Jesus Reached out His Hand...

Pentecost 13

8/10/08

Matt:14:25-33

Rev. Michael A. Trask

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This is one of the most well known accounts from the life of Jesus. I’m fairly certain that almost everyone here today has heard it many times before. You probably first heard it in Sunday School. This last week, it was one of the stories that was told to the kids in Vacation Bible School. It is well known and a favorite

It’s a favorite because it is chock full of big visuals....wind and waves and walking on water and all that. But today I’d like to focus in on what many would consider a minor part of the story. A part that barely get’s any notice, what with all the cool stuff happening all around it. It’s that singular moment where the text says “Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.” “Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.”

This may sound strange to you, but this is actually my favorite part of the whole account! Yeah, Jesus walking on water is cool. Peter walking on water is cool too. The way that the wind died down when Jesus got into the boat is pretty neat; and it was pretty humorous when the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost. But to me, none of it compares to this little verse: “Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.” Why do I like it so much? Because it relates something about Jesus that is highly significant: He didn’t let Peter drown! Though he might have been a bit disappointed by Peter’s weak faith, he didn’t let him drown! The Savior did what the Savior does: he saved him. This is so very important; important to me personally!

Let me tell you why: in my early years, I know that I was taught correctly, but somewhere along the line i got it in my head that if I were going to be saved, if I were going to make it into eternity that I would have to somehow achieve a higher level of faith. As a child I would often torment myself over whether or not my faith was strong enough to make it. I was sure that it wasn’t. There were a couple of times when I was absolutely certain that I was going to hell because my faith wasn’t strong enough. Now don’t get the idea that I was some weird kid or anything, I had a great and normal childhood when all was said and done. I’m just talking about fleeting moments of spiritual fear that would flash into my mind and I would quickly try to forget.

I think you know what I’m talking about. I think a lot of people have had similar moments of spiritual fear: some more some less. It’s human nature for us to think in this way, to think that our eternal life depends on something that we do...be it faith or something else. Many adults still have this fear; perhaps even some of you here today are still going through the same thing. You have heard that you have got to have faith and so you came to the conclusion....that your chances of being saved are in direct proportion to how much faith you have.

But what does the text say about that? What does Jesus do with someone who has a weak faith? What did he do Peter had weak faith: “Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.” According to the theory I had as a child and the theory that many still live by, Jesus should have stood there with his arms folded; looking scornfully at Peter saying “Sorry pal, down you go! Not enough faith!” But that’s not what Jesus did and that’s not what Jesus does. Jesus saved Peter! Jesus saves you!

It’s not about the amount or strength of faith that you have, it’s that you have faith. Peter had faith. As he was sinking into the waves he looked up to Jesus and knew that Jesus could pull him out. This caused him to exclaim: “Lord Save me!” Can you say that? Can you say “Lord save me” Can you look to Jesus and say “Lord pull me up?” If you can, you’ve got faith.

Or how about the thief on the cross. he says “Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom.” What did Jesus say to that: “Oh, I’m so sorry, I can’t do that, your faith is just not big enough” No. He said “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Can you say what the man said and mean it? Can you say “Jesus remember me?” You got faith. As it says in Romans, the epistle lesson for today: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” It doesn’t say “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord in a strong, manly, persuasive voice will be saved.” It’s says “everyone who calls.”

It’s not the strength of your faith that saves you; it’s your Savior that saves you. Don’t imagine that your faith is some aggressive force by which you crawl your way into heaven and pry open it’s doors so that you can gain entrance. Faith is a passive thing....a thing that receives the blessed gift of salvation that was achieved for us by Christ Jesus. Salvation is a gift. Faith does not make this gift or even cause this gift to be given, it merely receives it. Don’t make it so difficult. The Lord saves you. It’s his gift. “ Jesus reached out his hand....”

Jesus is the Hand of God. Jesus is God’s right hand. There are some really cool references in the Old Testament about the Right hand of God. Whenever the Old Testament speaks about the Right hand of God, it’s speaks about Jesus. Here’s Isaiah 41:10 The Lord says “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your god. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Then there’s Exodus 15:6 Remember...Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand O Lord shattered the enemy.” Isn’t that awesome!? Okay one more..... Psalm 98:1 “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” That’s all talking about Jesus

Now let’s review? Which hand did the upholding? Which hand is majestic in power and shattered the enemy? Which hand worked Salvation? Was it your hand? Was your hand even part of the picture? NOOOO! The hand that does all the saving is the wonderful marvelous right hand of God, our Savior Jesus. Jesus is, God’s hand and God’s arm reaching into the world to save it! Jesus worked salvation for us by going to the cross to pay the price of all of our sins! Jesus shattered the enemies of our souls by rising to life again! Jesus is God’s hand reaching into the world to save the world. Jesus is God’s hand reaching into your life to save you! “Jesus reached out his hand....” See why I think this is the best part?

It’s not the strength of your faith that saves you. It’s the strength of the Savior who saves you. Learning this changed my spiritual life. I went from fear and dread to peace and Joy. But I share all of this with you together with a warning. Don’t think that having a weak faith is cool. Weak faith is not cool. Look at Peter, he got pretty wet, scared and embarrassed by his weak faith. Weak faith will do that for you and you won’t like living like that. I don’t want you to take this good news I share with you today as some sort of salve that encourages you to shoot for the lowest possible levels of faith. On the contrary, I encourage you, with all joy and confidence to Make use of all that God has given you to strengthen your faith: His word, the Sacrament of the altar; this church;his body of believers. They are all gifts to you from God the Holy Spirit So that weak faith can become stronger and strong faith become stronger still. AMEN