'Advent
1---
Finding Jesus in Unexpected Circumstances'
Good morning. And welcome to good news in the
morning. My name is Brent Russett. I am
the Senior Pastor at Sunnyside Wesleyan Church here in Ottawa. It is my
pleasure to look at some of life’s challenges, and then bring you some good
news in the morning.
I am glad that you tuned your dial
to CFRA. I want you to know that you can also find Good News in the morning on
the internet at Goodnewsinthemorning.ca. There you can keep up to date with
what is happening around Good News Christian Ministries.
I want to say a special welcome to
our international listeners, who listen via the internet. We are glad that you
have found us, and that you are finding this ministry an encouragement.
******
For
those of you who follow the Church Calendar, this is the first Sunday of
Advent. This means that, including today there are 4 Sundays before Christmas.
Advent is a time when we prepare to meet Jesus anew. This morning I want to
talk about preparing to meet Jesus in Unexpected circumstances.
My
parents have a cottage up the Ottawa River past Arnprior. One of the things
that I like to do at the cottage is go canoeing. The river is about two
kilometers wide at that point. Sometimes the water is mirror smooth. But storms
can come up within minutes.
I am
a relatively good canoer. However, there was a time when I was out quite a
distance from shore when a strong east wind came up and I needed to get back to
shore. I was paddling straight into the
wind. If you let the canoe get sideways to the wind it would just blow the
canoe around. I was straining and I was paddling and it felt like I was getting
nowhere fast. Not only that, but days like that remind me that I need to go to
the gym more often. I am pulling and my arms and shoulders aching. I am digging
into the water but there is no momentum. There is only a few feet made with
every stroke. .
I
eventually was able to made it closer to shore where the wind was not so bad,
and then able to get back to where I started.
But that canoe
excursion is a metaphor fort how I sometimes feel about life. I paddle hard,
but don’t seem to get far. The circumstances around me hold me back. The wind
and the waves of life are there and my endurance is not endless. I am just
exhausted, but your have no choice but to keep on paddling.
Have
you ever been there. Maybe it is a job that is taxing. Maybe it is a disability
that is wearing. Maybe it is relationship that is difficult. Maybe it is the
constant war against stress. Maybe it your calendar that is unrelenting. Maybe
it is the fight with the dragons of the past that is wearing you down. Maybe it
is the strain against addiction. Maybe it is the constant worry you feel. Maybe
it is the financial stress that you are under. But you strain against the wind
and pull against the waves, and you feel the battle wearing on you.
If
you can relate to that battle, I believe that God has something that he wants
to say to you today. This morning we are going to look at the first book of New
Testament. - Matthew 14
When
we get to this point in scripture, Jesus had just fed 5000 people with just a
few loaves and fish. He sent the people away and this is where we pick up the
story.
VERSE 22
22 Immediately after this,
Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other
side of the lake, while he sent the people home. 23 After
sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell
while he was there alone.
24 Meanwhile, the disciples
were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were
fighting heavy waves.
Been
there done that literally and figuratively. Why is it that when the storms come
up – that Jesus seems absent.
I know theologically that this is not true.
God is everywhere present. But it is a common experience to most Christians.
Sometimes we bring it upon ourselves. We take no thought of God and do not take
time to connect with him, and then when we need him we find it difficult to
connect with him. Sometimes, like in the disciples’ case, it was through no fault of their own.
Jesus
sent them on this boat trip. While on this boat trip that Jesus sent them on
they ran into trouble, and Jesus was not in the boat. He was on land and the
disciples were far away from land. Sometimes you will be doing all that God
said to do, and yet you find yourself in difficulty and still you have a hard
time connecting with Jesus. That is an experiential reality on the spiritual
journey.
What
do you do when that happens? I think that the only thing to do is that You keep
paddling and you keep on hoping and you keep on praying?
Matthew
14:25–26 (NLT)
25 About three o’clock in
the morning* Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. 26 When
the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear,
they cried out, “It’s a ghost!”
I
don’t know what time they left, but they had been out there a long time. The
NLT tells us that it was 3 in the morning. It is not like they were wearing
wrist watches – the literal translation is the fourth part of the night.
Sometime between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. Jesus came walking towards them.
If
you are in the middle of a worry
storm, when does it normally hit you? I talk to a lot of people who do
their best worrying in the fourth part of the night. When the worry is intense,
often our sleep gets interrupted. We are
like the disciples we see ghosts. The ghost of what might happen, what could
happen, what may happen, and those ghosts terrify us.
When
Jesus walked towards the disciples on the water they didn’t recognize him. They
didn’t recognize him because he showed up in an unexpected way. You don’t
expect your flesh and blood rabbi, the one who you have been following for the
last number of years, to walk on water – that is just not the way that help
shows up. They have never seen Jesus do this before. They didn’t know he could
walk on water – so when they see Jesus, they don’t recognize him – they are
terrified and call him a ghost.
****
I
have had a spiritual director for a number of years. A spiritual director is
not a counselor, or a mentor or a coach. A spiritual director is one who helps
you see what God may be up to in your life. You talk to them about your life, and
they are looking for the finger prints of God. Often they will prescribe
spiritual practices that will help enhance what God is doing at a particular
part in the journey.
I
have had spiritual directors because I have found that especially when things
are hard that I can’t always recognize Jesus. I can see the wind and the waves,
but I am very prone to missing the ways that Jesus shows up in my life.
We
all have spiritual blind spots. Sometimes it takes spiritual friends to point
out Jesus in our own life. It is helpful to have someone who can help you see
Jesus. Sometimes we cannot see Jesus because he comes to us in unexpected ways.
Just as an aside, I also note that when I
cultivate an attitude of thanksgiving – that I tend to see Jesus quicker.
MUSIC All the Way my Saviour Leads me – Chris Tomlin
4:36
***
The
disciples are out in a storm and they think they see a ghost so they cry out in
fear.
Verse 27
27 But Jesus spoke to them
at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!*”
The
first thing that Jesus wants the disciples to know that he is there, he is with
them and he urges them to have courage. Or as other translations put it, “take
heart.”
That
is not a bad thing to know in your storms either. Jesus is with you in the
storms have courage. Take heart. If Jesus is with you in the storm, then you
know that it is somehow going to work out.
But
you will notice that the wind did not die down right away, nor did Jesus come
to the boat right away. Knowing that
Jesus is with you in the storm, is the start of the story not the end of the
story.
Matthew
14:28–29 (NLT)
28 Then Peter called to
him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”
29 “Yes, come,” Jesus said.
So
Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.
I
have no idea what inspired Peter to say that. Most of our inclinations are to
say, Jesus you can pray for the sick to be healed, but I can’t. Jesus you can
speak with wisdom but I can’t. But for whatever reason Peter said to Jesus, “If
you are walking on water I want to do it too. “
Actually
I think that Peter got it right. In the middle of the storm, in the middle of
the wind, the Lord is passing by and Peter has the opportunity to go on the
adventure of a lifetime.
I
think there are moments when the Lord comes to all of us, and we have the
opportunity to do the same thing. But at the same time you are scared to death.
What do you choose the water or the boat? The boat is safe, secure and
comfortable. The water is rough, the storm is real, and if you get out of the
boat there is a good chance that you might sink.
John
Ortberg, in his book entitled, “If you
want to walk on water, You’ve got to get out of the boat” say that you need
to ask the question “What is your boat?”
“Your
boat is whatever represents safety and security to you, apart from God. Your
boat is whatever you are tempted to put your trust in, especially when life
gets a little stormy.”… Your fear will tell you (what your boat is)
For
some their boat is their vocation, when they know they are called to another
one. For others it is past success. For others it is a relationship that not
God honouring. For others it is a regular paycheck.
Is
there an area in your life that you are shrinking back from trusting God?
Because
of the storm and the wind some people decide never to leave the boat. But you need to know something. There is no
guarantee that life in the boat is going to be any safer.
Eileen
Gruder wrote,
You can live on bland food so as to avoid an
ulcer, drink no tea, coffee or other stimulants in the name of health, go to
bed early, stay away from night life, avoid all controversial subjects so as
never to give offense, mind your own business, avoid involvement in other
people’s problems, spend money only on necessities and save all you can.
You can still break your neck in the
bathtub, and it will serve you right.
Someone
once said - “The first principle of risk management is that everything is
risky. If you are looking for absolute safety you have chosen the wrong
species. “ (Larry Laudan)
The
boat or the water. Peter decided to go to Jesus. That is a good decision. A
decision, however, that is not without risk.
Matthew
14:28–31 (NLT)
28 Then Peter called to
him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”
29 “Yes, come,” Jesus said.
So
Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But
when he saw the strong* wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink.
“Save me, Lord!” he shouted.
31 Jesus immediately
reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did
you doubt me?”
I
often find that this is my problem. I want to encounter Jesus, but I don’t want
to exercise faith. Maybe you have that problem to.
Mary
was told that she would become pregnant even though she was a virgin. She had
to exercise faith to encounter Jesus. Joseph was going to break up with Mary
and go his own way. But he had a dream saying that what was happening was of
God. He had to exercise faith to encounter Jesus. The shepherds in the field
and the Wise men from the east would have to get out of the boat to encounter
Jesus. We will have to exercise faith as well.
Because
Jesus seems to show up in unexpected circumstances. He shows up in the middle
of a boat trip gone bad, walking on water, - in a way that was hardly
believable. He showed up on in a stable in a manger. That isn’t the first place
you would go looking for God’s son, the Messiah.
Could
it be that he will show up in circumstances that you don’t expect him to. Could
he show up in that difficult situation that you have just continued to live
with? Could he show up in that work place that is far less than optimal. Could
he show up in that marriage that is cold? Could he show up in the kid who rebellious?
Could he show up?
I
expect that it you start looking in faith that you may see him. So here is the
challenge. Look for Jesus in your storm. Sure it feels like you have been
rowing forever – but look for Jesus in your storm. And when you think you see
him – exercise some faith. Step out of the boat and go towards him.
If
you do this you are going to grow. You are going to exercise faith. And faith
has an amazing track record of producing results in those who exercises it.
My
prayer for you is that you would encounter Jesus. I hope you encounter him in
prayer and in worship. But I think there are some unexpected ways he may show
up. My prayer is that we are ready to step out of the boat in faith.
PRAYER:
Lord,
Thank you so much for opportunities you give us to grow.
Lord,
I pray for those who are in the middle of a storm, right now. I ask that you would
give them great grace and great faith to be able to meet you where you’re at.
Lord,
they may feel a long way from you, right now, but I pray that as you show up in
their life, you’d give them eyes to see who you are, and that they’d walk toward
you.
I
pray this in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
“ If Good News in the Morning has been a factor in
your journey of faith, we would love to hear your story. Nothing could
encourage us more in this work. Contact
us by e-mail or Twitter via the web site –goodnewsinthemorning.ca
And
Thank you for listening this morning.
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May you know
Jesus Christ personally and profoundly.
May the Holy Spirit reside deep within your heart . And may the heavenly Father surround you with
His constant and abiding and accompanying love
By
Rev. Brent Russett
Pastor
of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
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