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Jesus Strengthens Faith

            It’s just not how we should observe Labor Day weekend. The intent of the holiday is to celebrate the strength of our U.S. labor force. But as of August the average hourly wage was falling, unemployment remained at 9.1%, and it was the first time since 1945 that the government has reported a net job change of zero. Not a Labor Day worth celebrating, unless you’re a follower of Jesus.

             How strong is your faith in the job market right now? Comparatively, how strong was it before 9-11? Be careful here. Followers of Jesus don’t place their faith in things of this world. You can anticipate their value. You can act on predictable patterns. But that’s not faith. When the Bible calls for faith, it 1) speaks of a saving faith that determines one’s identity, purpose, and destiny in overcoming life’s greatest problem: sin, and 2) directs people to only one object of for that saving faith—our Savior God. The entire message of faith in the Bible is summed up in John 20:31, “These words are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” So do yourself a favor. Don’t put your faith in your decisions, your relationship, the weather, or the pizza man. These may all be good, but as objects of faith they are capable of letting you down. The pizza man gets lost, gets hungry, and eats your pizza. Your relationship doesn’t give you what you had hoped. It rains on your picnic.

             And then don’t blame God for any of that trouble. He told you not to put your faith in anyone or anything other than him. Instead—even in the storm, when you lose your job, your girlfriend unfriends you, or you face diminishing health—here’s what is and always will be true for those who put their faith in God alone. You are blessed and you will persevere (James 1:2,3). Your life is full of joy (James 1:1). “The Lord will fight for you” (Exodus 14:14). You can thank and praise God (Matthew 14:33). You “will receive the crown of life that God has promised” (James 1:12). Neither the pizza man, nor President Obama, nor a new girlfriend or job or economy can promise you that. In the midst of a storm, Peter tried his best to follow Jesus and when he faltered, he learned a valuable lesson about his faith that we need to learn about ours. Jesus Strengthens Faith.

            The disciples’ boat was being tortured by the storm smashing its waves against it. That storm, however, really wasn’t the reason for their perplexity and fear. Rather, it was the storm torturing their hearts and their minds. First of all, when the storm hit they were following the command of Jesus, who “made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him.” If we expect that everything is going to be perfectly calm when we’re following Jesus, then when there’s trouble, it tortures us with perplexity. Perplexity that sounds like this: Am I really doing what Jesus wants? If I am, doesn’t Jesus notice? Or maybe I’ve done something wrong and he’s upset with me? Jesus never promises his followers smooth sailing (as a matter of fact, he often states that life will be more difficult for those who follow him in faith—more rewarding and eternal, yes, but more difficult along the way). A little blustery wind of trouble turns into a hurricane, ready to turn our world upside down, unless we’re ready for the storms of life even when we’re following Jesus. Secondly, we see Peter troubled with perplexity. Like the difference between eyeballing a tiger behind a cage at the zoo, or face to face in the jungle, Peter now squinted from water splashing into his eyes and wobbled a bit from waves tackling his hips. “When he saw the wind he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’” The storm doesn’t appear any stronger than before, but Peter’s perplexity intensifies, torturing him with the fear of the dark, deadly depths of the sea groping for one more victim.

             The disciples’ perplexity wasn’t that there was a storm or a strange figure walking through it in the dimly lit haze of early morning. Their perplexity was that they had placed their faith in their own obedience. “If I am a good person, then good things will happen.” Even Christians drive with this worldly bumper sticker on our back bumpers when we assume that as long as we’re going to church, reading our Bibles, sending our kids to Lutheran schools, volunteering at church (or at least contributing our dollars to it) life is gonna be exactly what we want, what we plan, and what we can control. And then, when it’s not, our faith crumbles, because we put our faith in our obedience instead of Jesus.

             Today we heard James warn that putting our faith in anything that isn’t perfect like God causes us to doubt, and to become wishy-washy in our Christian confidence. We saw fear in the eyes of the Israelites as they crested the hill and looked down at the dead end of the Red Sea in front of them while the Egyptian army closed in for the kill. We confessed to God with the Psalm writer, “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered…I was a brute beast before you” (73:21,22). Misplaced faith produces a lack of confidence in decision making, fear of the unknown, stress from being overwhelmed, and frustration with God that acts out in bad behavior. Worst of all, the Psalm writer tells God what happens when we put our faith far from him, “Those who are far from you will perish” (73:27). Peter and the disciples should have perished at sea left to their misplaced faith in the things of this world. And we who have misplaced our faith should have perished long ago, not only from this world and its good life but from the good blessings of God including the hope of heaven. On top of that, when we’ve found ourselves distant from God, we dared to blame him?! “He wasn’t there for me!” As he stands with his promising hands open—and empty. “You of little faith.” Foolish faith. Faltering faith. Lord, save us! With that repentant cry we find forgiveness in the reaching and saving hand of Jesus Christ.

             Now I’m going to read part of this account to you and I want you to listen for the first promise that you hear from Jesus. When the storm-tossed disciples saw Jesus walking on the water they “cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them, ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’ ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come,’ he said.” The first promise of Jesus? It is not, “Take courage!” That’s a command. Nor is it, “Don’t be afraid,” or “Come.” Those are also commands. Commands of Jesus tell us what we need to do. Commands of Jesus are only empowering for us, only effective, and only bring us joy in their fulfillment when we first do nothing. When we first believe his promise. Jesus’ first promise to the disciples in the boat? “It is I.” This is strength for the disciples’ faith. A promise remarkably similar to the promise God had spoken when he approached Moses to recruit him as the leader of the Israelites’ escape from Egypt. When Moses expressed doubt, God said, “I will be with you…it is I who have sent you” (Exodus 3:12). When Moses wondered what he should call God when he’d report to the Israelites, God said, “Say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me” (Exodus 3:13). No wonder he could stretch out his hands over the Red Sea so confident that the waters would part for God’s people. That’s faith-filled obedience, empowered by the promise of God.

            When we fear or when we fail, Jesus promises, “It is I who can forgive, who alone can save.” When we worry or when we wander, Jesus promises, “It is I alone who comes to find you, who can calm you with my love.” The “I AM” Savior who is, was, and always will be is the God who always keeps his promises. He is the Alpha and Omega who, unlike the waters of the sea, won’t be calm one minute and crashing the next; who, unlike the economy, won’t be our friend one week and our foe the next. “Look at me,” Jesus lifts our chins with his gentle hand. “Not the waves, not the cancer, not the pain, not the economy, not yourself.” There we find strength for our faith. The hand of Jesus stretched out to Peter, knowing that Peter couldn’t save himself. The hand of Jesus stretched out on the cross, knowing that sinners have only one chance, one substitutionary sacrifice to make the payment for all our guilt, to make us right with God, and Jesus is it. “It is I.” Jesus Strengthens Faith.

            We baptize babies here in church where, aside from exceptional circumstances under which I’ve baptized babies in hospitals and homes, Jesus is so central, so vivid. When you wonder who can walk with that child through the storms of life, you see Jesus symbolized above the altar reaching out with his hands, saying, “It is I.” We perform weddings here in church where, aside from exceptional circumstances under which I’ve officiated vows on lakefronts and lawns, Jesus is so central, so vivid. When you wonder what the secret to a healthy, happy marriage is, you see Jesus symbolized above the altar, reaching out with his hands saying, “It is I.” We have funerals here in church where, aside from exceptional circumstances under which I’ve presided at funeral homes or cemetery chapels, Jesus is so central, so vivid. When your loved one’s body lies here in the front of church and you wonder, who is going to take care of us now, who is going to fill the lonely void, who is going to open that casket on the last day and bring our loved one to life?...you’ll see Jesus symbolized above the altar, reaching out with his hands saying, “It is I.” We offer help for life decisions here in church where, aside from exceptional circumstances under which I’ve counseled people spiritually, Jesus is so central, so vivid. Worship prepares you for the moment when your faith will be tested, and you’ll wonder where you’ll find the strength to endure, and when you think you just can’t do it, you’ll remember Jesus symbolized above the altar reaching out with his hands. “It is I.”

            Equipped with that promise, when you put your faith in our Savior Jesus and him alone, you can confidently step into the storm, you can courageously walk on the waves of this life’s uncertainty, and you can even defy death without doubt or fear. Follow his call, “Take courage! Don’t be afraid. Come.” Because Jesus Strengthens Faith. Amen.

Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on September 4, 2011

Services

Sundays 7:45, 9:00 & 10:30 am

Mondays 6:30 pm

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church | 1209 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 | (414) 271-3006

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