Anyone remember what happened that caused humans to fall out of favor with God in the first place? There was, after all, a time when people had exactly the kind of relationship with God we’ve been talking about — one characterized by mutual trust and a lack of fear. But something happened. You know the story, right?

A long, long time ago in a garden far, far away…a serpent came to Eve and said, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1)

Think about that question for a second. “Did God really say…” What was the serpent’s point? What was he driving at? Well, the conversation that followed makes it all too clear:

“The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”‘

“‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” (Genesis 3:2-5)

The serpent’s agenda was pretty clear. He wanted Eve to doubt God. His purpose was to chip away at her faith to the point that she would act on her distrust. And that is precisely what she did. Even before she tasted the forbidden fruit, the battle was lost. She doubted. She lost confidence. The relationship was damaged. Broken.

In many ways, belief and unbelief are two sides of the same door. We exited a relationship with God through a lack of trust, and we come back in through an act of trust. Once we’re in, our heavenly Father sets about growing and maturing our faith so that we never want to leave again.

I just wrapped up a sermon series at Shannon Oaks called “Miracle Grow”. You can probably still find it on iTunes (search “Shannon Oaks Church Podcast”) if you like, or you could wait for the CDs to become available in our resource center.

The series was about what God is really up to — why having a great big faith is so important — what faith really is anyway & some of the things God uses to grow our faith. I think it was an important series. I grew.

That’s a significant point there — that last little sentence. I grew. My faith is larger now than it was when we started, and there are several reasons why. For now, though, I just want to talk about why having a growing faith is so important.

God wants to grow your faith & here’s why: Faith (or trust) is the centerpiece of any good, solid relationship. You simply cannot have a healthy relationship with anyone without faith/trust. As trust deepens, relationships deepen & mature. God sent Jesus into the world to re-establish a relationship with humans. For that relationship to happen, though, there must be trust — or, to use the biblical word, faith. Anything, then, that enhances trust between two entities enhances the relationship — whether we’re talking about siblings, spouses, friends, corporations or nations.

Grow the trust; deepen the relationship.

It’s no coincidence, then, that our relationship with God begins with an act of faith. As the Bible says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Interesting, isn’t it? We receive eternal life by “believing in” or “trusting in” Christ. The very first thing God requires of us is trust. Why? Because that’s the stuff relationships are made of. And what your heavenly Father wants most from you is just that: a relationship characterized by trust, faith and confidence.

Jesus didn’t feed the 5,000 people because he’d run out of miracles to do. “Let’s see…I’ve healed people and made blind people see. What else can I do? I know! I’ll feed a bunch of people. That’ll be a neat trick!”

Nope. Jesus had a plan — a very specific agenda. The death of his cousin John must have brought to mind the inevitability of his own death. He knew the time was rapidly approaching when he’d have to hand this entire enterprise over to the disciples, and he knew they weren’t ready. So, he becomes very intentional about preparing them — specifically by growing their faith/trust/confidence in his ability to do what he’s promised.

As soon as the leftovers are picked up, Jesus sends the disciples away in a boat and goes by himself to find a place for that solitude he was looking for. The disciples row, row, row their boat…against the wind…all night long. Then, what to their wondering eyes should appear? Jesus walking across the water.

Of course they’re terrified at the sight, and initially believe Jesus is a ghost. Terror I can understand. Making the leap to calling out, “It’s a ghost!” seems a bit extreme to me. But I wasn’t there.

Jesus tells them not to be afraid, and Peter’s wheels begin turning. Jesus had asked Peter to do something he could not do (feed the multitude). Peter had done only what he could do (give what was in his hand to someone else), and God had shown up and done what only he could have done. Now Jesus has asked Peter to do another thing he could not do (row the boat across the lake in a storm). Peter remembers a time when Jesus had said that if you believe in him nothing would be impossible.

I can almost see him doing the math in his head.

Peter shouts, “Jesus, if that’s really you, invite me out there with you.”

Jesus says, “Well, come on, then!”

Peter does not know how to walk on water any more than you do. But Peter does know how to get out of a boat — he’s been doing that all his life. And he does know how to put one foot in front of the other. And he can keep his eyes fixed on Jesus.

Peter did what he knew how to do and trusted Jesus to do what only he could do.

That’s faith. Faith isn’t manufacturing false-courage. Faith isn’t knowing everything or how everything works. Faith is simply getting out of the boat (what is your boat, by the way?), putting one foot in front of the other and keeping your eyes focused on the One for whom nothing is impossible.

Faith is simply doing what you know you can do and trusting God to do what only he can do.

And that’s how you walk on water.

There are two stories that occur in Matthew 14 — two stories I’ve heard and known since I was a kid in Sunday School.

Story #1: Jesus feeds the multitude with two fish and five small loaves of bread.

Story #2: Jesus walks on water and Peter briefly joins him.

It’s difficult to think of two more familiar stories in Matthew’s Gospel (outside, obviously, of the birth of Jesus and the crucifixion/resurrection sequence). Even people who haven’t read the Bible much know these two stories.

What’s unfamiliar is the reason these two stories happen back-to-back — the link between them.

To begin with, Jesus’ cousin (John the Baptist) has just been killed. This makes Jesus sad, and what he really wants is to get away from things for a while — to be quiet and mourn and spend some time alone with his heavenly Father. This much is understandable.

But when Jesus gets to his lonely place, there are people everywhere. They’ve followed him!

Instead of being angry or frustrated (which would have been my response!), Jesus has compassion on them and heals the sick people they’ve brought to him.

Some time passes and the disciples say, “Hey, Jesus, it’s getting kinda late. Maybe you should wrap up this whole healing seminar thing and let these folks go somewhere to get some dinner.”

Jesus responds, “They don’t have to go anywhere. You feed ‘em!”

Now, how in the world do you feed 5,000 people on the fly when you didn’t think to bring a truckload of supplies?

Following Jesus isn’t always easy. A lot of times I’ll see something — some desperate need out there in the world — and I’ll pray, “God, can you do something about that?” And his response is, “You do it.” Honestly, I hate it when that happens. And it happens way more than I pretend it does.

The disciples quickly look around and show him the tiny amount of food they have available: a couple of fish and a few small loaves of bread. They do not show him this as a way of saying, “If we slice the bread really thin and spread the fish out just right then maybe….” No, they show him their meager offering as a way of saying, “We can’t do what you want us to do, and here’s a good legitimate reason why.”

That’s usually what I say when he says “You do it.” I say, “I can’t, and it’s not that I don’t want to. It’s that I really can’t. I don’t have enough stuff to do it. See?”

Jesus says, “Bring it here.”

He prays over it, tears a hunk off and hands it back to the disciples. What are they gonna do now? Eat it themselves?

They don’t know how to feed 5,000 people with this little sack lunch, but they do know how to turn and hand what they have to someone else. So, they do what they can do, and Jesus does what only he can do. And that’s how you feed 5,000 people.

Tomorrow we’re going to talk about how to walk on water.