Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other
side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He
went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone
there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind
was contrary.
Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage! I AM; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
The Hows of mission: Keeping your focus on Jesus?
Today we are here to celebrate the mission of the church, the mission that Christ himself has given us. And today I want to take the opportunity to ask you, how?
How do we do the things that Jesus has told us to do?
How do we come before Jesus?
And How do we keep our eyes upon Jesus ensuring that the storms and waves in our lives don't sneak up on us and take our focus away from Him?
How do we do as Jesus has told us when all we see are the storms?
The disciples in todays Gospel reading had just finished seeing Jesus preform the miracle of feeding 5000 people, yet the disciples did not understand what they saw, they did not believe that this man Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God. They saw that God was with him but they had not yet put their faith in him as the Son of God.
The disciples after having been fed to the full on the fish and bread that Jesus had provided them were told by Jesus to leave in the boat across the lake of Galilee while Jesus sent the crowds away. No one can challenge that this was a simple command. It was what some of the disciples had been doing all their life before Jesus chose them to follow him. But as they were crossing the lake a strong wind arose on the sea and scared the Jesus out of them.
The sea was a place that the people of that day feared. It was a place of the dead, the place of monsters and evil. The sea was not a place you would want to be crossing at night because it was at night that evil was thought to have had the most say, especially on the sea. The sea was scary enough by itself, not to mention the way the wind and the waves began to rise. The disciples were tired, wet and afraid and the message of Jesus was no longer the focus of their hearts. Jesus seemed to be truly scared out of them.
Is it any different with us today? We have all been sent on a mission by Christ. We have been each placed in a unique vocation. In these places of work we are called to be as
Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage! I AM; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
The Hows of mission: Keeping your focus on Jesus?
Today we are here to celebrate the mission of the church, the mission that Christ himself has given us. And today I want to take the opportunity to ask you, how?
How do we do the things that Jesus has told us to do?
How do we come before Jesus?
And How do we keep our eyes upon Jesus ensuring that the storms and waves in our lives don't sneak up on us and take our focus away from Him?
How do we do as Jesus has told us when all we see are the storms?
The disciples in todays Gospel reading had just finished seeing Jesus preform the miracle of feeding 5000 people, yet the disciples did not understand what they saw, they did not believe that this man Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God. They saw that God was with him but they had not yet put their faith in him as the Son of God.
The disciples after having been fed to the full on the fish and bread that Jesus had provided them were told by Jesus to leave in the boat across the lake of Galilee while Jesus sent the crowds away. No one can challenge that this was a simple command. It was what some of the disciples had been doing all their life before Jesus chose them to follow him. But as they were crossing the lake a strong wind arose on the sea and scared the Jesus out of them.
The sea was a place that the people of that day feared. It was a place of the dead, the place of monsters and evil. The sea was not a place you would want to be crossing at night because it was at night that evil was thought to have had the most say, especially on the sea. The sea was scary enough by itself, not to mention the way the wind and the waves began to rise. The disciples were tired, wet and afraid and the message of Jesus was no longer the focus of their hearts. Jesus seemed to be truly scared out of them.
Is it any different with us today? We have all been sent on a mission by Christ. We have been each placed in a unique vocation. In these places of work we are called to be as
Christ to those around us. But it doesn't always go as we have planned. We become
scared by the storms raging in our hearts. We become disheartened as we are challenged
to bear witness to what Christ has done for us. We become so absorbed in the things
around us, that the Jesus seems to be scared out of us.
Thank God this is not true. Jesus has not left us, He has not been scared out of us. We just need to have our focus pointed back towards the one who is, Our Lord, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
How do we come before Jesus when all we see is the waves?
When Jesus came toward the disciples, walking on the sea they thought they were seeing a ghost. This wouldn't have been hard for them to believe as they were on the sea, the place of the dead. But as soon as they cried out in fear Jesus told them to take courage, that He was God, and for them not to be afraid.
Peter was not on to be backward in coming forward. The same man that said that he would not deny Jesus yet did before he realised what he was doing. Spoke out to Jesus and said for him to prove who he was, by telling him to come and walk on the water to Him. What an inspiration is this man! Surely he is high on adrenaline. To be bold enough to even ask to walk on water. Remember, he is wet, tired, scared and has just been seeing ghosts and yet still has the courage to step out of the protection of the boat into that place of fear, the sea. Surely this man, Peter, is a man of great faith...
So Peter steps out, he is on his way, he walks on the water towards Christ. But he is distracted by the wind and the waves that take his focus. He begins to sink.
Isn't this the same as we find ourselves doing all the time too. We step out in faith, we begin to do those things that we have asked God to do. We step out of our comfort zone, our protective homes or offices. We see those people God has placed in our lives. Only for Satan to sneak up before us and put other things on our minds. We quickly forget the task we had set out to do, and see the other things that all of a sudden seem to be more important than loving our neighbour. The problem is, when we start to watch the waves and the winds around us, we begin to sink in our despair. We start to sink into the water of our lives, forgetting the reason for us stepping out. That we were stepping out for Jesus.
Like Peter we begin to sink into the water, and all we can do is cry out like him, Lord, Save Me. And immediately our focus is back on Christ. He is there to reach out His hand to save us. But as with Peter, he looks at us and tells us. O you of little faith. Why did you doubt?
This man Jesus Christ the Son of God, has shown us that he is worthy of our trust. He comes to us, in our times of need, when the storms come up and frighten us. When the seas of our lives threaten to crush us beneath their waters. And he comes to us and tells us that He is God, That he is the great I AM. He tells us not to fear because He is God. And yet when the storms rise up, we lose our focus on Him and act as if the Jesus has been scared out of us.
How lucky we are to have a God that forgives us for doubting Him and losing our courage to do His work!
How do we keep our eyes on Jesus through the wind and the waves?
Thank God this is not true. Jesus has not left us, He has not been scared out of us. We just need to have our focus pointed back towards the one who is, Our Lord, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
How do we come before Jesus when all we see is the waves?
When Jesus came toward the disciples, walking on the sea they thought they were seeing a ghost. This wouldn't have been hard for them to believe as they were on the sea, the place of the dead. But as soon as they cried out in fear Jesus told them to take courage, that He was God, and for them not to be afraid.
Peter was not on to be backward in coming forward. The same man that said that he would not deny Jesus yet did before he realised what he was doing. Spoke out to Jesus and said for him to prove who he was, by telling him to come and walk on the water to Him. What an inspiration is this man! Surely he is high on adrenaline. To be bold enough to even ask to walk on water. Remember, he is wet, tired, scared and has just been seeing ghosts and yet still has the courage to step out of the protection of the boat into that place of fear, the sea. Surely this man, Peter, is a man of great faith...
So Peter steps out, he is on his way, he walks on the water towards Christ. But he is distracted by the wind and the waves that take his focus. He begins to sink.
Isn't this the same as we find ourselves doing all the time too. We step out in faith, we begin to do those things that we have asked God to do. We step out of our comfort zone, our protective homes or offices. We see those people God has placed in our lives. Only for Satan to sneak up before us and put other things on our minds. We quickly forget the task we had set out to do, and see the other things that all of a sudden seem to be more important than loving our neighbour. The problem is, when we start to watch the waves and the winds around us, we begin to sink in our despair. We start to sink into the water of our lives, forgetting the reason for us stepping out. That we were stepping out for Jesus.
Like Peter we begin to sink into the water, and all we can do is cry out like him, Lord, Save Me. And immediately our focus is back on Christ. He is there to reach out His hand to save us. But as with Peter, he looks at us and tells us. O you of little faith. Why did you doubt?
This man Jesus Christ the Son of God, has shown us that he is worthy of our trust. He comes to us, in our times of need, when the storms come up and frighten us. When the seas of our lives threaten to crush us beneath their waters. And he comes to us and tells us that He is God, That he is the great I AM. He tells us not to fear because He is God. And yet when the storms rise up, we lose our focus on Him and act as if the Jesus has been scared out of us.
How lucky we are to have a God that forgives us for doubting Him and losing our courage to do His work!
How do we keep our eyes on Jesus through the wind and the waves?
So how do we keep our eyes focused on Jesus through the wind and waves of our lives.
The Gospel message shows us this as well.
After sending the disciples across the lake and sending the crowds away, Jesus went up
on the mountain by himself and He prayed.
The answer for keeping our focus on God is through prayer.
But the amazing thing about this prayer is that it doesn't begin with you. It begins with Jesus. Jesus never looses His focus on you. He reaches out His hand and holds you in His prayer.
And so we pray in Jesus' prayer when we pray to our Father that our fears and our doubts will not overcome us. We pray in Jesus' prayer when we ask our Father to give us the opportunities to love our neighbour, and that we can be Christ's light in the World. We pray in Jesus' prayer when we realise that our focus is no longer on Christ but on the things that surround us. And we pray in Jesus' prayer when we ask our Father in Heaven to forgive us for taking our eyes off of his Son, Jesus Christ. We prayer in Jesus prayer because this is the gift that He gives us. To never stop focusing on you and helping you pray in you time of need.
So let us pray:
The answer for keeping our focus on God is through prayer.
But the amazing thing about this prayer is that it doesn't begin with you. It begins with Jesus. Jesus never looses His focus on you. He reaches out His hand and holds you in His prayer.
And so we pray in Jesus' prayer when we pray to our Father that our fears and our doubts will not overcome us. We pray in Jesus' prayer when we ask our Father to give us the opportunities to love our neighbour, and that we can be Christ's light in the World. We pray in Jesus' prayer when we realise that our focus is no longer on Christ but on the things that surround us. And we pray in Jesus' prayer when we ask our Father in Heaven to forgive us for taking our eyes off of his Son, Jesus Christ. We prayer in Jesus prayer because this is the gift that He gives us. To never stop focusing on you and helping you pray in you time of need.
So let us pray:
Dear Lord Our Heavenly Father, We come before you in the prayer of your Son, Jesus
Christ to give you thanks for the opportunities you give us to step out of our boats, onto the
waters of our lives (our families, our work places and every aspect of our lives) to walk
towards Jesus in the different ways that you have called us. Help us to be like Peter, to
have the courage to step out of the boat, but help us to keep our eyes forward so that we
will not begin to sink in our fears. Help us to always keep our eyes on the one who called
us, and keeps his eyes on us, Jesus Christ your Son. When we do take our eyes off you,
forgive us Lord. Help us not to stay feeling guilty, which makes us feel as in we are sinking
again. But help us to remember that you are a merciful God, who does forgive us, so that
we can once again walk on the waters of our lives toward you. In Jesus Name we pray,
AMEN!
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, Keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, Keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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