Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
10/26/97 am
A Matter Of Focus
Reading — Matthew 14.13-33
The Northwestern Wild Cats had had a losing record in football for decades. They hadn’t been to a national bowl game since 1949. Coach Gary Barnett was the coach who was responsible for the team’s turn around. Coach Barnett came to Northwestern in July of 1995. He was determined to prove that Northwestern, a small as it was, could compete in a national championship. Gary ordered several Tournament Of Roses flags from Pasadena. He posted those flags in the football complex, the sports dormitories and his office. He also purchased several dozen silk roses and place one in the locker of each varsity and incoming freshman that would be trying out that fall... And he placed one on his desk. These roses were there to remind everybody of were they were headed. That fall, our nation watched in stunning disbelief as Northwestern upset Notre Dame and went on to score one upset after another and ending up in the prestigious Rose Bowl. There is something to be said for the power of focus.
Go with me now to our text. In the context of our reading, Jesus is having a bad week. For instance, just prior to our reading:
- His friend and relative, John the Baptist, had been killed by King Herod.
- He had been rejected in His own town of Nazareth.
- Even His own family was ashamed of Him... They doubted His Messiahship.
Because Jesus was having a bad week, He tried to get away from the multitudes to be alone with God:
- To think,
- To pray,
- To reflect,
- And to grieve,
But He couldn’t, because the crowds kept following Him were ever He went. Have you ever had a week like that? A time, that no matter what you did nothing seem to work out? A time, that when it rains, it pours? Of course, we all have.
Now, I want you to notice what Jesus did when He was having a bad week:
- Instead of telling the crowds to get lost, He ministers to the lost.
- Instead of telling them how much He was hurting, He ministers to THEIR hurts.
- Instead of them feeding Jesus when He lost a loved one, He feeds them.
Well, after He feeds five thousand with a sack lunch, He again tries to find solitude. He sends His Apostles off in a boat, and He goes to be alone with God.
Question!... Why do you suppose Jesus was in such a hurry to get away? I believe there are two reasons:
First, He is trying to do what He set out to do and that was to be alone.
The second reason has to do with the crowd.
The crowd gave Him another reason to get away quickly. They were trying to make Him KING.
You see, the Jewish people:
- Lived,
- Dreamed,
- Hoped,
- And prayed,
For the day when Messiah would come. In the time of Jesus, this expectation ran high... They were looking for a king. When you read this narrative in the Gospel of John... Chapter 6, verse 14 and 15, tells us that after He had feed the five thousand, the crowd begin to see that He might be the Messiah. John says, And Jesus perceived that they would take Him, and by force, make Him king. So, He departed again into a mountain to be alone.
THIS BRING US TO POINT ONE IN OUR LESSON, WE MUST BE LIKE JESUS.
We must focus on being what God wants us to be. You see, this crowd wanted to make Jesus a Messiah King. But they misunderstood His purpose and focus in life.
- Jesus didn’t come to deliver them from Roman bondage, but to deliver them from the bondage of sin.
- Jesus didn’t come to save them politically, but spiritually.
These people were seeking to make Jesus something that God didn’t want Him to be. They were seeking to make Him do something that God didn’t want Him to do.
Question!... Have you ever been there? Do we have people in our lives that want us to be something that God doesn’t want us to be and to do things that God doesn’t want us to do? You see, like Jesus, we have to make a decision. Who are we going to please?... Him or the crowd? Whose decision do we value most?... God’s or man’s?
During Babe Ruth’s last year of baseball, an umpire called him out on strikes. Babe Ruth turned around and said, your crazy, there are forty thousand people in this stadium, who know that last pitch was not a strike. The umpire replied yes, but my opinion is the only one that counts.
History records that Mozart died a penniless man. And the reason was that he said, I will not write the music they want, I only write the music I feel. The question is this, would Mozart have been Mozart, if he had only written what people wanted to buy? I don’t think so. Mozart is Mozart to us today, because he wrote the music he felt in his heart.
Jesus was and is what He was and is to us this morning, because:
- It was God that He wanted to please,
- And it was God’s opinion He valued most.
This is why it is so important that each of us find some time each day to spend alone with God.
- Time in the word, finding out what God would have us to be.
- Time in prayer, asking God to help us become what He wants us to become.
- Time in meditation, deciding whose opinion we value most... God’s or peer pressure.
If the Son of God could not go through life without spending time alone with the Father, what makes us think we can?
Now I don’t believe Jesus spent time with the Father, just because he wanted to, but because He NEEDED TO. The Hebrews writer tells us that Jesus was tempted in all points just as we are. That means that Jesus was tempted to BE and to DO some things that God never intended for Him to BE and Do... Just like we are... RIGHT? So, He needed to spend time alone with God in order to maintain His FOCUS. Church, our focus is to be and to do what God wants us to be and do. In order for us to maintain that focus, we must spend time alone with the Father... Daily!
POINT NUMBER TWO IS THAT, TO MAINTAIN OUR FOCUS, WE MUST NOT BE LIKE THE APOSTLES.
- We need look for Jesus in the storms of life.
- And we need to expect God to do unbelievable things in our lives.
Note, if you will verses 22 through 33. The Apostles got into the boat, and started across the Sea of Galilee, as Jesus had commanded. In the middle of the lake, they encounter a storm. This is not just any storm.
- Matthew uses a Greek word that means adversary,
- It was contrary,
- It was against them.
The NIV says, it buffeted the boat. The lake is only about four miles wide at Gennesaret, so they should have made it to the other side long before midnight. But in the fourth watch of the night, sometime between three and six o’clock in the morning, they are still battling this storm.
Questions!
- How many of us have got in the boat as Jesus commanded?
-• How many of us are conscientiously working our was across the sea of life?
- How many, here this morning, have or are encountering some storms in this journey?
Let me tell you something, if you haven’t encountered any storms yet, you will. Church, we need to see Jesus in our storms. Now, we must know, that in the Bible, there are different kinds of storms. For instance there are storms of correction... Remember Jonah?
Jonah disobeys the word of the God. Instead of heading toward Nineveh, he heads to Tarshish, and ends up in a storm. You see, God was in Jonah’s storm.. God was saying, Jonah;
- Won’t you reconsider your decision.
- Won’t you reconsider the direction of your life?
There is also the storm of perfection.
We have gotten in the boat, as God commanded, we are rowing steadily toward the shores of heaven, yet God allows a storm for the purpose of:
- Perfecting us,
- Molding us,
- Causing us to grow in character.
Remember what Paul said in Romans 5.3 and 4, We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance produces character; and character produces hope. Or how about James 1.2-5, Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Let me ask you, when have we grown most in character?... In the storms or on a calm sea? Peter tells us God uses the storms of life, like a refiners fire to refine, to remake, to reshape, us into just what he wants us to be... for our own good... for our own good!
We must know this morning, that we can be totally and radically committed to God and still be subject to the storms of life. Anybody who tells you that obedience to God means smooth sailing on a calm sea, smooth sailing financially, socially, in our careers, in health matters, in our marriages, and in religion does not know what he is talking about, and is not much of a Bible student. Paul, in 2 Timothy 3.12 plainly states, Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus places a blessing on those who are persecuted because of their righteousness... Because of their dedication to God
Most of us here this morning are in the boat:
- We have obeyed Jesus.
- We are radically committed to Him.
Yet many of us are suffering in a storm.
The question becomes this... Can we see Jesus in our storm? God may be using our storms;
- To correct us,
- To get us to reconsider the direction in some area of our lives.
- To discipline us as sons.
- To mold and refine our character.
In our storm, Jesus may be saying; It is I, be not afraid. You see, a lot of us assume that God has left us, when we’re in a storm. That’s not true! In fact, God is never closer to His children, than when they are suffering through a storm. Listen to Hebrews 12.7, Endure hardship as discipline; What does the rest of that verse say?... For God is treating you as sons. Church, we must not allow the storms of life to cause us to lose our focus. We must look for Jesus in our storms.
Secondly, we need to expect God to do unbelievable things in our lives.
These Apostles didn’t expect to see Jesus walking on the water. Well, here comes Jesus walking on water... Not just any water... But turbulent water. Water that could capsize a sizable fishing boat.
We read this passage and accept it easily, because we’ve been raised on it... Heard it all our lives. But these Apostles don’t know what to make of this. I mean it looked like Jesus... Walked like Jesus... But they decide it must be a ghost! You see,
- The very storm that is impeding their progress.
- The very storm that is rocking their boat.
- The very storm that is threatening their lives, is actually the bridge from them to Jesus. Could that be true for us? I believe... NO, I know... That there are people in this church, because they saw God in a storm in their life. And that storm was the bridge that brought them to Jesus.
The focus of these Apostles was inhibited for two reasons:
One, like us, they were not looking for Jesus in the storm.
Secondly, they didn’t expect Jesus to walk on water.
The Apostles thought it was a ghost, because they were not looking for Jesus in the storm. They never expected Jesus could or would walk on water. They never expected Him to do such an unbelievable thing, as walking on water.
WE MUST EXPECT GOD TO DO UNBELIEVABLE THINGS IN OUR LIVES.
Have you ever noticed that when God does some unbelievable things in our lives, we to become afraid When these Apostles saw Jesus walking on the water, they become fearful... Note verse 26. Now this is not something new.
- The shepherds were afraid when the angels announced the unbelievable birth of Jesus.
- After the miraculous catch of fish in Luke five, Peter falls at Jesus’ feet in fear. Jesus said, Fear not, I will make you a fisher of men.
- At the transfiguration Peter, James and John were terrified at the unbelievable things that were taking place. Jesus said, Be not afraid.
- In Mark four, Jesus calms the stormy sea with three words, Peace be still. Mark says they were terrified and asked, who is this that even the wind and waves obey Him?
- At the resurrection, the women ran from the empty tomb terrified and bewildered.
- Cornelius was afraid when an angel of God appeared to him.
Sometimes when God does unbelievable things in our life, things that we don’t expect Him to do, we too become fearful. Oh yes, we acknowledge in our heads, that He can walk on water, that He can do unbelievable things;
- For us,
- To us,
- With us,
- By us,
But we don’t believe it in our hearts! We don’t really expect it. So, Jesus helps us make the leap from our heads to our hearts by walking on the waves, in the storms of life. Near the end of this narrative, when Jesus gets into the boat, do you know what the Apostles do?... They confess that Jesus is the Son of God.
Listen to me church,
When God answers our prayers, when He does something unbelievable in our lives, don’t be afraid, but rather acknowledge that He is who He says He is. You see, the storms of life can be a BRIDGE from God to us. And sometimes we have to see how ferocious the waves can get, before we can see the power of God as He walks in our storms... Right Don? Know this morning, that regardless of how high the waves are in your life, He can still walk over them. And He does. He does.
Well, we’re going to stop here, and tonight at the six o’clock service, we will continue our lesson by noting how Peter can help us maintain our focus.
The question I want you to consider right now is this. Are you what God wants you to be? Are you his child? You can be this morning by
- Faith,
- Repentance,
- And New Testament baptism, immersion in water for the forgiveness of sins.
For those of us who are His children, are we daily DOING what He wants to do? Perhaps, like to Jonah, God is saying;
- It’s time to make some corrections in the direction of your life.
- It’s time for recommitment and rededication.
If you are subject to this invitation, don’t say no to Jesus.
