8/13/2023
Matthew 14:22-33
Get into the Boat
You might find this hard to believe, or to even imagine, knowing me as I am now but, there were times when I was growing up, up into my teen years, when I would do something I really shouldn’t be doing.
It was a long time ago….
Sometimes when I did those things I wasn’t supposed to do, my mom would find out I had done them. Anybody else have that happen to you? It reminds me of my buddy Tim Menzies’ song, “Momma Knows.”
Tim was a member here at Bethlehem once, some of you might remember Tim and Brenda who were once members here. . Great song.
I know my mom could definitely find out when I did things I shouldn’t do, and then she would ask me that same ole question:
…very simple question, but very direct…
“Why did you do that?”
When she asked me that question, I would sometimes try to shift the blame elsewhere, I would try to evade responsibility and blame someone else.
For example when she asked why was I trying to sneak into the drive-in in the trunk of Carl’s 63 convertible Impala, I replied, because he and Joe Momphar told me to do it. They were a little older than me, so I was “young and vulnerable.”
That is not a really a great answer. It only led to another question.
You can probably guess what the next question was…..
Well if Joe……jumped off a cliff… I guess you would too?
Not a real good answer; but there are times we do things because someone tells us to do them or encourages us to do them.
And sometimes those things are good things.
Like going to church, sometimes we go to church because someone tells us to go to church or playing a sport, or somebody tells us we should buy our mom flowers for her birthday.
We do some things because people tell us to do them. It is not always a bad thing that we do things because someone tells us to do them.
You may have noticed in our text today Jesus told the disciples to do something.
Let’s look at verse 22: “…immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat.” X2
He didn’t physically throw them into the boat.
He didn’t force them or coerce them to get into the boat; but they were in the boat because Jesus told them to,
It wasn’t something they just thought to do on own.
They were in the boat because Jesus told them to get into the boat
As you probably know, boats or anything that floats, like an ark, ….are important symbols in the bible, particularly in the New Testament. Boats are powerful symbols for the church.
And in our text today, the disciples are in the boat (i.e. the church) because Jesus told them to get into the boat.
I get that….because that is why I’m in the boat.
I am in the boat because Jesus kept trying to get me into the boat… even when I wasn’t all that crazy about the idea.
When I lived in Aurora Colorado, my friend Joe Mompher, who I already mentioned in connection with the story about sneaking into the drive in, lived on the other side of a cul-de-sac from us (Just off Iliff street). I lived on one side of E. Baltic Place and Joe lived on the other side with a street going down between the two sides. Joe had a 69 Charger. It wasn’t orange like the General Lee, it was copper color with a white vinyl top-- A beautiful car and I always loved hanging out with Joe and riding around in his car.
But I was a little younger than him and some of our friends which meant I was not quite as cool.
One day I saw the 69 Charger pulling out the drive way, over on the other side of the cul-de-sac, and so I ran across the street to catch them…because I wanted to hang out with them.
Well, long story short they left me behind. They just passed me by like I wasn’t even there. They turned the corner and up the street like they never saw me. But they did seem, of course they saw me.
Another one of our neighbor’s from up the street saw what happened. He was pulling out of his cul-de-sac, one street up. When he saw Joe and whoever else was in the car leave me there in the dust, he drove down the street and called me over. He handed me a little religious pamphlet. As he handed it to me, he said, “there is a friend who will never leave you behind.” And he gave me a pamphlet about Jesus. And I said, “I know.” I don’t know how I knew but I did….
Jesus was trying to get me in the boat…even back then
And he just wouldn’t let me go
As I’ve mentioned before I went to work for a lumberyard right out of high school. It was right across from Mt. Olivet Cemetery on Lebanon Road in Nashville. Students from the Freewill Baptist Bible college also worked there and they were always trying to get me into the boat
They would say, “Craig, feel that wind, take a look at those waves, get in the boat, man, you’re drowning.”
There were other people about that same time who were trying to get me into the boat until I finally did. You know, I have regretted a lot of things in my life, but I have never regretted getting into the boat, that good old gospel ship. Not once, not even once.
Jesus made the disciples get into the boat. V.22
It turns out it wasn’t just smooth sailing, even though they were doing exactly what Jesus had told them to do. They were battered by the wind and the waves as they struggled to get over to the other side.
And I wish I could tell you when I got in the boat, everything got easy for me and all my problems disappeared, but that is not what happened at all.
Some of my problems did disappear when I got into the boat, like not having a real purpose in life--- that was gone, thank goodness
But some of my problems didn’t disappear, and I got some new problems after I got into the boat I didn’t have before.
People would ask, “what happened to you, Goff? You used to be a cool guy. Why don’t you do all those crazy things you used to do? We used to do a lot of cool things together and go to a lot of cool places. I thought you were my friend. You’re just not any fun anymore.
I never heard those kind of things before I got into the boat, so after I got into the boat some of my problems were new
I think some of Peter and James and John’s problems went away after they met Jesus, but then they also took on some new problems
Here in our text when they got into the boat they ran into some problems, a storm hit, the wind picked up, the rain fell and the waves started spilling over the sides.
Things got scary
But just as things were getting really crazy
The One who told them to get into the boat came walking out to them….
They thought he was a ghost, like that woman on that flight who thought somebody on the airplane wasn’t real…
But it wasn’t a ghost.
It was the One who said, “don’t be afraid. Get in the boat. It won’t always be easy, but I will always be with you and we will get to the other side.”
Matthew makes it very clear that the boat in this text is a symbol for the church
It is also clear in early Christianity that the ark is a symbol for the church
You see it in our baptism liturgy under the Thanksgiving Over the Water
“In the Days of Noah you saved those on the ark through water.”
Notice how neither a boat nor an ark, is perfect…
The boat hit a storm.
The ark is not exactly part of the world’s most luxurious cruise lines.
It was probably hot, there was one window in the whole thing, and one door.
It was probably stinky. It was probably crowded and noisy and maybe even leaky
But it was a lot better than the alternative.
In case you haven’t noticed. The church is not perfect. It never has been and never will be till get to the other side.
So get in the boat, and stay on the boat. And let’s make our voyage together the best it can be until we reach the other side.