Sermon – Pentecost 13 Rev. Bill Meyer

Rescue – Restore – Re-Direct Matthew 14:22-33, Job 38:1-18

Point: God wishes us to have full and meaningful lives

Problem: due to ego or pride, we chose paths that lead to self-destruction or self-delusion

Power: God rescues us from ourselves, restores us to himself, and re-directs us to life’s paths

Not too long ago, Marie and I were out shopping and stopped at an outside café for coffee and cake. As we relaxed a bit we began to do what many people do, we “people watched”. You do that? As the people who pass by, there were young and old, women with strollers, men rushing to something important somewhere, girls chitter-chattering all at once. There were the elegant and the plain, and some were wearing all sorts of outfits and accessories. And from time to time, there would be someone who was “unusual”. We saw one such person and I remarked, “If only she could see herself”…

I thought about my catty remark and then thought, “If only I could see myself” See myself as others see me - my facial expressions, my body language – as others see me. See my opinions and values – as others see me. The truth is, I don’t see myself as others do – as you see me – and that is too bad.

It doesn’t require a great deal of effort to develop a bad attitude or some bad habits – and suddenly we’re out of sync with who we really are or how we want to be. Not only can’t we see ourselves because of our one-way vision, and we don’t choose to listen to others who may help – wife/husband, kids, friends - God. Gonna do it my way…

As a result, we get off track… we isolate ourselves and alienate others … and become ineffective. We all know people like that, don’t we? Stubborn husband… head-strong wives, opinionated relatives… It never occurs to us that the “someone” might be US.

I might be my own worst enemy.

In today’s Scriptures, we have two cases in point – Job and Peter. Neither of them saw themselves as others did. Yet God rescued them from themselves, restored them to himself, and re-directed them to life’s path.

Job is one of the more interesting figures in the Old Testament. The book of Job starts out with Job having everything we might dream of – wife, family, extensive possessions, popularity, respect. Job had it made. The story continues with God holding a cabinet meeting during which He refers to Job, saying There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless man who fears God and turns away from evil. Satan challenges God by saying, “Who wouldn’t love and fear God when he has everything. Permit me to remove his possessions, and he will curse you instead.” So God agrees and permits Satan to wipe out his family and all his possessions – but still Job kept his faith saying, The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away, Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

Still Satan persisted and argues, “If you permit me to remove his health, and then he will curse you.” So God permitted Satan to inflict terrible sores all over Job’s body so that he became unrecognizable even to his close friends. Still he maintained his faith saying, Shall we receive the good at the hand of God and not receive the bad? Even though his friends try to persuade Job that he must have sinned terribly in the sight of God and must confess it, Job fiercely maintains his innocence and demands that God vindicate him.

Just prior to today’s Lesson, Job maintains, Oh that I had someone to hear me. Here is my signature. Let the almighty answer me. Oh that I had the indictment written by my adversary…I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him. Job was so sure of himself, he was ready to take God on – toe to toe, nose to nose. And it in this context that God replies to Job in today’s lesson, Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth. Tell me, if you have understanding…

With these words, God chose to rescue Job from himself and from his own self-righteousness. God describes himself not only as the creator of all the galaxies in the heavens, but also as the creator of mankind with whom he desires an on-going relationship. A relationship that will sustain Job even in his suffering. And so God restores Job to himself and redirects his life once again.

Peter is another example. He is that loveable disciple, the leader of the pack, with whom we like to identify. But Peter was also arrogant and boastful and I suspect the other disciples resented him from time to time.

The setting for the Gospel lesson is the middle of Lake Galilee where terrible winds were churning up the waves and making headway for the disciples almost impossible. Suddenly, they see a figure walking on top of the waters and understandably, they are terrified – a ghost! After Jesus identifies himself, they calm down waiting for Jesus to join them in the boat.

But not Peter. Lord, if it is really you, order me to come out on the water to you. What! Is Peter nuts? When winds and waves are out of control, normal people get into boats, not out of them. Was Peter show-boating: look Mom, no hands? Was he testing Jesus – “If you are everything you say you are, now’s the time to prove it”???

Whatever, Peter was off-track. This was not the path of discipleship, but of self-delusion!

So, Peter steps out of the boat and miraculously begins to walk. Only when Peter saw the waves and heard the wind did he realized his present state of affairs was worse than the first did he cry out save me… and he focused on Jesus instead of himself. Then once back in the boat, Peter’s attention was once more directed toward Jesus where it should have been all the while, Truly, you are the Son of God. Jesus rescued Peter from himself… restored him to God and re-directed him on life’s path.

Job and Peter were great men of faith – no doubt about it. But both became side-tracked – Job to self-justification and Peter to self-delusion. In both cases God intervened.

God rescued each from himself and helped them see themselves as they were
Then God restored each to Himself and the fellowship they previously had
Finally, God got them on track and re-directed them toward meaningful service.

God deals with us in the very same way …

We know that it’s easy for us to go off half-cocked – just ask family members, if you don’t believe me…When we do, we can do some serious damage to ourselves and those whom we love. Nevertheless, God is willing to rescue us from ourselves. God revealed himself to Job through a whirl-wind; He has revealed himself to us through his son, Jesus. Jesus reached out his arms to Peter to save him from drowning; Jesus reaches out his arms to us from the cross to save us from our sins. He is the one who offered his life on the cross to rescue us from our self-justification and our self-delusion.
Furthermore, God restores us to fellowship with him by joining us to him through Holy Baptism and the Holy Eucharist… and ultimately to fellowship with fellow Christians, the body of Christ. By God’s grace, we are assured to be members of the “family” of God.
Finally, God re-directs our lives by the Holy Spirit toward meaningful Christian love and service. This worship service is not your final destination, but rather the departing gate for service “out there”. This service takes place in the home, the workplace, throughout the community… everywhere God directs you!

God rescues, restores and re-directs. Thanks be to God for doing for us what we can not do for ourselves.

When I was a boy, my older brothers had a Lionel set of trains. I was young and didn’t understand them very well. One day I chose to run the train w/o my brothers being there. The train came to a crossing and stopped. I turned up the transformer, but the train wouldn’t budge.

What I didn’t know was that the engine had jumped the track. The engine was perfectly good and there was plenty of power. But the engine couldn’t help itself. Eventually, one brother returned and recognized what was wrong. He carefully replaced the engine onto the track and the train went on its way.

When we get off the track, we might not know what is happening … and even if we did, we don’t know what to do about it. But there is One who can help, and who does help. Who rescues, restores and re-directs us… To God be all the glory!