Have you ever been reluctant to talk to someone who has just experienced a great loss? What do you say to the man who is grieving over a dead parent or a child, or to the woman who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness? This is the discomfort that I felt about a year ago as I was planning a one-month mission trip to Africa. Our team leader had scheduled me to preach three sermons at an evangelistic crusade. Each of these sermons would preached to over one thousand people. Our mission trip was to the troubled country of Rwanda. If you have heard of Rwanda at all, it's probably because of a genocide that occurred there about eight years ago. Before I decided what to preach, I went on-line to Amazon dot com and bought four books about the Rwandan genocide. This is what I found out. In 1994, eight hundred thousand people were murdered in a single month. That's one-tenth of the population. People of the Hutu tribe killed people mostly of the Tutsi tribe. The killing was done by neighbor against neighbor, using machete and axe. Many of the victims were Christian, and sadly, many of the perpetrators also called themselves Christian. Much of the large scale killings were done in churches, because this is where the persecuted fled for sanctuary. In addition to the thousands murdered, twice as many fled the country or were internally displaced. The ambitious goal of our mission was to preach a Gospel of reconciliation to these Rwandans. I felt inadequate to the task of preaching in Rwanda. What could I possibly say to these people who had watched longtime neighbors butcher their own loved ones? What pain have I experienced in my life that even approaches their pain? After much prayer and study, I decided to focus on the idea of "keeping your eyes on Jesus". This was the only answer that made sense to me. How else could people who confessed the name of Jesus Christ turn around and murder their defenseless neighbors. How could it possibly be that all the genocide memorials in Rwanda are located in or near churches? It must have been that they took their eyes off of Jesus. Just as in Rwanda, this is the title of my sermon today "Keep your eyes on Jesus". What I said unto my brothers and sisters in Rwanda I also say to you, keep your eyes firmly on Jesus and look nowhere else. In the next several minutes I will present an abbreviated version of the same sermon that I preached in Rwanda. The words are equally relevant California. Then I will point out four ways that you can keep your eyes on Jesus right here in seminary. The scripture undergirding this sermon is found in Matthew, Chapter 13, verses 23 through 33. This story should be familiar to all of us. It is one of only a handful of events that appears in all four gospels. This is the story of Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee. I am reading from the New International Version: Matthew 13, beginning at verse 23: These first three verses frame the story. We see that Jesus stayed on one side of the sea and that he ordered his twelve disciples to go on ahead of him. Jesus stayed behind to pray by himself. It's just amazing to discover how time Jesus spent alone in prayer. We're not sure how Jesus planned to catch up with his disciples. His disciples probably thought that Jesus would be following the next day in another boat. However, it appears that the disciples boat might never make it to the other side. A storm arose that threatened the lives of all on board. The next verses talk about a phantom on the sea.
25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. The Romans divided the twelve hours of darkness into four watches. The first was from nightfall to 9PM, the second from 9PM to Midnight, the third from Midnight to 3AM and the fourth watch of the night was from 3AM to dawn. These poor disciples had been struggling since evening with the fishing boat. With 12 on board, it was probably overfull. With the winds and the waves, it was certainly in danger of sinking. (And just a reminder, most people in those days could not swim and of course life vests had not been invented yet.) I can't imagine a scarier scenario: up and down for hours in an overcrowded boat, huddled in darkness, and in constant fear of drowning, and all this without their Lord Jesus. Could things possibly get any worse? Actually, they could. Now they see a phantom! And they were scared out of their wits. While reading about this, I discovered that there were an abundant stories of evil spirits living on the sea, waiting to drown hapless sailors. Let's continue the story. 27But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 28"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." 29"Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. We see that he ghost turns out to be Jesus, who tells his followers not to be afraid. I don't know about you, but I might still be afraid. Maybe this is just a clever ghost pretending to be Jesus. Maybe the ghost is luring Peter to his death. Anyway, Peter wants to check out this phantom. He wants to see if it is really Jesus. Remember that Peter is leader of the twelve. This is the disciple that will soon boast that he will lie down his life for Jesus. This brave but boastful Peter makes a challenge, "If it's you Jesus, let me walk on the water to you". Jesus tell him, "come". I can see Peter stepping out of the little boat, not even looking down at the water. He takes two steps toward Jesus, maybe three. His eyes are on Jesus and he almost reaches him. And then what happens? Let's read it. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Simon Peter took his eyes off of Jesus. We can only guess what happened. Maybe a gust of wind blew his hair from one side to the other. Maybe there was a loud clap of thunder or maybe a big wave splashed water into his face. But whatever happened, Peter took his gaze off of Jesus. He put his eyes on the surrounding circumstance. Immediately he began to sink beneath the waves. And here we read the shortest prayer in the entire Bible. Just three words, "Jesus, save me". Peter didn't have time for an "Our Father" kind of prayer. Just "JESUS, SAVE ME!" Maybe there are times in your life when all you can do is repeat this prayer. Maybe when that temptation lunges at you. Maybe when that car in the other lane seems headed in your direction. Memorize this brief prayer of Peter. Let's see what Jesus does in the next verse. 31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" 32And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." We see Jesus reaching out his hand and grabbing Peter as he was sinking. His short prayer was answered. Jesus admonishes Peter for his lack of faith and his excess of doubt. As Jesus enters the boat, the storm vanishes. All twelve wet and tired disciples recognize that the object they thought was a phantom, was in reality their Lord. As I preached these verses in Rwanda, I spoke of Rwandan Christians taking their eyes off of Jesus and of turning their eyes to their government officials and to their tribal leaders. In this part of Africa, Christianity is only a few generations deep. As the spirit of genocide ran rampant through Rwanda, Hutu Christians felt more allegiance to their tribe and village elders than to their Lord and Savior. My message to the people of Rwanda was this: "keep your eyes on Jesus". Don't look to the left, don't look to the right. Don't look at the storms surrounding you. You can respect your elders, you can respect your local pastors, but above all "Keep your focus on Jesus" Let me make four quick points, that apply to all Christians, whether they are in Africa or in California. First, read your Bible and find out what Jesus did and what he taught. How can you possibly determine WWJD (What would Jesus Do) until you know with assurance WDJD? (What Did Jesus Do). Become acquainted with Jesus through scripture, and also through prayer. Second, follow the example of Jesus in regard to conviction, compassion, and humility. Our personal morality should aim at becoming more Christ-like. Once we know what Jesus did, then we can determine what Jesus would do in our situation. Third, don't follow any person in this world blindly. Measure all things against the Gospel of Christ. Let me tell you this brief example. Several weeks ago, each of us in class wrote a paper on a famous preacher. I chose to write my paper on Billy Graham. I really like him. About a week after I turned in my report, I read about Billy Graham in the newspaper. The news was not good. It seems that Billy was caught on tape making crude remarks about American Jews. These recordings were part of the infamous Nixon tapes. Billy apologized profusely, but to tell the truth, I felt personally betrayed. (After all, I had just written a paper about him saying how great he was). Maybe my eyes strayed a little toward the most renowned preacher in the world. They should have remained firmly planted on Jesus. Fourth, if you fall, pray the prayer of Peter: "Lord, Save me". Pray it with the same urgency that Peter felt. When you feel yourself sinking beneath the waves, reach out to Jesus and shout to him as if your life depended on it. Because in fact, it does. In two months, I am returning to Rwanda. This time I will be leading a campus crusade. Once again, I am overwhelmed and humbled at the prospect of teaching and preaching to so many people. My words may change on this mission trip, but my message will remain the same: "keep your eyes on Jesus". And now it's time for your final exam. I bet you didn't think you would be getting one. But it's pretty easy. I want to see if you understood the message I have just given you. Please, all eyes up front. My prayer is that all our eyes will be forever fixed on Jesus. Thank you. |