If someone asked you, “What is faith all about,” how would you respond? You might say faith is belief in something. While there is some truth to that statement, faith is more.

An example of this comes to us in the story of the Great Blondin who on July 15, 1859, walked across Niagara Fall on a tightrope, suspended 160 feet above the falls.  As you can imagine huge crowds on both sides looked on with shock and awe.  Once, the Great Blondin crossed Niagara Falls in a sack, on stilts, riding a bicycle, once he even carried a stove to the middle & cooked an omelet! Finally, he decided to push a wheelbarrow across the falls.

Tradition has it that after the Great Blondi, blindfolded pushed a wheelbarrow across he turned to a man in the audience and asked, "Do you believe I can push a person across in this wheelbarrow?"  The man and the rest of the crowd shouted “Yes, we believe!”  He turned to the man and said, “Get in!” 

The Great Blondin could not convince a single person to get into that wheelbarrow. The people might have believed that Charles Blondin could cross carrying someone in a wheelbarrow, but they did not have faith in putting themselves in the wheelbarrow.

What is faith all about? I cannot take credit for this, but often I use an acronym to help explain faith. Faith is Forsaking All I Trust Him. When the storms of life come our way, Faith is focusing not on the wind or waves, but on the one who stands before you ready to pick you up when you fall. Jesus!

In Matthew 14:22-33 the text begins with an important word: Immediately. “Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds.” (v.25)

Immediately after what? Immediately after the miraculous feeding of the 5,000. No time to celebrate this miracle, or to relax and enjoy what had just happened. Immediately they are sent across the Sea of Galilee.

I point this out because this word “immediately” reminds us of how life works. Many of the momentous changes that happen in our lives, good or bad, happen immediately. It can be a good thing, like when you learn that you were accepted to the college you wanted, or when a family member calls you with exciting news, they are pregnant.

But there can also be unwelcome events that happen immediately like an illness, or accident, or the death of a loved one. Almost immediately, our entire world was taken over, and our lives have never been the same since.

In the case of the disciples in today’s reading, the change they experienced was at the command of Jesus, but that did not make it any easier. They were asked to leave Jesus right after He has performed this amazing miracle. And when they do they find themselves, almost immediately in a boat being battered by the waves and the wind. None of us gets through this life completely un-battered or unscathed. And very often these storms come at us immediately, without warning.

When they do, it is worth remembering the two other times the word “immediately” shows up in this story, both of which teach us something important about our Christian life. The next time that the word “immediately” occurs is when Jesus was walking on the water. “But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” – Vs. 22

Of course, many of those people may not have known the reason for Jesus’ walking on the water. And the reason is simple: Jesus wanted to be with His disciples. They are caught in this terrifying storm, and Jesus doesn’t want them to be alone. So, He walks out to them. It is a simple but important detail that this story teaches us: that whenever we are caught in one of life’s storms, we can trust that we are not alone. Jesus is with us. We are never alone in that boat. God’s Son, our Lord and Savior, is always with us. That is His promise.

And there is an important lesson here about prayer. When life’s storms hit, we can cry out to the Lord in fear, and the Lord will immediately answer that prayer. Being afraid does not mean that we do not have faith. There is nothing wrong with being afraid. Our Lord wants to hear from us when we are afraid. He wants us to cry out our fears when life’s storms hit but make it a prayer. Cry out to the Lord, and He will immediately answer your prayer. Take heart, Jesus says. It is I. Do not be afraid.

But that is not the end of the story. Because now our favorite disciple enters the story, Peter. In response to seeing Jesus’ walking on the water, Peter makes a very strange request. “Lord,” he says, “if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus obliges, saying simply: “Come.”

Peter gets out of the boat and starts walking on the water toward Jesus! And Peter does this very well, until he notices the storm. Then he becomes frightened and begins to sink. Now, the storm was there the whole time. So was the water. And so was Jesus. What changed? Peter’s faith, right? What else is there? Peter demonstrated faith by stepping out of the boat. But he began to sink when he started doubting. He doubted because he took his eyes off Jesus. He looked at the storm all around him, at the wind above him, at the water below him, and he became frightened and started to sink.

Perhaps you have had those moments, too. I know that I have. Times when you have taken your eyes off of Jesus. You looked around at the storms in your lives and started to doubt. If so, remember what happens next because we get one more use of the word, “immediately.” Peter, in a panic, cries out: “Lord, save me!” And Jesus does. Immediately. He immediately reaches out his hand and catches Peter. No punishment. He catches Peter the moment he cries out to Jesus.

This is important, because sometimes, when we are in one of those storms, and forget our faith, we can feel a little guilty, and our guilt can sometimes keep us from crying out to Jesus for help. Well, that might make the devil happy, but not Jesus. Jesus wants us to cry out for help whenever we need it, regardless of how faithful or unfaithful we have been lately. And he will immediately catch us. Now, after He catches us, He might very well confront us about our lack of faith, just as He does with Peter. But not before. It is only after He catches Peter that He says to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

How is your faith? If you were to get a check-up today, how would your faith measure up? Before you answer, remember three things. First, Jesus loves humility. Being humble is recognizing you do not have all the answers. But you know who does.

Secondly, if you feel as though your faith is too small, take heart because all you need is a Mustard seed of Faith. Jesus uses the mustard seed as a powerful illustration. Mustard seeds are the smallest of all seeds, yet they have become a large plant. If all you have is a mustard seed of faith, know it is enough.

Third and final, when in doubt, worship. It is no wonder that when all of this was said and done, those in the boat worshiped Jesus, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” To take a moment in your journey through life to worship the one who promises to be with you through every storm. The disciples worshipped after Jesus came into the boat, then the storm died down. What would have happened if they would have worshipped before the storm died down?

Until next week when we meet at the P.E.W.

Pastor Joel