WEBVTT 00:00:00.780 --> 00:00:04.639 Luke chapter 6. Therefore, leaving the principles 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:15.199 and the doctrines of Christ, let us go on. Welcome 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:24.879 to the semi -seminary. Pull up a chair on this 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:27.420 porch where we let scripture breathe into the 00:00:27.420 --> 00:00:31.530 dark places of life. Today we're stepping into 00:00:31.530 --> 00:00:34.549 a storm, the kind that swallows stars, bends 00:00:34.549 --> 00:00:37.869 oars, and makes even seasoned fishermen cry out. 00:00:38.670 --> 00:00:41.890 It's in John 6 where the disciples are bone weary. 00:00:42.030 --> 00:00:45.350 The sea won't quit. The most haunting line is 00:00:45.350 --> 00:00:49.549 this. It was now dark. Jesus had not yet come 00:00:49.549 --> 00:00:53.009 to them. And that's where many of us live, between 00:00:53.009 --> 00:00:56.310 miracle and mystery, between feeding on grace 00:00:56.310 --> 00:00:58.570 and wondering if grace will ever show up again. 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:02.340 So lean in, let the waves spray your face and 00:01:02.340 --> 00:01:05.180 the thunder shake your ribs. The word still walks 00:01:05.180 --> 00:01:07.700 on water and the voice of Jesus still splits 00:01:07.700 --> 00:01:11.140 the storm. And if this journey stirs your soul, 00:01:11.219 --> 00:01:14.200 share it, subscribe, help us spread a little 00:01:14.200 --> 00:01:17.060 bit more porch light into the dark. I'll see 00:01:17.060 --> 00:01:27.079 you on the other side. A few weeks ago. We sat 00:01:27.079 --> 00:01:31.879 with Jesus in a synagogue in Capernaum, and he 00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:35.439 was teaching about bread. Not the kind you pick 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:37.480 up at the market or knead with your hands, but 00:01:37.480 --> 00:01:41.340 the bread that comes down from heaven. And he 00:01:41.340 --> 00:01:44.400 said, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:47.620 me will never be hungry, and whoever believes 00:01:47.620 --> 00:01:51.680 in me will never be thirsty. And it was a hard 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:56.829 word. It wasn't just poetry. It wasn't a metaphor 00:01:56.829 --> 00:02:00.250 to be filed away in the back of your mind. It 00:02:00.250 --> 00:02:04.430 was scandalous, even offensive. Because he was 00:02:04.430 --> 00:02:10.210 claiming to be more than manna, more than Torah, 00:02:10.409 --> 00:02:15.449 more than tradition. He was claiming to be life 00:02:15.449 --> 00:02:20.139 itself. And if you remember that story, not everybody 00:02:20.139 --> 00:02:23.259 could stomach that teaching. The crowd thinned 00:02:23.259 --> 00:02:25.639 out. The disciples looked around at one another, 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:29.500 unsteady, when Jesus pressed this question upon 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:35.879 them. Do you also wish to go away? Some left, 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:40.639 some stayed, but everyone felt the sting of that 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:45.000 moment. Then, if you were with us last week, 00:02:45.740 --> 00:02:50.699 we turned to the hillside where 5 ,000 people 00:02:50.699 --> 00:02:54.860 gathered. And the same Jesus who said, I am the 00:02:54.860 --> 00:03:00.159 bread of life, put that into action. He took 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:05.939 five barley loaves, two fish, gave thanks and 00:03:05.939 --> 00:03:10.639 broke them and fed the multitude until all were 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:14.740 satisfied. It was a sign. A wonder, a miracle, 00:03:14.900 --> 00:03:18.740 the kind of thing that turns heads and stirs 00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:23.280 up shouts of revolution. And people did what 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:28.340 people always do when power shows itself. They 00:03:28.340 --> 00:03:33.599 tried to seize him, crown him, make him the kind 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:42.360 of king they wanted. But Jesus slips away. He 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:46.099 wouldn't be pressured into their plans. He would 00:03:46.099 --> 00:03:50.520 not let their hunger for bread distract his deeper 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:55.039 call on his life. And that, friends, is where 00:03:55.039 --> 00:04:00.419 today's story picks up. We've seen the hard teaching 00:04:00.419 --> 00:04:05.159 that cost his followers. We've seen the miraculous 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:12.319 feeding that gained that swelling crowd. comes 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:18.060 next is not about the masses. It's not about 00:04:18.060 --> 00:04:24.620 that crowd. It's not about thousands on a hillside. 00:04:24.860 --> 00:04:27.980 It's not about bread and baskets or arguments 00:04:27.980 --> 00:04:35.300 in synagogues. It's about 12 men in a boat. Today's 00:04:35.300 --> 00:04:40.980 story takes us into the in -between. The space 00:04:41.550 --> 00:04:46.670 between the miracle and misunderstanding, between 00:04:46.670 --> 00:04:52.089 feeding and fleeing, between revelation and rejection. 00:04:53.569 --> 00:04:57.410 This is a story of what the disciples experienced 00:04:57.410 --> 00:05:00.990 while that crowd is still buzzing about their 00:05:00.990 --> 00:05:05.230 full bellies and would -be kingships. They're 00:05:05.230 --> 00:05:08.490 caught between the glory of a sign and the pain 00:05:08.490 --> 00:05:14.279 of a hard saying. And honestly, that's not a 00:05:14.279 --> 00:05:19.399 bad description of discipleship. We live most 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:24.839 of our lives in the in -between. We have moments 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:30.500 where God's grace is undeniable. When the bread 00:05:30.500 --> 00:05:33.959 multiplies, when the prayers are answered, when 00:05:33.959 --> 00:05:42.339 the crowd sings hallelujah. Moments where the 00:05:42.339 --> 00:05:47.560 teaching cuts deep. When the crowd scatters. 00:05:48.259 --> 00:05:53.480 When Jesus seems more absent than present. And 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:58.579 in the in -between moments, we row. And that's 00:05:58.579 --> 00:06:01.839 where we find the disciples on this night in 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:06.300 the story, this morning. That's where John places 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:12.060 us, out on the water, in a storm. Between miracle 00:06:12.060 --> 00:06:18.879 and mystery. Evening falls fast in the Galilee. 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:22.319 Not like here, where we can watch a sunset drag 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:26.000 out slow. Orange bleeding into red, red into 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:28.860 violet, violet into indigo until the porch light 00:06:28.860 --> 00:06:33.060 flips on and you think, well, that's that. No. 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:38.860 On the Galilee, dark drops like a hammer. One 00:06:38.860 --> 00:06:42.740 minute the lake is silvered with the last streaks 00:06:42.740 --> 00:06:47.839 of sun. The next, it is a black bowl, stars strangled 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:53.180 by the clouds. It's not the kind of dark we know 00:06:53.180 --> 00:06:56.240 in our world today. We have streetlights humming, 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:59.959 headlights flashing, neon signs buzzing. In the 00:06:59.959 --> 00:07:02.560 diner window are microwaves. They glow green 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:05.459 with digital clocks. But in the first century, 00:07:07.019 --> 00:07:10.819 When John says, it was now dark, he means the 00:07:10.819 --> 00:07:15.300 kind of dark that swallows you whole. The kind 00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:20.879 of dark that makes you forget your name. A dark 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:23.759 thick enough that the only thing louder than 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:28.259 the wind is your imagination. And into that dark 00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:33.259 they row. And the disciples had already had themselves 00:07:33.259 --> 00:07:39.730 quite a day. plus women and children, fed on 00:07:39.730 --> 00:07:46.009 a hillside. Not just fed, but stuffed. They watched 00:07:46.009 --> 00:07:50.430 Jesus break barley loaves until the baskets overflowed. 00:07:51.529 --> 00:07:56.470 They saw fish multiply like grace itself. They 00:07:56.470 --> 00:08:00.189 heard the crowd laugh, sing psalms, whisper to 00:08:00.189 --> 00:08:04.149 each other that this was it, the prophet, the 00:08:04.149 --> 00:08:07.500 king. The one we have been waiting for. They 00:08:07.500 --> 00:08:10.319 should have gone home riding on a high. They 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:12.959 should have ended the day with smiles wide and 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:16.560 songs still ringing in their ears, but it turns 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:21.600 sour real quick. The crowd wanted more than bread. 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:24.079 They wanted a revolution. They wanted a king. 00:08:24.360 --> 00:08:27.779 They wanted Jesus to grab a sword, rally the 00:08:27.779 --> 00:08:32.889 hungry, and march on Rome. They wanted him to 00:08:32.889 --> 00:08:35.830 be the kind of Messiah they had dreamed of, not 00:08:35.830 --> 00:08:42.029 the kind he came to be. And Jesus slips away. 00:08:43.490 --> 00:08:47.649 One moment surrounded, the next vanished like 00:08:47.649 --> 00:08:52.470 mist curling in the hills. Gone before they could 00:08:52.470 --> 00:08:55.750 crown him, gone before they could twist him into 00:08:55.750 --> 00:09:00.740 their image. So now the disciples are left to 00:09:00.740 --> 00:09:05.220 row. The crowd is dismissed. The teacher is absent. 00:09:06.500 --> 00:09:10.379 The boat shoved off into the water, both familiar 00:09:10.379 --> 00:09:15.799 and terrifying. At first, the rhythm is steady. 00:09:16.100 --> 00:09:21.120 Oars dip. Backs pull. Breath matches the slap 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:24.799 of the water. Their muscles, remember, calluses 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:28.720 fit the wood on the... paddles like old friends, 00:09:28.980 --> 00:09:34.139 but Galilee is no friend. She is a trickster. 00:09:34.820 --> 00:09:38.899 It's shallow, ringed by mountains, open to desert 00:09:38.899 --> 00:09:43.580 wind, and she can turn on you faster than a rattlesnake. 00:09:44.919 --> 00:09:50.039 And sure enough, the breeze stiffens. The lantern 00:09:50.039 --> 00:09:54.059 flames flicker than gutter. Clouds roll down 00:09:54.059 --> 00:09:58.379 like bruises spreading. And the water changes 00:09:58.379 --> 00:10:03.779 its tune. No longer whisper, but more slap, slap, 00:10:04.059 --> 00:10:09.960 slap. The boat shudders and the men know what's 00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:14.879 coming. They've seen it before. Fishermen lost, 00:10:15.139 --> 00:10:18.220 boats splintered, storms swallowing whole families. 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:22.740 They've seen mothers on the shore staring at 00:10:22.740 --> 00:10:26.580 the water that never gave back their sons. They 00:10:26.580 --> 00:10:30.299 know this lake's moods, and tonight she's mean. 00:10:31.460 --> 00:10:34.820 And then John writes the line that makes your 00:10:34.820 --> 00:10:40.500 bones go cold. It was now dark, and Jesus had 00:10:40.500 --> 00:10:44.620 not yet come to them. The storm is one thing. 00:10:44.779 --> 00:10:49.139 The night is another. But this, the absence, 00:10:49.480 --> 00:10:55.230 that's the sharpest ache. Isn't that always where 00:10:55.230 --> 00:10:59.570 storms hit most? Not just in the waves, but in 00:10:59.570 --> 00:11:03.429 the waiting. Not just in the chaos, but in the 00:11:03.429 --> 00:11:10.409 silence. When Jesus has not yet come. That's 00:11:10.409 --> 00:11:14.029 where we find them. That's where we find ourselves. 00:11:15.409 --> 00:11:19.509 Out on black water, storm rising, and the absence 00:11:19.509 --> 00:11:23.399 heavier than the wind. And maybe that's where 00:11:23.399 --> 00:11:25.840 you are right now. You've got storms in your 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:28.899 own life, bills stacked on the counter, a diagnosis 00:11:28.899 --> 00:11:32.340 hanging over you, an empty chair at the table 00:11:32.340 --> 00:11:37.860 where someone you love used to sit. You know 00:11:37.860 --> 00:11:41.299 the ache of absence. You've whispered those words 00:11:41.299 --> 00:11:48.379 to Jesus has not yet come. But hold on. Because 00:11:48.379 --> 00:11:53.409 not yet is not never. The story doesn't end with 00:11:53.409 --> 00:11:57.769 absence. The story bends towards presence, and 00:11:57.769 --> 00:12:03.149 we are about to see it. So now, beloved, before 00:12:03.149 --> 00:12:05.629 we let the storm break loose, before the winds 00:12:05.629 --> 00:12:09.509 howl into our bones, before the sea climbs the 00:12:09.509 --> 00:12:13.049 sides of our boat, let ourselves be stilled. 00:12:13.710 --> 00:12:17.789 We are about to hear the word that walked, the 00:12:17.789 --> 00:12:20.409 word that did what no word should do, became 00:12:20.409 --> 00:12:24.860 flesh, took steps across chaos, strode steady 00:12:24.860 --> 00:12:29.019 where feet should sink. And that word does not 00:12:29.019 --> 00:12:31.860 whisper comfort like a lullaby, but bellows courage 00:12:31.860 --> 00:12:36.179 into the gale. It is I. Do not be afraid. So 00:12:36.179 --> 00:12:39.440 now, church, walk with me into the reading of 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:42.899 Holy Scripture. John chapter 6, beginning verse 00:12:42.899 --> 00:12:47.419 16. When evening came, his disciples went down 00:12:47.419 --> 00:12:49.899 to the sea, got into a boat, and started across 00:12:49.899 --> 00:12:53.259 the Sea of Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus 00:12:53.259 --> 00:12:56.860 had not yet come to them. The sea became rough 00:12:56.860 --> 00:12:59.860 because a strong wind was blowing. When they 00:12:59.860 --> 00:13:02.200 had rowed about three or four miles, they saw 00:13:02.200 --> 00:13:05.399 Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the 00:13:05.399 --> 00:13:09.720 boat, and they were terrified. But he said to 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:15.480 them, It is I. Do not be afraid. Then they wanted 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:17.820 to take him into the boat, and immediately the 00:13:17.820 --> 00:13:21.179 boat reached the land towards which they were 00:13:21.179 --> 00:13:24.600 going. The next day, the crowd that had stayed 00:13:24.600 --> 00:13:27.500 on the other side of the sea saw that there had 00:13:27.500 --> 00:13:30.600 only been one boat there. They also saw that 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:33.179 Jesus had not got into the boat with the disciples, 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:38.429 but that his disciples had gone away alone. But 00:13:38.429 --> 00:13:40.389 some boats from Tiberias came near the place 00:13:40.389 --> 00:13:42.309 where they had eaten the bread after the Lord 00:13:42.309 --> 00:13:45.169 had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that 00:13:45.169 --> 00:13:47.309 neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they 00:13:47.309 --> 00:13:49.870 themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum 00:13:49.870 --> 00:13:53.750 looking for Jesus. That's the story of the I 00:13:53.750 --> 00:13:58.070 am the bread part. And now, beloved, the words 00:13:58.070 --> 00:14:01.320 have been spoken. turned to sound ancient letters 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:04.679 lifted off the page and into our very hearts 00:14:04.679 --> 00:14:08.360 the storm has begun to swirl around us the waves 00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:11.779 lap at our ankles the oars are heavy in our hands 00:14:11.779 --> 00:14:15.240 we cannot stay standing outside this story we 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:18.580 cannot fold this page and walk away untouched 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:21.340 for the reading has ended and the living of it 00:14:21.340 --> 00:14:27.809 has just begun the boat rocks hard Wood creaks 00:14:27.809 --> 00:14:31.389 like an old man's knees. Twelve men pack tight, 00:14:31.490 --> 00:14:34.350 shoulder to shoulder, every muscle straining 00:14:34.350 --> 00:14:37.990 against the oars. Their breath comes ragged, 00:14:37.990 --> 00:14:42.669 their backs scream. Spray stings their eyes, 00:14:42.870 --> 00:14:46.549 salt burns their lips. Robes cling heavy with 00:14:46.549 --> 00:14:51.470 water, and above all, darkness. Ancient, choking, 00:14:51.850 --> 00:14:57.080 horizonless. They've rowed three or four miles, 00:14:57.200 --> 00:15:02.080 the middle of the lake, the worst place. Too 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:06.279 far to turn back, too far to reach shore. Stuck 00:15:06.279 --> 00:15:11.779 in chaos's belly. For them, the sea is not a 00:15:11.779 --> 00:15:16.639 playground. It is a graveyard. Genesis said God 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:22.019 tamed it. Exodus said it swallowed Pharaoh. Job 00:15:22.019 --> 00:15:26.120 said God treads on the waves. The Psalms sang 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:29.919 of Leviathan thrashing, Isaiah thundered, nations 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:34.620 roar like seas. Sea is more than water to them. 00:15:34.779 --> 00:15:40.500 It is symbol, myth, and memory. Every child raised 00:15:40.500 --> 00:15:43.220 in synagogue would have known by heart Psalm 00:15:43.220 --> 00:15:47.440 77. Your way was through the sea, your path through 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:50.279 the mighty waters, yet your footprints unseen. 00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:55.620 Every rabbi. Taught Isaiah 43, when you pass 00:15:55.620 --> 00:15:59.340 through the waters, I will be with you. And every 00:15:59.340 --> 00:16:03.940 fisherman feared Job's God who tramples the waves 00:16:03.940 --> 00:16:09.960 of the sea. So, when the storm rages, they aren't 00:16:09.960 --> 00:16:13.820 just battling wind. They are wrestling with cosmic 00:16:13.820 --> 00:16:19.039 chaos. This to them is more than weather. This 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:22.840 is every force of disorder, every Leviathan of 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:26.600 the deep, every empire roaring like the surf. 00:16:26.779 --> 00:16:31.200 And here they are, tiny men in a tiny boat and 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:37.820 swallowed up by it. And then, through spray, 00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:42.159 through night, they see it. A figure, upright, 00:16:42.500 --> 00:16:47.460 calm, striding. Their hearts. lurch into their 00:16:47.460 --> 00:16:52.320 throats. They gasp, and the word they use, phantasma. 00:16:53.299 --> 00:17:01.679 Greek for ghost. Death walking. But then, a voice 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:06.779 splits the storm. It is I. Do not be afraid. 00:17:07.140 --> 00:17:12.500 Let me camp out here for a second. Greek. Ego 00:17:12.500 --> 00:17:20.500 emi. Ego emi. I am is what that means. And it 00:17:20.500 --> 00:17:26.460 is I am that should echo back to your memory 00:17:26.460 --> 00:17:29.599 of God in the Old Testament, right? The burning 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:35.380 bush voice, ego, Emmy. The Isaiah temple voice, 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:37.859 the Job voice that tramples the seas, and suddenly 00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:43.079 they see the one, capital O, the one walking 00:17:43.079 --> 00:17:47.160 toward them. And the one walking toward them 00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:53.660 has made the water under his feet. The I am now 00:17:53.660 --> 00:17:58.319 in flesh striding across the chaos. And just 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:02.539 like that, the bolt jolts shore. Knees hit sand. 00:18:02.759 --> 00:18:07.960 Deliverance not rode but gifted. And what is 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:12.220 more, notice this. The text says immediately 00:18:12.220 --> 00:18:17.410 they reached the shore. It's as if time bent, 00:18:17.710 --> 00:18:23.230 as if geography folded, as if grace carried them 00:18:23.230 --> 00:18:26.950 in a way no compass could chart. One moment, 00:18:27.009 --> 00:18:31.950 chaos. The next, very next moment, solid ground. 00:18:33.589 --> 00:18:37.869 Now here's where it lands, church. We row too, 00:18:38.049 --> 00:18:43.579 don't we? We row when barrages unravel. We row 00:18:43.579 --> 00:18:48.559 when bills outrun paychecks. We row when the 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:51.980 doctor says, I'm afraid I've found something. 00:18:53.539 --> 00:18:57.240 We row when prayers echo like static and we whisper 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:02.660 John's line, Jesus has not yet come. That's the 00:19:02.660 --> 00:19:07.779 ache, not yet. But hear the gospel message again, 00:19:07.900 --> 00:19:14.980 friends. Not yet is not never. He comes. He always 00:19:14.980 --> 00:19:20.140 comes. Maybe not how we scripted it. Maybe not 00:19:20.140 --> 00:19:24.200 when we ask, but he comes. And when he comes, 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:29.160 the storm doesn't always end. John never says 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:33.759 the wind quit. Never says the waves lay down. 00:19:34.500 --> 00:19:38.339 The miracle isn't silence. The miracle is presence. 00:19:39.549 --> 00:19:42.670 Christ in the boat, soaked, shivering with us, 00:19:42.829 --> 00:19:50.630 whispering, it is I. Do not be afraid. So what's 00:19:50.630 --> 00:19:55.509 your boat? A diagnosis? A wandering child? Debt? 00:19:55.670 --> 00:20:00.150 Loneliness? Chaos under your sandals? Hear me. 00:20:00.970 --> 00:20:04.609 The storm that drowns you is sidewalk under his 00:20:04.609 --> 00:20:09.200 feet. And sometimes deliverance looks like survival. 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:13.660 Knees hitting the ground you never rode to. Resurrection 00:20:13.660 --> 00:20:19.619 is not tidy. Sometimes it's shivering. Soaked, 00:20:19.619 --> 00:20:26.660 but alive. He isn't a charm. Not a rabbit's foot. 00:20:27.259 --> 00:20:35.599 Not a genie. He is. I am. And his promise isn't 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:42.799 no storms. His promise is no storm alone. Gospel 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:47.980 is not a stormless life, but it is storm -proof 00:20:47.980 --> 00:20:52.119 presence. So don't measure your faith by the 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:55.599 calmness of the water. Measure it by who's in 00:20:55.599 --> 00:21:00.900 your boat. And maybe you've heard this preached 00:21:00.900 --> 00:21:04.289 as a neat little moral tale. Keep your eyes on 00:21:04.289 --> 00:21:08.329 Jesus and you'll walk on the water too. But John 00:21:08.329 --> 00:21:12.670 doesn't tell this story like Matthew. In John's 00:21:12.670 --> 00:21:17.190 story, there's no Peter climbing out here. There's 00:21:17.190 --> 00:21:21.089 no lesson about your level of faith. Because 00:21:21.089 --> 00:21:24.430 John wants you to see something deeper. That 00:21:24.430 --> 00:21:28.930 this is the exodus all over again. This is God 00:21:28.930 --> 00:21:34.359 splitting the chaos. to deliver his people. This 00:21:34.359 --> 00:21:37.920 is Yahweh showing up in its flesh, announcing 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:41.599 his name and carrying his people to the shore. 00:21:42.380 --> 00:21:46.279 Which means the good news is not be brave like 00:21:46.279 --> 00:21:50.480 Peter. The good news is God has already come 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:54.140 striding over your chaos and he will never let 00:21:54.140 --> 00:21:57.839 you drown. And that, beloved, is why this story 00:21:57.839 --> 00:22:04.670 still stings. Because every one of us rose. Every 00:22:04.670 --> 00:22:08.089 one of us fears. Every one of us knows absence. 00:22:08.369 --> 00:22:14.690 And every one of us is met by presence. So let 00:22:14.690 --> 00:22:17.690 this story preach itself into your bones. Storms 00:22:17.690 --> 00:22:21.170 do not define you. Absence does not last forever. 00:22:21.789 --> 00:22:25.490 And grace will carry you further than oars ever 00:22:25.490 --> 00:22:31.940 could. So now the boat is quiet. The oars are 00:22:31.940 --> 00:22:36.000 still. The storm hasn't ended, but your feet 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:41.839 are on sand. Survival itself is grace. Every 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:45.079 one of us knows the jolt of unexpected ground. 00:22:46.039 --> 00:22:51.940 A diagnosis not as grim as feared. A friendship 00:22:51.940 --> 00:22:56.460 that held together when you told the truth. A 00:22:56.460 --> 00:22:59.359 morning when you thought you couldn't rise, and 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:05.200 yet you did. That's shoreline grace. You didn't 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:10.059 row there. You were carried there. The crowd 00:23:10.059 --> 00:23:16.259 chased bread. Disciples received presents. Bread 00:23:16.259 --> 00:23:20.359 feeds for a day. Presence anchors you for eternity. 00:23:21.380 --> 00:23:26.160 So the lightning question flashes. Bread? or 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:31.599 presence. Your storm may be loneliness or debt 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:34.640 or guilt you've named as your own or silence 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:39.460 that feels like absence. But hear it. The same 00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:44.519 I am still comes walking and still says to you, 00:23:44.539 --> 00:23:48.799 it is I. Do not be afraid. And when your boat 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:53.220 jolts, when knees hit ground you'd never thought 00:23:53.220 --> 00:23:58.509 you'd see, Will you whisper it back? Not as politeness, 00:23:58.569 --> 00:24:01.950 not as agreement, but as surrender, as reckoning, 00:24:02.089 --> 00:24:07.369 as truth deeper than any storm. Because if you 00:24:07.369 --> 00:24:11.849 do, you will discover this. Storms may not quit, 00:24:11.970 --> 00:24:15.990 but you know what? Neither does grace. Chaos 00:24:15.990 --> 00:24:22.910 may rage, so does love. Absence may ache, but 00:24:22.910 --> 00:24:27.759 presence... breaks through the night is darkness 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:34.440 but it is not endless the storm is fierce but 00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:37.880 it is not final the waves are high but they are 00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:41.759 not higher than the one who walks upon them so 00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:45.160 what do you say church we let that word settle 00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:47.339 in your chest will you let the presence climb 00:24:47.339 --> 00:24:51.799 into your boat will you let the grace that should 00:24:51.799 --> 00:24:55.369 carry you to the shore even though you've never 00:24:55.369 --> 00:24:59.809 could have rode there on your own? Will you accept 00:24:59.809 --> 00:25:13.990 presence over bread? Amen. Amen. Storms do not 00:25:13.990 --> 00:25:16.509 ask permission. They do not check your schedule, 00:25:16.589 --> 00:25:19.509 your bank account, or your strength. They come 00:25:19.509 --> 00:25:22.519 in the night and they whisper absence. But the 00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:25.859 gospel truth is this. Storms don't get the last 00:25:25.859 --> 00:25:29.779 word. Grace does. Disciples learn that chaos 00:25:29.779 --> 00:25:33.400 is real. Fear is fierce and absence aches. But 00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:36.880 Christ comes striding across it all, naming himself 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:40.099 with the name that first spoke at creation. I 00:25:40.099 --> 00:25:44.319 am. Do not be afraid. And that same presence 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:46.779 walks towards you. Not a promise of calm waters, 00:25:46.920 --> 00:25:49.839 not an escape hatch from pain, but presence that 00:25:49.839 --> 00:25:53.049 does not abandon. Miracle is not always that 00:25:53.049 --> 00:25:55.990 the storm stops. Miracle is that Jesus shows 00:25:55.990 --> 00:25:57.930 up and gets you to the shore you never could 00:25:57.930 --> 00:26:01.250 have rowed to by yourself. So here's the reckoning. 00:26:01.309 --> 00:26:04.089 Will you choose the bread that fills for the 00:26:04.089 --> 00:26:07.009 moment or the presence that steadies forever? 00:26:07.970 --> 00:26:10.309 Will you settle for absence or cling to the one 00:26:10.309 --> 00:26:13.990 who makes chaos his sidewalk? If this word has 00:26:13.990 --> 00:26:15.910 met you in the middle of your own storm, don't 00:26:15.910 --> 00:26:18.410 keep it to yourself. Share it with someone else 00:26:18.410 --> 00:26:21.220 who's rowing hard in the dark. Subscribe so you 00:26:21.220 --> 00:26:23.180 don't miss the next Voice of Grace breaking through 00:26:23.180 --> 00:26:26.480 the static. And join me again here on the semi 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:29.019 -seminarian where the storms are real, but so 00:26:29.019 --> 00:26:33.440 is the Savior walks upon them. I'll see you next 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:49.859 time. Therefore, leaving the principles of the 00:26:49.859 --> 00:26:52.160 doctrine of Christ, let us go on.