Mat 14:22-33

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. 

Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. 

But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 

And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 

So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 

Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” 

The event of Peter walking on the water with Jesus occurred immediately after Jesus performed another miracle, feeding the 5,000. I share this for the context and your understanding. If you have teenage boys, I’m sure some months if feels like you’re feeding the 5000, and it’s a miracle you’re not broke.

And yet, despite the challenges you may have faced over the years while raising your children and getting them to this point, here we are. You survived. Today is the first day of the rest of your life…Congratulations, parents, you have graduated!

Oh, sorry, we’re here to celebrate the high-school graduates, not the parents, right.

Here’s the thing I wish I had understood when I graduated and thought I knew how life worked.

Graduates…

• You’re going to face rough waters. 
• The storm is coming. 
• You’re going to be afraid.
• You’re going to have doubts.
• And at some point, you will cry out, Someone save me!

You see, every challenge you’ve accepted, every goal you have accomplished, every hardship you have endured, and every tear you have shed until today…this is just the beginning. 

The mistake I made, with all my youthful wisdom, was avoiding the storm at all costs instead of heeding the call to step out of the boat with enough faith to walk on water towards it.

Are you kidding me? The boat is safe. We can improve the boat, make it bigger and faster. We can outrun the storm! As Tim the Tool Man Taylor would say, give it more power (grunt). Ok, you’d have to be an 80’s kid to get that one.

The point here is not complicated. You might outrun the storms in life for a while, but they will always catch up to you. Sooner or later, the man-made boat always sinks. Just ask Captain Jack Sparrow.

Your boat is your comfort zone you built. You feel safe in the boat. You might even step onto the very edge of the boat and yell something crazy like, “I’m the King of the world!”…ok, that was a different Jack…and…that “unsinkable” boat went down too.

Don’t miss the point, here! You’re not living in faith as long as you’re in the boat when it goes down. Sure, if you go down with it, you’re dedicated…but dedicated to what? 

Dedicated to a life of fear and not faith.

Your boat has a timeline. It has an expiration date. It cannot float forever, because you made it. You will have to enter the waters regardless. The question is, will you do it in faith, or grip in fear to something man created?

Peter says, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you in the water.”

Peter was in fear. Peter had doubts, even though he knew the voice of Jesus. The waves were tossing the boat, and the winds were coming from multiple directions. But Peter didn’t let his fear or doubt overpower his faith. 

He didn’t call for Jesus to remove them from the storm. He didn’t call for safety…at first. He called to Jesus and said, “If that is you in the stormy waters, command me to follow you out there and I will do as you command!”

Jesus’ answer back to Peter could not have been any more powerful. “Come”.

I can’t tell you enough the importance and power of this one word Jesus responded with.

“Come”.

As I have done so many times in my life, I live as a testimony for you not to follow in my footsteps in this matter.

• “Well, I’ll step out of the boat when it looks safe to do so”. Jesus says no, come.
• “When I see a sign that shows me it’s time to take that step,” Jesus says no, come.
• “When I have prepared enough…” No, come.
• “Well I first need to muster up enough courage to…” No, come.

Peter shows us that he had to take that first step out of the boat, believing that in the presence of his Lord, he, too, could do the seemingly impossible and walk on the water.

May I ask, what kind of faith do you have when stepping into the unknown?

This is the secret to living an abundant life in the living waters that Jesus provides. We don’t wait around in life for Jesus to save us from the storm. 

We call on Jesus in faith and ask, “Jesus, if that’s you in the storm, call me and I will come!” 

We seek Him, because He already sought us. 

Then we’re not supposed to hesitate. We’re not to pay attention to the storm. We don’t need to worry about how we will provide. We shouldn’t concern ourselves about how we’re going to feed the 5,000. We’re supposed to jump out of that boat in full faith that our Lord and Saviour has our hand because we’re seeking to follow Him into the storm.

And when you turn your eyes from Jesus and towards the storm and begin to doubt, because at some point you will. He is there with His hands reaching out to help you get through the storm, not save you from it.

And when the storm calms, He will lovingly ask you, Why did you doubt? Why did you lack faith in Him to provide? Why did you not believe you could walk on the rough waters when He called you to come?

I don’t know many of you. Some of you may not be believers in Jesus. What I am saying here might sound foreign to you. 

Some of you are believers…lacking in faith. 

And some of you call out to Jesus in every storm, asking if He is there. There is no pride or shame in where you are today. It just simply is what it is. 

But what I do know with 100% confidence is that Jesus has you here in this time and in this place, listening to His word being spoken through me for a specific reason.

You see, I was asked just a few days ago if I’d like to share a little something with you all tonight, and my immediate response was no. 

I was very happy in my little boat, thank you very much.

My first thoughts were:

I‘m too nervous, I’m afraid, my life is not put together enough to share an encouraging message like this, They will see me for the fraud that I am, I am simply not good enough.

And then I heard “come”.

“Come, step into faith, and I will lend you a hand when you lose your footing. “

“When you don’t feel confident enough, when you don’t feel sure of yourself, when you lack the strength to go on, come to Me, and I will give you all that you need liberally without reproach, enough to walk on water amid the storm if needed.”

This message is just as much for me as it is for you. Stepping out of the boat in faith is not a one-and-done thing.

To the graduates here tonight. As you move on to the next phase of your life, I encourage you to keep walking in faith. Get out of the boat and step onto the water! 

Continue to stretch yourself beyond the point where you rely on God more than your own strength or understanding.

Call for God in the storms and ask, “Is that you in there? If so, command me to come, and I will follow.” Live life with the kind of faith Peter had in Jesus as he stepped out of the boat and onto the water.

To the parents here tonight. You might think your job is done. The nest might be getting a little less full. You might hear the golf course calling your name soon. But sooner or later, that boat you built will sink, and your children, now adults, are now looking to you more than ever for guidance on living in faith.

That old adage of “Do as I say and not as I do” never worked. Are you stepping out of that boat in faith to do the seemingly impossible in the minds of men? Or are you simply waiting for the boat to go down like the sunset? 

The older your kids get, the more they realize you’re not some old out-of-touch product of the dinosaur age. You might actually have something of value to teach…and just like they did as a little toddler, they’re looking up at you for an example of living in faith.

Stepping out of that boat in faith, following Jesus in the storm, I thank God that’s something I get to experience over and over in my life now, even when it looks like I’m going to sink.

May we be living examples to our children, showing them that we never stop seeking Him, as long as we’re here, for our kids to watch us.

Congratulations, Students and Parents. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. The circumstances of life may be changing, but the mission always remains the same. 

Keep getting out of the boat in faith that Jesus is there, calling you, come.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen

Matthew 28:18-20

Let me close by saying that those of us who take His name are called to share the wisdom, the knowledge, and the saving grace of Jesus Christ, to disciple the nations in His ways, not our own.

Again, I don’t know many of you here. I don’t know where you are in life or your walk with Jesus Christ. I can only tell you that you’re in the right place and at the right time to step out of the boat. 

There are many here tonight who would love to share their stories of who Jesus is and what He has done for them. And trust me, we’re on the Gorman’s Ranch; there is no shortage of stories to tell about living in faith, trusting in God, and leaping out of a rowboat being towed by seven horses down a snowy field while being on fire thanks to Timmy. Okay, I’m not sure if that last bit actually happened, but if you know the Gormans, it’s far from fiction.

Once again, congratulations to everyone here tonight. I think I can speak on behalf of the Gormans, in that we lift you up, we praise God for what He is doing in each one of you, whether you know it or not, and we pray that He will have the preeminence in all of it. 

Thank You.