Walk This Way

 

[The following is a manuscript of my meditation delivered Ash Wednesday, the 22nd of February, 2023, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

Today we enter into the Lenten Season, which commemorates the 40 days and 40 nights that Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting, praying, and being tempted by Satan.  We are challenged to use this time for self-examination and introspection, to see if we are living as God would have us live.

It’s a great time to dig deeper into our Bibles, studying the Gospels, listening to Jesus, witnessing what He did while He walked among us.  For by watching Jesus, through the eyes of those who walked alongside Him, we can see how we, too, should live and act.  And while we may think we can’t do miracles like He did, and perhaps some are beyond our reach, what to us may seem a simple act of kindness may, to the recipient, be a miracle indeed.

Speaking of miracles, there’s one I mentioned this past Sunday and I’ll bring up again now.  Jesus fed well over 5000 people all they wanted from the provision of only five loaves of barley bread and two small fish, with twelve baskets of leftovers at the end.  A miracle, indeed.

His disciples might have been skeptical at first, with good reason, when they presented such a meager offering.  How could they possibly feed so many with so little?  Yet they trusted in Jesus because they had seen Him do miraculous acts before.

If we are to believe that we, too, might be able to do miracles, trust in our Lord is crucial.  Just as trust was crucial for His followers then.

I’d like to look at what happens next, because it centers on trust.  Please listen and follow along to what the Apostle Matthew recorded for us in chapter 14 of his Gospel account, verses 22 through 33, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this afternoon.  And again, this comes right after the 5000 are fed…

22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. 24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

--Matthew 14:22-33 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, one of the most useful features of our Bible is that it provides us with a wealth of examples of what to do and what not to do.  If we carefully follow these examples, we can be seen as righteous in Your eyes.  This is especially true if we try our best to do as Jesus did.  Father, please help us follow the examples Your Son set for us.  Help us remember all that He told us, including that we can do great things through the power of Your Holy Spirit within us.  Help us walk in His footsteps.  Forgive us when we have doubts, when we don’t fully trust in You and Your mighty Spirit within us.  This we pray in the name of Your Son Jesus.  Amen.

Each year, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and is always 46 days before Easter Sunday.  Lent is a 40-day season (not counting Sundays) marked by repentance, fasting, reflection, and ultimately celebration.  The 40-day period represents Christ’s time of temptation in the wilderness, where he fasted and where Satan tempted him.

Lent asks believers to set aside a time each year for similar fasting, marking an intentional season of focus on Christ’s life, His ministry, His sacrifice, and His resurrection.  And, of course, the best way to focus on Jesus’ life and ministry is to read and study our Bible.  Let’s look just a little closer at our scripture reading.

Here is Jesus, following up one miracle with another.  This time He takes a little stroll across the Sea of Galilee, during a wind storm with choppy waves.  His disciples on the boat see Him approaching and think they’re seeing a ghost!  Wouldn’t that be an understandable reaction?  We can’t walk on water!  Either our eyes are playing tricks on us or we’re seeing a spectre gliding across the waves.

So Jesus calls out a reassurance that it is indeed Him, so don’t be afraid and don’t worry.  Peter, always so excitable, wants to walk on water, too, and pleads with Jesus to order him to come out to Him, if what he’s seeing really is Jesus.  Jesus says, “Come”, Peter climbs out of the boat, and starts walking on water!

Wait!  Hold it right there a moment…

How!?!  We know Jesus could walk on water, or anything or anywhere else He wanted – He’s God; He can do anything.  But Peter is a mortal man, like us, and mortals need solid surfaces to walk on, unless the sea happened to have been frozen solid at the time, which it wasn’t.  So how could Peter walk on water?

Simply by faith, by trust.  Peter trusted Jesus and took Him at His word, and as long as he held that trust, as long as he kept his focus on Jesus, he could walk where Jesus walked.  But then, just as soon as he let his attention drift down to the waves and the wind, his trust faltered as doubt set in, and he began to sink beneath the waves.  Only by the outstretched hand of Jesus was He saved.  Walking with Jesus takes faith and trust in His word.

The Apostle Paul has something to tell us about walking with Jesus.  Listen to what he wrote in chapter 5 of his letter to the Ephesians, in verses 1 and 2, 8 through 10, and 15 through 17...

1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.

15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

--Ephesians 5:1-2, 8-10, 15-17 (NKJV)

Walk in love.  Two people in love walk hand-in-hand, don’t they.  To walk hand-in-hand with Jesus, we need to love as He loves – unconditionally, sacrificially, forgivingly.  Walk as children of light, spreading the light of the Gospel, dispersing the darkness of sin.  Walk wisely, not acting like fools, but understanding the will of our Lord.

Walk in faith, trusting in the Lord.  As Jesus was pulling Peter up from the waves, He asked His disciple where was his faith, why did he let doubt creep in?

How great is our faith?  Paul says it is by faith that we are justified with God.  Hear his words from verses 1 and 2 of chapter 5 of his letter to the Romans...

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

--Romans 5:1-2 (NKJV)

By our faith in Jesus, we have peace with God.  We may stand in His grace, rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God our Father.  We can follow in His steps.

Jesus sacrificed Himself for us - let us sacrifice ourselves to Him.  Let us walk as He walked.  We likely won't need to walk on water.  We just need to walk by faith.  Trust in the Lord, and walk this way.  Amen.

Today we begin our walk into the season of Lent.  The cross stands just ahead, a stark reminder that we have been forgiven and shown mercy by God, even though we’ve done nothing, nor can we ever do anything, to deserve it.  And our Father commands that we be forgiving and merciful, too, in our dealings with others.

The cross also serves as a sign of God’s love.  God made a covenant with us and signed it with the blood of His own Son.  We acknowledge our end of that covenant by our baptism and our service to our Lord Jesus.  Part of that service is to repent, to turn from our sin, for Jesus called us to repentance while announcing that the kingdom of God is at hand.  To help us resist the temptation to sin, we can spend more time with God, both in prayer and by studying His word.

In a moment we will receive a symbolic imposition of ashes that I hope will be useful for us in meeting both of those goals.  My prayer is that this will last far longer than ashes on the forehead, and have a greater effect on ourselves and others we encounter.

But first we will offer a confession of our sins and receive an assurance that we’ve been washed clean by the precious blood of Jesus.  In the name of our Redeemer, the Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Our prayer of confession releases us from the tremendous burden of self-importance.  In emptying ourselves, we make room for God’s presence to fill us.  Let us join now in the prayer of confession:

Merciful God, You have called us to be Your people.  You have sought to stimulate our growth with the nurturing of Your Word and the witness of the faithful through the ages.  Yet we have become arid and dry because we have not sought the regular refreshment of the Word and witness.  We have not stood firm in the cause of righteousness and justice because our roots have not sufficiently entwined themselves around the rock of our salvation, Jesus Christ.  O God, wash us clean and water us again to new life by Your Spirit.  Amen.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  Amen.

Let us pray… Father God, thank You for loving us so much as to send Your only Son to atone for our sins.  May we observe this season of Lent by examining ourselves, by confessing and truly repenting of our disobedience and sin, by prayer and fasting, by works of love and service, and by reading and meditating upon Your word.  We repent of our sinfulness, O Lord, and seek Your forgiveness.  This we pray in the blessed name of Jesus our Christ, who gave His all for us.  Amen.