The Lutheran Hour
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"Courage"
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Text: Matthew 14:26-27
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! This is God’s good news for a world that is caught up in catastrophe; for individuals who have been confronted with crisis. The empty tomb says that a conquering Christ has come, and with His coming, hope, happiness, forgiveness, and heaven have been given to us.
It was many years ago, an airliner with 156 people on board, crashed just after it had taken off from the Detroit airport. As the rescuers sifted through the wreckage, they came across a sole survivor, a four-year-old girl named Cecelia. Some will say Cecelia lived because she was smaller than the other passengers; or because she was lucky; or because she was sitting in the right seat on the plane. All of those reasons may have played a part in Cecelia’s escape, but there was another reason why she lived. In the seconds while the plane was going down, in a moment of crisis, Cecelia’s mother made a choice. Cecelia’s mother unbuckled her seat belt, got down on her knees, and faced her daughter. She wrapped her arms around her little girl and refused to let go. Cecelia’s mother made herself into a living buffer, so that her little girl might live.
Now I would like you to reflect on that for just a minute. I want you to realize that mother wasn’t given any time to think about the pros and cons of what she was doing. She didn’t have hours to contemplate the situation and weigh her choices. Cecelia’s mother was faced with a crisis and in that crisis she acted courageously. In a crisis, that mother showed the kind of loving, sacrificing individual she was. That mother came through in a crisis.
Let me tell you of a man who did the same. This man was also on a plane. This plane also went down; his in the freezing waters of the Potomac River. The survivors were desperately treading water when a U.S. Parks Department helicopter arrived and lowered a rope with a life-ring. Arland Williams, one of the passengers from the plane, grabbed the ring and gave it to another person. He didn’t give it to his daughter, or to another relative. He gave the life-ring to a stranger whose name he didn’t know. That individual was lifted to safety, and the ring was lowered again, and again, and again, and again. Each time Arland gave the ring on to someone else. One more time the ring went down, but Mr. Williams was nowhere to be seen. His long minutes in the frigid waters resulted in hypothermia and Arland Williams had sunk beneath the water’s surface and died. Mr. Arland Williams, without being given time to debate, or weigh what he should do, helped people in a crisis. I’ve seen others do the same: the firemen and policemen who climbed the staircases of the burning Twin Towers in New York City; Secret Service men who were willing to take an assassin’s bullet for President Reagan.
I would like to think that I would do the same thing. Most of us want to believe that about ourselves. We want to believe that we would, in a split second, decide to help someone else in a crisis. But it’s hard to say exactly what we would do. The book of Romans is right when it says, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.” That’s God’s way of saying we don’t always help others in moments of crisis. Sure, I know the Army Rangers have as part of their creed, “I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy.” I’ve met some of those guys. They mean it. They won’t abandon a comrade in a crisis.
But for most of us, it’s hard to say what we will do in a crisis. Crisis comes. You manage, after months of searching, to get a new job and then the boss informs you that even though you’re doing great work, the company has been sold and you’re being let go. Crisis comes. Your children have been healthy, but then, out of nowhere, one contracts a fever that won’t come down; or there’s a doctor’s visit where he seems concerned and says, “I don’t like the looks of this, we need to run a battery of tests. You’re going from here to the hospital.” Crisis comes. Maybe you’ve found the person of your dreams, someone you love, but all of a sudden things have cooled, and you don’t know why. Crisis comes. And, if, against all odds, you manage to escape these crises, you will not manage to escape the crisis of death. John Donne said it correctly: “What is so intricate, so entangling as death? Who ever got out of a winding sheet?” A crisis is coming.
As I peruse the pages of Holy Scripture, I can’t see anyone who managed to escape a time of challenging, gut-wrenching, soul-searching crisis. Adam and Eve faced a crisis when the serpent encouraged them to eat of the forbidden fruit. That day, they caved in to crisis and the world has paid for their sin ever since. Moses had a time of crisis when the Lord called him away from being a Sinai shepherd to becoming the leader of His enslaved people. For the next 40 years Moses proved himself to be courageous when faced with a crisis … most of the time. King David was pretty good with any crisis that confronted him on a battlefield, but questionable when it showed up in his bedroom. Crisis comes. It comes to the athlete, who while proficient on a ball diamond, a football field, or a basketball court, may, in other circumstances, find himself the moral equivalent of a 95-pound weakling. It comes to the businessman who has shown himself to be a genuine genius when it comes to making money, but a disaster when it comes to being father for his children. Crisis comes to the actress who can play any part in any production, but who cannot play the role of wife and mother. Crisis comes, and it will come for you.
On the day when crisis comes, and it may come more than once, you hope that you will have courage and confidence, but you really can’t be sure, can you? A crisis can confuse you, confound you, collapse your resolve, and conquer you. Because you are a human being, you have weaknesses, you have flaws, you have down times, fragile times, weak times; and yes, you have sinful times. Although we may not wish to admit it, inside of each of us, at the very core of our being, is a selfish, self-centered sinner. It is there, in that dark part of us, that a crisis will produce cracks in our composure. It is there, at the spot where you are weakest that Satan and the world will challenge you. You may have weathered a hundred other storms, but a new onslaught, a new crisis sent by this unholy duo can crumple your confidence and collapse your courage.
A crisis is coming for you. Are you prepared? Are you ready? You will be ready, if you know that as certainly as crisis will come to your life, God’s Son, Jesus Christ also wishes to come. The Christ, the world’s Savior, wishes to come to you. The Christ wishes to confront every catastrophe, conquer every calamity that besets you. Christ wants to come to you in your crisis, even as He has come to a million multitudes in theirs.
As proof of what I am saying, I encourage you to open your Bible to the Gospel lesson which is read in many Christian churches this Lord’s Day. Look at the fourteenth chapter of Matthew. It begins with Jesus, quite uncharacteristically, searching for some private time away from the crowds which loved and listened to Him, worshipped and adored Him. You will understand why Jesus wanted that private time, why He wanted to be with His Father in prayer, when I tell you He had just received word that His cousin, John the Baptist, had been murdered. John, the man who had been born to announce and prepare the world for Jesus’ coming, had been arrested for his fearless condemnation of the king’s immorality. Jesus had ministered to John during his crisis time of imprisonment. Jesus had answered John’s questions, comforted his heart, and bolstered his soul. But now John, the one man who best understood the Savior’s reason for becoming one of us, was dead. John had been beheaded at the request of a licentious young lady. And now Jesus, no doubt thinking of His own imminent death, and the ultimate sacrifice He would make to save us from our sins, wanted to escape the crowd. To that end, He, with His disciples, took a boat to a remote location on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
As much as Jesus desired to withdraw from the crowd, equally great was the crowd’s desire to be near Him. It wasn’t a hard thing for them to do. The Sea of Galilee isn’t an ocean. It isn’t the size of the smallest of the Great Lakes. An individual can see across the Sea of Galilee quite easily. All the crowd had to do was watch Jesus’ ship and plot where it was going to land. When Jesus stepped ashore, the crowd was waiting for Him. Well, this wasn’t exactly the same crowd with which Jesus had started the day. That group had been enlarged by people who had come from all the small towns which dotted that shore of the Galilean lake. There would have been curiosity seekers, to be sure; but there were also people who were in crisis. There were thousands who had illnesses of body and maladies of spirit. Scripture says that Jesus, seeing this rag-tag army of souls in need, was moved with compassion. Jesus healed their sick. Christ came to them in their crisis.
The coming of the evening was accompanied by another crisis. The people who had seen the miracles, and heard the wondrous teachings of the Savior, were getting hungry. Today, if you, or your family, were to find your stomachs’ growling, it wouldn’t be a problem. You’d pull into the closest fast food place; you’d order a pizza; you’d make a sandwich. For a few people who live in the city or a small town, hunger may not be a problem; but when more than 5,000 souls find themselves in a remote location, hunger can be a crisis of considerable consequence. The disciples encouraged Jesus to send the multitude away, while there was still time. That’s a reasonable suggestion. It’s what you would have done; it’s what I would have done. It’s not what Jesus did. Jesus confronted that crisis as only God’s omnipotent Son could. He who had spent the day miraculously healing spiritual sicknesses and bodily defects, now set Himself to the task of feeding the thousands who had followed Him. Having said a prayer of thanksgiving, Jesus broke apart five loaves of bread and two fish and fed the multitude. Another crisis had been confronted and conquered.
Then, as that wondrous day drew to a conclusion, while Jesus was dismissing the crowd, the disciples were sent across the lake in a boat. Why didn’t Jesus have them wait, so He might go with them? Jesus had some unfinished business. He went up the hill and He prayed. There was no wristwatch to mark the passing of the hours. Darkness descended and time passed. No writer records the content of the Savior’s prayer that night. What is recorded is that somewhere between three and six o’clock in the morning Jesus went to His disciples.
On a normal night the disciples should have completed the crossing of the lake in a few hours. That didn’t happen. As the disciples made their passage, a strong wind had arisen. The water became choppy and the waves prevented any progress. Jesus saw His men stuck in the center of the lake, the swells smashing against the small ship. He could see the crisis of His friends as they sweated, and struggled and strained on their oars. And Christ, walking on the water, came to them in their crisis. They thought He was a ghost. Now, you, in the security of your circumstances might be amused at these superstitious sailors. Do not judge them too quickly. If you had, like they, just returned from a missionary journey; spent an entire day helping Jesus heal the sick; fed thousands of people; and endured an entire night without sleep in a small boat struggling against a stormy sea, you might also think someone walking to you on the water was a ghost. Jesus calls to His fearful disciples; He shouts to them in their crisis: “Take courage. It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Years ago, as a boy, I found a sparrow that had fallen out of its nest. As I held it in my hands, trying to put it back in its home, I could feel it tremble, feel its heart racing. To that bird, I said much the same things Jesus said to His disciples. “Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you.” It sounds silly, doesn’t it? You don’t have to be nice; I know it sounds silly.
But those words aren’t silly when they are spoken by the Savior. When Jesus comes to us in our crises and tells us not to be afraid, we can believe Him. Why? Because He has a proven track record of success in dealing with crisis. Do you remember, a few minutes ago, when I quoted a passage from the book of Romans … the one about dying for somebody else? Well, I didn’t finish that passage. Let me finish it now: “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” That’s why you can believe Jesus when you are caught in a crisis. That’s why you can always believe Him. Upon Calvary’s cross, Jesus died to set you free from the crisis of sin, the catastrophe of death, the slavery of Satan.
Jesus was born into this world to save us from the crisis of sin which had condemned us to damnation and destruction. Jesus carried our sins, every one of them, to the cross, and there He erased them and earned forgiveness for an ungrateful and unbelieving world. Jesus, God’s innocent Son, has, with His perfect life, His sacrificial death, His victorious resurrection from the dead, shown us He has the power to defeat any crisis, every calamity that comes our way. Even as He once came to the crowd in the wilderness of Galilee, in resurrection victory Jesus comes today, bringing the Father’s great gift of grace. A living Lord Jesus comes to us today in Word and in Sacrament. As the conquering Christ once came to the disciples who were being tossed about in a storm, Jesus comes to you in your tempests, your trials, and your temptations. Christ comes to our crises, and the compassionate Christ conquers. What will you do when crisis comes? I don’t know what you will do, but I do know what your Savior will do. He will come to you, and in a voice filled with love will say, “Take courage. It is I. Don’t be afraid.” My friends, hear Him and believe Him. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for August 7, 2005
Topic: WorthinessANNOUNCER: Now Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer.
KLAUS: Hi, Mark.
ANNOUNCER: The question for today is rather a long one. A listener writes, “There are times when I feel I’m not as close to God as other people are, those who are more worthy than I am. Am I not praying enough?
KLAUS: First the part about not as being as close to God as others are — God in His divine love wants to be close to everybody in this world. He wants to be close to me, to you, our listener, the baby in the crib, the golden ager in the nursing home. God is near to both believer and unbeliever. But unbelief continuously pushes Him away.
ANNOUNCER: I think I understand so far.
KLAUS: Good. Now the problem comes in that some people, for any number of reasons, don’t really believe God is there with them, loving them, reaching out to them, saving them. For them, God may as well not exist.
ANNOUNCER: But, certainly that doesn’t mean that God isn’t near to them, or that He isn’t trying to save them.
KLAUS: Right. We may not know God, or recognize Him — but He is still there.
ANNOUNCER: Now I think we’re getting close to what this person’s asking.
KLAUS: Good. And we need to make another distinction here. There are some people who know more about God than others do. That makes it seem like God is closer to them or they’re closer to God.
ANNOUNCER: But it isn’t necessarily so?
KLAUS: No, knowledge is a good thing, but knowledge about God isn’t the same thing as faith in God. Jesus says we need to have faith like a little child if we’re going to get into heaven. Jesus nowhere requires that you have to have a Ph.D in theology in order to get into paradise. Likewise, there are people who are more vocal about expressing or sharing their faith. They may seem to be closer to God.
ANNOUNCER: But that’s really not the situation. As you said, God is close to everyone, and we need look no further than His Word and Sacraments in order to find Him.
KLAUS: Right. God is close to us, but we may not be close to Him. That’s why I especially like the story of the man who came to Jesus with a problem. His son was possessed by the devil, and he asked Jesus if it were possible for the Savior to help them out. Jesus replied, “Everything is possible for the person who believes.” Now what I like about this story is what the man said next, “Lord, I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.” I don’t have to tell you that Jesus healed the boy and He helped with the man’s unbelief, as well. “Lord, I believe, help me overcome my unbelief.” Our unbelief is what puts distance between us and God.
ANNOUNCER: And it has nothing to do with our worthiness?
KLAUS: Of course not. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Jesus came to bring light to those in darkness, heal those who were sick. All of those, the lost, those in the dark, those who are spiritually sick, can’t do anything for themselves. Their worthiness is zip, zero, zilch, nada. Jesus brings a gift of forgiveness and salvation to the unworthy.
ANNOUNCER: And like the Bible says, we are saved by grace, not by our works or anything that we can do.
KLAUS: Absolutely right.
ANNOUNCER: Which takes us to the next part of our listener’s question, that part about whether they’re praying enough.
KLAUS: Right. The quality or quantity of an individual’s prayer is not going to increase that person’s worthiness before God. We can’t do anything to make ourselves more worthy.
ANNOUNCER: But you’re not saying we shouldn’t pray, are you?
KLAUS: I hope nobody heard me say that. Prayer is a good thing, a commanded thing, a right thing. But what is even better for this person is that he is open to the Lord’s leading. Do you recall the story how King David came to write Psalm 51? He’d moved away from God. He had committed adultery and murder. God sent the prophet Nathan to call David to repentance. Like we said before, God hadn’t moved, but David had. Well, David did repent; he was forgiven. And then he wrote Psalm 51. The verses that are most important to what we’re saying today are, well here, Mark, why don’t you read?
ANNOUNCER: OK. “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit.”
KLAUS: What David is saying is, “God You are close to me, like you’ve always been. When I sin, bring me back and bring me closer to You. Remake me.
ANNOUNCER: And God did that?
KLAUS: He did. Just as He will for the sake of Christ, bring our caller closer to Him as well.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections from this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Take Thou My Hands and Lead Me” setting by Thomas Gieschen. From Favorite German Hymns by the Kapelle (© 1988 Delta Digital – Chicago)
“God Moves in a Mysterious Way” arranged by Henry Gerike. Used by permission
“Children of the Heavenly Father” by John Behnke. From For All Seasons, vol. 3 by John Behnke (© 2004 John Behnke) Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Von Gott will ich nicht lassen” by J.S. Bach. From Cramer & Resch at Kramer Chapel by Craig Cramer and Richard Resch (© 2001 Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, Indiana)