5-24-2023
You did it, graduates! Congratulations on finishing high school! Over the past 13 years you have moved forward, step by step, grade by grade…..but I have to tell you, the events of last week aren’t the end of the journey. You may be familiar in the saying “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. It’s true. You will never begin a journey without the first step.
One of Jesus’ disciples, Peter, is a perfect example of this. He took many steps on his journey of following Jesus, but there’s one story in particular that I want you to be aware of. It’s found in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, chapter 14.
Jesus and just fed 5,000 people with 2 loaves and 5 fish. Finally, the crowd is fed and Jesus is exhausted so He sends the disciples away, dismisses the crowd, and goes up into the hills, to pray. But Jesus didn’t just send the disciples away, He specifically told them to cross the lake. As they did, a storm blew in. The disciples are struggling to reach their destination, buffeted by waves – and scared to death I’m sure.
Then, Matthew tells us that about three o’clock in the morning Jesus came to them, walking on the water. And let’s just be clear here. The disciples freaked. (And be honest……..you and I would freak too!) Jesus identifies himself and everyone calms down a little, but Peter, seeing Jesus walk on the water, wants to go to Him. So he says, “If it’s really you, tell me to come to you by walking on the water.”
Jesus says, “Come on,” and Peter steps out of the boat and begins to walk across the water. Now, it really doesn’t matter what standard you go by, that’s just way cool. Years ago I had a boat. And I gotta tell you, once I fell out of it and walking on the water would have been really great at that moment, but it didn’t happen. The storm continues to rage around him and Peter gets his eyes off of Jesus and onto the storm and he begins to sink. So he does exactly what you and I would do, he cries out for help……and Jesus reaches out His hand and lifts him up.
Now, let me draw your attention to a few elements of this story to help you on your journey following graduation.
First, whether you believe it or not, you are a person of faith. Peter was a person of faith, he just hadn’t decided where to put that faith. When he met Jesus and Jesus said, “Come and follow me,” somehow Peter knew that this was the guy. This was the place to put his faith. So he did.
Second, faith is a process. No one has it all figured out overnight. In fact, no one has it all figured out before they die. We tend to like things in neat little packages. Faith doesn’t work like that. It’s a process – a life-long process. It was for Peter, it is for me and it is for you.
Third, in the faith process you will have doubts. Peter saw Jesus on the water, believed it was Jesus and wanted to get closer to Jesus so he stepped out of the boat. All of those are steps of faith. We don’t know if Jesus was 10 feet away or 10 yards. What we do know is that somewhere in Peter’s journey from the boat to Jesus, he had doubts. He got his eyes off of Jesus and onto the storm and he began to sink.
In your journey of faith you will have doubts. You will have failures. You will begin to sink. It’s at that time that you have to make a choice. Do I reach out for God to strengthen my faith, or do I give up? Peter chose to cry out for help from Jesus…….let me encourage you to do the same. Why? Because Jesus will always be there. Always.
Peter starts to sink, so he cries out to God, “Save me, Lord!” And here’s my favorite part of the story: Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and grabbed him. See, God is not light years away, He’s not miles away, He’s with you every moment of every day…….waiting to hear from you.
For some of you, you’re about to step out of the boat. You’re going to graduate and head toward college or tech school or a job or a marriage and you’re entering into uncharted territory. Wherever you go, remember that Jesus is there. Peter stepped out of the boat and Jesus was there. He will be wherever you’re going as well. Congratulations, class of 2023…..now go out and make a difference in this world!