Transcript
Mark chapter 6. Beginning to read at verse 45.
Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat
Or as we might translate it, "Immediately He urgently pressed His disciples to get into the boat."
And go before Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. Then He saw them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost and cried out. For they all saw Him and were greatly distressed. And immediately He talked with them and said to them, Be of good cheer. It is I. Do not be afraid. Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.
Two weeks ago last Tuesday, 53-year-old Victor Sisk, a school nurse of Baltimore, Maryland, was on a vacation trip in the state of Wyoming. He was out in the backcountry of Grand Teton National Park. He was planning to spend five days there. But on the very first day, that was Tuesday, April the 11th, as he was skiing down a steep canyon, he had an accident and he broke his ankle.
Despite his broken ankle, he was able to set up a tent and he stayed in place that night. But on Wednesday he realized that it would be several days before he was even reported missing, and he made a decision basically to call for help. Now he did use his ski poles occasionally as crutches, but most of the distance that he covered, he covered by sliding on his backside. That's what he did on Wednesday. That's what he did on Thursday. That's what he did on Friday. And on Saturday two other skiers encountered him, and they summoned the park rangers. And by Sunday, two weeks ago today, after surgery, Victor Sisk was in stable condition in St. John's Hospital in Jackson, Wyoming.
Now I don't know about you, but I think that the word that best describes this man is the word tough. If you ask me, this is one very tough 53-year-old man. And you know what's wrong with many of us who are Christians today? We're not tough. Instead we're soft. And when we run into problems, when we run into difficulties and frustrations, we tend to wring our hands and to complain and to look for somebody or something that we can blame our problems on.
And we need to be reminded that the Bible says,
If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
And if we were to translate that slightly differently, we would say if you collapse in the face of your problems, you aren't as tough as you ought to be. And that leads me directly this morning to a piece of advice that I would like to offer to everyone who is in the auditorium this morning. And my advice is this: it's time for you to hang tough.
And because that piece of advice also serves as the title of my message to you today, I would like to repeat it just to be sure you get it. It's time for you to hang tough.
Now I want you to know that my mother and father were very good storytellers, especially my mother. My mother, you know, was a schoolteacher until her career was permanently interrupted by my arrival in the world. But among the fun things that we sometimes did as a family was occasionally on Halloween. We would turn out all the lights in the house. We would sit in a darkened living room and maybe the only light we would have would be a candle flickering in the face of a jack-o'-lantern. And we would take turns telling ghost stories.
Now my brother and I were not exactly prize-winning ghost story tellers, but my father was very good and my mother was even better. But I want you to know that after all of the ghost stories that we heard in our family, we were never really deeply scared. We were not scared of ghosts. We could walk by a cemetery and we weren't worried about some billowy figure popping up out of a grave and screaming a bloody scream. We didn't believe in ghosts and things like that.
But you know, if I'm wrong I realize that there are lots of people all over the world in all sorts of different countries who really do believe in ghosts. And to tell you the truth, in the right set of circumstances they can get very, very scared. And it may surprise you this morning that the passage of Scripture that we have just read together from the Gospel of Mark is one of the very few passages of Scripture that we could describe as a ghost story. And the men who are in the middle of this story get very scared indeed.
Now please understand that our story this morning follows one of the most impressive miracles that the Lord Jesus Christ ever did. He had taken five loaves of bread and two fishes and He had actually fed a multitude that consisted of five thousand men, not even counting women and children, probably fifteen or twenty thousand people. And He had used the disciples to help Him serve the food. And when the eating was over, He had used the disciples again to gather up the fragments and they had collected twelve baskets of leftovers.
But as soon as this miracle was over, Jesus did something very unusual. He presses His own disciples to get into a ship while He sends the crowds away. And He sends them across the Sea of Galilee, indicating to them that He will meet them in the little village of Bethsaida. Perhaps this was strange. I mean, if He had used them to serve the food and collect the leftovers, don't you think He might have used them to help Him send the crowds away? And then if the disciples get into the boat, how is Jesus going to get to Bethsaida? Well, I don't think He gave them any explanation of that. He simply put them in the ship and they started away.
Now I don't need to tell you, do I, that naturally, and of course Jesus knew everything that was going to happen that night. He knew that the disciples that He had just put on board that boat were going to run into a serious storm out in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. He knew all that. And after He had bidden them farewell, the Bible says He went up into the mountain to pray. And we're not told what He prayed about, but I am very certain there was at least one thing that Jesus certainly prayed about on that mountain. I'm sure He prayed about the men who were sailing into the storm.
And let me pause right here to say something that I think is very significant for all of us. Yes, there are many times that Jesus sends us into storms, into difficulties, into problems, into perplexities. But it is important for us to understand that whenever He does that, He knows about it ahead of time and He has already prayed for us. Do you remember what He said to Peter on the night that He was arrested? He said,
Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you like wheat.
But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.
And know this, my friend, whenever the ship of our experience sails into stormy weather, Jesus already knows and Jesus has already prayed. And He's on the alert. There was a group of people who were waiting in a waiting room to be interviewed for a job as a wireless telegraph operator. They were sitting there talking to each other and they didn't really pay much attention to a loudspeaker that turned on and that dots and dashes started coming through the loudspeaker. That suddenly one of the men who was in the waiting room jumped up and he went rapidly to the office of the manager. And a moment later he came out of the office and he said, “I got the job.” And everybody said, “How did you get ahead of us?” And he said, “Well, if you had not been talking and chattering away you might have decoded the message that the manager sent. And the message was this: The man I need must always be on the alert. The first person who interprets this and comes to my private office will get the job. The man I need must always be on the alert.”
And I've got good news for all the Christians this morning. The man we need is always on the alert. The Bible says there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And the Bible tells us that He has gone into heaven itself as our great High Priest, there to appear in the presence of God for us. And if you are a Christian this morning, and by a Christian I mean if you have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for the free gift of everlasting life and you know for sure that you will live with Him forever in His kingdom, if you are a Christian you not only have a very wonderful Savior, you have an excellent mediator. You have a great High Priest. And the Bible says that because He rose from the dead He ever lives to make intercession for us.
And one of the secrets, my friends, of hanging tough in the storms of life is to know and to believe that Jesus is already aware of those storms and He has already prayed for us.
Well, unfortunately I don't think the disciples understood that Jesus had been praying for them. But there was one thing that was perfectly obvious to them: Jesus wasn't in the boat. They were going across the Sea of Galilee as far as they could tell all by themselves. I suppose it's often the case when storms hit our life that the first thought that crosses our mind is, “I'm going through this by myself. Where is God? I'm going through this all alone.”
But of course from His position on the mountain Jesus saw them. He saw the storm into which they were sailing. He saw them struggling with the oars and not making much headway across the water. And then He did something that is absolutely unique in the history of Jesus on earth. He came down to the water and He started walking across the water. And He was moving at a faster rate of speed than the disciples were rowing because He was gaining on them. And the wind that was stopping them didn't bother Him at all. And the waves that lapped at His feet were not swallowing Him up. And pretty soon He came alongside the boat. Pretty soon He's right beside them and about to go beyond them.
And the disciples said, “Look, it's Jesus and He's not bothered by the winds. He's not bothered by the storm. We're saved. He'll lead us to the other shore.” What's that you say? It's not in your Bibles? Well it's not in your Bibles. I guess that's not what they said. They see Jesus walking on the water and they thought that they were seeing a ghost. And they cried out. And I know what they must have cried out: “It's a ghost!” And they were greatly distressed.
Don't you see? The sight of Jesus walking on the water should have given them comfort and assurance. And instead they were being scared by what they thought was a ghost. May I suggest that sometimes when we go through the storms of life, instead of seeing God in the storms, instead of seeing His control, we see spirits. We see magic. We see ghosts. We see witchcraft.
Bruce and Phyllis are out of town this morning so I can tell you that one of the favorite chapters in the book that I wrote about him is a chapter where we describe some of the stories that Luis heard as a little boy as he was growing up. And some of these stories I'm sure had been handed down from generation to generation. And one of my favorite stories is about the young man who was a real flirt. He flirted with anything that was in a skirt and he whistled at old ladies, celebrities, at married ladies and single ladies.
And one day he was out in the road and he saw ahead of him at a bridge a female figure. And she had a perfect shape and she was wearing gorgeous clothing and she had beautiful black tresses of hair hanging down below her shoulders. So in his usual fashion he cried out to her, “Chiquita! Bonita! Mamacita! I will be vos espera me. Wait for me!” So he catches up with her and he's beside her on the bridge and she turns and looks at him. And he's staring into the hideous face of a horrible skull. So didn't pay for being a flirt, don't you agree?
And then there was the story that Luis heard about his own great-granddaddy. The story went something like this: Your great-granddaddy used to play the fiddle and dance for a living. And sometimes he'd do that every night from Thursday through Sunday. Then one night he was getting ready to go and play his fiddle and his wife said to him, “Where are you playing tonight?” And he said, “I don't know and I don't care. I need money bad. And if the devil asked me to play for him, I'd play for him as long as he would pay.”
He walked out into the night. It was a long time before he came back. And when he came back he looked awful. His face was pale and he looked terrified. And his wife said to him, “What happened?” And he said, “I played for the devil tonight.” And I saw the end of Jose and Maria and all the people I knew when they were alive. I think I was in hell. And the story ended like this: Your granddaddy died that night. And they say that when he died his eyes were bulging out of his face.
We're in the year 2000 and maybe the things that scare you a little bit are more sophisticated than that. But isn't it true, isn't it true that when something unusual happens that is negative and harmful, we suspect the power of evil spirits? Or we suspect sometimes that voodoo is involved. We think we need a curandero or we need to remove a hex, remove a curse. Isn't it true that we sometimes, or at least are tempted to think like that?
You remember Job. Satan had gotten permission from God to take away Job's property and his children. And one day Job lost all his camels and all his oxen or his sheep and also lost seven sons and three daughters. And did he say the devil has taken? Or did he say somebody has put a curse on my house? Look at what has happened to me. What did Job say? He said,
Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
And another secret, my friends, of hanging tough in the trials and storms of life is not to give way to fearful superstition but to see God in the storms and to know that He is in complete and perfect control.
Well the disciples were scared, weren't they? And it's interesting that Jesus apparently wanted to get past them. Why? Well He had told them He would meet them at Bethsaida. He was going to lead the way now. But they're scared. They don't get the encouragement from seeing Him. But they should. And the Bible says this is very important. The Bible says immediately He talked with them. Immediately He talked with them. What did He say? He said,
Cheer up. It's me. Do not be afraid.
And yes, sometimes we are afraid when we face the unexpected experiences of life. And then here's what we need: we need for Him to talk to us, to talk to us. How does He talk to us? Through the pages of His Word. When we read His Word, when we hear His Word, we need the encouragement that comes to us from the Word of God. And no matter what the particular fear is in our particular situation, the bottom line will always be true: “It's me. Don't be afraid.”
And then He climbed on board the ship and immediately the storm stopped. And I wish I could tell you that the disciples said, “Oh, we get it now. He knows how to control everything.” But they didn't. The Bible says they were amazed and that they still did not even understand the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand because their hearts were hardened. They didn't realize that the one who was able to supply the needs of the great multitude with a few loaves and fishes could control the winds and the waves of the sea. They didn't get it. They were still not quite at the destination where Jesus wanted them to be.
And I'm happy to tell you that in due time they got it. And when we read about these men in the book of Acts, we find that they were tough, resilient and effective leaders of God's people.
And the question I want to leave you with this morning is this: How far are you along the journey to spiritual toughness, to spiritual strength, to spiritual courage? How far have you traveled on that journey? And if you have to admit to me this morning that you've still got some territory to cover, then maybe you could ask God to help you to speed the ship up and to reach your destination more quickly. Because you see, troubles are not going to wait. And it's time for you to hang tough.
There's a young man who joined the army a number of years ago. His first night in the barracks he faced a real test. You see, when he was at home he had the habit before he went to bed at night of opening his Bible, laying it down on his bed and kneeling beside his bed and reading a chapter in the Bible and having his prayer time. And here he was in the barracks for the first night and it was filled with rough men who were cursing and joking around. And the thought crossed his mind, “Maybe I would just slip into bed and read my Bible at a time that nobody will notice.” And then he said to himself, “I'm a Christian. I ought to give these guys a testimony. I have to strike my colors.” So he decided to do the same thing that he did when he was at home. In other words, he decided to hang tough.
So after he got into his sleeping clothes, he opened his Bible and laid it on his cot. Then he knelt in front of his Bible and started reading his Bible. And within two minutes the barracks were deathly silent as a church. And the young man felt he was like a goldfish in a glass bowl. After a while the talking started again, but nobody said anything to him about his strange conduct. And the next night, his second night in the barracks, when he got out his Bible then laid it on the cot and knelt down, there were eight other soldiers who got out their Bibles, laid them on their cots and knelt down. And by the time a month had passed, everybody in that company would come to him for counsel. And they brought in their problems. They brought in their questions. And he influenced more men for Christ than a half-dozen chaplains could do in a year or so, simply because he decided to hang tough.
Now I'm not going to promise you that kind of result if you hang tough for God. I am going to say this: God will always honor what you do and He will always bless it and He will use it to impact others.
Martin Luther, the great reformer, knew a thing or two about hanging tough, didn't he? And he has left behind that wonderful hymn which we call “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” Its words are challenging and inspiring:
“Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing. Were not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He. Lord Sabaoth His name, from age to age the same. And He must win the battle.”
Shall we pray? Father, for every Christian in this audience this morning I pray that You will give us grace in the midst of the storms of life by faith to hang tough. We ask this in Christ's name, amen.