I goofed up in recording today’s sermon. Below is what I take into the pulpit. It begins with general information, including the assigned readings, and then the sermon text. The text is not exactly what I say in the pulpit, but it comes darn close.
Pentecost 10
Proper 14
August, 13 2017
Sermon: “A Long Way From Shore” (In this life we are a long way from our heavenly shore, but Christ comes to us in the storms, in the midst of the troubled waters. We see him, in faith, and can safely cross.)
Matthew 14:24
Lections: Psalm 18:1-6 (46); Job 38:4–18; Romans 10:5–17; Matthew 14:22–33
Divine Service I, LSB 151
Non-Communion
Opening Hymn; LSB 715 Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me
Sermon Hymn: LSB 717 Eternal Father, Strong to Save
Closing Hymn: LSB 733 O God, Our Help in Ages Past
Christ the Crucified Comes to Save Us by the Word of Faith (synopsis from Synod)
The Lord who “laid the foundation of the earth” (Job 38:4) is the Author and Giver of life who governs all things by His Word. His wisdom and power are beyond our understanding, except as He reveals Himself in the incarnate Word, Christ Jesus. He has “entered into the springs of the sea” and “walked in the recesses of the deep” (Job 38:16), and He draws near to us in mercy. We have been “a long way from the land, beaten by the waves” and tossed about by hostile winds (Matt. 14:24). In our mortality and sinful unbelief, we do not always recognize the Lord Jesus. But as we cry out in fear, He speaks tenderly to us, “Do not be afraid,” and He reaches out His hand to save us (Matt. 14:27, 31). “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13), and now we call upon Him in faith, because we have heard “through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (Rom. 10:8).
Psalm 18:1– 6 (antiphon: v. 46)
The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation.
1 I love you,
O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen.
The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation.
Job 38:4–18
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
9 when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?
12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
13 that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 It is changed like clay under the seal,
and its features stand out like a garment.
15 From the wicked their light is withheld,
and their uplifted arm is broken.
16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.
Romans 10:5–17
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7or “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Matthew 14:22–33
22 Immediately [Jesus] made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
… but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. Matthew 14:24
In our Psalm today, David said:
4 The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me. (Psalm 18:4-5)
We also have a reading from Job, and we all know the troubles he endured. Those problems were compounded by poor advisors, including his wife who urged him to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). Job finally begins to voice real dissatisfaction with the Lord and how he fulfilled his position as God when God himself shows up and puts Job back into his place. God is God and Job is but part of God’s creation. Job isn’t boss, God is.
Then we have our Gospel lesson. This story takes place right after last week’s reading, where Jesus fed over 5,000 people with a few loves of bread and a few fish. After dismissing the crowds, the disciples get into a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee while Jesus goes off by himself to pray. While out on this lake a sudden storm rushes down from the mountains, putting the lives of the disciples in peril.
So we find, in three of our four lessons for today, believers facing trials. David’s trials come from enemies, those who are opposed to him and God. The trial of the disciples came from nature. The trials of Job came from a mixture of sources, nature, enemies and, strange as it may seem, from friends and family.
It really isn’t different today, is it? You don’t have to be in a boat to face trials from nature. Job suffered greatly from sores on his body from head to toe. Of course I would not discount natural disasters. Where I grew up earthquakes were a real danger, as well as wild fires. On this side of the country we can have hurricanes. In the upper mid-west, every winter, there is danger of people freezing to death. Let us not forget the destruction of tornadoes. A list of natural dangers could go on.
Because we are Christians, we also have enemies who oppose Christ and therefore oppose us. The attacks of September 11, 2001, were made by enemies of Christ. You and I both know that being an American does not automatically make a person a Christian, but that is not how those killers thought. They thought they were, in attacking America, attacking the Church. We also find sever persecution of the Church in the world at large. It is riskier to be a Christian in places like the Sudan and Iran, than it was to be a Christian in the Roman Empire in the second century.
Friend and family can also be a source of troubles. Many a well-meaning friend can, and do, offer bad and un-Christian advice. That is what Job received from his friends. In stead of focusing Job on God and his mercy, they focused Job on himself and a vengeful god. Or worse yet, Job’s wife urged him to despair and die.
How often do we hear this kind of advice? Look to yourself for the answers. Follow your own heart. Or we might think of the so-called “death with dignity” movement, which boils down to following the advice of Mrs. Job, “curse God and die.”
In one way or another, we have all been, in a fashion, with the disciples out on the stormy waters of the Sea of Galilee. Your storms, no doubt, are different from mine, but storms they are. They threaten to sink us. We may feel we are alone, forsaken by our Lord. But we are not. As Moses told Israel, “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:8). The final words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, indeed the final words of Matthew’s book are, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). As the name “Emmanuel” teaches, “God is with us.”
Therefore we know to turn to our Lord in times of trouble. We know to pray, “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” David knew this so in our Psalm he prayed:
In my distress I called upon the LORD;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears. (Psalm 18:6)
We do not have a fair-weather God. He is there in good times and bad. No matter what may come to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord does not turn his back on us. This includes even the times when it seems like he has, when we are in the middle of the lake and the waves of life are crashing over the bow. Jesus comes to us in the midst of our storms. He comes through word and sacrament. He comes to keep us safe.
That is what St. Paul is talking about in our epistle lesson; he speaks of Christ coming to us through the Gospel word.
We can think of it this way. We have launched out into the sea of life. The far shore is heaven. The waters are sometimes calm but sometimes we are in a storm. The boat we are in is made of wood and the wood that builds our boat is the Word of God. The boat is christened “The Christian Church.” We sail safely when we sail in the ship made from the word of God. It is while we are in this ship of the word that Christ comes to us. He calls to us to not be afraid. He calls to us to come to him. And he saves us when we get into trouble.
We have faith in the word because the word brings us to Jesus.
Wood is not only used for sailing ships. It was also used for the cross our Lord suffered and died on. It was in that great, selfless, act, that he demonstrated his immense love for us. He bore our sins in his body. When we believe in this great work of our Lord we are justified before God, as Paul said in our Epistle lesson (Romans 10:10).
But I’ve gotten away from the story in our Gospel lesson. The storm is raging when the disciples see Jesus walking towards them. They were in danger. All of them knew people who had sunk in storms just like this. Just like we have seen people sunk by the storms of life, storms like the ones we face. But the disciples see Jesus. That is where we are to look in our personal storms as well. Just as he said to the disciples, so he says to us, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
Anyway, Peter, ever the bold one, asks, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” And Jesus does the most remarkable thing, he tells Peter to come. Based solely on the on that word of Christ, in faith that Jesus would never tell him something false, Peter steps out, and Peter walks on water.
Have you ever had that experience? Not walking on water literally, but trusting in the word and promise of Jesus so much that you did something bold, even foolish? You have two options before you, the “smart” choice and the choice to follow the word of Christ. Maybe the smart choice is taking the well-paying but morally ambiguous job. Maybe the “smart” choice is to keep your mouth shut while others destroy someone’s reputation instead of facing the ire of others when you speak well of and defend the person they are gossiping about. Maybe the “smart” choice is to motivate someone with threats instead of compassion.
If you made the bold choice, the choice to listen to the word of Christ and act on it, then you know what it was like for Peter to step out of the boat based solely on the word of Christ. But everything didn’t go right, did it? Peter saw the danger and lost sight of the word of Jesus. He began to sink.
So we can tremble when we’ve been bold. The gossips might well turn their tongues loose on you. The low-paying job might not cover all of your expenses. The person you sought to motivate with compassion just doesn’t respond.
Then take a lesson from Peter. Just because his faith faltered doesn’t mean it vanished. He turned to Jesus. He cried, “Lord, save me!” And Jesus did. So we turn to our Lord and cry, “Lord, save me.” He will. As he said, he is always with us. He does not abandon us.
Now we are out on the lake of life riding in the good ship “Christian Church.” It is built out of the sturdy wood of the word of God. The shore line of heaven is still far off. There will be calm spells, and there will be violent storms. Jesus, though, will guide us safely through his Word. By trusting in him we know we will not sink. We will reach the far shore. Amen.