When I called the church secretary to give my bulletin information, she said, well, I suppose you're going to preach on a psalm. And I said, ha, I'm going to surprise you. So please turn with me to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 6, and let us read the Word of God together. The Gospel of Mark, chapter 6, beginning at verse 30. Mark chapter 6, beginning at verse 30, let us hear God's own word. The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. This is a remote place, they said, and it's already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat. But he answered, you give them something to eat. They said to him, that would take eight months of a man's wages. Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat? How many loaves do you have, he asked. Go and see. When they found out, they said, five and two fish. Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was 5,000. Immediately, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night, he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass them by, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, Take courage, it is I, don't be afraid. Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves. Their hearts were hardened. So far, the reading of God's word. Our text tonight is particularly verse 50. Immediately he spoke to them and said, Take courage, it is I, don't be afraid. We've been reading in the newspapers and seeing on the television in the last months that many Americans are afraid. Many have been significantly distressed by the events of September 11th and what has come after those events. We have been subjected as a people to acts of terrorism, to acts of disease being spread through the mails, to facing a difficult war far at home. We faced also difficulties of jobs on the economic front. And for many people, this has been a time of a great deal of stress and a great deal of distress, a time of a great many questions. And some prognosticators believe that this would be a time of a spiritual awakening and a spiritual revival. And we were told that for a time after September 11th, many people who had not regularly attended churches were going to churches. And people thought that this was a most encouraging spiritual sign. And, of course, in some ways it was. But I had read in the newspaper this last week that most recent studies have shown that church attendance is just about back to where it was before September 11th. That distress for a time had caught people's attention. But it doesn't seem to have been a lasting concern or a lasting turning to some new source of security and of confidence. Rather, many have fallen back into that rather traditional and in some ways understandable human way of finding confidence and security, namely in the familiar rhythms of life and in the familiar landmarks that surround us. I think that in part the reason that so many in New York were so profoundly shocked was that that familiar landmark of the two towers of the World Trade Center that they had for so many years seen on the horizon of their lives was suddenly removed, and it reminded them of the brevity of life, of the frailty of life. And the danger is, of course, that for all of us, we begin to put our confidence in the creation rather than in the Creator. We put our confidence in the things that surround us, that we enjoy, that we often take for granted, but nonetheless become the real foundation of our lives. I remember reading a number of years ago that some psychologists had said that many people were more troubled by earthquakes than almost any other natural phenomenon because the one thing so many people thought you could count on was firm ground beneath your feet. An earthquake reminds you that even the ground beneath our feet is not firm and reliable as a source of confidence. And that is why we as Christians are so privileged to know that our confidence and our foundation and our security rests not in anything created, but in the Creator. That's part of our wonderful heritage from the Reformation. Before the Reformation, many Christians, perhaps most Christians, were dominated by a fearful outlook on the world. They feared a world filled with demons and were often caught up in all sorts of superstitions. They sometimes feared the church and its inquisition. They often feared themselves and their propensity to fall into sin. And they feared God because God was most often presented as a righteous judge who might most likely send them to hell. And so Christianity was characterized by a fearfulness that the church actually encouraged. The church said too much confidence, too much assurance, too much peace with God will make people indifferent, will make them sinful. But when the Reformation came and when Luther and Calvin and others recovered a sense of what is God's Word, they were profoundly moved by verses like our text tonight. The words of Jesus, Take courage, it is I, don't be afraid. The message of the Gospel, you see, the message of our Savior Jesus Christ is indeed good news. It's good news that his cup was designed to bring peace and hope and security into the hearts of his people. It is the antidote of fear. It is the confident foundation on which we ought to rest as God's people. And one of the great fruits, it seems to me, of the Reformation is a confident and courageous kind of Christianity. not a kind of Christianity that never faces a problem or never has a fear, but a kind of Christianity that in the face of problems and fears turns with confidence to God and from that confidence in God derives a remarkable level of courage to face the realities of this life. And so I would like to preach to you tonight about that courage and that confidence that ought to be ours. That call of the Savior who says to us, as He said to His disciples long ago, take courage. Be courageous. Don't be afraid. Now, how is it that we can be courageous as Christians? Where does that courage come from? And I think in this text, this text particularly of our Lord coming to His disciples as they were caught on a lake in the midst of a storm, This story illustrates for us in a variety of ways how Christ would have us take courage. And the first thing that this story says to us is that we take courage from his glorious presence. From his glorious presence. We see this story, it's a rather touching story in some ways. The apostles have been preaching, they come back exhausted, And yet the needs of ministry continue. Jesus and the disciples are surrounded by needy people. They don't even have time to eat. And Jesus said, we'd better get away so we can have some quiet for rest. They get in a boat thinking they can head off and get away from the crowd. But the crowd filled with need is so determined that they run ahead gathering others of the boat. And when Jesus and the disciples land, they are there waiting. Jesus ministers to them. You notice that I was struck that the first great act of his ministry to them, as we read it in verse 34, is, so he began teaching them many things. We must never disparage the critical nature of the church's teaching ministry to people in need. There's nothing more foundational that we need to live the Christian life than the truth. And Jesus, in his exhaustion and in the exhaustion of his disciples, continues to teach. And then seeing their hunger, he feeds them. And a vast number, over 5,000 are there. And then, still concerned about the disciples, Jesus sends them on alone. Apparently thinking that the crowd won't follow if Jesus stays with the crowd for a while and the disciples are sent on. But the disciples find themselves caught in a storm, in great difficulty on the sea, on the lake, and Jesus comes to them. He comes walking on the water, a most remarkable event in and of itself. And we might say, well, isn't that the glory of his presence? This display of His miraculous power, this amazing ability upon the part of our Lord to do what no human being on his own can do, and that is walk upon water, walk upon stormy water and come to the disciples. But as we look more closely at this text, the revelation of the glorious presence of Christ is much more profound than just that miracle, as important and significant as it is in itself. There are a couple of other things in this text that point to the glorious character of the presence of God with his disciples there, the presence of Jesus with his disciples. And the first we see there in verse 48. He saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them walking on the lake. He was about to pass them by. Why about to pass them by? Isn't that sort of a waste of time and energy? If he's just going to walk on by, why walk out in the first place? And if we compare this verb walk by here with what we find in the Old Testament, we find that this same verb is used in the Greek version of the Old Testament to describe what God did when Moses had asked to see God's glory. And God, as it's recorded in Exodus 33, had taken Moses, hidden him in the cleft of the rock, and said, I will pass by and you will see my glory. And that seems to be what's in Mark's mind as he records this story and its meaning for us here in this text. How is the glory of Christ revealed? It's revealed not only in the fact that he could walk upon the lake, but that he's walking past them. He is taking the role of Yahweh himself in the revelation of his glory, and he is saying to them, I am your God, come in the flesh. I am not just a wonder worker who can walk on water, but I am God himself, come to you and for you, and I am with you. But as so often in the gospel account, and from this fact, I suppose we should take a lot of encouragement that the disciples are so often wrong, they so often miss the point. It shows the great patience of our God, and the patience of our God is something that we always need to be reassured about because we are so often wrong. They miss the point. They don't see the glory. They don't anticipate that this Jesus whom they've seen multiply five loaves and two fish to feed over 5,000 people. They're still surprised that he is glorious. And so they completely mistake what was happening. Verse 49, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. Isn't that pathetic? They're still caught up in all sorts of superstitions. They can't believe their own eyes. Rather than believe that Jesus is the glorious God, come to help them and to be with them and to reveal himself to them, they take refuge in some kind of superstition about ghosts on the water. They cried out because they all saw him and were terrified. His glorious presence hadn't brought them any comfort. And so not only does he perform this miracle of walking on the water And not only does he seek to reveal his own glory as he would pass them by, but then he speaks to them. And there, too, we see something of his glory in his presence. He not only says, take courage, and says, don't be afraid, but we also have him saying here in the text, it is I. Now, that's not a bad translation of the Greek, but it misses the force of what Mark intended for us to hear at the words of the Savior. Because literally the Greek reads there, I am. Take courage. I am. Don't be afraid. And here again you see the Savior is identifying himself with Jehovah, with Yahweh, the great Old Testament God, the one who was the I am, whose very name Yahweh is rooted in the notion of being. And Jesus is saying, I am, just as he would say in John's Gospel before Abraham was, I am. This is a claim of divinity. No Jew would have missed it. And Mark doesn't want us to miss it. This is part of the glorious presence of the Savior. That we are to know that Savior is indeed true man. But the point here is that he is true God, come in the flesh. for His people, to be present with His people, and in His presence with His people, to show His glory that we might be encouraged, that we might be confident, that when we face distress, we might know that the great I Am is with us in the face of Jesus Christ, that our Savior will come to us and He will help us. And that's the second great point of this text. It's not only His glorious presence that's revealed to encourage us, but it's also His gracious power that's revealed to encourage us. His power is displayed here for a gracious purpose, to help and to save. He saves them, doesn't He? They were straining at the oars. They were not sure they could reach the shore. They were caught in a storm that might take their lives. And Jesus speaks a word, and the storm is calm. Here is power, power for a gracious purpose, to save and to provide. And once again, the disciples live up to their total inability to grasp what's going on. Verse 51 and 52, they were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves. Their hearts were hardened. It's as if Mark is saying, why should they have been so amazed? And the reason they were so amazed at the miracle of the calming of the storm is that they had never gotten the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. That is to say, they had never seen in Jesus Christ what they ought to have seen and what was clearly revealed by these actions. Look at verse 34 of Mark chapter 6. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He had compassion on them because he was the good shepherd. his heart was filled with love for his people because he was fulfilling the duty and the privilege that God had given to him and that he had freely undertaken for his people. He had come to be that good shepherd, that savior of his people, that provider of those in need, that one who would exercise a gracious power for them. He'd shown that in taking time to teach them. And he'd shown that in providing the bread to nourish them, and they didn't get it. Why didn't they get it? They didn't get it because for them it was all about themselves. It was all about what they could get out of it. When they had rushed to get ahead of Jesus in the boat, before the feeding of the 5,000, Why had they rushed? Was it because they were so devoted to the Savior? Was it because they were so eager to be with Him and to have fellowship with Him? Was it because they had sensed His glorious presence and His gracious power? No, they had rushed ahead so that they could get healed. So that they could get what they wanted. And when they were hungry, and He fed them, They didn't think about Him. They thought only about themselves and what they had obtained. And so, too, when He comes and He saves the disciples from the storm, do they think about Him and focus upon Him and how wonderful He is? No. They focus only on themselves. They don't get it. They don't get that this gracious power is revealing to them a Savior and a provider who will never let them go, who will never abandon them, who will provide for them all that they need so that they can take courage and not be afraid. You see, when we know the character of our Savior, when we see how the Word reveals His compassion, His love, His care, His provision for us, It must melt our hearts if we're his people. And it must enable us then to say, whatever distress I face, whatever difficulty I know, I can take courage because I have such a Savior. And the scripture invites us to have that courage, even when Jesus does not come immediately to remove the distress. Think of these words from Hebrews chapter 10, at verse 32, where the author of the epistle to the Hebrews is trying to stir up within this people the kind of devotion and confidence that they have had before. Hebrews 10, 32, we read, Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution. At other times, you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. You see, these were a suffering people, and they were a people who sometimes wondered, where is God, and where is the promise of His coming? Where is the help that I need? And Hebrews says, even when that help does not come as quickly as we would like to see it come, don't throw away your confidence. For in just a very little while, He was coming. will come and will not delay. That's the promise. That's the promise. He's not far away. He's not late in coming. He knows our need. And he will use his gracious power to give us what we need and to sustain us. And therefore, take courage. Do not be afraid. Our courage comes not only from his glorious presence and from his gracious power, but also from his guarding prayer. We need to always remember that Jesus was a man of prayer. And he was a man of prayer not only to model for us the importance of prayer and the centrality of prayer in the Christian life, But above all else, he was a man of prayer because he was in constant fellowship and communication with his heavenly Father. And so we read in verse 46 of Mark 6, After leaving them, that is the crowd to whom he had been ministered, he went up on a mountainside to pray. And then we read on, When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them. Now, did he see them in his prayers? Did he finish his prayers and then see them? The text is not entirely clear, but it does relate closely the prayers of the Savior to his seeing of the needs of his people. And we need to remember that that is still true of the Savior. His priestly work, you remember, was twofold. First, to offer himself on the cross as a sacrifice for sin. That's the first work of a priest, to offer sacrifice. But his second work as priest continues to this day, the work of prayer for his people. The priest offered sacrifice and then interceded for the people. And the scripture tells us over and over again that Jesus Christ is still praying for us. He still knows our needs. He still sees us in our difficulties. And he prays to the Father for us that we would be guarded and protected. Hebrews 7.25 tells us he always intercedes for his people. Hebrews 4.14 reminds us that He is still the great high priest. Hebrews 9.24 tells us He appears in God's presence for us. And Isaiah 53.13 tells us He made intercession for transgressors. That's a critical part of the work of Jesus Christ that goes on to this day. Does that encourage you? You know, often I think we pray just thinking, if we pray hard enough or loud enough and long enough, maybe God will hear us. And we need to remember that Jesus stands there right next to us and for us, praying with us as well as for us, carrying our prayers to the Father, standing before the Father as the sacrifice with His wounds there yet present in heaven, caring for us, guarding us. Romans 8.34 says, Christ is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. He's there as the glorified Savior. He's there as the Son seated at the place of honor. But he's also interceding, still working, still caring, still providing. And what an encouragement that is for us, that we have a Savior and a mediator who cares for us. Always cares for us. Never forgets us. Never lets us go. Never ceases to provide. And you see, it's that reality that so moved our forebearers in the faith with confidence in God. I've quoted this before, but it's one of my favorite 16th century quotations where a Spanish soldier said he'd rather face a whole army than one Calvinist convinced he's doing the will of God. You see, that's a motivating confidence in God. that says, my God goes before me, my God goes with me, my God surrounds me with his presence and his power and his guarding prayers, and I will not be afraid. He will not let me go. At the time, the disciples were amazed. That is, they were filled with wonder. That is, they were impressed. And throughout the Gospel accounts, we find people being impressed. The trouble is that being impressed is also what happens to people who go to circuses, and people who go to magic shows. And our Savior does not want us to be impressed. He wants us to believe. And what is it to believe? it is to see the glorious presence of Christ and not be afraid to know that he's not a ghost but alive and with us faith is to know that the gracious power of our Savior is intended for our good and will be exercised for us faith is knowing that the guarding prayers of our mediator and intercessor surround us at all times and faith is believing Jesus when he says don't be afraid take courage I am may God grant to each one of us that courage Amen let us pray Almighty God our Heavenly Father we thank you for such a great and glorious and gracious and guarding Savior. We pray that again and again we might be renewed in believing. It is so easy for us, O Lord, to be overwhelmed by the things of this world, very real and legitimate fears and struggles, and to take our eyes off the Savior and to not hear his gracious word. But, O Lord, may that word ring in our hearts and minds that he is and he is for us who are his people. Fill us with that faith, O Lord, and from that faith let courage flow for us as we live for you. Hear us, for we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.