seems totally oblivious to their plight.

Have you ever been in that situation? You try so hard to follow God's will - and you are going about your life doing what He told you - then BAM! You get hit with a storm and God seems so distant, so uncaring - asleep while you're drowning!

The disciples knew what the storm could do to them - what they didn't know was what the Lord could do for them.

26 He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

The disciples had seen Jesus do many miracles - but they had not let that knowledge seep into every part of their being. They knew He could heal, but had no idea what kind of power He really possessed.

Interestingly - Jesus rebukes the disciples before He rebuked the wind and waves. The disciples wanted Him to do something - He wanted the disciples to trust Him.

You see - as difficult as life seems to be - the lesson isn't that God can calm the storm, but that He wants our total and complete trust - NO MATTER THE STORM OR ITS CONSEQUENCES.

What would have happened if they boat had capsized? Would God's plan for salvation been thwarted? No. So what happens if you cry out and your boat capsizes, throwing you into the drink and you feel like you are drowning? Is God's plan for your life stopped? No.

He wants us to trust NO MATTER WHAT. That's why the storm came up in the first place.

27 The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

From their answer, it seems the disciples still didn't grasp just who Jesus was. I think one of the main points in this story is that Jesus was revealing Himself to His disciples.

Sometimes the point of a trial is that we get to know our Lord a little bit better - see Him and His power a little bit clearer. Storms were not forever banished from the Sea of Galilee - nor are they from our lives once God rescues us. But if can know Him a little more - we can trust Him a little more the next time.


Conclusions

o Letting go of security here isn't a one-for-one trade (security in a thing we can see is not the same as trusting in a God we cannot.)
o Sometimes Jesus is the only one that can act in a situation
o No matter how bad it looks - God is still in control
o When we've come to end of our resources - God hasn't even started
o It isn't that God doesn't care - its our focus is different that His - our priorities and fears are not God's priorities and fears. The more we focus on trust and not trial - the more we take on His likeness.

The real question before us is this: are you willing to take the journey? Are you willing to put your weight down into the boat as its going away from the dock - knowing that you could be in for a storm?