Confession

12th Sunday after Pentecost

Matthew 14:22-33; Romans 10:5-15

Those who have had a boat will tell you that often, a boat is a “hole down which you throw money.” I have had my little fishing boat for about three years now, and there is some truth to that. I’m not mechanically gifted enough to do much of the work that is required when things break, and so often when something stops working, I take it into the shop. Usually I try to have Gary diagnose what’s wrong with it over the phone, but then I go ahead and take it in to the professionals anyway.

I think I do that, in part, because I don’t ever want to have to swim back to shore while my boat sinks or burns or just sits there. Canton Lake isn’t all that deep, but I don’t swim as good as I used to, and I have a healthy respect of water to accompany my healthy fear of drowning. And I suppose I have that respect and fear because more than once in the last three years, J.D. and I have been caught out on a lake when we had no business being caught out on any lake. The first time he and I took the boat out together, we went over to Kaw Lake, and put in a good distance from where we intended to fish, and then we fished too long, and then we had to head back to the launch ramp in winds and waves that I don’t ever want to experience again. I know what it’s like to be scared, in a storm, on a small lake. Thanks to J.D.!!!

More than once, the disciples had an experience with Jesus out on the open waters of the Sea of Galilea. One time they were getting battered and tossed, and Jesus just slept in the back of the boat. They finally woke Him, and He simply told the water and the waves to settle down – pausing to rebuke them for the “littleness of their faith.” I always used to think of that little exchange as way harsh – until J.D. and I were caught out on Kaw – you know, he had a bunch of fun kidding me about how anxious I was. Of course, we weren’t in his boat!! It just might be that Jesus wasn’t fussing at the disciples as much as He was kidding them about their faithlessness. When you’re the Son of God, and can still the waves with the spoken word, you might enjoy having a little fun with your disciples.

But this was a different experience. They had started across the lake just at sunset, and then they got caught in this little storm during the black of night. I don’t want to experience that, either. Evidently, they had battled the waves all night, and it was coming up on 3 in the morning. That’s roughly 7 to 9 hours of oarsmanship and sailing, and I assume water bailing. Anyway, they look up, and see this ghost walking toward them on top of the waves. At least they think it’s a ghost. Jesus could tell by their voices – how shall we say it – they were expressing their fear. That leaves a little room for the imagination. Jesus picks up on their fear, and so He calls out to them, telling them to “take courage, it is I.” That must have calmed them down a bit, because Peter calls back to him. “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

I read what some others said about this passage this week, and for some reason this year, they got caught up in this request of Peter. I’ll agree with some of their comments – I have no earthly idea why Peter wanted to get out of the boat. In the middle of a storm. Jesus or no Jesus, I’m gonna be looking for another life preserver. A bunch of folks that are preaching this passage this morning got caught up in the fact that this request on the part of Peter comes across as a little test. “Lord, if it is You . . .?” What was Peter thinking at the moment? We really don’t know – at least, I don’t!!

Well, we know how the rest of this story goes. Jesus motions for Peter to come ahead, and calls out the command, “Come.” Peter obeys – jumps out of the boat, and starts walking on the water straight toward Jesus. He makes the mistake of looking around, taking his eyes off Jesus, and the moment he does, he starts to sink.

I’ll bet that if you’ve heard this story preached before, that’s been the sermon – don’t take your eyes off Jesus. I’ve preached that sermon once or twice myself. It’s a pretty good sermon, and it’s some pretty sound advice. We shouldn’t take our eyes off Jesus. He is our salvation. We ought to keep our focus glued to Him.

But I want us to look in a slightly different direction for the core of our thinking this morning. I want us to listen in on what everyone had to say about Jesus from this point on. Two statements – the first one from Peter – “Lord, save me!” That may be the shortest prayer in the bible – and it may be the most effective. And the second statement evidently came from everyone in the boat – “You are certainly God’s Son.”

Now, I need to make a little acknowledgement. Remember the Romans passage for today? Paul said, “‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ – that is the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Here’s the acknowledgement. This statement is made in the positive. By that I mean that it doesn’t say that if you don’t believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that you’ll go to a devil’s hell. I suspect that most of the sermons we’ve heard on the matter didn’t mention that. Most of the sermons I’ve ever heard on this passage insist that if you don’t believe and confess, you’re doomed. But this passage is stated in the positive. If you do, you will be. If you believe and confess, you will be saved. I needed to make that acknowledgement. But having made it, I suspect these words that Paul spoke are more important than some other things he said in his lifetime. They say all scripture is equally inspired – but not necessarily equally profitable. This is, I think, one of those passages that is more than equally profitable. I think what Paul said here in these three verses may have been some of the most important stuff he ever said.

Mary Lassiter told us last week during the announcements about our last outing with the children for Summer DAZE. We went over to Roman Nose state park, and we took the children on a little hike. I gave each of them one of those little New Testaments we’ve had on a shelf in the office for about 6 years, and then we took a little hike. I sent the kiddos on, one at a time, walking this path – as a reminder that we all walk this journey of salvation by ourselves. There are others along the way, to be sure, but this is a singular journey. There were four stops along the way– the Roman Road. The first stop was at Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We’re all in the same boat – every man, woman, and child who has walked the face of the planet has sinned – against themselves, against other people, and certainly against God. Then the second stop was at Romans 6:23 – “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I remember when it first struck me that we work at our sin, and we actually get paid for it. The wages we are paid for our sin is death. Sin begets dead things in this life, and a life of sin begets an eternity of death. That seems to be the larger teaching of scripture. Our third stop was at Romans 5:8 – “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” That day, I noticed that the children listened pretty well. I also noticed that the ladies in our group got a little quieter when we got to this verse. It’s kind of overwhelming, isn’t it – to consider that Christ died for us. I think that day I went around the circle and called out most of the kid’s names – making mention of the fact that Christ died for each one of them. Our last stop was at these verses in chapter 10. Believe in your heart, and confess with your mouth. Pretty simple stuff.

I think that’s what Peter did out there on that lake as he started to sink beneath the waves of Galilea. He confessed with his mouth. He called out to Jesus to save him. And Jesus did. He confessed. You know, confession means agreement. In the most literal sense of the word as it is used in the Greek language, confession means agreement. That’s what we do when we confess. It’s what we do every Wednesday night during our prayer service. We share with one another places in our lives where we struggle, and then we agree with God that we are in need of His salvation. We agree that God has designs on our lives, and we have designs on our lives, and the two don’t always agree. We agree that God has asked us not to do some things, and that we went ahead and did them anyway. We agree with God.

We sang a great old hymn this morning. “Love Lifted Me.” I remember back from my youth years hearing someone make a joke about that hymn. They said, “we like to sing it this way. I was sinking deep in sin, Wheeeee!” Most of us know what that feels like. We like our sin. That’s why we work at it so much. We like our sin, and we work at it, and too often, we don’t take our sin seriously. God does. God takes our sin so seriously that Jesus died for us. That’s the story. That’s the good news. That’s the gospel.

We talk a lot around here about salvation. I’ve never been in a church where we can be so open and honest about what we think about what the scriptures have to say. I know a lot of us around here get the point that God is the One Who makes the decision about who is saved and who isn’t. We get that point. We don’t assume to know the heart of others – most of us have enough trouble knowing our own hearts. And I know that a lot of us around here hope that God’s standard of salvation is a lot broader than some of the people we’ve heard preach in the past seem to think it is. We hope that God has a big tent, and that God has a lot of children, and that Jesus has died for a lot more people than maybe have ever believed and confessed. I know a lot of us hope that very thing.

But we must never take the gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ lightly. I think most of us agree that we are sinners – every one of us. And I think that most of us agree that sin begets sin which begets death and dead things. I think most of us agree on those things. And I also think that virtually everyone in this room believes that Jesus died for us – for everybody, for that matter. We believe these things in common, and we ought to. We must never take them lightly.

I don’t know about you, but I have some friends in this town that are pretty good people – a lot better than most. I want them to know some things. I want them to know what my Jesus did for them. I want them to know that my Jesus died for them. And after they know that my Jesus died for them, just like Andrew did with his brother Peter, I want my friends to know my Jesus. I mean, personally. I want them to know this same Jesus who reached down His strong hand, and lifted me right out of the waves that were lapping at my feet. I want them to know that He saved me – how did the girl from the movie Titanic put it – “He saved me, in every way that a person can be saved.” That is my confession. That is our confession. Jesus saved us. Jesus saves us still. Jesus will save our friends. Jesus will save you.

Richard W. Dunn, Ph.D.