I AM here!
Matthew 14: 22-33

As you hear and think about the grace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, may you realize as well, that is only possible because He is here, with you!

 An Interrupted Prayer time?

As I study a passage of scripture to preach on it, I look at other passages that are similar. With the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, this is pretty easy, as they cover more than 2/3rds of the same stories.

In this case, Mark’s gospel adds one interesting note, that Jesus’s prayer time, his time talking with God the Father was interrupted.  Mark’s gospel adds this little note in

⁴⁷  Late that night, the disciples were in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land. ⁴⁸  He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them, Mark 6:47-48 (NLT)

While Mark doesn’t mention Jesus praying, it does mention that HE SAW THEM!

So Jesus heads out – checks on them as He is passing, and that is when something interesting happens.

No, not their freaking out, as they’ve been struggling for 9 plus hours to row and sail a boat against contrary seas.  That isn’t interesting, it is tragic.  They are tired, and to see someone walking across the sea, in the midst of a horrible eastern Mediterranean storm… well – it’s got to be supernatural, a phantasmic (not fantastic) experience in Greek.

What is interesting is Jesus response to their cries of fear.  I AM here.

Sounds like what I keep telling you, you know, “the Lord is with you!”!!!

The Struggles are Real

We need to know that, and some weeks, and some Saturdays, we need to know it even more.

Sometimes we are like the disciples, tired from fighting contrary winds, feeling like the world is going to overwhelm and drown us.  Sometimes the other guys in the boat aren’t much of a help, or at least we don’t thing they are.  And the wind – there is nothing we can do…

A few years ago, when Kay came back from a mission trip to Siberia, they had a team reunion near a reservoir in San Diego.  The reservoir had little sailboats, brand new, in fact the one she and I got in had never been used!

We found that out as we get maybe 100 feet away from the dock, and the rudder, not fully screwed in , because it decides to float away!  Then I notice they didn’t insert the centerboard, so there is nothing to keep the boat stable,, and then of course, the wind picks up.
We got blown across the reservoir, where a park ranger met us.  She then told kay to get out of the front of the boat, and I learned they didn’t insert the ballast either, and the boat flips over with only my weight on board!   Funny it was.. but more than a bit frustrating!

And we didn’t even get to see Jesus walking on the water, and when I got out – I didn’t walk on it!  But life sometimes feels like it was that day, failing miserably, helpless, unable to go where I should, and ending up soaking wet!

But Jesus still sees us struggling, even when we aren’t aware of His presence, or His care for us.  We don’t, otherwise we wouldn’t freak out, or scream like the disciples did, in fear of their lives.

We often talk about sin as this action, or that action.  This evil thought, or those words that hurt that we say.  But sin is also when we ignore God, when we try and play God, or choose things our way.

Please hear me, I am not saying the struggle is sin, absolutely not!  By no means! But during the struggle, have we forgotten Jesus?  Do we remember He cares?  If not sin, or often the effect of sin in our lives is evident, for we’ve lost sight of our Lord, our Deliver.

I am here, compared to I AM HERE

Which is why we need to hear his voice, we need to be reminded of His presence. We need to realize it,, we need to let Him calm our fears, put to rest our anxieties, heal our souls and bring peace to our hearts.

By the way, there is a spelling error on the Bulletin, and I may have set this one up when I told Cris the sermon title.

It isn’t I Am Here…. It is I AM here.

That doesn’t seem like much does it?  It would be to Peter and Andrew, James, Hahn, Mathew and the rest. You see, in both Greek and Hebrew, Jesus didn’t just reveal that he was walking by.
He revealed he was God, and that He was involved in their life.  You see, that I AM is the I AM Moses heard at the burning bush, it is the name of God that is translated as LORD throughout scripture, the name God gave us to call out to him.  Yahweh, Ego Eimi, the I AM THAT IAM .  The name that was put on the temple for people to know who to pray to, and of course, the name we aren’t to take in vain, but use to pray and to praise God.

During the storm, and at the cross, God is there for you.  In the trauma of everyday life, He answers us, and to finally get to that other guy on the water, He says to us as He did to Peter.

Don’t be afraid, I am here – come on – walk with me!

And so we shall, trusting in the Lord who is with you!  AMEN!